A Spicy Bite That's Sure to Delight

Cold chicken breast w/Salsa Verde, Oven Roasted Cauliflower

and Pan-Seared Fresh Corn w/ Garlic, Shallots and Thyme

What's for Sunday lunch? Easy, when you've a cooked chicken breast (For cooking instructions see What's In Your Chicken - 9/30) waiting in the fridge and a couple of interesting veggies to accompany it. The cold Murray's chicken breast was a great candidate to accompany the fresh tomatillo and chipolte salsa I whipped up the other day.

A trip to the Farmer's Market on Sunday morning reaped a couple of fresh ears of corn that I de-cobbed and sautéed in olive oil with a minced garlic clove, a small shallot and a pinch of thyme. One of the supermarket veggie bargains this week was cauliflower. It cooks up quickly in a hot oven (425°) with a light spray of olive oil and a dusting of Italian bread crumbs. To add a little extra kick, I sprinkled on some Aleppo pepper flakes as I plated it. (Complete instructions for cooking corn and cauliflower in post of 9/4/06)

It was an easy meal to prepare and a delight to eat, particularly since I opened one of Tim's great finds, a bottle of Michael Sullberg Cabernet Sauvignon to complete the meal.

If you've a yen for a fresh green salsa try this:

Simple Salsa Verde5 -6 medium tomatillos, one onion, 2 -3 cloves of garlic, 3 chipoltes in adobo sauce, juice from 1/2 lime and a generous handful of fresh cilantro, leaves only.

Rinse the tomatillos and then roast them on a hot, dry skillet. Rotate them often so they have nice charred spots but don't completely blacken. They should be soft in about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Meanwhile, mince the onion, garlic and chop the chipoltes (no need to rinse, leave some sauce on them) pulse in food processor. When the tomatillos are soft and have cooled, chop and add to the work bowl. Pulse to combine, then add lime juice and cilantro and salt to taste. Store in covered jar in refrigerator. Makes about 2 cups.

This was an easy, flavor packed lunch. With the chicken and salsa done ahead it was fast, too. The short, waterless, cooking technique for the fresh vegetables left them tender - crisp, full of flavor and retaining most of their nutrients.

'Till next time . . . keep on cooking!