Chicken Salad with Tahini

This was easy and tasty.  I poached a couple of chicken breasts but you could easily substitute some shredded rotisserie chicken.

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/3 cup tahini (roasted or regular)
1/4 cup water
juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons garlic oil
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 pound thin green beans, trimmed
a few tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
salt for cooking

Bring a large pot of water to boil, throw in some salt. Drop in the chicken breasts and bring the water back up to a boil. Immediately slam a lid down on the pot and take the whole thing off the heat. Let is sit UNDISTURBED for 30 minutes.  Remove the chicken breasts to a cutting board and let cool.  Bring the pot of water back up to a boil and drop in the green beans.  Let them boil for 2 minutes and then drain and immediately cool them down by running them under cold water or dropping them into an ice bath.

When the chicken is cool, shred it.  Combine it with the green beans and the bell pepper.  Oh yeah, if you have any scallion greens, throw some of those in too. Mix up the tahini, water, lemon juice, and garlic oil.  Spread the dressing on the salad ingredients. Top with the toasted sesame seeds and serve.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

It’s rhubarb season! Fresh rhubarb is available in the supermarket.

When I was a teenager I used to do a lot of babysitting for a neighbor.  Every spring she would bake me a strawberry rhubarb pie that I didn’t have to share with anyone! Strawberry rhubarb is still one of my favorite flavors.  I’m too lazy to make a pie crust right now, so I whipped up this dish instead.

1 lb. strawberries, hulled and halved
1 1/2 lbs rhubarb, diced
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon corn starch
1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger

For the topping:

3/4 cup gluten free flour (I use King Arthur brand)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use hazelnuts)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375F; grease a shallow casserole or baking dish.  Combine fruit, sugar, corn starch and ginger and mix thoroughly.  Empty into baking dish.

Stir together the flour, salt, and the sugar.  Add the butter and cut into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or whirl it around in a food processor for a few pulses.  Stir in the remaining topping ingredients.  Sprinkle the topping over the fruit. Bake for approximately 45 minutes until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is browned.  Remove from the oven and let cool until almost room temperature before serving.