Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad Dressing

Z. and I occasionally receive gift cards to various restaurants. One of these restaurants is Applebee's. I always get their Oriental Chicken Salad. A base of lettuce is topped with cabbage, crispy noodles, sliced almonds, chicken, and their Oriental Vinaigrette.

The vinaigrette is sweet and sour with a hint of toasted sesame. I did a little research and found a blog dedicated to copying popular restaurant recipes: CopyKat. Here is their recipe for Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad Dressing.

The ingredients (from top moving clockwise): mayonnaise, rice vinegar, arrowroot powder, salt, toasted sesame oil, Dijon mustard, sugar, and canola oil.

I made a couple of changes to suit my taste and pantry. I used arrowroot powder in my second batch of this dressing to try to make it slightly thicker. I would suggest leaving it out. I substituted canola oil for the refined sesame oil. I love the flavor of toasted sesame oil. I started with 1/8 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil then would taste the dressing and keep adding a drizzle at a time until I had the flavor I was looking for. The last change I made was to add a pinch of salt. Always season your food and enjoy!

My Attempt at Yumm Sauce

 Reader beware: Yumm Sauce can be addictive. Proceed with caution.

Yumm sauce is the most famous creation from Cafe Yumm, a low-key casual restaurant founded in Eugene, Oregon. Cafe Yumm serves rice bowls which they call Yumm! Bowls, salads, and sandwiches all made with very fresh ingredients.Yumm Bowls are super easy to put together: rice, black beans, Yumm sauce, cheese (Tillamook cheddar is best!), fresh tomato, avocado, sour cream, black olives, and cilantro.

The key to its rice bowls is most definitely their Yumm Sauce. You can purchase the sauce at the cafe or at a few different grocery stores in Oregon but it is expensive, around $5 for a jar. While not exactly the same as Yumm sauce, this recipe comes awfully close. As far as homemade meals go, the ingredients for Yumm sauce are more expensive than many recipes but it's delicious and stretches pretty far. We had Yumm bowls for a few days in a row and still had a bit of sauce leftover.

I have never made my Yumm sauce with soybeans. I didn't know you were able to get them until recently. I have always used soy nuts which you can get at many supermarkets (probably even those in Wyoming). While not necessary, I like to soak them first then drain the excess water. This makes for a smoother sauce. Enjoy!

Copycat Yumm Sauce

by Ace Nation

Keywords: blender sauce

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Ingredients

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup cooked garbanzo beans
• 1/4 cup, cooked soy beans (not edamame!), or 1/4 soy nuts soaked in water then drained
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/8-1/2 cup lemon juice, depending how consistency and how tangy you would like the sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2-1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a blender or small food processor. Blend until ingredients are ground. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the canola oil. Continue to blend until smooth. Taste to adjust salt if needed. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for an hour to overnight to let the flavors combine. Enjoy!

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Cilantro Aioli

Even after my Cilantro Pistou recipe, I still had plenty of cilantro left to play with. I definitely feel I was channeling Bobby Flay with this one. Not surprisingly, Cilantro Aioli makes a great accompaniment to brown food. The mayo provided a creamy richness that was brightened by cilantro and lime juice provided zip. This sauce provided a delicious balance to roasted potatoes and Tuna Cakes in my case.

Future recipe already in mind: Cilantro Aioli as the inspiration and basis for a salad dressing.

Cilantro Aioli

by Ace Nation

Keywords: blender sauce cilantro

6043703

Ingredients (about 1/2 cup)

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 2 teaspoons lime juice, more or less needed depending on desired consistency
• Kosher salt, to taste

Instructions

Blend all ingredients in a small food processor until smooth. Enjoy!

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Cilantro Pistou

Look through a few French or French cuisine-inspired cookbooks and you will most likely come across soupe au pistou, a vegetable soup garnished with pistou. I think of pistou as Provence’s version of pesto without the cheese. You blend basil with garlic, olive oil, and a little salt until smooth, occasionally with lemon juice or zest. I have also seen recipes that substitute parsley for the basil.

Root Vegetable and Quinoa Soup

In the winter months, I rely on cilantro as a cheap way to brighten up heavy, earthy meals. I will often chop it and garnish fajitas, dal, or curries with the herb. When I made my Root Vegetable and Quinoa Soup, I thought about the soupe au pistou recipes I have read. Why not use one of my favorite herbs, cilantro, making a deliciously earthy soup a little brighter and more interesting?

Bon appetit!

I imagined my version of pistou not only with the herbal grassiness of cilantro but also with the zip of lime. I loved my Cilantro Pistou so much in vegetable soup that I ended up using the whole batch of Cilantro Pistou with one pot of soup. You can make your pistou as thick or thin as you like. Since I use my pistou in soup or as a dressing, I like it on the thinner side. I accomplish this by adding a little extra extra virgin olive oil. I love the brightness of the herb with the decadence of the olive oil.

My success with the Cilantro Pistou inspired me to try a parsley pistou. In this case I used the pistou as a dressing for my Barley and Lentil Mujadara Salad (recipe coming soon!). Either the Cilantro Pistou or Parlsey Pistou could transform a simple green salad or tomato salad to a luxurious side dish. A future recipe I have in mind is a sandwich made from leftover roasted chicken on a Market of Choice ciabatta roll, with beautiful locally grown tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and Parlsey Pistou. Would some please buy the ingredients for me? I promise I will really…enjoy!

Cilantro Pistou

by Ace Nation

Keywords: raw gluten-free vegan cilantro

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Ingredients (about 1 cup)

• 1/2 bunch cilantro, about one cup loosely packed
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, more or less as needed
• about 2 teaspoons lime juice, more less according to taste
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Dash of cayenne pepper, if desired

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a small blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Adjust the amounts of olive oil, lime juice, and kosher salt to taste. Enjoy!

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Roasted Cauliflower Béchamel Sauce

Inspiration: a head of cauliflower that cost $0.68/pound

I had a head of cauliflower and wanted to do something new. I started with a craving for roasted cauliflower with something creamy. I considered making a creamy roasted cauliflower soup. But I remembered recently discussing how soup is my comfort zone when trying new recipes. I began looking through recipes for inspiration. I kept finding suggestions for roasted cauliflower with a side of  béchamel for dipping or combined and baked as a gratin. Béchamel is super easy to make and the leftover sauce can be used in a number of ways. Here is my first adventure making bechamel sauce if you are curious.

I thought of a way I could take this traditional dish a step further: combine the roasted cauliflower and the béchamel. I began by roasting cauliflower and garlic. This dish would be much quicker if you just happened to have some leftover roasted cauliflower but is totally worth the time. Once cooled, I set aside 1 cup of the vegetable mixture. I placed the vegetables in a small food processor and added enough milk to process the mixture until smooth as possible. This is what I added to my basic béchamel recipe.

This sauce is delicious! The roasted veggies add a mellow nuttiness to the sauce. I love the combination of cauliflower and chickpeas so I served the sauce over chickpeas and brown rice with the remaining roasted cauliflower. What a yummy, satisfying meal. Enjoy!

P.S. In my next post, I will share how used some of my leftover Roasted Cauliflower Béchamel Sauce.

Roasted Cauliflower  Béchamel Sauce with Chickpeas and Brown Rice, serves 2

For the  béchamel:

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Dash or two of cayenne pepper

For the roasted cauliflower with chickpeas and brown rice:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 15 ounce can chickpeas (about 1 cup cooked), rinsed and drained
1/2 head cauliflower, chopped into bite-size pieces
4-6 (or more) cloves garlic
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, cauliflower, garlic, salt, and pepper. Evenly spread the mixture on a baking sheet.
3. Bake until the cauliflower is lightly browned and tender, stirring occasionally through the cooking process, about 20-25 minutes.
4. When cool, place about 1 cup of the vegetable mixture in a food processor. Add enough milk, 1-2 tablespoons, to puree until smooth. Set aside.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the brown rice and chickpeas by cooking the chickpeas with the rice. If using canned beans or precooked beans, no need to adjust the liquid to rice ratio.
6. To prepare the béchamel sauce, begin by melting butter in a large sauce pan. Add flour and mix with butter. Stir frequently. Cook until mixture is the color of sand, depending on temperature of pan, may take 4-10 minutes.
7. Add milk and pureed roasted cauliflower mixture to pan, stir until incorporated. Slowly bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once sauce has reached a boil, turn heat down and simmer gently for 10 minutes.. Season with salt and black pepper.
8.  To reheat the remaining roasted cauliflower, add the cauliflower to the rice/bean mixture after the rice has cooked and is sitting with the lid on the pot the warm burner.
9. Serve the béchamel sauce over the rice, chickpeas, and roasted cauliflower.

Z.'s Red Sauce

Red sauce, marinara, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce...whatever you call it, the homemade stuff is easy and delicious. Does anyone else call it spaghetti sauce? My family always has. Why would we eat anything but spaghetti? Whenever we mixed all the pasta (and we did not call it pasta, they were noodles) and sauce together before serving, like one of my grandma's liked to do, we called it goulash. We were in the middle of Wyoming after all; we had no idea.

Since Z. hates tomatoes, he had never tried tomato sauce until a year or so ago. I had accumulated a few jars of marinara sauce due to some expert couponing. Z. was willing to try a taste of pasta and tomato sauce. He loved it! After going through our stock, we decided to try making it ourselves. I will admit, I have actually only made our red sauce once...the first time. The rest of the time, I have been Z.'s assistant. Turns out, he makes an awesome red sauce!

We like ours rather chunky, so we use a whole onion, diced rather finely. The trick here, is to let the onions get some color on them. The other important note is to let the sauce gently simmer for some time. If we wanted to have red sauce ready right away, we would omit the water. The little bit of water we add lets the sauce simmer for as long as we like without evaporating away. Another tip...DO NOT SKIMP ON THE OLIVE OIL. Use a little more than you would than normal while sauteing the onions or add a little drizzle before serving. Enjoy!

P.S. This freezes great. Our preferred freezing mode for everything is to place it in a freezer bag, get out as much air as possible, and place it in the freezer as flat as possible. To thaw, I run some hot water over the bag and once the contents are pliable enough, I place them in a small pan on the stove to heat up.

Z.'s red sauce gently simmering away

Hillshire Farms sausage links that have been sliced and are browning for pasta with red sauce!

Z.'s Red Sauce, serves 2-3

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1 small onion, finely diced
6 cloves garlic (more or less according to taste), minced
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4-1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
kosher salt and black pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low. Add onions and sugar. Allow to cook until soft and beginning to caramelize, stirring occasionally, about 25-30 minutes.
2. Add garlic and a little more olive oil if needed. Season with black pepper and chili flakes. Cook until garlic is soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Lower heat to medium-low if it is not already set there. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and season with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and Italian seasoning. Let gently simmer for 20-25 minutes. Before serving, taste and adjust salt if necessary.

Variations:

• Ground meat seems pretty traditional. Sauteed chicken breast is also tasty with pasta and red sauce.
• We like to slice sausage links - like kielbasa - and brown it and serve it with our pasta and red sauce.
• Add 1/2 diced bell pepper, any color, to add some vegetables and delicious flavor.
• Beans are a great addition. Kidney beans when allowed to simmer in the sauce for a few minutes, turn surprisingly silky. I had red sauce with kidney beans over leftover polenta loaf. See!

Dinner for One: Pasta with Béchamel Sauce and Spring Vegetables (or Baked Pasta Primavera)

Béchamel sauce sounds much classier than country gravy. Béchamel is just like Grandma's milk (or country) gravy. Instead of using sausage fat or shortening, I am using butter as my fat.

I have a running list of dishes and recipes that I feel I should try at least once. Béchamel sauce was on that list. I do not know why it took me so long to try making the sauce; I was slightly intimidated, no logical reason why. I decided to try making béchamel while Z. was gone. One of the worst feelings in the world is when I make something I am super excited about and it has luke-warm reviews. I have hyped up the possibilities of béchamel to Z. for ages now, so if he did not like the dish, I would probably cry.

I did it! I made béchamel sauce!!!

I wanted to share a few of the things I learned while making béchamel sauce. Some recipes, like Anne Burrell's, said you could use the sauce after bringing it to a boil. Others, like Mario Batali's recipe, said to simmer the sauce for ten minutes. I made the sauce first then cooked my vegetables so I could the sauce my full attention. I am not very good at timing in cooking. Z., on the other hand, can have all the components of a meal all ready at the same time.

Also, I baked my pasta. I really wanted a nice brown top. This sauce would be wonderful right out of the pot. I thought since I was rationing the cheese, the best use of the cheese would be to sprinkle it on top and bake until golden and bubbly. This is a thick béchamel sauce, please feel free to add more milk to adjust to your taste. Enjoy!

Variations:

• Add grilled or sauteed chicken when mixing pasta, vegetables, and sauce.
• Instead of sauteing the onion and zucchini, cut onion into slices and zucchini into horizontal slices, brush with canola oil, and grill. Then, dice and add to pasta and béchamel mixture. 
• Add shredded cheese to béchamel sauce and use macaroni pasta for a grown-up version of macaroni and cheese.
• Adding grated nutmeg to béchamel sauce is very traditional.

Pasta with Béchamel Sauce and Spring Vegetables, serves 2-3

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups penne pasta or 2 1/2 servings of pasta of choice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 small yellow or white onion, diced finely
1 small zucchini, diced
approximately 3 cups of baby spinach, washed and dried
4 cloves garlic, more or less according to taste, minced finely
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
red chili flakes, optional

1.  To make the béchamel sauce, begin by melting butter in a large sauce pan. Add flour and mix with butter. Stir frequently. Cook until mixture is the color of sand, depending on temperature of pan, may take 4-10 minutes.
2. Add milk and stir until incorporated. Slowly bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once sauce has reached a boil, turn heat down and simmer gently. Season with salt and black pepper. Do not forget to stir occasionally while preparing rest of ingredients!
3. Meanwhile, preheat broiler in oven and begin cooking pasta. Cook pasta until al dente, make sure the pasta still has a little bite to it. Prepare a baking dish by greasing or spraying with non-stick cooking spray.
4. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and season with salt. Stir occasionally and cook until onion is translucent. Add garlic, season with salt again, and cook until garlic is almost cooked, about 3 minutes.
5. Add zucchini and cook about 2 minutes before adding spinach. Be careful not to overcook the zucchini. Cook until spinach has wilted.
6. When pasta is done cooking, drain thoroughly. In a large bowl, combine pasta, vegetables, and most of the béchamel sauce, reserving enough to spoon over the top of the pasta mixture. I reserved about 1/4 to 1/3 of the sauce for this purpose. Season mixture with kosher salt, black pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes if desired. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish. Top the pasta with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the top.
7. Place in preheated oven, about 10 inches under the broiler and cook until the top is brown, about 5 minutes. Serve. Makes great leftovers!

Enchilada Sauce

Fajilada

 I have had an enchilada sauce recipe in my recipe folder for quite some time that I have been wanting to try. Originality is not one of my strengths, unless it's thinking of original ways of being awkward. I'm a natural. I am a compendium of cheap recipes. I will search high and low for amazing frugal recipes. Anyways, this recipe is one of those that I picked up from someone who got it from someone else and they don't remember who. I really do love how recipes develop a life of their own.

Ingredients for enchilada sauce

I didn't need enchilada sauce for enchiladas. While I really enjoy enchiladas, they are not something I am going to make at home because it would require way more cheese than I am willing to use and pay for to make enchiladas the way we would like. I did discover that cheese and this enchilada sauce do go great together while eating my fajalada. Fajalada term we coined to describe fajitas with enchilada sauce.

Flour and chile powder toasting

I used to enjoy the packets of Taco Bell taco sauce. I'm sure I still do but I don't get to eat at Taco Bell anymore. I don't know if don't get to is the exact way to put it. It's terrible for you, Z hates it, there is nothing there that he would like to eat, and in this town, if I am going to eat, I'll save my eating out funds for one of the several restaurants that I absolutely love. Back to the sauce. Whenever I would go, I would take tons of those little sauce packets, keep them in my cupboard, and use them on my burritos or fajitas. Besides, they are probably as not as good as I remember. I love our fajitas but I thought a little sauce would be spectacular. I love salsa. Let me rephrase that. I love good salsa and it's expensive. No salsa for me, this is where the enchilada sauce enters.

Enchilada sauce after adding the water, tomato sauce, and spices

A couple of thoughts on the recipe. This is the first time I have made and both Z and I loved it. The sauce was amazing when we made it and even better the next day. What I really liked about the sauce was that it didn't taste like the enchilada sauce from the can. You knew it was enchilada sauce but was different. The recipe called for 4 tablespoons of flour. I am curious if 3 tablespoons would work just as well. Same with the oil. We followed the recipe exactly (we did add some extra spices) since it was our first time. Also, I am guessing that if you prefer a more tomato-y sauce, I would try using 2 cups of tomato sauce and approximately 1 cup of hot water, more or less depending on how thick you want the sauce.

Some sauce hanging out in a bowl looking saucy

Enchilada Sauce
4 tablespoons white flour
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 tablespoons chile powder
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 cup tomato sauce
1 teaspoon salt (or less)
cayenne pepper to taste
2 cups hot water
Optional: smoked paprika, cumin, black pepper (we added these)

1. Over low heat, brown the flour and chile powder.
2. Then add the oil and mix into a paste.
3. Slowly add the water (don't add it all at once - you can always add more of something, you can never take it out) and tomato sauce, stirring frequently until smooth and the consistency you want. It will thicken as it cooks. Add the garlic cloves, salt and cayenne to taste. 
4. Simmer on low until thickened slightly. It will probably take about 20-30 minutes. We simmered ours for longer just because we could.
5. Take it off the heat to let cool a bit and remove the garlic cloves. Or don't. Eat them. I did.

Price Breakdown
.03 flour
.02 oil (bought on sale with coupons)
.20 chile powder (Market of Choice bulk spices! Yummy!) 
.10 garlic
.33 tomato sauce
.10 (guess on the high side for the other spices)

Total: $.78

In the near future: Tomato Soup and Pasta. I talk about all the time so I will explain what is so special about Cheap not Frugal Eats' version. Hint: It probably has to do with being cheap and making it more tasty.