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!