Sweet Thai Chili Chicken Salad with Mangos and Homemade Sesame Chips

So this is my first official post from my new home, all the way from New Orleans to Hell's Kitchen in New York City. Moving in was the most ridiculous process, considering within 15 minutes of driving in the city with my rental car I get towed while signing my lease and have to pay a $300 fine (because OF COURSE I just have $300 lying around. no problem!) But it's been a month since I've actually been able post anything recent because although my apartment is actually awesome (considering we are under our original budget AND have all new appliances) the lighting is crap. And it's also not like i'm going to cook dinner any time before the sun goes down because I get out of culinary school at 3 after being on my feet all day, and the last thing I want to do is start cooking immediately once I get home. 

But, Troy is in town for 10 whole days, which is so incredibly nice for obvious reasons. It also gives me someone to cook for and a reason to try things that are not just pasta with garlic and parmesan... I was also super excited when I was looking up chicken salad recipes (since we went to trader joe's and just got basic ingredients that I could make something out of later) and he saw a recipe for bbq thai chicken salad and got really excited about it. So obviously I got excited also, because it's something i've been wanting to try and make for a really long time now anyway. So the inspiration from the salad came from a blog called Half Baked Harvest. Her pictures are so beautiful. I can't wait for the day when mine start looking like that...aka BRIGHT. It's all about lighting fellas - and I just can't get the hang of it. Although I read some bloggers wake up at absurd hours just to get the best natural light, and I can't say that i'm THAT committed...  

Sweet and Spicy Chili Garlic Vinaigrette 
inspired by a recipe by Half Baked Harvest 


Ingredients

1 tablespoon of honey

1 tablespoon of agave

1 tablespoon of chili garlic sauce

1 tablespoon of rice vinegar

1 ½ tablespoons of hoisin 

1 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce

½ teaspoon of sugar

½ teaspoon lemon juice

1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard 

1 tablespoon olive oil
about a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger 

Mix that isn up in a bowl and voila 

For the Salad 

1 mango, cubed

½ medium cucumber, cubed 

2/3 cup roughly chopped dry roasted peanuts (unsalted)

about 6 large leaves of cabbage, chiffonade or roughly sliced into strips 

about 1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro

4 chopped green onion

Homemade Sesame Chips

Ingredients

2 medium white or wheat tortillas

1 tablespoon of hoisin 

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon soy sauce 

about ½ sesame seeds 

Cut out two tortillas with a biscuit/round cookie cutter. Mix together the hoisin, honey and soy sauce in a small bowl and brush on the tops of each gorilla round. Sprinkle lightly with sesame seeds and bake for 10 minutes at 350, rotating halfway through baking and checking frequently to make sure they don't burn.

Baked Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs or two breasts 

Leftovers sauce from the chips becomes the marinade for chicken

Preheat oven to 425°F

Bake for 15-20 minutes 

Honey Baked Chicken Thighs with Parmesan Crusted Asparagus

I have been so lazy recently. I just have zero motivation to do anything.  TV bores me, I’ve surfed every online shopping site I can think of (x2), and when I try to take a nap, I can’t sleep. It’s complete agony. Basically, I have the worst case of spring fever, and I have no idea what to do about it. Next weekend I plan on going shopping with some of my friends though at this incredible mall that’s 45 minutes away. It’s probably not that incredible compared to what a lot of people are used to, but considering locations like lakeside or even Alamance Crossing, this place is pretty nice. Not to mention its conveniently far from campus, has an really pretty outdoor component, a Panera, a movie theater and, most importantly, an Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom , Gap, J.Crew, and Banana.  It’s basically a little slice of heaven. Just thinking about it proves this is exactly what I need to get out of this funk.

I have been cooking quite a bit though which is good. It’s the only thing I can actually motivate myself to do. It’s the blogging part where I fall short. In the past few days I’ve made the NY times chocolate chip cookies, a delicious spaghetti squash (but the pictures didn’t look very appetizing so I probably won’t post them), banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, homemade waffles ,quesadillas, and the chicken and asparagus from this post. And now that I see the list, I can actually see how lazy I have been about the blogging. The problem is, the more I let it build up on my camera, the longer it takes to edit the pictures, and thus the more work I have for myself. Oh well! Hopefully over the summer I’ll be a lot better about it because I’ll have a little more free time….

Anyway, this chicken is SO GOOD! It’s so moist and tender and of course super easy to make. The hardest part is waiting 40 minutes for it to bake when you are already starving…Chicken thighs are also a lot cheaper than breasts and they are extremely versatile. I used one less than $5 package of thighs to make the quesadillas, the spaghetti squash and this dinner for both me AND my roommate. Pretty impressive – and surprisingly college friendly (I mean, Fontina, American and fresh parm in one recipe? Not exactly cheap to say the least…) 

Honey Baked Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

3 chicken thighs 

About a tablespoon and a half of honey

2 tablespoons margarine

Teaspoon of olive oil

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan

¼ cup Italian bread crumbs

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Pinch of salt 

Directions 

Preheat the oven to 400˚.

In a small bowl, melt the honey, margarine and olive oil in the microwave.

On a plate or in a cake pan, mix together the parmesan, bread crumbs, powder and salt. 

Dip the thigh into the honey mixture, and then dip into the drop, making sure it’s completely covered in seasoning. 

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is crusted brown and the chicken is nice and juicy. 

Parmesan Crusted Asparagus 

Ingredients 

Bushel of Asparagus  

about 2 teaspoons olive oil 

freshly grated Parmesan cheese   

about a tablespoon of bread crumbs 

Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions 

(oven should already be preheated to 400˚.) 

Drizzle olive oil on top of the asparagus and toss around to fully coat 

Sprinkle breadcrumbs to your preference and toss around to fully coat. Sprinkle the freshly grated Parmesan to your preference.