I went and saw the movie Noah last week (and despite what you think, that's not the weird part...I thought the movie was incredible), but since then my dreams have been all out of whack.
You know when you wake up and feel like you only dreamt ONE dream ALL night and it was weird and terrifying and never-ending? That's how my Noah dream was. Basically, all of humanity was dying in a grocery store because they contracted a disease caused by a popular prescription drug 8 years prior.
Of course there are a million details to go with that, but there's the reader's digest version. You're welcome.
When I woke up from the dream I didn't know where I was, and then later when I had a bad headache I obviously thought I must be dying. Dreams, man.
What else is weird, though, is this whole writing and blogging thing. I've been battling the biggest bout of laziness ever. No cooking, no writing, no creating, no nothing. Convenience has been the name of the game and it's won time and time again (read: eggs and toast for breakfast every night, which I'm still totally okay with).
Last week I started reading The Defining Decade, though, and decided it was time to make meals and be a person again. The book is about redefining and reclaiming your twenties, which doesn't involve putting everything off until you're a "real adult" at 30. No sir. I'm only a couple of chapters in, but considering it's motivated me to be here right now, I'd say I like it so far.
This salad is one I made in September and really liked. It's super easy (win), super quick (unless you're me and cooking is never quick), and super flavorful (yay)! I adapted the recipe just a wee bit (because again, still fighting laziness over here), but honestly it's an adaptation I'll probably do consistently.
I turned the chicken marinade into a salad dressing and then put everything over spinach. This is especially good after it sits in the fridge for a day or two, because, well, yeah...I guess that's the point of it being a marinade.
I found Mediterranean feta cheese at Trader Joe's, too, so clearly I picked that instead of the boring stuff. Who doesn't love a good theme, am I right?
Since we started with weird we'll end with weird: I didn't dress the salad for the picture (there's a pun in there somewhere...) because I didn't want to eat it until later...so then I took everything off the plate and put each item back where it belonged. Weeeiiiiirrrddo.
You shouldn't do that, though. You should just eat it.
Mediterranean Chicken Spinach Salad
Ingredients:
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half
3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
10z spinach (one bag)
lemon pepper (or black pepper and salt)
1 + 1/4 pound thin chicken cutlets (about 4-5)
Optional Marinade (or salad dressing for my adaptation):
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange chicken in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 27 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees and juices run clear.
2. While the chicken bakes, prepare the dressing and refrigerate until use.
3. Mix the tomatoes, olives, and cheese in a medium bowl and set aside.
4. Once the chicken is done, let it sit until it's cool to the touch. Tear (or cut, if you want the non-lazy version) the meat into chunks and add to the tomato mixture.
5. Pour as much or as little dressing as you want over the mixture, toss to coat, and serve over a handful or two of spinach
Notes:
*I like to use the frozen chicken cutlets from Trader Joe's, bake them for half the amount of time, season them with lemon pepper, then stick 'em back in the oven). And if you have some leftover lemon juice from the dressing, you may as well squirt some on the chicken too.
*The original recipe calls for basil/mint. Feel free to add that at the end as well. I also imagine you couldn't go wrong with adding some cucumbers. Whatever floats your boat.
*Like I mentioned, the flavors are best after they sit. I recommend putting most (about half to three-quarters) of the remaining dressing over the leftover tomato mixture and storing it that way. It will be even better the next day.
original recipe martha stewart and blogger adaptation here
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