Summery Spinach and Chicken Salad

 

Sitting in front of a large bowl of salad like this one, I felt very present.  The flavors are somewhat Asian inspired, but not overly so.  There is soy sauce mixed with lemon juice, sort of an unusual combination, and the taste brought me back, the way food often does, over 25 years to when my mother used to make a salad very similar to this one.

I've read a bit about mindfulness and mindful eating; concepts that seem to be edging their way into mylife.  I am drawn to the tenets of paying attention, being aware in each moment and finding balance.

The principles of mindfulness allowed me to appreciate the soft and unfamiliar texture of the iceberg lettuce, paired smartly with healthier baby spinach.  The way a few sesame seeds clung to my molars and the snow peas and red peppers snapped, each releasing their own bright flavors.

If I extend these teachings to the rest of my day, they allowed me feel myself laughing out loud as Roman danced a jig to the jovial sounds of the accordion in Bryant Park, to have the fortitude to turn around an episode when he protested to my making dinner, and then to watch closely as sleep crept gently up on him as he hugged his yellow taxi under one arm and his blue elephant under the other.  And for the next 11 weeks, each kick, bump, thump and wiggle in my swelling belly gets my immediate attention.  These are the days, the tastes, the sights, the sounds and sensations that will not be around long. 

Summery Spinach and Chicken Salad
Serves 4 (large servings)

Plan ahead as this recipe requires chilling in between steps. Also be sure to eat it immediately after you combine all the greens so that they don't wilt. I drastically reduced the amount of oil that my mother used in this salad and I didn't notice a change in flavor- there still seemed to be plenty of moisture for the salad.  If you need more, add more.  Delicious summer dinner.

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup canola oil

1 clove garlic, scored

1 lemon (both zest and juice)
1 ten-ounce package of fresh baby spinach
1 large head of iceberg lettuce
1 organic red pepper (conventionally grown are highly sprayed.)
a few handfuls of fresh snow peas
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
coarse salt to taste

Cut the chicken into 2-inch strips and place in a bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of oil and the garlic clove and the zest of half a lemon. Mix well and chill several hours.

Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a skillet.  Add the chicken strips a few at a time and sauté 3 - 5 minutes or until they become firm.  Don't overcook.  Discard garlic clove.

Combine cooked chicken and remaining oil, soy sauce, lemon zest and lemon juice in a large bowl and chill thoroughly.

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for several minutes.

Pick the stems off the spinach, wash and drain.  Chop or tear the spinach with your fingers, shred the iceberg lettuce. Make sure these are both chilled.  When ready to serve, toss the greens, snow peas and red pepper with the chicken mixture and dressing. Sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds and salt and serve immediately.

Chicken with Dates and Pine nuts

If we are the sum of the places we've lived, the people we've known, the experiences we've had in life, then there's a little bit of Tunisia in me. When we first arrived in Tunisia in 2005, my first mission was to discover the cuisine. At our local market, I was perplexed that there was not a wide variety of produce. After all, Tunisia was once the breadbasket of the Mediterranean, and fed the whole Roman Empire. Under Ben Ali's regime, certain crops were subsidized, so that is what people grew, which meant one type of tomato, one variety of onion, and many of the best that the country had to offer of olives, dates, etc. were exported out of the country. In addition, because of the closed economy, very little imported produce was allowed to compete with the local economy, so at certain times of the year, onions were literally unavailable.

Strangely, the tourist restaurants rarely featured real Tunisian cooking, other than a few popular dishes. Fresh fish was always central on the menu, but it was hard to find what made Tunisian cuisine stand out. When I started eating in the souk, I began to discover really tasty, simple dishes. Kind of like eating street food, no frills, but intensely good.

I bought a cookbook and started to cook some of these dishes at home. This is the chicken dish I made most often, and I decided to make it again this week since it had been years, and like many others, I've had Tunisia on my mind.

Chicken with Dates and Pine Nuts

Adapted from Cuisine Tunisienne by Christiane Desbordes

This is a wonderful winter dish, rich, creamy and slightly sweet. It can be served over rice, but I chose spelt couscous for a little variety in our grain consumption. I've made versions of this dish substituting the dates with apricots, and using slivered almonds in the place of pine nuts.

1 3lb chicken (1.5 kg)

2 tablespoons oil

2 onions, chopped

a dozen dates, pitted and torn in half lengthwise

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup water

3.5 ounces (100 grams) crème fraîche

1/2 cup pine nuts

Cut the chicken into pieces (or you can use chicken thighs, or even breasts cut into morsels). In a medium saute pan, brown the chicken in the oil, then add the onions and saute for another three minutes. Add the curry powder, flour and water and simmer for five minutes. Add the dates, salt and pepper, then cover and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

During this time, toast the pine nuts in a bare frying pan, watching carefully not to burn them.

Remove the chicken from the pan and let the sauce reduce slightly, then remove from the heat and stir in the crème fraîche.

Serve over rice or couscous, sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts.