Salad with chicken rather than chicken with salad

We'd spent the day at the Lowell Folk Festival, an annual celebration of folk music that we mark on our calendars early so we won't miss it.  Last weekend in July -- check it out.  It was hot all day, and we'd taken Gracie with us.  Plus, we'd spent part of the day nibbling on festival food -- ethnic meat skewers, rice concoctions and the like, so we weren't up for much, but we had to eat.

The night before, I'd bought a rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods.  An experiment.  These rotisserie chickens can be hit or miss at a lot of supermarkets, and my last few hadn't been good (from other markets).  I was impressed that Whole Foods marks the time they put out the chicken, and this one had been sitting for less than half an hour -- a good sign.  I'd had some the night before, while in even less of a mood to prepare food.

The great thing about these chickens, when they're good, is that they can last for a few days.  So driving home from Lowell, I had in mind some hunks of chicken to be eaten by hand, with a little side of salad.  By the time I was in the kitchen though, I noticed all the limes and avocados in the fridge, and the lettuce wouldn't last another day.  And remembered the cilantro growing in the garden, and thought to turn this meal on it's head.  Make it a salad, with some of the chicken cut up and laid on top.

It was a winner.  A powerfully flavored salad with olive oil and half a lime drizzled on top of each bowl, a hearty handful of cilantro, and the other raw veggies.  Avocados and lime.  Like guacamole, but not so messy.  It's all we needed, really, and took only a few minutes to throw together.

Oh...and here's some cute pictures of Gracie on her Festival outing.  She was quite the attraction.  I'm learning that if you have a dog, especially a cute dog, everyone's friendly to you!

Bean soup: Start with a pot of beans, Part 3

There were still PLENTY of beans left after the first two dishes this week, but I was in the mood for something a little different.  Looking at the contents of the fridge, I found I had some vegetables that needed using up.  Opportunity.  Plus, the beans were comfortably bathed in lots of good cooking liquid.  Soup, I thought.

What I had on had were some string beans, half a red bell pepper, and some more greens.  I got the string beans and bell pepper going in a saucepan with a little olive oil and garlic, and cooked until they started to soften, about 10 minutes.  To this, I added the beans and bean cooking liquid, and then added another cup or so of water while rinsing out the bean storage container.  This was about right.  Brought that to a boil, and then reduced to a simmer, for another 15 minutes or so.

Just before serving, I added the juice of one and a half limes to the pot, and after spooning the soup into the oversized mug, added a teaspoon or so of zest from the lime.  This gave the whole dish a vaguely Mexican slant.  The soup had earthy notes from the beans, mid-tones from the veggies, and high notes from the lime.  I ate it accompanied by some bread, but serving it over a corn tortilla (or with tortilla strips) would have been entirely appropriate.

See the rest of the series:
Start with a pot of beans
Bean and green saute, with tomatoes and eggs: Start with a pot of beans, Part 2
Bean soup: Start with a pot of beans, Part 3
Into the freezer: Start with a pot of beans, Part 4


And, there's an October blog carnival on -- legumes hosted by Cook Sister inspired by My Legume Love Affair on Well Seasoned Cook.