Kay Wheeler Moore

Welcome to my blog

Hello. . .

The Newfangled Country Gardener is for anyone who has a garden, would like to have a garden, or who simply enjoys eating the garden-fresh way. I don't claim to be an expert; in this blog I'm simply sharing some of the experiences my husband and I have in preparing food that is home-grown.

About the author

Kay Wheeler Moore is the author of a new cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden, that features six generations of recipes that call for ingredients that are fresh from the garden. With home gardening surging in popularity as frugal people become more resourceful, this recipe collection and the stories that accompany it ideally will inspire others to cook the garden-fresh way and to preserve their own family food stories as well. The stories in this book center around the Three Red-Haired Miller Girls (Kay's mother and aunts) who grew up in Delta County, TX, with their own backyard garden so lavish that they felt as though they were royalty after their Mama wielded her kitchen magic on all that was homegrown. Introduced in Kay's previous book, Way Back in the Country, the lively Miller Girls again draw readers into their growing-up world, in which a stringent economic era--not unlike today's tight times--saw people turn to the earth to put food on the table for their loved ones. The rollicking yarns (all with recipes attached) have love, family, and faith as common denominators and show how food evocatively bonds us to our life experiences.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Lemon-Basll Chicken Salad gets an herb-garden raid for its flavor


With a thatch of basil now growing in a little dedicated herb area just outside my back door, how could I pass up a chance to work this herb into a salad?

I saw this recipe for Lemon-Basil Chicken Salad and thought how amazing this would taste with the called-for 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil waiting for me just a few steps off the back porch. True that! This salad was absolutely delicious. I served it with some whole-grain flatbread. 

The recipe was included in the Southern Living section of chicken-salad lighten-ups which inspired my earlier blog about Mixed Fruit Chicken Salad. I pledged to try all four recipes included there, since chicken salad of any description is my absolute love. 

Well, two of these four makeovers down and two to go: this one with is fresh basil, baby spinach, fresh lemon zest, and sun-dried tomatoes couldn’t have been nicer.

Lemon-Basil Chicken Salad

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 teaspoon sugar (or sugar substitute)
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)
4 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1/3 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes

Whisk together fresh basil, olive oil, mustard, garlic, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt. In a large bowl combine chicken, spinach, and tomatoes. Drizzle with basil mixture; toss to coat. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings. (Source: Southern Living May 2012)


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