Italian Salad with Asiago Cheese Crisps

Hey, everybody! I'm so excited to share my amazing new recipe with you all. I'm currently in a Halloween show where audience members are led through a park on Mercer Island and the actors scare them. It's very fun, but also time consuming. On Friday (which was opening night), I had the day off of school. I used my time to develop and make a delicious recipe for Italian Salad. It's the perfect fuel to power you before any activity, like sports, dance or a performance. Instead of eating plain pasta, Doritos and drinking Gatorade before you exercise, try making and eating this.

Italian Salad with Asiago Cheese Crisps
Serves 3 - 4

Ingredients
2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 large romaine heart, chopped
1 large tomato, diced
1/2 of a small red onion, thinly sliced
16 mini mozzarella balls
1 cup freshly grated asiago cheese
3/4 cup julienned basil
Balsamic vinegar

Preparation
1. Preheat grill to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat chicken with a little bit of olive oil (this amount will vary depending on the size of the chicken pieces) and season generously with salt and pepper. Grill for about 4 - 5 minutes on each side, or until the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Combine lettuce, tomatoes, onions and mozzarella balls in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Heat a medium-sized pan to medium heat. Sprinkle in the asiago cheese in an even layer. Cook for about 5 - 6 minutes, until the cheese layer is super crispy. Using a flat plastic spatula (one that you would use to flip a pancake or a burger), lift the edges away from the pan. Remove from heat. Drain excess fat from cheese off into the sink. Slide the cheese onto a paper towel (you may need a little extra help from your spatula to do so). Absorb all grease and let cool.

4. Toss about a 1/4 cup of olive oil and 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar into the salad. Mix well. Top each individual serving with basil. Break off pieces of cheese crisp and garnish the salad. Serve.

I have written the script for my new "The Importance Of" video! I'm very excited to post it. I'm not sure when I'll have time to film though... I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

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Mac n' Cheese Video

Hey, everybody! Last night, I posted my new video for Mac n' Cheese! Mallika and I had a blast filming it. You can check it and my other YouTube videos out right here: http://youtube.com/user/tweenchef123

I created a Twitter account on Wednesday! My username is MDchef_123 and I'd really appreciate it if you could follow me. If you don't have a Twitter account, then tell a parent, friend, sibling, cousin, aunt, uncle, grandparent, dog, cat, monkey or elephant to follow me. Thanks for all the support!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Hey, everybody! Today is my 13th birthday! I created a Twitter account, and my username is MDchef_123. I'd really appreciate it if you could follow me. If you don't have a Twitter page, then tell a friend that does have one. Thanks for the support!

New Video and Article

Hey, everybody! I posted a new video yesterday all about eating organics. Here's the link to my YouTube channel, where you can watch the video and catch up on all the videos you haven't seen yet: http://youtube.com/user/tweenchef123

Yesterday, my dad emailed me the link to an article in the New York Times written by Mark Bittman. Mark Bittman has written several cookbooks about making simple, healthy foods. He also writes frequent articles for the New York Times about food. This week, he wrote one about why junk food isn't actually cheaper than normal food. In this article, he wants fast food lovers to convert to simple home-cooking. There are two extreme ends of the spectrum of eating: fast-food and junk food, and organics (which is where my family is). He doesn't want fast-food eaters to suddenly jump to organics, although they are ideal, because organics are not cost-effective. All he wants is to have people that eat fast-food start putting down the TV remote and make a cheap dinner. You can read all about Bittman's point of view here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/is-junk-food-really-cheaper.html

Thank you so much for watching my videos, reading my posts and supporting me! I would really appreciate it if you could spread the word on your facebook page, your Twitter account, or email all of your friends about it. I will be getting a Twitter account on my birthday (which is in four days) and my username will not be "tweenchef123" like always (I want it to be "MDchef_123"). So if you happen to hop onto Twitter on October 5th, it'd be great if you could start following me!