When Life Gives You Chicken Breasts. . .

A child who will remain nameless left the door to the big freezer open last night. I threw out all the fruits and vegetables (could have been worse--we had used up our summer peaches already), and salvaged several Sam's Club bags of boneless chicken breasts. They were quite thawed but still cold, so I plunked them in marinade this afternoon (tamari, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and garlic), then the Composer graciously stepped in and grilled them *all*.

We enjoyed a huge Chicken Caesar salad tonight which consisted of my biggest enamel bowl filled with mixed lettuces and chopped tomatoes tossed with a very garlicky vinaigrette, and plates of these items to choose from: grilled chicken (ha!), fresh-grated Parmesan cheese, marinated artichoke hearts, black olives marinated in wine and herbs, sliced avocado, and whole-grain baguettes split and toasted.

The Big Salad Meal, while delicious and much appreciated here, is in my experience a dinner which costs much more in terms of actual time and money than almost any other, although it seems like it would be cheap and easy. By the time I've gathered and prepared all the goodies for a big salad, I could have fixed two or three meat-and-potatoes dinners, I think! Still, we all enjoy dinners of taco salad, salade nicoise, or grilled chicken salad. Just not all the time, please!