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FOOD + DRINK

A BETTER CHICKEN SANDWICH RECIPE

by Michel Van Devender

It’s a new week and we’re coming off of a beautiful May weekend. The weather in Charlotte has been a little on the cooler side with zero humidity… highs in the 70s and lows in the high 50s, low 60s, perfect in my opinion. We try to savor every moment of the mild spring weather as it usually turns hot and humid quickly here in the south.

I haven’t posted many recipes lately. Honestly, I feel like I lost my cooking mojo during the pandemic. We did have our April birthday palooza cake baking blitz, but otherwise, my love for cooking has been on a hiatus. I’m trapped in a motivation lull. With everyone home more (perhaps too much), I’ve gotten lost in the kitchen grind of breakfast, lunch and dinner, breakfast, lunch and dinner, breakfast, lunch and dinner… add in the snacks and all of the clean up and you get the idea. Cooking and food prep has turned into a total grind and sucked the joy out of what I usually enjoy. And if one more person asks me, “What’s for dinner?” – like I’m the primary and only food source, I may seriously move. So, I’ve taken a much needed break from my head chef position in the Van Devender house. In an effort to keep everyone fed, we’ve tried Hungry Root, Blue Apron and The Green Chef. And by the way, those get old fast. We’ve gotten more take out. We’ve gotten more precooked meals. We’ve eaten more convenience foods and thrown together meals. My husband has stepped up on the cooking front. We’ve made it work, and it’s all good. 

My youngest son has been requesting these chicken sandwiches for months now. We used to make them pretty frequently to satisfy our fried chicken sandwich cravings (and that’s a serious thing in our house). His cute little face got to me, and I finally had to say yes! This is a recipe from the Food Babe and is her cleaner version of the Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. They can be made gluten and/or dairy free. These get five stars in our house and hope they will be a winner for you too. Crossing my fingers for a big beam of renewed inspiration and creativity in our kitchen, or maybe it will just come in the form of special requests from cute little faces!

🖤💙,

FRIED CHICKEN SANDWICH

Print
Serves: 6
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • 3 chicken breasts, split (2 lbs.)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup milk of your choice
  • 1 cup pickle juice
  • 12 pickle slices
  • 3 tablespoons white or apple cider vinegar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 cup flour of your choice
  • 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • olive oil or coconut oil
  • 4 hamburger buns of your choice
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Instructions

  1. Split chicken breasts in half and pound each with meat mallet.
  2. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt, pepper and paprika (1/2 teaspoon spread out over the 6).
  3. Add pickle juice and marinade in refrigerator overnight or for at least 4 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  5. Generously spray or coat wire rack of cooking pan with olive oil or coconut oil.
  6. Place pickle slices in vinegar and allow to sit while preparing  chicken.
  7. In shallow dish, combine and stir flour, powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon paprika, dry mustard and baking soda. Set aside.
  8. In another shallow dish, whisk together egg and almond milk.
  9. Remove chicken from marinade.
  10. Dip one piece of chicken at a time in milk bath, ensuring both sides are wet.
  11. Dredge each piece of chicken in flour mixture, coating both sides. Place chicken pieces on wire rack with pan on bottom.
  12. Spray both sides of flour coated chicken with olive or coconut oil.
  13. Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes. Turn each piece of chicken and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. Chicken should be completely cooked and crispy after 25-30 minutes.
  14. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
  15. While chicken rests, butter buns and toast in the oven for 3-5 minutes.
  16. Take buns out of oven and place a piece of chicken on each.
  17. Top with pickles, mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato or any other toppings you like.
  18. Enjoy!

Notes

We like to serve with broccoli or some other vegetable. Regular or sweet potato fries are a nice addition too. In true Chick-fil-A style, we also sometimes make coleslaw as a side.

The cute little face... He finally got his homemade chicken sandwich!
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FOOD + DRINK

HOW TO MAKE THE TASTIEST GAZPACHO

by Michel Van Devender

Nothing says summer quite like fresh produce, especially tomatoes. From heirloom to cherry to Roma, they are all welcome in our kitchen and on our meal plates. I’ve had a long-term love affair with gazpacho for most of my adult life. During the summer months, there’s something so refreshing and satisfying about a cold soup packed with many of the veggies from our little beloved urban backyard garden, combined with other ingredients most people have stocked in their pantries. It’s basic chopping and super easy to prepare. Since we’re packing to move and working on the construction of our new house, quick, simple and healthy recipes are my jam. And, the fact you don’t even have to turn on the stove to cook this is a big bonus in my book, especially when you’re experiencing a July heat wave in the south. So, when you have a surplus of those tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, you’ll have a perfect way to use them. Well, and then there’s homemade salsa 🙂 … I’ll be sharing one of my favorite salsa recipes later this summer. Stay tuned, safe + well!

🖤💙,

Summer Gazpacho

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Serves: 10-12 Prep Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds fresh tomatoes, diced (some people peel and remove seeds, I do not)
  • 32-48 ounces tomato or veggie juice (I used Trader Joe’s Low Sodium Garden Patch)
  • 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3/4 cup red onion, chopped
  • 1 yellow pepper, chopped
  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • 2 -3 cucumbers, chopped
  • 4 tablespoons red wine or balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 6 dashes your favorite hot sauce
  • 3 teaspoons kosher salt
  • pepper to taste
  • fresh basil for garnish

Instructions

1. Combine all veggies in large, deep bowl.

2. Scoop roughly 1/2 –  2/3 of bowl into food processor and pulse until desired consistency. If you want chunkier gazpacho you’ll do less. If you want less chunky version, you’ll do more. 

3. Return the processed veggies to bowl. Add remainder of ingredients and stir. You may need to add more vinegar or salt and pepper based on taste.

4. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight for most flavorful.

5. Top with fresh basil and serve with crusty bread (or sans bread if you’re lower carb).

 

 

 

 

 

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FOOD + DRINK

THE BEST LEMON POUND CAKE, LIKE EVER

by Michel Van Devender

This is the MOST requested cake in our house, and hands down, the best lemon pound cake recipe I’ve found. Two of my sons have birthdays a day apart in April, and they both request this for their birthdays, every year! Yes, I end up making two, but try to spread them out over the course of a couple of weeks so we can extend the cake joy. For me, the best desserts are chocolate, but I love this cake so much. The recipe is from Julia over at Dozen Flours . I think the reason it is sooo good is because there’s no lemon extract, just straight up lemons. For this reason, the cake requires several extra steps including zesting and separating the lemon segments. It is a bit tedious and time consuming, but in my opinion, well worth it. Hope you enjoy!

🖤💙,

 

The Best Lemon Pound Cake

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Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • 4 – 5 small lemons, organic if possible (smaller lemons typically have more juice + flavor)
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups superfine sugar (also called caster or baker’s sugar)
  • 6 eggs, warmed for 10 minutes in hot tap water
  • 1 cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
  • Glaze:
  • 1 – 2 lemons
  • 1 – 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a tube cake pan, including center column. Set aside.
  2.  Thoroughly clean and dry lemons. Zest lemons in a bowl (large enough to add sugar later), avoiding the pith (the white part below yellow) as it will add bitterness to the cake. I usually do 5 lemons, although the original recipe calls for 4. Set aside.
  3.  Using lemons you zested, cut off top and bottom of each lemon. Over a bowl, separate lemon segments from membranes, capturing any juice in bowl. This can be done with a sharp knife, or I sometimes find it easier to use my hands. If you can recruit your significant other to do this for you, bonus! The goal is to collect as many lemon segment clusters as possible. There will be some juice, but not a lot. You can look at the original recipe, linked above,  for more details on this process as it is outlined with step-by-step instructions and also provides links to tutorials. 
  4. Add sugar to bowl with lemon zest. Combine and work together with your fingers or a fork until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Set aside.
  5. Sift flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
  6. Using a stand or hand mixer, beat butter for 2 minutes at medium speed. Add half the sugar and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Add the other half of the sugar and beat for 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl a couple of times.
  7. Remove eggs from warm water. Add one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, beating until just combined.
  8. On the lowest setting, beat in the dry ingredients followed by the sour cream.
  9. Gently fold in the lemon segments and juice.
  10. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake cake for approximately 90 minutes, checking every 10-15 minutes after 60 minutes. When done, a cake tester inserted into the center should come out clean.
  11. Remove cake from oven and cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes. 
  12. After cake has cooled slightly, carefully remove from pan and place on a plate.
  13. While cake continues to cool, juice 2 lemons. Add powered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, mixing with a whisk, until desired consistency. If glaze is too runny, add more powdered sugar. If too thick, add more lemon juice. 
  14. Drizzle glaze over top and sides of cake.
  15. Serve! We sometimes eat warm because my boys cannot wait until cake has cooled, although I prefer the taste of the cooled cake. 

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FOOD + DRINK

ENCHILADA WITH CASHEW CHEESE SAUCE

by Michel Van Devender

In our house, Mexican cuisine is by far the most requested and beloved. We jokingly say it is one of our major food groups! Over the past year, between several of our family members, we’ve identified multiple food allergies so try to avoid dairy and gluten as much as possible. Our typical go-to Mexican dishes have been more difficult to prepare and enjoy as many of our favorites are covered in, you guessed it, cheese. On top of the food allergies, my eight year old son is the pickiest eater, EVER! Preparing nutritious, allergy-friendly meals that also happily satisfy everyone’s palette can be a real chore and challenge. How many of you can relate? I’m forever experimenting in the kitchen, combining and modifying recipes and ingredients, in hopes of finding yummy entrees that can be made sans gluten and dairy, especially Mexican ones. These enchiladas are hands down my cute, little picky eater’s favorite dinner. And, this version is dairy free and can easily be made gluten free too. It may be hard to imagine enchiladas without the cheese, but I promise you will not miss the dairy with the delicious, creamy cashew queso. This is a recipe that can be made to accommodate your family and your specific diet needs and lifestyle preferences. For the version pictured, I used BBQ pork tenderloin we had left over from dinner the night before. You could also use chicken or steak OR skip the meat altogether and pack the enchiladas with beans and vegetables (like onions, peppers and zucchini). Even when I use meat, I usually add fresh spinach, black beans or corn depending on what we have in our refrigerator, freezer or pantry. You really cannot go wrong with any combination of protein and/or vegetables. Hope you enjoy!

🖤💙,

Enchiladas Verde With Cashew Queso

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Serves: 6-8 Prep Time: Cooking Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • ENCHILADAS:
  • 3 cups shredded pork, chicken or beef
  • 3/4 – 1 cup black beans, corn, spinach or other veggie (anything you might want to add), optional
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 cups salsa verde
  • 12 tortillas (I use gluten free Siete)
  • cashew queso (recipe below)
  • CASHEW QUESO:
  • 1 1/2 cups raw cashews
  • 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 3/4 cups water
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1 cup salsa verde
  • TOPPINGS (OPTIONAL):
  • cilantro, chopped
  • red onion, chopped
  • avocado, chopped
  • fresh tomato salsa

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9 X 13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, place your choice of meat and any other ingredients you’d like in the enchiladas (veggies, black beans, corn, etc.). Add the paprika, cumin, dried oregano, black pepper and 1/2 cup salsa verde. Stir to combine.

3. If you’re using gluten free tortillas, place them on a plate and microwave for 30 seconds to warm. This will soften them so they’re easier to roll and less likely to break. If you’re using flour tortillas, you can skip this step.

4. Working one at a time, add a small amount of the enchilada filling to each tortilla. Roll and place seam side down in the baking dish. Continue until all of the tortillas are filled and the baking dish is full. Set aside.

5. Using  a clean coffee or nut grinder, working in three equal batches, grind the cashews into a soft powder. Avoid over grinding as it will eventually turn into cashew butter.

6. Into a medium sauce pan – cashew powder, nutritional yeast, salt, paprika, cumin and garlic powder. Whisk until the dry ingredients are blended. Slowly add the water and whisk until fully combined. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until bubbly and thickened. It only takes several minutes. 

7. Remove the cashew queso from the heat, add the dry mustard and allow to slightly cool. Add 1 cup of salsa verde and stir until well combined.

8. Pour the queso mixture over the prepared enchiladas and spread with a spatula to evenly coat.

9. Bake for 25-30 minutes, making sure the enchiladas are hot all the way through and bubbly. Depending on your oven, you may need to cover with foil for the first half of the baking time so the top doesn’t overcook.

10. Serve with your choice of toppings.

Notes

Making the queso is an extra step. If you’d prefer to save time and purchase your queso, the Siete brand makes a “Spicy Blanco” that can be found at Whole Foods.

 

 

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