Buffalo Chicken Salad

Posted in Dental school, Entrees by Cavities & Cravings

Dental school continues to take over my life… the good news is, I graduate in approximately 287 days, 14 hours and 15 minutes. But, I mean, who’s counting? Last week I took part 2 of my national board exam. 2500 dollars and 3 days of testing later, lets just say it sucked. The light at the end of the tunnel is dim, but it’s there.

In between the craziness of school I’ve managed to squeeze in some great times with friends and family. Summertime is my favorite time of year. It’s the season of weddings, cookouts, festivals, pool days and all things warm and fuzzy… I am sad to realize that it is already over half way over. Where has the time gone?

So speaking of summer, I think this is an awesome light summer recipe. I am so excited to share this recipe because it is so simple and so delicious. I love that this recipe used greek yogurt as an alternative to mayo, which is in traditional chicken salads. I’m also pretty much obsessed with anything with Franks Red Hot in it, I think it temporarily satisfies my craving for chicken wings. And by temporarily I mean for like 5 minutes. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did.

Ingredients:

5 oz non-fat plain Greek yogurt
1/3 cup Franks Red Hot Wings Buffalo sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, shredded
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1/2 cup minced cilantro
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese ( I hate blue cheese… so I skipped this and a splash or ranch dressing instead!)

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt buffalo sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper.

2. Stir in chicken, celery, cilantro, and blue cheese.

3. Refrigerate until serving. I served mine in pita pockets. Delicious.

Recipe has been modified from: The Novice Chef

Other recipes I’ve made with Franks Red Hot:

12Dec2011

Molar Cupcakes

Posted in Dental school, Dessert by Cavities & Cravings

Although I’m done with classes, I just can’t seem to escape teeth!

My friend Nour, from school, came over today and we decided to tackle these tooth cupcakes. At first, I wasn’t so sure that we would be able to pull this one off. We were having trouble really molding the cupcakes at first, then we got the hang of it. They didn’t turn out so bad, they actually look like teeth! At the end of the day, our dental education seems to have paid off.

This isn’t so much of a recipe, but more of a “how to” for all you dental dorks out there that secretly want to try this!

What you’ll need:

12 baked yellow or white cupcakes
12 pink cupcakes liners
1 batch/container of buttercream of vanilla icing
1 batch of white fondant

Instructions:

1. Prepare 12 yellow or white cupcakes in pink cupcake liners. Use a box cake or your favorite from-scratch recipe. In order to make 6 molar cupcakes, you will need 12 baked cupcakes.

2. Break 6 of the cupcakes up in to crumbs in a large bowls. Mix these crumbs together with a few spoonfuls of icing, so that the crumbs are moldable but not too wet. This mixture will be used to form the cusps of the tooth.

3. Cover the 6 remaining cupcakes with a thin layer of frosting. Use the crumb/frosting mixture to form the cusps on top of the cupcakes. I used clean fingers and a flat/thin fondant tool to help shape the cusps. Get creative and use whatever you have to help you form the cusps!

4. Roll out the fondant to 1/4″ thickness. Drape the fondant over the cusps and cut off the excess fondant with a sharp knife. Tuck in the edges of the excess fondant using a knife or your fingers. Run your fingers over the cups to help the fondant form to the cusps.

30Aug2011

Creamy Chicken Risotto

Posted in Dental school, Entrees, Recipes by Cavities & Cravings

Goodbye summer quarter, hello summer break! Today we finished taking our last final and boy did it feel good. We only get a few weeks off, but I’ll take what I can get!

I was feeling lazy and didn’t really feel like cooking anything special. So I made this easy creamy chicken risotto recipe that I have made in the past. It’s a pretty simple recipe! I like it because you can add different vegetables that you have available in your fridge. Today I added mushrooms and carrots, but I’ve also done broccoli and zucchini in it in the past. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/2 small chopped onion
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut up in cubes
1 (10.75 ounce) can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
2 cups of chicken broth (I used water + chicken boulion cubes)
1 small carrot, chopped
1 cup mushrooms
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup uncooked rice*
Black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Heat oil in pan. Add garlic, onion, and chicken until browned.
Add cream of mushroom, broth, carrots, mushrooms, and cheese. Heat to boil. Stir in rice. Add black pepper to taste. Cover and cook on low for 25 minutes or until cooked through.
Dig in and enjoy!

*Just a heads up. When comparing white and brown rice, brown rice requires more water and longer cooking times because of their outer bran coating. If you notice that your risotto is drying out, then add a little water to moisten.