Odds and Ends

We all have times when our fridge looks like the plastic containers thought they were rabbits and multiplied accordingly. Most of the time that means it's time to throw out half the contents of your fridge. But on those rare occasions when it's all still good, you can build unique and tasty one-off meals. Or even more rare, build a meal you can reproduce with a little bit of work.

That's what happened a couple of months back when I was poking around, trying to find something to eat and not really wanting to work for it. Half a head of cabbage, some leftover chicken, a piece of cheese......mmmm....salad. It turned out to be so good that my youngest and I ate the whole thing and decided we would have to make it again.

House Chop Salad
1 head green cabbage
1 large onion
1/2 lb olives
1 lb extra sharp white cheddar
1/2 lb feta
2 cloves garlic
3/4 - 1 cup vinaigrette
1 - 2 lbs cooked chicken

Chop all ingredients, except vinaigrette and garlic, into pieces about an inch or so in size. Mix chopped ingredients together in a large bowl. Crush garlic and whisk into vinaigrette. Pour mixture over salad and toss to coat evenly.

Yeah, it's really that simple, but the taste will amaze you. And the type of onion, olives, vinaigrette and chicken you use is completely up to you. For this one I used a Spanish onion, green olives (the regular old ones you find in any grocery store), garlic-herb vinaigrette and citrus marinated chicken breasts that I made especially for the salad. The chicken I had used the first time I made this was of a similar ilk and I was looking for that flavour again. If you want to serve this as a side dish, cut the recipe in half and omit the chicken.


Citrus Chicken
2 - 3 lbs chicken breasts
1 grapefruit
1 orange
1 - 2 tbs kosher salt
3 tbs dried rosemary
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Cube the chicken breasts and put the pieces in a large zip-top bag. Wash the grapefruit and orange well. Cut each in half, squeeze the juice on top of the chicken, then cut the skins into large pieces and place in bag with chicken. Add salt (to taste), rosemary, olive oil and garlic to the bag and close while expelling most of the air inside. Squish the bag for a few minutes to mix all the ingredients together. Let the chicken marinate for at least one hour in the fridge, two or three is even better. Melt a few tablespoons of butter and a few tablespoons of olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add pieces of chicken breast to the pan in small batches and brown on both sides. Chicken is cooked when the juices run clear. Cool completely before adding to salad.