Winter's Eating

The tricky thing about posting about dinner the next morning is that you feel hungry all over again! And for stuff not necessarily breakfast-like!

New York has been experiencing unseasonal weather lately; not exactly freezing temperatures, but lots of rain and clouds, plus the breeze which always feels cold without some sun hanging around. It's bummed me out! I thought I'd turn to something comforting for dinner last night, but at the same time, something not too laborsome either. I found my dish in the Larder Salads chapter.

94. A Winter Bean Salad - *Larder Salads*

I have to admit that I haven't given this chapter much respek in this project! I'm not a salad type of person. I don't know why, but I find it too annoying to prepare; all that chopping, all those extra ingredients, etc. But the great thing about salads is that they could be made ahead of time, and that a lot of things constitute as a salad. The bean salad I made last night is certainly a different take on my idea of one.

The salad ingredients included one vegetable I have never actually bought, and am not sure I tasted either -- radicchio. I knew what it was though, or at least I have heard of it. I used to watch When Harry Met Sally endlessly as a kid, and it is my favorite movie - now you know how I picked my blog title. I remember at the 'double date-that-never-was' scene that Sally had ordered a 'grilled radicchio'. I thought how fancy she sounded ordering that, and imagined myself at her age doing the same thing.

So the 'radicchio' I attributed to being a very posh type of veggie. And it certainly looked posh to me.

The rest of the salad ingredients are actually pretty standard -- canned cannellini beans, 'good' olives, parsley, thyme or rosemary, and parmesan or pecorino romano. Sounds like a fab combo, no??! Well definitely definitely yes! I had jotted down the ingredients yesterday at work; Rafa had given them to me over Messenger - bad girl, Ilana, I should be working!

To accompany the salad, I decided on Nigella's Soft White Dinner Rolls from Feast. I have made these countless times so it was a no-brainer.

I had the dough rising for the second time when I got started on the salad. So, I chopped up a radicchio, after cutting out the core.

Then I chopped some rosemary (it looked better than the thyme at the store) with some flat-leaf parsley.I chopped up some olives and grated some parmesan. Then, I drained the beans and reserved their 'liquor'. I took half of this reserve and heated it on a low heat with some olive oil and red wine vinegar. To the pan, I added the radicchio, chopped olives, chopped herbs and beans. I tossed it around for a few seconds, and quickly took the pan off the heat. It's a warm salad - but not necessarily cooked. Tom gives the option that if I was to serve it warm, I should incorporate the cheese into the salad rather than serving it on top. And I did just that.

The bread rolls were done baking, and I brought the salad to the table.

It was gorgeous! A really really delicious dish - and if you didn't get that, IT WAS REALLY GOOD! No, seriously, we really enjoyed it. The sauce out of the bean liquor and olive oil and vinegar was perfect - no extra seasoning was needed. The radicchio was soft and warm and blended in perfectly with the beans and herbs. The olives added a sharpness, but were not too obtrusive. The dish was to include capers, and I actually convinced Rafa that he should try them, but just my luck, the store didn't have them.

And the dish was great with rolls too, as there was lots of 'juice' to mop up. Mmmmmm. See, now I'm hungry again!

The recipe serves 4, and I was really hoping there would be some left for me today, but no, we demolished it! Well all the more reason to make it again, which I will! Yum!

Istanbul, Constantinople, Istanbul....

I am really all about theme nights... cooking a few dishes from the same country of origin, pretending that you are in some exotic locale. Plus, it's a way of getting a few recipes down at once, which is something I am in need of doing! Tonight - it's Turkey night!! No, not Thanksgiving... Turkey, the country -- lamb, tzatsiki (cacik), and salad!

72. Grilled Lamb Chops - *Grills*
73. Tzatsiki of Sorts - *Junk Food*
74. Turkish Salad - *Larder Salads*

When I went in search of minced lamb the other day and was completely unsuccessful, I did manage to pick up some lamb chops -- or at least I think they are. The package (yes it's from a supermarket, kill me all now!) said Australian Shoulder Lamb Chops. So I either have lamb shoulder or lamb chops - well, it looked grillable so I thought, why not?

Since the lamb chops would take the shortest time to cook and needed to be served warm, I started on the tzatsiki and salad.

Tzatsiki, as Tom points out, comes in many forms in many countries. The yogurt/cucumber/mint dish in Turkey would in fact be called cacik. Tzatsiki is the name for the dish in Greece. Lamb and yogurt always seemed to be a good pair so I didn't mind borrowing this recipe from the Junk Food chapter.

For the tzatsiki, I grated a cucumber that was deseeded.

I removed excess moisture and mixed it with thick yogurt, dried mint, finely chopped garlic and salt. I let it get 'cool as a cucumber' (thanks, Tom!) in the fridge, but before that I snapped a pic!!

Then, a few minutes before dinnertime, I began the salad. It is not a difficult salad, just time-consuming because it takes on qualities from salad niçoise, which must have potatoes and eggs just so. I first did the chopping for the salad - yellow peppers, tomatoes (deseeded), cucumbers (deseeded), and lettuce. I also added the butter beans before I put the entire thing in the fridge.

I boiled some new potatoes for the salad, and once a bit cool, tore them into uneven pieces. After tossing the potato shards in some olive oil, I let them sit to the side until I would start assembling the salad.

The lamb chops were just basically the hot grill/hot oven method used in all of the Grills chapter. I seared some lamb chops on the grill pan, and then seasoned them and put them into the very hot oven for a few minutes to finish them off. Here are the Australian Shoulder Lamb Chops!

While the meat was resting I finished the salad -- boiled a couple of eggs, toasted some almond flakes, and dressed the salad with olive oil, white wine vinegar, chopped dill, salt and pepper. I topped the salad with the almonds and put the quartered eggs to the side as a garnish. They came out a bit too, erm, runny, even though I boiled them for six minutes as stipulated. Oh well, never mind.

Here is the finished salad!

And closeup!

To go along with the Turkish theme, I also baked Nigella's Nigella Bread -- aka, bread with nigella (kalonji) seeds from How to be a Domestic Goddess.

The dinner was delicious! I had one of the chops, and although it was quite boney, the meat part was tender and juicy. It was lovely dipping some meat into the tsatski. The salad was fantastic too - lots of textures and colors, and I loved the unusual additions of almonds and dill!

Sorry I couldn't get a table shot - we have horrible lighting in our apartment and the only place that gets good light for pictures is the coffee table - so what you may see in almost all of my pictures that I don't crop to an inch of the picture's life is my Leksvik coffee table. We don't eat at the coffee table -- well not all of the time.

Being cheeky...

Last night's dinner did not go exactly as planned. I really should have learned by now that if I have it in mind to make something for dinner days in advance, I should actually do the shopping days in advance.

Well, I wanted to have a sort of mezze-style dinner involving lamb burgers, pita, hummus - the works, inspired by CL's Junk Food chapter. The end result was still a sort of mezze-style, but without the works - but nevertheless wonderfully delicious.

57. A Quick Hummus - *Junk Food*
58. Fattoush - *Larder Salads*

(Edit: I never mentioned why I didn't make a meat dish for dinner last night... it was because I couldn't find ground lamb anywhere. I did an hour's walk and went to 5 or 6 stores and nothing! Whatdya gotta do around here to get some friggin' lamb???!!!!)

The cheeky portion of the evening is solely on my part. In the Pita and Fillings part of the Junk Food chapter, Tom indicates that a quick hummus would be a perfect filling for pita, among other things. Well, I found the quickest way to make hummus --- to buy it!

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, here are the facts:

Tom says:

Some shop-bought hummus is fine, but it is so easy to make that it is worth doing your own. I have a mild beef with supermarkets for making it with vegetable oil rather than olive oil. I think the latter gives it a better flavor. I sometimes find commercial hummus a bit smooth, too.

My case:

Shop-bought hummus, in Israel and Brooklyn, is not fine, it's fantastic! In fact, most homes in Israel never bother to make their own because the quality of the bought-product is exceptional. During all the time I have spent in Israel the only occasion in which I have had homemade hummus was in restaurants, and I honestly couldn't tell the difference between that and the shop brand. Now, I have to make the distinction here that not all shop-bought hummus is the same. I have had really really bad hummus in Liverpool. I'm sure that there are better brands in the UK, but this particular one came in a can and was the most appalling specimen of ground chickpeas I have ever seen. And it was bought in a Middle Eastern store, no less.

Also, the fabulous brand found everywhere in Israel and in many cities in the U.S., Sabra, make their hummus with olive oil. And for those conscious of their hummus being too smooth, I give you Exhibit A.

Chunky style!

So that is my cheekiness - if I really thought that hummus around my parts was horrible, I would certainly put my crappy $9.99 mini food processor to work.

Hummus is just one of the fillings for a typical mezze/pita night. As I said before, pita is really meant to be robust, because you should see how Israelis stuff those suckers at sandwich shops. Being in Israel is all about appreciating the numerous salads and fillings one puts into pita. It doesn't stop at falafel. Like my dad, Israelis are big on pickled items. They are known as hamutzim. You haven't tasted heaven until you bite into a pita, warmed by the sun, that is filled with yummy and tangy delights. When I was at university, there was an American studying in my group. He didn't speak a word of Hebrew. So, you would expect my surprise when standing behind him at one of these pita stalls. His turns comes to order, the man behind the counter has an open pita ready, and then this American guy starts telling the 'stuffer' in Hebrew all the things he wants in the pita -- hummus, hatzilim (eggplant), hamutzim, etc. Food, ladies and gents, is universal!

One of the big things most families have at dinner and social gatherings is the 'Israeli salad'. I have seen it in Turkish restaurants as 'Shepherd's Salad', as well. For my family, it has always been tomatoes and cucumbers (Israeli, natch!) chopped finely, with some onion, also chopped small, a sprinkling of lemon juice and olive oil, and finally, salt and pepper. We eat this as a side for the main dishes or we eat it with the main dishes in a pita.

Tom includes a variation of the Israeli salad I have grown up with, Fattoush. Fattoush is basically the same thing, but with torn up toasted flatbread inside. I love fattoush, and especially how the bread soaks up all the juices. Mmmmmm.

So I had the hummus and I was about to make the fattoush. But what else?? I had to think fast of a suitable and substantial meal for the two of us. It is not so easy to promise meat to a carnivorous glutton, such as hubby, and then to take that away. I had it in mind to make something full of protein, so I could fool him to thinking he would be just as full as if he were eating meat. And I didn't have to go too far, culturally speaking. I went to my Israeli fave, shakshuka.

You will remember that I made Tom's Chakchouka a few weeks ago. The one that I know and love is definitely eggs, mostly tomatoes, and sometimes peppers. His was definitely peppers, mostly eggs, and sometimes tomatoes. You will recall I didn't like his too much, because I am not a fan of peppers, roasted or cooked in any way. I much prefer them fresh. So I made a version, closer to the one I was familiar with, courtesy of my friend, Julie, from Nigella.com.

Now that dinner was sorted, I could start the cooking. (And you're all thinking, 'finally!') I started on the fattoush first because the shakshuka would need to be eaten straight away. So, I deseeded tomatoes and a cucumber, and chopped both into small pieces. I got the rest of the ingredients together by chopping up a red pepper, some parsley, a garlic clove, and a red onion. (I should note here that Tom includes cauliflower, radishes, and chickpeas in the ingredient list, but indicates that each family should add and take away as each chooses, so I thought to keep it simple and leave these out.) Separately, I toasted two pita halves in a low oven, cut them up, and added them to some olive oil and lemon juice.

I put the veggies all together, and then added the pita shards, along with some salt, pepper, dried mint, and sumac sprinkled on top. Yummy fattoush!


With the salad done, I started on the shakshuka. Basically all I did was brown some onions and chopped pepper in some olive oil. To this I added some passata and let it bubble away with added chopped parsley, zaatar, salt, and a pinch of chilli flakes.

I broke three eggs into the mixture and covered the pan to let the eggs cook for a few minutes. I was quite impressed by how the eggs sort of floated on top, a la poached eggs. It looked beautiful!

It was at this point that I was drooling like mad, as was very very hungry, so I set the table -- hummus, pita, fattoush, and shakshuka.


I instantly scooped up the egg surrounding by the lovely tomatoey sauce, and stuffed it into my pita. I put some fattoush on the side for stuffing later.

This was delicious! It was not what I planned, but it turned out to be a lovely meal. The pita pocket is the perfect vehicle for a pungent salad like fattoush and the wonderful and warm shakshuka. I am pleased as punch that I had some leftover fattoush to stuff another pita with this morning, and that will be my lunch! I could imagine making this fattoush for many meals this summer - it's perfect BBQ fare. B'tea-von!

Tikka With a Side of Masala

I adore Indian food but I find the task of cooking it quite daunting. Funnily enough, the actual recipes are not that difficult at all, it's just that Indian food implies a sort of curry feast and I've realized a long time ago that my downfall is producing a lunch or dinner with many dishes. But it seems almost inevitable when cooking Indian because I think to myself, 'oh a curry would be great with some rice, and that would be great with some naan and some veggie thing, etc.' I loved cooking for my friend and sister and Rafa a few weeks ago, but I did feel like I was a chicken running around without its head. So instead of abandoning the Indian chapter altogether, I thought I'd make it simple because it was just me and Rafa, and thankfully, he wouldn't be home until 8pm at the earliest!

53. (Sort of) Chicken Tikka - *Indian*
54. Want your tikka with masala? - *Indian*
55. ...and something from the Punjab - *Larder Salads*

So, I decided the main course would be chicken tikka masala, with a side of Indian-inspired salad.

Tom includes a recipe for tikka and a recipe for masala, because essentially, they are two different things. Many people, myself included, often order chicken tikka masala, but chicken tikka can stand on its own, and thus is prepared apart form the masala sauce that goes on top of it.

The chicken needed at least a day's marinading so I got on with that on Tuesday night. The marinade basically consisted of some hot smoked paprika (I used mostly sweet smoked paprika and a smidgeon of the hot because the picante I bought in Spain is BITCHIN' HOT!), cumin, ground corriander, and chopped ginger and garlic.

To this mixture I added some full-fat yogurt and light olive oil. I had to make a trip to the Russian supermarket for the yogurt - you could always count on them to have things in full-fat! Actually, the store is quite interesting in that Russians are big on importing goods from all over the place - they have a whole aisle of jams and preserves from various Eastern European countries. This is where I found greek yogurt closest to me, and they also have a selection of cheeses from all over the world. Since the store is only about a ten-minute walk from my apartment, it is a good alternative to posh, fancy Manhattan grocery store.

Ok, now back to the marinade. I rubbed the chicken breasts in salt and pepper and then sprinkled on some lemon juice. I then added the yogurt marinade, and it was ready to rest in the fridge for about a day.

So, as soon as I got home this evening, I thought it would be a good idea to start with the masala portion of the meal. I had full confidence that the sauce could be made in advance, and I was happy to find that I was right. The sauce was so simple -- I sweated some garlic and onions in some butter for a few minutes with some salt. To this I added some passata, and continued to cook on a low flame for a few more minutes. I finally stirred through some heavy (double) cream and full-fat yogurt, and then added the garam masala. The last step was just to add some corriander leaves (I decided on parsley as detest corriander!) but I thought that could wait until everything was more or less ready.

I popped the lid on the masala and got on with the salad. Tom's salad is inspired by Madhur Jaffery. It is basically a greek salad (hence the reason it is in the Larder Salads chapter) but instead of oregano and black olives and feta, the salad is flavored with Indian spices, and paneer is added at the end. Now, Tom says that buffalo milk mozzarella or feta would be a good substitute since paneer is crumbly like feta and similar in taste to the mozzarella. I really didn't want to use the substitutions because paneer is attainable. However, I couldn't make a trip to Jackson Heights again, so I had to make do using feta, as it was what I had in the house. I bought the rest of the ingredients right before making the salad --- what lovely colors they were!

The salad was first prepared by cutting some ripe tomatoes from top to bottom and deseeding them. They were chopped roughly and added to a sliced red onion. I got on with the dressing, that was chopped ginger and garlic mixed with ground cumin and black pepper. Some lemon juice was added to the other ingredients, and that was the dressing done.

I decided that I would add the dressing at the last moment, so as not to have a soaked salad.

Rafa had called that he was on his way home, so I wanted to get started on the chicken tikka. I took the chicken breasts out of their marinade and grilled/seared them on both sides on a hot grill.

grilling chicken with masala in the background -- with parsley added

Then, I transferred the chicken onto a roasting tray and put them in my oven at its hightest setting (but not the Broil setting! -- Ilana learning from experience!) for just a few minutes. Since the breasts were boneless and skinless, I knew they needed less time than Tom stipulates -- his breasts (tee hee) had the skin on.

I let the chicken rest for a bit....

And sliced them up and added them to the masala.

While all this was going on I also had cooked up some coconut rice, courtesy of Bill Granger, from Delicous Australia March 2006. It was my first time making coconut rice but I thought it would mesh well with the tikka masala.... and I was right!


The flavors were amazing together. I can't believe how well the tikka masala turned out. Creamy, warm, flavorful, probably better than any tikka masala I had eaten at an Indian restaurant. I think the difference was the richness and deepness of the sauce, and the fact that the chicken breasts were cooked to perfection. Perfectly moist and not dry, as some restaurant versions tend to be. My other bad experiences have been getting cheap cuts from the chicken - I am a chicken breast lover through and through.

The salad turned out really well too! I added the dressing to the salad shortly before eating and then some chopped mint leaves. I had completely forgotten about the feta cheese, and only realized it when I was already digging in at the table. I'm not sure it really needed it, as the chicken and rice were already so full of flavor, the crunchy and sharp tomatoes and onions did the trick in cutting through that richness. Part of me thinks the feta would have been too overwhelming, so if any of you were to make this salad to go with some curry, I'd suggest to use the milder paneer.

I did add the feta after dinner (there was lots of salad left since Rafa didn't feel like having any) and put in the fridge for leftovers.

The whole time I was cooking I was thinking how proud I was of myself for chilling out and taking my time with things. I find that when I am a nervous cook, the food doesn't always taste as it should be. Tonight's meal exceeded expectations. The only thing missing was that I couldn't be arsed to warm up some naan, as it would have been delightful to continue eating the sauce long after the chicken was gone. Oh well, there's always next time. These recipes are truly keepers!

Hope you like curry!!!

Friday night had finally arrived, and it was time to get my curry cooking underway! I had decided to invite my wonderful friend Rosie, who is probably the most appreciative person in the universe when it comes to food, and my sister and brother-in-law with nephew in tow. My bro-in-law couldn't come because my nephew wasn't having a good day, so was instead put to bed early, and my B-I-L stayed with him.

I knew that all of my guests love some good Indian food, so I knew that the meal would be a hit, provided nothing went totally wrong!

39. A (kind of) Prawn Korma - *Indian*
40. Peas Braised with Indian Cheese (Muttor Paneer) - *Indian*
41. DIY: Make Your Own Paneer - *Larder Salads*
42. An Easy Pilau - *Indian*
43. Mint and Onion Chutney - *Indian*
44. Tropical Shake - *Afters*

You may recall that I had already made the Mango Chutney, but I needed to get the rest of the stuff done just before eating so that it could be lovely and fresh. Usually curries are best left in the fridge for a couple of days, but since I was working with prawns and cheese, I didn't want to cook the meals too far in advance. So the whole thing was a bit of a rush but I am not one to shy away from a challenge.

As soon as I got home from Queens, we started getting ready as we weren't sure when my sister would arrive. I chopped up the onion for the chutney as it needed to sit in milk for about an hour to get rid of its acrid taste. (After the hour, all I did was add chopped mint and salt, and that was it!)


I then sliced up another onion for the garnish for the Easy Pilau. I added the thinly sliced onion to a pan of warm vegetable oil and slowly fried it until golden brown.

In the short time it took to brown, I defrosted the prawns for the korma. Once the fried onion was done, I removed it with a slotted spoon to a plate, and then I started on the actual pilau. Using a few of the tablespoons of the oniony oil, I slowly fried a cinnamon stick, cloves, and some cardamon pods to release their aromatic flavor. To this I added the rice, sultanas, a saffron-infusion made of water, and enough water for the rice to steam. I let the mixture boil and then reduced the heat and covered the rice. After about fifteen minutes, the rice was lovely and fluffy, and I let it sit covered until the rest of dinner was done. (The final stage was to add some butter and salt to the rice, but I did that last, shortly before serving.)

While the rice was cooking I was sweating some onions, garlic, and loads of spices for the Muttor Paneer. Once they had released their juices, I added passata, water, and peas. This simmered gently for about fifteen minutes. I then took it off the heat, so that I could add the paneer (lovely Indian cheese) later. You will notice that I added the DIY version in my recipe count and included it in here, as well. Well, Tom has a few DIY recipes; I gather they are a way of showing anyone they can make lovely shop-bought ingredients from things you have at home. I'm taking these suggestions with a grain of salt, as I find sometimes shop-bought would be ten times better than my concoction. I am not being overly modest; I am just really clumsy, and a bit lazy! So although I will be only making some of the DIY recipes, I have included all of them in my recipe count -- how naughty am I! Before you start throwing your CL's at me, I have to say I have counted some recipes in the count that I now find aren't actually separate recipes, like the 'raw toppings' for the pizzas, which I intend to make. So the count still stands at 201 as it is approximately how many separate recipes there are in the book... Phew, back to cooking!

It was at about this time that my sister arrived, and quite hungry, so I put the pedal to the metal and really cranked it up a notch! We put the naan and samosas in the oven to warm a bit, and then it was time to cook the korma, which didn't take very long at all. It involved also sweating some onion and garlic with water. To this I added some spices, and then the prawns. The final additions were yogurt, ground almonds and some water. The korma thickened slightly, I added the paneer to the muttor, Rosie did an excellent job with her pyrotechnics while charring the poppadums, and then it was time to serve it up!

muttor paneer - absolutely luscious and delicious -- fantastic!

Clockwise from far left -- fresh naan, mango chutney, easy pilau, mint and onion chutney, prawn korma, and lovely poppadums prepared by my pyromaniac friend (and aren't the chutney bowls so cute - courtesy of Patel Brothers)

Fabulous Rosie -- lover of fire, eater of everything, and the perfect sous chef always asking how she could help -- that is the pilau on the left, my favorite part of the meal

Another view of the table - better view of the pilau

My plate - poppadums with mango chutney and the spiciest samosa known to man!

Well dinner was a complete success!! Everyone seemed to really enjoy everything, but as usual I made too much! Tom's recipes served 2, so I doubled all of them, but I think since we had extras like naan, poppadums, and chutney, we could never finish everything, though the prawns and the rice were almost finished. I have to say I enjoyed everything except for the prawns. Tom commented in the beginning of the recipe that his was not a typical Anglo-Indian korma that many Brits, and Americans I daresay, are quite familiar with. I found his particular korma too watery; perhaps I didn't thicken it enough, or maybe I should have added a thicker type of yogurt, like greek yogurt. It was still pretty darn good though, piled high on top of the pilau. Speaking of which, the rice was so perfect, lovely with the scent of cinnamon and cardamon, and the added sweetness of the fried onions and sultanas. I am going to be making this again, curry night or no curry night.

After some lovely dinner conversation and lots of laughing, I got started on dessert. I hadn't planned on anything heavy due to the large amount of courses, and wanted something cooling after the heavy curry. The Tropical Shake was the perfect candidate. It was a blended mixture of vanilla ice cream, pineapple juice, ice cubes, and bananas. It turned into a perfect, cooling shake, and so unbelievably yummy!

We all had a fair share of the shakes, and then my sister finished all of them off in her lovely slurping manner.

So the verdict from last night's curry night: Yum, and fun! And I was lucky that my guests loved to eat, a lot!

Down With Potatoes!!

Ahhh, I have had potatoes coming out my eyes!!! (Sorry, no pun intended! -- ah, who are we kidding?! Of course it was intended, I'm Ilana!) So, I knew for dinner tonight we were in need of something different and refreshing.

25. Grilled Chicken Breasts - *Grills*
26. Lemon Chicken - *Stir-Fries*
27. Greek Salad - *Larder Salads*

The method for the Grilled Chicken Breasts in the Grills chapter is fairly similar to the beginning of the Lemon Chicken recipe, so I decided to include it in the count of recipes I have made.

I got started for the dinner a couple of hours before the cooking as I needed to marinade two chicken breasts. The marinade consisted of the zest and juice of one lemon, sea salt, chilli flakes, and chopped garlic. I left it to marinade for about two hours.

marinading chicken

Then, about a half hour before the proper cooking I decided to get on with the salad, as it also needed a short marinading time. I combined a sliced red onion with cucumbers and hollowed out and chopped tomatoes.

hollowed out tomatoes

To the vegetables, I added half of a mixture of olive oil, red wine vinegar, and dried oregano. I let them marinade for about 25 minutes. I also marinaded some chopped feta with the rest of the dressing.

marinading veggies and feta

When everything was sufficiently engulfed in lovely juiciness, I added some lettuce leaves and combined everything together, with some torn up mint leaves on top. And that was the Greek Salad done. (I didn't add olives or capers, as we don't really like them.)

Then it was time to cook the chicken, as it didn't take very long and would need to be served warm. I heated up some oil in a hot frying pan (for the grilling method, the only difference is that the chicken would be oiled, not the pan) and seared the chicken breasts without their marinade. I then transferred the chicken breasts to a roasting pan with their reserved marinade and baked it in a very hot oven for about 15 minutes till lovely and juicy! (I cooked Rafa's breast longer, as he likes things, erm, really well done!)

The chicken was lovely and lemony. Tom includes this recipe for Lemon Chicken because he says it is usually done so poorly at Chinese restaurants. Tom's version puts those chicken dishes to shame! It was really fantastic! Paired with the mega-flavorful salad, the two are a match made in heaven! (And there are no potatoes in heaven, ever!)