Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Recipe: Ginger Lime Chicken Salad

Chicken salad is great because it is a blank canvas.  Starting with the basic combination of chicken and mayonnaise, you can add whatever flavours appeal to you.  This is my take on Golden Jubilee chicken, which was served at the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.
Makes two servings

Ingredients:
·         1 ½ Cups chopped cooked chicken (an excellent use of leftover chicken)
·         1 apple peeled (or not), cored, chopped to roughly same size as the chicken (I prefer granny smith apples)
·         ½ cup mayonnaise
·         Zest and juice of ½ lime
·         A few drops of sesame oil (not too much or it will overpower the other flavours)
·         Soy sauce and ginger to taste (the easiest way to use ginger is to freeze it and grate it on a microplane)
Directions:
·         Mix the ingredients in a bowl.  Taste and add more soy sauce and/or ginger if needed
·         Ideally, prepare the night before and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator so that the flavours marry
·         Can be eaten in a sandwich, on crackers, or even on its own
·         Welcome additions: Chopped celery or green onions.  Chopped toasted nuts are excellent as well, especially almonds.  Just be sure to add the nuts just before eating so that they stay crunchy.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Introducing The Plowman's Lunch KW

I love food, but for as long as I can remember, I have hated weekday lunches.  What one can eat at school or work is limited by constraints such as portability or the finite amount of time one has to prepare/procure, and consume it.  When I was in school, my lunches generally consisted of sawdust-dry sandwiches or some type of canned food in a thermos.  Unlike camping where this can be rationalized as a charming part of the experience, the result is all too often uninspired, insipid meals that serve to compound the drudgery of the workday. 
The goal of this blog is to rescue readers from lunchtime boredom by providing recipes and reviews of restaurants in Waterloo Region.  Both will consider matters that are specific to workday lunches.

Recipes will be…
·         Portable – because a roast turkey with all the trimmings, while delicious, is unfeasible at work
·         Require little prep at work – because not everyone has access to a microwave at work and who wants to waste time waiting in line if you have one?
·         Able to be made the night before and for multiple servings – thus saving you precious minutes in the morning to get a bit more sleep or just relax before getting down to work
·         Satisfying – so that you aren’t feeling faint from hunger by 2:00pm
Reviews will consider…
·         The breath mint factor – Your clients and coworkers may not appreciate your garlicky lunch as much as you did
·         The napkin factor – A giant mustard stain is not business casual
·         The in and out time – is it always busy?  Is the service slow?  A long lunch is nice but not always practical
·         The type of occasion – Is it perfect for grabbing a quick bite to refuel?  A Mad Men style three martini lunch? A brief indulgence to help get you through a tough week?