Food in a Flash

Most of my friends cannot cook. They say just the sheer thought of slaving away in the kitchen gives them pesadillas (nightmares) so off they go to the taco stand for an order of quesadillas.
In fact, most people I know that live here tend to eat out for the most part and if they do eat at home it is usually from a doggie bag or picking meat off of a roasted chicken.

One of my friends who will remain unnamed has lived primarily off of hot dogs for the last couple of years. How he has remained lean and mean is beyond me but he has survived. Has he enjoyed eating at home? Probably not so much, so this post is dedicated to the people who are uninspired in the kitchen with some easy quick “throw-together” meals.

Leftover Chicken

Every Tuesday or Wednesday some chicken place has a special with 2X1 chickens or a special price. I prefer a grilled chicken from Pollo Feliz as I do not always trust a roasted chicken from grocery stores as they can sit under a heat lamp for hours. I also do not trust rotisserie chickens from some places as they often throw in a new rack of chickens that drip on the cooked chickens and the potatoes below. I am too afraid of salmonella and will only buy a rotisserie chicken if it passes my “no raw chicken-drippin’ test” and I never buy the potatoes.

Have I grossed you out yet? Sorry for that, but now you have a few things to ponder when buying a cooked chicken.

Anyway, buy the chicken you feel most comfortable with and buy an extra for the next couple of meals.

Step One: Strip all of the meat from your extra chicken. Put all the meat into a Ziploc bag and have on hand to add to these easy “throw-togethers”.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches for one or two

Base Dressing:
2 TBS. Mayo (Best Foods) or Miracle Whip
2 TBS Sour Cream
Small splash of milk to thin
Dash of Salt and Pepper

Mix together and throw in a good sized hand full of shredded or diced chicken. Serve on bread or roll with lettuce and tomato.

Mix Ins:
Add a dash of either Honey Mustard or Chipotle salsa or both for a sweet and spicy version. A little goes a long way, so go slow and add more to your taste.

Here are a few variations, but have fun! Lots of other items from your fridge can be thrown in for added flavor and crunch.

Variation 1:
Take the base dressing, dice up some black olives, avocado, diced hard boiled egg, diced chicken, mix together and serve in a pita or bread or crackers of your choice.

Variation 2:
Take the base dressing, diced apple, a dash of sweet pickle relish and shredded chicken.
Mix and serve on desired bread.

Variation 3:
Mix 2 TBS of plain yogurt and 2 TBS of mayonnaise. Add 1 tsp of brown spicy mustard or Dijon mustard, salt and pepper, ¼ cup finely diced celery, ¼ raisins, one small thinly sliced green onion with top (scallion). ¼ cup diced apple without skin (Granny Smith) and a good sized handful of chicken. Serve on lettuce or on crackers or bread. Garnish with some thin slices roasted almonds or diced cashews.

Variation 4:
One small container of strawberry yogurt with 2TBS mayo and ¼ cup diced strawberries, pinch of salt and pepper and a big handful of diced chicken. Serve on a bed of spinach with a balsamic vinaigrette or raspberry vinaigrette dressing, sprinkle with sliced almonds.


Other Mix-Ins:
Diced Pineapple
Cubed or shredded cheese
A dash of curry powder
Halved green grapes
Tabasco or hot sauce
Diced jalepeños from the can
Pimentos
Green olives
Mango


Again, have fun, be creative and any of these can be served on bread, pitas, crackers on a salad or even as a wrap in a flour tortilla. (For best results, heat the tortilla a little so it is warm.)

Coming up next…..More things to do with leftover chicken!