Rad Radish Salad

Whoops, where did the time go? I got caught up in a parade and a world class cycling race, and that's my excuse for not posting any new bentos. In fact, I did make a few bento box lunches between last Thursday and this Thursday, but no time to blog about them.

This bento box lunch uses many Sonoma County ingredients. The radish salad has radishes and spring onions from Triple T Ranch and Farms in Rincon Valley, plus Sonoma County walnuts, and even local olive oil from Kendall-Jackson! Also in this bento box: orange cauliflower (raw), a mini chicken pot pie, and carrots. In the lower compartment: cherries (first of the season from the Sebastopol Farmers Market!), a slice of lime, and edamame.

Here I am at the Sebastopol Farmers Market showing off the rad radishes I picked up. I think the lone white radish sealed the deal.

Here is a close up of the simple radish salad I put together for this bento box lunch. The recipe is below. Oh and mom is doing well. Her surgery was successful, nothing in her lymph nodes. She's resting now and will begin some radiation therapy in June. Thanks for your well wishes!

Recipe for Radish Salad

3 radishes, scrubbed and cut into match sticks

1 teaspoon minced green onion

4 walnut halves, crumbled

juice of 1/4 lime

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. Serves one.

Wine Pairing Suggestion: Since I am using Kendall-Jackson olive oil in this recipe, I think a Kendall-Jackson wine would be fun to pair with it. How about their new white blend called Summation? It has so many lovely characteristics, from honey to herbs, cream to citrus, that it will really play well with the slighty spicy salad. Plus it would be great with the mini chicken pot pie.

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

On Mother's Day yesterday I took advantage of the fact that my husband was working, leaving me with a day to do whatever I wanted! Instead of laundry (yuk!), I watched two movies and made these adorable mini chicken pot pies. They almost have a curry flavor, since I used garam masala spice and fresh cilantro in the seasoning.

I made 11 of these mini chicken pot pies, and they will freeze well, so they should last about a month. The filling I made was way too much for the amount of pie dough I had, so me and hubby had larger versions with crescent dough toppers for dinner last night.

I bought Rocky the Range free range chicken from Petaluma Poultry. It has a much better chicken flavor than the grocery store variety of chicken, plus no antibiotics!

In this bento box lunch: mini chicken pot pies, carrots, grapes, a few slices of kumquat, edamame, red bell pepper, and radishes.

Recipe for Mini Chicken Pot Pies

1/2 tablespoon butter

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 skinless, boneless chicken breast (about 1/3 pound or so), cut into chunks

8 baby carrots

1/2 medium potato, cubed

2 ounces peeled, cubed sweet potato

2 inch piece of celery

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup chicken broth

water

1/2 tablespoon butter

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup minced onion

2 garlic scapes, minced

1 stalk celery, minced

1/4 cup red bell pepper, minced

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 tablespoon flour

1/2 cup reserved chicken cooking liquid

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon garam masala spice

1 heaping tablespoon fresh cilantro, minced

salt and pepper

1 premade pie crust

1 egg white

1 tablespoon water

In a pan, heat 1/2 tblsp butter and 1/2 tblsp olive oil together over medium heat. Add chicken, carrots, potatoes, celery chunk, and bay leaf. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken broth and enough water to cover. Turn heat up to medium high, cover the pot, and cook for 15 minutes.

While chicken and veggies cook, saute onions, garlic scapes, celery and bell pepper in butter and olive oil over medium heat until soft and fragrant. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Drain chicken and veggies, reserving 1/2 cup of chicken cooking liquid. Discard bay leaf and chop carrots. Mince the chicken pieces and return them to the pot with the other veggies, and the onion sauteed mixture. In a new pot, heat 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken broth. Stir until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and add heavy cream, and garam masala. Add chicken mixture to the sauce and stir to combine. Add cilantro and taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper if needed.

Use pie crust dough to line 11 to 12 mini muffin tins. Spoon chicken filling into dough, then cover with another bit of pie crust dough. Use a fork to crimp the top dough and bottom dough together. Add cut out dough shapes if you like, and be sure to cut a small slit in the top of each pie to allow steam to escape. Bake pies in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

About halfway through the baking time, brush the tops of the pies with a mixture of egg white and water.

Makes 11 to 12 mini chicken pot pies, with quite a bit of chicken filling left over. (You can make more pies with this leftover filling, or make a larger dinner for you and your sweetie.) Can freeze for up to 1 month.

Wine Pairing Suggestion: With a spicier, more robust filling, these pot pies would pair well with a fruity, spicy zinfandel. Skrew Kappa Napa made an outstanding version that unfortunately they no longer make. Instead, I recommend Kenwood Vineyards 2007 Sonoma County Zinfandel.