Fan Friday - June 5, 2015 edition

It's Fan Friday again, dear readers. Back by popular demand. Since our last Fan Friday post, more of you have sent emails and pictures chronicling your adventures testing out Hot Dinner Happy Home Recipes in your own kitchens. Thank you -- and keep 'em coming.

xoxo,
The Ladies

Kristi made Amy's Roasted Chicken.

Here's what Kristi had to say: "It was great! I wish I hadn't tented it though. May double the spices next time and rub under the skin. Made yummy broth, as well!" (Kristi tented the chicken with foil to hold it until her husband got home. The chicken got a little soggy. Perhaps next time she should try keeping it in a warm oven -- 200-225 degrees -- and telling hubby to hurry home.)

Like she said, Kristi also made her slow cooker chicken broth. Here's what she does: tosses the chicken frame in the slow cooker, adds onion, celery and whatever herbs she has on hand, covers with water and cooks on low over night. She strains in the morning! She promises you will never made broth on the stovetop again -- and Amy is convinced of that fact.

Both Sarah and Brian made Tomato-Avocado Quino Salad the same day that it posted to Hot Dinner Happy Home. They each reported that the dish was a big hit with their families. (You guys are so good for our collective ego here at HDHH.)

Sarah said: "Loved it. Brian (my husband) ate every bite and asked for seconds. Never happens with quinoa. xoxoxo."

Brian said: "I liked that the quinoa made a nice nest for the other ingredients. The vegetables just seemed to go better with the quinoa than they would have with rice or other grains; I wouldn't even want to think about doing this with rice. Bulgur maybe. 


This was my first time cooking quinoa, so it was hard for me to gauge when it was done. 

The olive oil makes a difference — I drizzled with garlic-infused oil (which Terry and I got at an oil boutique on Prince Edward Island on our honeymoon), and it was great. Terry used mushroom/sage olive oil, which seemed to be too much for this, surprisingly. I was expecting that the plain ingredients would benefit from some additional nuanced flavoring, but they were fine on their own. I did use chicken stock to cook the quinoa.

I would make again, though I'll probably try other quinoa experiments first for a while. 

Thanks for the inspiration!"

Don't you love Brian's detailed review? We also love that Brian used red quinoa (so pretty!) and served this "salad" as a side to a beautiful piece of salmon.