Thursday, April 26, 2007

wrapping up the week

Tonight we came home tired and worn out from a rough day at work. Not in the mood to cook anything overly complicated, we grabbed some chicken breasts, cauliflower, lettuce leaves, and the pickled radishes Dina made yesterday and drew up a plan.

We preheated the oven to 400 degrees while Dina chopped the cauliflower into florets and mixed them up with chopped anchovies, some olive oil, garlic and chili flakes. About 30 minutes in the oven and out came a golden brown and tender-crisp pile of caramelized cauliflower pieces.

The chicken breasts were sliced into strips and marinated in olive oil, garlic, rosemary, lemon juice, some hot sauce, parsley and salt & pepper. Just a few minutes on the bbq (along with half a red and yellow pepper) and dinner started coming together.

For the sauciness factor, we blended some plain yogurt with lemon juice, garlic, grated cucumber, parsley, and salt & pepper for own spin on traditional tzatziki.

These simple components were combined to deliver a punch of flavor. A lettuce leaf on the bottom, some savoury chicken strips, slices of the slightly sweet grilled pepper, a couple of pieces of the salty and spicy cauliflower, the sour of the pickled radishes and the coolness of the sauce combined for the perfect balance of flavour.

Another quick and healthy meal that satisfied. Bring on the weekend!

3 comments:

Annie Ruok said...

looks extremely yummy! We bought a jar of smoked herring paste in Jamaica (they call it Solomon Gundy) which is to die for, it's main use is to mix it with cream cheese to put on crackers, but you can also add it to recipes to get a smoky flavour & I think it might be great with cauliflower the way that u made it here instead of the anchovies - you've once again inspired me to try a new recipe - I'll let u know how it turns out!

dina (Lucas' mom) said...

Oh wow...that sounds really interesting. i never would have associated smoked herring with Jamaica.

Annie Ruok said...

I duplicated your salad on Saturday (minus the radishes) & used arugula instead of lettuce & did the smoked herring in the cauliflower - came out delicious! I made calabasa rice on the side, a little too sweet to go with this dish, but Shawn's been begging for it for awhile & the 1st time I made it, I didn't do it right, this time it came out perfect!