Chicken spread bagel

A friend and I lunch together almost weekly. It is fun to come up with things when it is my turn to make lunch. Recently, I served her this bagel with chicken spread that I had whipped up that morning. It is so good freshly made and was so simple to do. This makes enough for three to four bagels.

Chicken spread bagel
1 boneless and skinless chicken breast
1 spring onion
1/2 stalk of celery
2 to 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon of sharp mustard
drizzle of lemon juice
generous pinch of tarragon
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Poach the chicken breast in vegetable bouillon for 20 minutes. Leave the chicken to cool then slice into bite size chunks. Slice a spring onion and dice the celery. In a medium bowl, mix the mayonnaise, mustard and lemon juice. Now season to taste with the tarragon, salt and pepper. Mix in the chicken breast, spring onion and celery well. You can add a little extra mayonnaise if needed.

Toast a bagel and place a helping of the chicken spread on a bed of baby Romaine lettuce leaves. Garnish with red pepper rings and serve with slicked cucumber and pear on the side.

Eet smakelijk!
Heidi

A tomato with heart!

Recently, they started selling this new tomato in our Lidl supermarket. After talking about varieties of tomatoes with some online friends in a homekeeping list I am in, I decided I was going to buy one of these tomatoes and give it a try. It is called "coeur de boeuf" or the heart tomato. But what it really is? A tomato with the old fashioned full flavor I remember from my Aunt Janey's neighbor, Mr. Weaver's garden. Since my own tomatoes have rotted due to our cool and rainy weather, this was a wonderful treat yesterday for our lunch.

I baked some ciabatta bread, took a little of the last fresh lettuce leaves from my garden along with my parsley and chives. I sliced up the lettuce then layered on the tomato slices with mozzarella cheese. Topped off with my chopped parsley and chives and a drizzle of olive oil, it made a wonderful lunch of very fresh and wholesome ingredients.

Sometimes, the most simple combinations that speak of a garden's bounty are the richest of tastes.