chicken – Fervent Foodie

Restaurant Roundup: Viva Chicken. Herban Legend. Firehouse Subs. {Charlotte, NC}

November 12, 2013 17 Comments

VIVA CHICKEN

Obsessed. That about sums up my thoughts on Viva Chicken. Located in Elizabeth (on the charming Elizabeth Street), Viva Chicken is my go-to spot for fresh, great tasting food that’s actually healthy. I’m sure some people go there for the chicken–they do specialize in Peruvian Rotisserie, after all. But me? I go there for the Aji Amarillo sauce. It’s one of their three hot sauces, the mild one, and (to quote the Frank’s Red Hot Granny) I’d put that **** on everything. And that includes the awesome sandwiches at Viva Chicken, which they make with chewy grilled ciabatta bread. My favorites are the Butfiarra (roasted pork with lime marinated onions and smoked rocoto (hot pepper) mayo) and the Wow Lomito (char-grilled sirloin with peppers and onions). You can add sliced avocado and provolone to any sandwich, and I highly recommend you do.

When I’m looking to keep things a little lighter (read: no carbs for the carb monster), I opt for the Viva Chicken Salad, which comes with large slices of avocado, tomato, cucumber, and feta. It’s served with their house balsamic dressing, but more often than not, I substitute the mild Aji Amarillo sauce instead.

There’s also the quinoa stuffed avocado, which is quickly becoming a Charlotte legend. You get a whole avocado, loaded with a fresh quinoa salad, topped with balsamic dressing and a drizzle of rocoto mayo, and you have the option of adding pulled rotisserie chicken (do it.).

The Sopa De Pollo is a mild tasting soup, with lots of cilantro and a simple chicken broth. It’s not the most exciting dish on the menu, but (speaking from experience) it’s great to slurp on when you’re sick.

Given the presence of animal protein in the restaurant name, I was surprised to see there are quite a few vegetarian options on the menu (in addition to the quinoa stuffed avocado), like the Naked Peruvian, a ciabatta sandwich with lots of veggies and avocado, and the Inca wrap with Peruvian canary beans. The menu also includes some Asian-inspired dishes, like strip steak stir fry and soy ginger noodles.

Viva is a fast casual place–you order at counter, grab a number, and the food magically appears mere minutes later. They have an iphone app(!) that lets you order and pay right from your phone, if you so choose. The only thing I don’t love about Viva Chicken is the music in the dining room–it’s a little too loud and a lot too clubby.

HERBAN LEGEND

When people ask me what the best food trucks in Charlotte are, the Herban Legend is always at the top of my list. Owned and operated by Chef Brian Seeley, the Herban Legend truck specializes in fresh American and international street food, and the menu reflects the period Chef Brian spent living in the Persian Gulf area. The rotating specials have cross-country flair and include Arabic shawarma, Fillipino pork belly, Sri Lankan curry, Carribean jerk chicken, pork and chorizo tostados, and duck ramen, plus Chicago dogs for an American throwback. Chef Brian does a great job of posting the daily menu on the truck’s Facebook and Twitter pages–so be sure to check them out.

Let’s get back to the food. There are LOTS of great things on the truck, but my absolute favorite (the one food I’ve tweeted, texted, and raved about most in the last year) is the chicken shawarma. It’s a warm, chewy flatbread, loaded with grilled chicken, tomatoes, tabouleh, french fries (yep, they’re inside the wrap), a slathering of tzatziki, and a secret (at least to me) spicy sauce. I’ve enjoyed the surf and turf burrito a handful of times, which has coffee-seared steak, baja shrimp, guacamole, chimichurri, and chipotle sauce, and their black bean burger with chipotle aioli is a solid meat-free option.

Here’s a shot of my beloved chicken shawarma… cue the shawarma happy dance!!!

Heads up: THE TRUCK TAKES CREDIT CARDS!

Food Memories, My Favs, What I ate

My first roast chicken

August 25, 2013 3 Comments

I thought about doing it for months. It’s just one of those things — a kitchen right of passage of sorts — that everyone has to do (at least once). Of course, I didn’t want to do it just to do it–I wanted it to be the juiciest most flavorful chicken EVER. So, I researched. To truss or not to truss? Butter on the skin or under? Which herbs? Breast side up or breast side down? I had this feeling in my gut that I was on the road to cosmic alignment—that somehow I’d channel the kitchen gods and miraculously stumble upon the “secret” to the perfect bird that I could then share with my friends and family and all those other folks on the interweb.

In actuality, the fact that I’d mustered the courage to even attempt roasting a whole chicken was somewhat of a miracle. Of all the meat phobias I’ve fostered over the years, chicken is the one animal that consistently causes me to question being a carnivore. Just the words “chicken skin” make my upper lip curl. So when I picked up the whole bird at Whole Foods, one handed, like I was palming a basketball, and felt the bird’s ribs, solid under a squishy layer of skin and flesh, I nearly gave up on the whole idea. I nearly gave up on eating meat, for that matter. Yes, my resolve was tested at the meat case and again, later that day, when it was time to give the bird its last bath. I used tongs to discard the white bag of parts-that-shall-not-be-named, but I had no kitchen contraption large enough to hold the carcass under the cold running water, that is, of course, except for my hands. As I rinsed the cavity out, I waited for the water to fill the bird to the tippy top, like a drinking glass does when you’re washing it, and it took me a minute or two to realize my approach was faulty due to the GIANT HOLE in the other end where the animal’s head and neck once were. I had a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza. A hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

I put the buttered bird in the oven, lemon rind and rosemary peeking out between the legs, and got to washing my hands (and arms) for the 57th time.

When all was said and done, the chicken turned out ok. Not miraculous, but glistening brown and cooked all the way through. (Success.) And I realized, as I was eating it, that perhaps the reason I’d never roasted a whole chicken wasn’t because of my kitchen inferiority complex; I just don’t like chicken.

Recipes

Chicken Larb

May 23, 2011 6 Comments

Reasons why you should never judge a recipe by its cover.. err title:

Chicken Larb!

Say whaaaaa? What the crap is “larb”? Google tells me “larb” is a type of meat salad. Good to know, Google. Good to know.

Had I known this fun fact, I might not have hesitated to clip the recipe for “Chicken Larb” out of one of my issues of Cooking Light. But lucky for my belly, I looked past the gag-reflex-prompting title and filed this puppy away in my big black book.

I tweaked the recipe slightly and scaled it down to one delicious serving. First up, toss the following in a food processor:

4 ounces chicken breast
2 tsp red curry paste
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp minced garlic
sprinkle of black pepper

Give it a quick buzz in the food processor, and you’ll end up with this crazy orange colored ground chicken:

I’m still amazed that I can make my own ground meat at home. It’s the little things, I guess!

Saute the chicken in a pan coated with nonstick spray over medium heat. I occasionally added a tbsp of water to the pan to help moisten things up.

Meanwhile, combine the following:

1/2 cup diced cucumber
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tbsp minced shallot
The juice of 1/4 of a lime

Thing of beauty:

Once the chicken is cooked through, combine the chicken with the cucumber mixture and then spoon onto romaine lettuce leaves, and juice a quarter lime over top:

Looks crazy good, am I right? I had a big serving of roasted broccoli on the side:

This was super tasty and SUPER healthful. I decided mid-meal to grab a tablespoon or so of fat-free plan Greek Yogurt to dollop on top. It really was the icing on the larb 😉

This was my first time using red curry paste, and the paste along with the cilantro really made for a tasty combo.

There’s a recipe on the back of the paste bottle for Red Curry Shrimp. I need to try that STAT!

Roasted broccoli Smile

A delicious dinner enjoyed on my newly assembled patio furniture:

It’s nice to have a little helper. Or a 6’4” helper… either way Smile

Stats on the Chicken Larb + 1.5 cups broccolee broccolye brocco-lee-hee: 221 calories, 19g carbs, 1g fat, 27g protein, 4g fiber

I can’t believe how outrageously low cal yet still tasty that meal was – next time I may beef it up with some beans or avocado.

Soooooo did you catch the broccoli reference?!?! PLEASE take 4 minutes and watch this. You won’t regret it. And as an added bonus you will now know the song I sing to myself every time I chop up broccoli Laughing out loud

Recipes

Faux Chicken Parmesan

February 17, 2011 12 Comments

Do you guys every go through phases where you just don’t want anything to do with certain foods? Lately, that’s how I’ve been feeling about meat. I just have not been craving it!

While at Target over the weekend, I picked up a box of Morning Star Chick Patties. I think I’ve contemplated buying these dozens of times before, but never sealed the deal.

Over the weekend, I cooked one of these patties up in the oven and had it on a Pepperidge Farm 7 grain deli flat.

No sauce. No veggies. Just the faux meat and bun.

It was glorious. It seriously reminded me of the chicken pattie sandwiches from high school. I know that sounds disgusting, but in this instance it’s actually a very very good thing.

Then, the other night I had a VISION: Faux Chicken Parmesan… Healthified, no less:

Shut the front door!!!!

First up, grab a spaghetti squash and halve it…

I swear, every time I try and halve a squash I have flashes of severing a finger. I think to myself, “is this it?” Is this the day that I lose a finger in the name of squash??

Once it’s halved, scoop out the seeds, and pop this puppy onto a cookie sheet into a 415 degree over for 30 minutes. I ‘m no fan of mooshy squashoodles.

Next, I grabbed some leftover pasta sauce from the freezer. This was Nature’s Basket Roasted Garlic:

Why do I get such joy from stock piling individual servings of goods in the freezer? It’s uncanny really.

I defrosted the sauce a bit in the microwave, then tossed in a pan and added a hodge podge of seasonings including: red pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, parsley.

Once the squash was done, I pulled it out of the oven and used a fork to scrape out the innards. Then popped 1 chicken pattie and some broccoli into the oven to do their thang.

Once the pattie was cooked through, I combined all my delicious and oh-so-easy ingredients:

Faux-chicken-parmesan MASTERPIECE.

I am in love with these patties… seriously, if you haven’t tried them DO IT. Just make sure you cook them in the oven (and not the microwave) and you’ll get a crispy delicious bit of faux-meat-heaven.

Mmmm hmmmmmmmmmmm….

This WILL be making frequent appearance in my tax season dinner diet. For sure.

Stats on 1 serving faux chicken parmesan (1/2 squash, 1 pattie, 1/2 cup sauce): 274 calories, 44carbs, 7g fat, 12g protein, 8g fiber

Lest we not forget….. the winner of my Luna Bar giveaway is…….

Meagan! Yay!!! Email me with your mailing adddres and I’ll get the bars to you ASAP!

Recipes

Ground meat? You got it.

February 1, 2011 14 Comments

So, did everyone else know how crazy easy it is to make your own ground meats? I had no idea until I saw a blurb in Cooking Light about putting chicken breast in a food processor. Sound odd to anyone else? I was intrigued so I decided to give it a go over the weekend.

Take a looksie at these chicken tacos I made!

I don’t mean to brag, but that may be the most beautiful taco I’ve ever laid eyes on. What’s even more beautful was how super easy it was to make. First I started by tossing 1 jalapeno and 2 tsp minced garlic into a food processor:

I gave that a good pulse:

Then added 8 ounces chopped chicken breast:

And literally 10 seonds later I had my very own homemade (slightly green tinted) ground chicken breast!

Isn’t it funny how something so simple can give you such a great sense of pride and accomplishment? 😀

I threw the ground chicken into a pan and seasoned with S&P and some cayenne pepper:

The meat cooked up in no time!

Next I sliced up some fresh avocado. Delicioussssssssnesssssss:

I used some Tumaro’s Low Carb tortillas (only 60 calories a pop) for my taco base, then added 2 ounces of the chicken, some chopped red onion, tomato, shredded cabbage, chopped cilantro, a little dribble of fat free sour cream, about 2 tbsp of avocado, and a little drizzle o’ lime:

A little overboard on the toppings? Perhaps…

I also added some Frank’s red hot for good measure (its hiding under the veggies)

8 ounces of chicken made me enough for four tacos. I ate two for dinner, and wrapped the remaining two up in plastic wrap for dinner the next night (by the way, the tacos were equally delicious cold 🙂 ).

So tasty and SO colorful!

Stats on 1 taco: 194 calories, 21g carbs, 7g fat, 19g protein, 10g fiber

Stats on dos tacos: 388 calories, 42g carbs, 14g fat, 38g protein, 20g fiber

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