Greek Chicken Salad With Cucumber Dressing

I found this recipe from my local grocery store's free magazine. It seemed like something I could easily make for one person. I must admit I did go out and buy skewers because of this, but I figured I would use the skewers more than once anyway. I have the space, so I'm thinking about investing in an outdoor grill. Might be a good time because grills are going clearance soon.



This is chicken marinated for 30 minutes then either grilled or broiled. You make a quick cucumber yogurt sauce and serve on lettuce. I hate iceberg lettuce because there's no flavor and no nutrients, so I served it on spinach. This recipe is pretty easy I think. It takes a little time mainly because of marinating the chicken, but you could probably marinade ahead of time and freeze it. The dressing takes a few minutes to chop and mix. Any leftover dressing you can use for future salads.

Greek Chicken Over Spinach With Cucumber Dressing



2 tsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes

Dressing
Half cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp dried parsley

Skewers
Spinach

In a bowl, combine oil, uice, garlic, and rosemary. Add chicken pieces, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat grill or broiler. Thread chicken pieces onto skewers. Grill/broil for 8 minutes, turning halfway through.

Meanwhile, mix together cucumber, yogurt, and parsley. Toss finished chicken pieces with spinach and top with cucumber dressing.

Black Raspberry Cupcakes

Anybody watch Cupcake Wars? I'm sitting here watching the Good Cause episode where it benefits a children's foundation. After several episodes, the show can get kinda boring - focus on flavor, focus on decorating, focus on display. What doesn't get boring is how many flavors people can invent. Kinda makes me wish I went into cupcake baking for a living!



Before the big move, I hurried up and went black raspberry picking because I didn't know if I could later this summer. I already made cheesecake and ice cream sauce. While I was at the farm, I saw a brochure with what you can make with curd. One of the ideas was cupcakes. You fill the cupcake with curd and make frosting with it. I thought, hey I could make my own black raspberry curd and make cupcakes.

Unfortunately, it's been a month since I looked up a recipe for raspberry curd, so I really don't remember which one I used. What I do remember is I went to Food Blog Search and typed in 'raspberry curd.' You can either make homemade or store bought.




You make chocolate cupcakes (your favorite recipe or cake mix). After they cool, you cut a hole in each center and fill with curd. Replace the top. Pipe on frosting and top with chocolate sprinkles and a berry.

Frosting: Whisk together 2 Tbsp melted butter, 1/4 c curd, and 1 1/2 c powdered sugar. Frosts 12 cupcakes.

Brief Summary Of New Place

A lazy Sunday afternoon, complete with rain. I love rain (minus driving in it). If I'm not caught off-guard, I love walking in it. Figured I would take this time to update and attempt to get back into the foodie world. I moved alone - no family, no friends, no cat. Murray stayed behind because he is so used to having someone home constantly, I don't know if he could live alone for 40+ hrs each week. Poor guy would lose his voice. Will I get a cat? I want to within the next few months, but we'll see what happens.



This is a picture of the outside of my apartment. Yes, it's an apartment. The bottom half of the house is mine. The top half is my landlord. Her and her family technically live in Maryland, but this is her farm, so they come up about every week or so for a few days. My neighbors are cows. I have human neighbors down the road, but it's not like I walk out and there they are. Definitely quiet and private.

As you can imagine, there are nights I get quite lonely. This is where I'm relying on food to bring me through. I'm in farm country, so plenty of fresh veggies and fruits, especially Chambersburg peaches. Even coworkers are bringing in a plethera of zucchini from their gardens. My vegetable drawer is bursting with goodies.

I'm only an hour from wine country too. Apparently, Gettysburg area is perfect for wineries. I found one that offers wine making and wine appreciation classes, so maybe I'll pick up a new hobby. One of them has a store in Chambersburg, so I bought some cider and dry white wine yesterday. I'm planning on making risotto because I bought Arborio rice right before I found out I was hired.

I do have an amazing kitchen. Brand new appliances. Even my pantry is great. You open it up, and there are shelves on the doors. Then there's this "rounder" in the middle, and you pull one side towards you, and there are more shelves behind it. Definitely a lot of room for ingredients! Once my place looks more homey, I'll post better pictures.

Anybody here have experience making one person meals? Maybe even two person meals because I can freeze leftovers or just eat it for work. I think it'll be a great challenge for me to blog about.

Foodie Friends In My Area?

It's almost the end of week two at my new job. I now have internet, cable, and blinds in my (brand new) apartment. I think I'm going to like it out here, but because I'm out here all alone - no family, no friends - it's going to be a rough few months. I did find someone who has a huge cookbook collection like me though! She even gave me the brilliant idea to buy an ottoman and store it with magazines. First I need to buy rugs and a couch.

Anyway, I was wondering if any foodies live in or around McConnellsburg, Chambersburg, maybe even Hagerstown, Gettysburg, or Harrisburg? Just looking for some foodie places, such as farmer's markets, restaurants, stores, wineries, breweries, etc. Maybe even a foodie friend?

Hiatus...Kinda...

I know I haven't been that great at updating my blog. Truth is, I have pictures and posts, just not the time. What makes it even harder is now that I moved, I currently don't have internet at my place. Right now I'm going to the library to check my email, so until I get things situated, I probably won't blog for awhile. Hopefully it won't be a long hiatus!