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Sunday, April 03, 2011

You're Hot and You're Cold



It was supposed to rain this weekend. Which of course means it was sunny and beautiful out. Still a little chilly yesterday. H made fun of me when I showed up at her house for dinner last night in a skirt. Good thing we were eating inside.

Today was warmer though. So much so that around 8pm tonight, Thatboy said it felt like a summer evening. Hey Mother Nature? You wanna make up your mind? I have no idea what to make for dinner these days. Menu planning seems like a waste since sometimes it's freezing cold and the sound of a cold salad sounds less than appealing. Other times that warm lentil soup you've been looking forward to all day just seems a bit out of place.

Luckily, I'm a fruit and veggie-holic. Which means at any given time there are boatloads of fruits and veggies, just waiting to be used and abused. So when the weather takes an unexpected turn for the beautiful, and we want to eat outside, it's easy enough to convert any meal to "salad night!"

Dressing is simple, just some vinegar and oil, because it can be tossed together quite easily at the last minute. And I already used up the garlic red wine vinaigrette I made to bring to H's last night. The rest is just made up of what we have. I know it's not tomato season, and frankly, these were not the best tomatoes. BUT I need fresh tomatoes year round, I can't help it. And I can buy them year round at the farmer's market, even if they are less that stellar. You can feel free to leave them out until this summer. You'll probably be just as happy.


Simple Spring Salad

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 chicken breast or several chicken tenders
2 cups of mixed baby greens
1 tomato, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
2 tsp cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper

  1. Whisk together olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
  2. Combine tomato, avocado, onion, and artichoke hearts with mixed baby greens.
  3. Toss with the dressing and salt and pepper.
  4. Saute chicken breast/chicken tenders stovetop. If using a chicken breast cut into slices.
  5. Top the dressed salad with sliced chicken and cilantro.

4 comments:

  1. These inbetween days are hard to handle, but I could have salad any season of the year!!!!

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  2. I definitely love the idea of turning any meal into a salad! The weather hasn't been quite so up-and-down here. Just cold. All day. All the time. Sigh.

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  3. This is just my kind of salad. I love the simplicity of the ingredients and instructions.

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  4. Menu planning is so hard this time of year. I hate when I plan for something rich and hearty and then we have a beautiful, warm day and vice versa.

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