Recently a friend had surgery, so I signed up on Meal Train to bring her some food. Unfortunately, I had no idea what I would be bringing, so I had to enter "No Idea Yet!" as the mouth-watering name of my entree. "No Idea Yet!" sandwiched between Chicken Enchiladas and Spinach Lasagna! Which meal would you be excited about?
All I knew was that, if you need to make multiple meals, a whole chicken is the best way to do it. One meal for us, and plenty of leftover cooked chicken to go into...No Idea Yet!
Therefore I plunked my Skagit River Ranch farmers market chicken into the crock-pot with some salt and pepper, sprigs of cilantro and a cut-up and squeezed lemon, and let it cook a few hours:
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| The Beginnings of No Idea Yet! |
When it was done, I'd at least thought up what my own family would eat that very night, based on what was in the fridge and pantry: Chicken Soft Tacos.
First I sauteed up some Walla Walla onion slices.
I added shredded chicken and about 3/4 cup canned salsa and let the liquid simmer away.
Prior to that, I'd taken a whack at making homemade flour tortillas:
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| How's that for an appetizing picture? |
They came out thick and more flat and tostada-like, but no one seemed to mind.
Then I chopped up ripe tomatoes and some Napa cabbage (because I forgot to buy lettuce at the Market), shredded some Cheddar, and voila!
Chicken Soft Tacos/Tostadas! Tacodas? Tostacos? Whatever you want too call them, they were nothing short of heavenly, and we scarfed them down with beans and some homemade pico de gallo.
One meal down, one to go.
I'm thinking of taking that leftover chicken and making a chicken pot pie. You know: chicken and little cut-up cooked vegetables in a thickened chicken-stock sauce, covered with a crust. It's possible her kids won't eat it, but I know she'll appreciate it, and--heck--the kids didn't just have surgery, so they can fend for themselves and have a bowl of cereal.
Alongside the pot pie, how about a Caprese Salad? Here was our recent one (tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil are all at the Market this week!):
Too bad I'm delivering the meal tomorrow. Otherwise I'd be tempted to throw in some chocolates from Soulever. Proprietor and chocolate-teer Aimee Morrow keeps sending me pictures of her luscious creations. If you haven't had any, treat yourself this Thursday.
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| These babies would be Kaffir Lime Truffles |
Aimee promises--brace yourself--Vegan Caramels this Thursday, which she describes as "a soft coconut sugar caramel hugged by Peruvian dark chocolate ganache, double dipped in Peruvian dark chocolate." Control yourself, salivary glands!
What can I say? With the possibility of such farm-fresh meals and hand-crafted treats out there, it's almost worth a little surgery. But spare yourself, and get out to the Market while the getting's good. Next week the grind starts up again, but in the meantime, have a great long weekend!
