Alterations and Adaptations

Well in my world, things are ever changing and needless to say my cooking is no different. My style of cooking involves making changes that suit the moment, I may start with a recipe, but find that I've missed an ingredient on the list or upon arriving at the store, the item I intended to buy just didn't look as fresh or appetizing as I wanted. So I adjust, or I might just head off on another direction all together. This week has proven to be no different.

My first adjustment this week was with my batch of hummus. I decided I didn't want just plain chickpea hummus so I switched out one can with black beans. Then when I got home to start making it Monday night, I found that the garlic that I had on the shelf looked like a full head but was just a shell, the garlic inside had shriveled up. I was able to salvage one clove, so I made the best of it and added a little extra lemon juice which turned out just fine, so with a little give and take, we still had dinner on our plates in about 30 minutes.

As for my second round of adaptations, last night it was just too hot when I got home to deal with turning on the oven to make Tuna Melts, so with the tuna spread mixed (which I added yellow and red bell peppers, dill, and minced onion to the recipe), I tossed a batch of butter lettuce in a light oil and vinegar dressing, piled a good gob of the tuna spread on top, dusted (well maybe piled) some cheese on top of that, added some sliced radishes and few grapes for sweetness, and Voila! we had a nice cold dinner, before running off to my second night of meetings.

My last adaptation for the week came when I was thinking about creating a salad from the elements in a Ruben sandwich. Well, because most commercial corn beef or pastrami product have been injected with nitrates, the health food store I shop at doesn't carry it and didn't have a alternative. However I did buy a small brisket to cook off later when the outside temp comes down below 80. Anyway, that doesn't put dinner on the table this week, so I bought chicken tenders and I'm going to make a Southwest Chicken Salad tomorrow night. 

Be sure to read all the instructions before you get started to be sure you have all your equipment ready too.

Southwest Chicken Salad
You will need some type of southwest seasoning and if you don't have any on hand here is a recipe to make your own if you are so inclined.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/emerils-southwest-seasoning-recipe/index.html

Dust enough chicken tenders to feed your family (2-4 tenders per person depending on how big your eaters are) with Southwest seasoning and leave in the frig for at least an hour (I'm doing mine tonight so they will be ready to grill tomorrow). Holding back a couple of tablespoons of the seasoning for the dressing.

Veg:
Lettuce of choice (Romane is my choice) chopped
Frozen corn (thawed) around a 1/4 cup per person
Black beans either canned or cooked yourself will do
Yellow bell peppers - small dice
Tomatoes - small dice or 1/2 cherry tomatoes
Cilantro - chopped fine

Topping:
Ranch dressing
Grated cheese - Mexican blends work great, but really any will do
Avocado slices 

Either grill off your chicken tenders or cook them in a small amount of oil in a non-stick fry pan. (I have a cast iron grill pan for the stove top that is my favorite for this)

While the chicken is cooking and then set aside to cool, mix the remaining southwest seasoning into the bottle of ranch dressing (a great way to liven up plain old ranch), set aside to let the flavors blend. This step could be done the night before with prepping the chicken. What dressing you don't use will keep in the frig and is great for dipping raw vegetables, on salads, or if you are being naughty for dipping french fries.

Chop all your veg and place in a large mixing bowl. After the chicken has cooled down to where you can handle it, chop into bite sized pieces and add to the veg. Adding small amounts of your dressing, toss all together, add more dressing as needed until everything is lightly coated, be careful to not over dress, you don't want to just taste dressing.

Portion out on individual plates, top with cheese and avocado slices and you are ready to eat. This is a great salad to add corn chips, olives, jalapenos or what ever favorite Mexican ingredient you fancy. You can either toss the additional ingredient with the dressing or as additional toppings at the end.  

As for tonight, it was a bit of refrigerator clean out and every man for himself.

Have fun and play with you food!