Grilled Chicken Salad in a Flash

Johnnycakes and I totally spaced on dinner tonight. I honestly forgot and didn't even think about preparing dinner until around 5 p.m. today. We've been really busy to say the least. Luckily, Johnnycakes took some initiative and defrosted some chicken breast in the microwave which is one of my pet peeves. I know that's kind of a weird pet peeve but it's true.

We also had a perfectly good head of romaine lettuce that had been in the fridge untouched for over a week. I chopped the lettuce and gave it a "spin" in the salad spinner. We had plenty of fresh veggies for making a grilled chicken salad.

Johnnycakes also took the rather unorthodox method, by a Couple of Cooks standards, and fried the chicken in a frying pan with an inch of extra virgin olive oil. The chicken wasn't breaded but I'm sure the olive oil added a lot of fat. Oh well, it tasted good! We fried it on each side for about 10 minutes on med-high heat and then cooked it on low for another few minutes.

I topped the salad with fried red onions, delicious Maryland tomatoes, shredded carrots, chopped celery, croutons and Parmesan cheese. We also used a Greek salad dressing which was basically oil and vinegar with seasonings.

The chicken had lots of flavor and was still warm when we ate it. Not too shabby for dinner on the fly. Not to mention I saved a little bit and made some chicken salad for lunch tomorrow. Yum!

Colombia, Maryland

No, that's not a typo. I am not referring to Columbia, MD, the "new town" brought to reality by visionary James Rouse. Instead, I am referring to the Colombian and Maryland influences that combined to make tonight's dinner.
This plate features Maryland grown corn, Maryland grown tomato and chicken breast in the Maryland favorite Old Bay "spicy chicken marinade". The Colombian influence came into play with the "Platano Maduros", or fried plantains which were prepared by my sister-in-law and mother-in-law. They were seasoned in vegetable oil, brown sugar and cilantro but I'm not sure about the rest. The platanos were full of fresh flavors.
Just in case you don't know, the McCormick Spice Company's Old Bay Seasoning is a Baltimore favorite. The side of the can contains several recipes depending on which size you buy. To date, Johnnycakes and I have tried the Fried Chicken (delicious!) and now the Spicy Chicken Marinade. Both have been full of flavor and definitely worth a second try.
While I can't take any credit for tonight's tasty dinner, I must say I enjoyed it and we both hope you give the Old Bay recipes and Platanos Maduros a try.