Tarragon Chicken Salad Sandwich

It's been an eventful few weeks, settling into beautiful Bellingham.

Riding along the waterfront on the South Bay Trail

Flights and foodies at Bellingham's newest favorite brewery, Aslan.

Stop, drop, and asana. Dhanurasana on a wheel.

I've also had a lot of quality time in the kitchen. Getting strategic with my budget means meal planning. I have some wonderful friends who have been at this whole meal planning thing for some time, that like to impart their knowledge. My mother likes to impart her knowledge of how to stretch a budget. So between the two, I'm making leaps and bounds both with my creativity in the kitchen and in managing my check book.

This recipe was born after having leftover roasted chicken. I had cooked up some polenta, with sauteed mushrooms, I topped with a fried egg and wedge of cream brie.

The next day, I channeled my mom (I can picture her in the kitchen tearing into the remains of a roasted chicken now!) and got down and dirty, tearing all of the meat away, to make this delicious Tarragon Chicken Salad.

Much like, a traditional chicken salad, but with a twist, and cleaned up a little bit. I used a creamy full fat Greek yogurt in place of mayonnaise. Fennel takes the place of celery for a crunch, and tarragon for a uniquely fresh taste. I served the sandwiches on toasted Breadfarm bread, with gouda cheese and thinly sliced green apple.

I stuffed this chicken salad into romaine lettuce leaves the next day for lunch. Three meals knocked out of the park this week! BOOM!

I hope you enjoy this alternative salad as much as I did! I love a good new school take on an old school classic. Happy summer days, friends. Soak up this sunshine!

Tarragon Chicken Salad Sandwiches serves 4

fennel, green apple, gouda

•  2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1/3 cup fennel bulb, finely diced
• 1/2 small red onion, finely diced
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh tarragon
• 2/3 cup full-fat Greek yogurt (I use Greek Gods brand, as it has a rich creamy taste, not sour) 
• zest and juice of 1/2 lemon (1-2 Tbsp)
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard 
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 slices good whole grain bread
• 1 green apple, thinly sliced
• 4 oz gouda cheese, thinly sliced
• butter or olive oil for toasting bread

 Method

Heat a pan over medium-high heat.

Combine chicken, fennel, red onion, tarragon, Greek yogurt, and mustard in a large bowl. Gently stir to combine fully. Add salt and pepper to taste. Careful not to over-salt, as the taste will improve after the salad has time to rest in the fridge. The cheese also adds saltiness.

Melt a small pat of butter, or drizzle of olive oil into the pan and wirl to fully coat. Place bread in the pan, work in batches, and toast on one side for 1-2 minutes until browned. Flip, and add sliced gouda to one side. While the other side toasts, let gouda melt. 

Remove bread from pan, spoon chicken salad onto the slice of toast without cheese.

 Arrange sliced of green apple over cheese, sandwich both sides together and enjoy!

Carrot Bread for Vata Season

Non-stop busy days?

Rushing from one place to the next?

Offering support to the people in your life?

Not a lot of time left for yourself or to b r e a t h ?

I feel you.

Late fall/winter is the season of Vata (take your dosha quiz and read more on ayurvedic healing here). This season brings out qualities such as cold, dry, airy, clear, and moving. Change is in the wind, transformational shifts can occur.

When an excess of the aforementioned qualities are present, we can begin to feel out of balance. This might show up in the way of insomnia, dry skin, constipation, anxiety or depression. So how do you get yourself back into balance in the midst of this bustling season?

Balance/Pacify Vata

• Eat warm foods, fresh, well-cooked foods. Avoid cold salads, dry, and uncooked foods. To pacify the qualities of cold, dry, and airy, eat foods that oppose these qualities; think warm, thick, liquid qualities.
• Drink warm water or tea throughout the day to stay hydrated. I like to slice fresh ginger rounds, toss them into a mug with cardamom pods, pour some hot water over the top and let it steep for a few minutes. These spices have a warming effect on the body too!
• Eat more foods with sweet, sour, or salty properties, less astringent, bitter, and pungent foods. Does this make that bucket of Halloween candy free game? Probs not.
• Be at peace with eating a little bit more. Instinctively, this is our body's time to store fat for the cold winter ahead, to choose more hearty foods. Work with nature rather than against. Eat in moderation, honor your body by honoring the food you take into it and the energy that it provides you.

This bread is adapted from the Xinalani Retreat, a yoga retreat center in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. This recipe was featured in Yoga Journal Magazine a few years ago. This remains to be my favorite recipe for cakebread. Think like zucchini or banana bread, but with carrots Studded beautifully with pecans and raisins.

 

I've been making this bread regularly this season. I'll make a full loaf, take half for my long weekends of yoga teacher training, and freezing the other half for later use. This bread make a fantastic, easily packed snack. Warm a slice with a smear of ghee or coconut oil for breakfast, serve with some fresh fruit. Sometimes I'll crumble it over Greek yogurt with extra raisins and pecans. Ah-mazing!

This is also a fabulous base recipe that you can further adapt. Sometimes I'll omit the turmeric and sub in zucchini, walnuts, and currants for carrot, pecans, and raisins. Try any combination that strikes you!

Carrot Bread makes 1 standard loaf, 10 slices

pecans, raisins, coconut oil, turmeric

• 2.5 cups spelt or other whole grain flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup raw cane sugar
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
•  1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk of your choice

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and lightly grease a standard 9-inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, turmeric, baking soda, and sea salt.

In a large bowl, mix shredded carrots, eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla extract. Fold dry ingredients into wet until well blended. Gently fold in pecans, raisins, and milk. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted through the middle comes out clean.

Enjoy this bread with a strong cup of french press coffee, chai tea, and great company!

I love to hear from you, how do you find balance amongst the change of fall/winter?

What are some of your favorite fall recipes?

Spelt Bread On A Rainy Saturday

Such a strange day. I'm sitting inside my house in Villaverde, and the rain is pounding violently against the window. We have some of the strongest winds in Villaverde, we're situated about 15 miles inland, up in the hills amongst two old volcanoes. The whole island gets wind coming from the north east, but being this much higher than sea level, we get a bit more.  When it's beautiful and sunny the wind is highly appreciated, as it tempers the heat. But right now it is absolutely treacherous. I've never seen weather like this here.

Apart from the weather, my day has been fantastic. Since arriving Tuesday evening, I've worked close to twenty five hours in the kitchen. I've been coming in for split shifts to try and get as much time in and learn my way around again. In the morning we prepare brunch for guests.

Brunch buffet, insert homemade bread on the cutting board

This morning's menu included homemade muesli, granola, homemade yoghurt, 

Muesli, granola, yoghurt, honey, and soy milk on the breakfast buffet

 fruit salad of pear, banana, papaya, persimmon, and kiwi, homemade muesli bread served with, you guessed it, homemade marmalade 

Rolling out the dough for muesli bread

I think we can just assume from here on out that everything is made in house- it's fantastic) and ghee, as well as a platter of crudites with spicy cannellini bean dip.

Avocado, cucumber, red bell pepper, carrot served with spicy cannellini bean dip

 After brunch, we start preparing the evening meal. There are four evening meals each week. Saturday's are change over day at the Villa, so a whole new group will be joining us this evening. They're in for a soul warming Indian inspired dinner. Perfect for this chilly day.

Tonight's Menu

Puy Dal lentils

Brown rice

Indian spiced cauliflower

Carrot salad with apple, mint and sesame seeds

Fresh baked bread with ghee

Marinated courgette 

Vegan aioli 

Baked bananas and dark chocolate (using bananas picked from the tree outside!)

I spent my morning chopping and sauteing onions for the cauliflower dish- I've never cried so much in my life, and learning how to make gluten free bread using rice and buckwheat flour. My efforts are slow-rising in the fridge now, this allows for the yeast in the dough to naturally ferment, or pre-digest. When the yeast has ample time to ferment, it releases nutrients into the bread and breaks down what our body alone can not. Many of us eat store bought bread, which is not prepared in such a way. Bread that is poorly made will be poorly digested. Wheat gluten absolutely MUST be fermented for human consumption, when done so, it contains a powerful blend of 18 amino acids, complex carbohydrates, and necessary vitamins and minerals such as B vitamins, iron, zinc, magnesium, and selenium. Who knew bread could hold such a powerhouse of nutrients? 

When improperly prepared, wheat gluten is one of the most highly allergenic foods we can consume. It would be hard not to notice the explosion of gluten allergies in recent years. You now see gluten-free (GF) labeling on everything from restaurant menus to ketchup (not that tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or salt contain gluten, but thank you new food labeling laws). If you are intolerant of commercially made breads, and dry rice bread isn't cuttin' it for you, you may want to try to make a loaf of your own bread. You can use any flour that you like, if you tend towards gluten intolerance, I would recommend experimenting with spelt flour. Spelt is an ancient strain of wheat from Europe, it has not been hybridized for high rates of market production and consumption like common wheat. The gluten in pelt is water soluble, and it is easily digested, which also allows your body to absorb the most nutrients. Below is a very simple recipe for bread, one that you can dress up in any way you choose. Here at the retreat we make a number of different loaves, if we have leftover porridge we add dried fruit, nuts, and seeds to make muesli bread, you can also add and herbs of your choosing. The options are infinite!

Basic Spelt Bread makes 1 loaf

8 cups spelt flour

2 tsp sea salt

1.5 c warm water

1-2 Tbsp honey

15 g fresh yeast

mixed seeds (flax, sesame, poppy, sunflower, etc.)

Directions

1. Add the warm water, yeast,  honey, and sea salt into a large mixing bowl, leaving enough room for the dough to rise substantially, stir to dissolve honey and yeast.
2. As you stir, pour in flour to slowly incorporate. You don't have to worry about over mixing the dough, spelt just breaks down further when stirred, unlike wheat which becomes tougher. 
3. When fully combined, cover the bowl with a towel and let it sit in the fridge overnight. The dough can truly sit there for over a day, so don't sweat it, more fermentation for you.
4. The next day, uncover your dough, pull it out onto a floured surface and knead it a little until it feels pliable and uniform in texture. Place a piece of parchment paper in your desired baking tin, and press the dough into it, filling in the corners. Brush the top of the loaf with water (to make the seeds stick) and sprinkle them generously on top of your bread.
5. Place this tin into a 150 F oven for an hour or so, the time does not have to be exact, it's simply an opportunity for the bread to rise further in a warmer environment. 
6. Turn the oven on to 350 F and bake the bread for 45-60 minutes, depending on your oven. To check if the bread is done, turn it on it's side and knock against the bottom, it should sound hollow. If you're still unsure, simply slice a little and see if the dough is still sticky.

Muesli bread crusted with sunflower and flax seeds

I think spelt bread is perfect with a little coconut oil and a drizzle of honey, it's also moist enough to use for sandwiches or to accompany soup. You can do no wrong! 

Cheers!