the dollar store dinner

chicken and salad! what a concept!

today it was roasted split chicken breasts (97 cents a pound!),
sprinkled with red robin, convection baked at 325 for 45 minutes
(they were large breasts. hi, boys!)

salad was red oak leaf lettuce (a dollar!), shredded
broccoli slaw (love this stuff, and only a dollar!)
red onion, sliced
seasoned croutons
marie's balsamic vinagrette

i served it up with lipton chicken rice (only a dollar! and for all that sodium!)

southwest steak caesar

okay, so there's no chicken to be found. oh, well!
this is BEEF country btw, so what's a girl to do?
it's what's for dinner.

leftover steak. i had grilled on my fabulous grill pan
with a little of that liquid hickory smoke flavor, sliced thinly
and warmed up a bit back on the grill

romaine
leftover corn cut from the cob
lucerne chipotle sharp cheddar cheese, cubed
safeway cheddar and onion croutons
cardinis southwest caesar dressing, natch
toss at will
little grape tomatoes if that's your thing (aint mine)

serve salad with steak on the side. yum.

jambalaya

tonight, no salad!
why?
because there are plenty of veggies hiding in the mix, for starters,
though i think i should have had more onions.
and to make it requires about 17 pans.
i went with james beards version from the ancient nytimes cook book,
except for the ham (why? if you have smoked sausage?) and i added shrimp
as it should be, extra tabasco and too much rice. again. when will i learn?
and why, oh why does he not have a roux? you gotta have a roux to do
jambalaya! and while it was okay, it's always better a day or two after.
i got enough for a small army, even if there are teenagers in the house.
well, enough to share with coworkers and a small bucket for the freezer.