I’ve been sick.
No energy for mucking about in the kitchen, or traipsing through the long, long aisles and the produce maze at the Berkeley Bowl. Trader Joe’s to the rescue. Today at lunch the kids wanted frozen teriyaki chicken. Easy for me, especially since we had some leftover rice in the fridge. I heated it all up for them, and handed them each a couple of mandarins to eat with it. Then I decided that I needed to get some fresh vegetables in to my body, appetite be damned.
I found most of a heart of romaine in the fridge, and a decent avocado, and I poked around until I scrounged up enough other stuff to call it a salad. I also tossed in what was left of the rice and chicken after dishing it up for the kids. This was a utilitarian salad. This was not fancy. This was food. Random food.
Ingredients:
3/4 romaine heart, chopped.
3 large mushrooms, quartered.
1 scallion, sliced.
2 inches of an english cucumber, quartered lengthwise and sliced.
1/2 avocado, spooned out of it’s skin and directly over the lettuce.
1/2 small apple, quartered, cored, and sliced.
3 T of rice
1/4 cup of teriyaki chicken
Dressing:
There is no recipe for this. This is the laziest dressing I know. This is the dressing I use when I know I won’t really taste what I’m eating, but in case I do, I want it to at least have some flavor.
1 sprinkle of salt over the avocado.
1 splash of seasoned rice wine vinegar, try to get a wide arc without missing the bowl. I missed the bowl, but it’s okay. We have washcloths.
3 glugs of extra virgin olive oil, distributed as evenly as you can.
It all went into the bowl. First the lettuce, then the veggies, then the salt on the avocado, then the rice and chicken, and finally, the vinegar and olive oil. Then I moved it all around a bit with my fork, and mixed it up. Then I ate it.
Teriyaki Chicken with Apple and Avocado, ready to eat!
The Verdict:
Actually, my taste buds worked better than I expected. I enjoyed this. I think orange or mandarin might have been tastier with the chicken, but I really appreciated the crunch of the apple, so it was more of a passing thought than a burning regret.
I felt a lot better after eating (funny how that still surprises me). I experienced one of those moments where my post-salad self is extremely, maybe disproportionately, grateful to my pre-salad self. Fresh vegetables, even with pre-fab teriyaki chicken and without a fancy vinaigrette, always make me feel better. I like feeling better.
Make it a meal:
It was. A random, yet very satisfying meal.
Pack it to go:
If I’d been packing this to go, I would’ve mixed up a real vinaigrette, and tossed the apples in so that they wouldn’t brown. The chicken might be better off in a small tupperware or ziploc bag and added at the last minute — the sauce has a tendency to wilt lettuce.
Salad Play 