Chicken Chopped Salad

Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

For a super quick weeknight meal, I often go to my fridge and see what’s kicking around and make a salad. This version is a chicken chopped salad.

The first one I ever had was in Los Angeles and it was all the rage then many years ago. It was a textural feast as well as a many layered flavored salad…crunchy with fried noodles, sturdy lettuce, toasted nuts, tender chicken and a creamy or Asian salad dressing enrobing it all.

I often cook some version of a chicken on the weekend so that I can transform it into many different main courses or lunches during the week. And when I’ve run out of that I sometimes splurge on a rotisserie chicken from my local market.

I always have some form of cabbage in my fridge which is, to me, an essential ingredient in any salad for a hit of healthy crunch; some lettuce; fresh herbs and I always have a huge assortment of nuts in the freezer. So in minutes, I have a healthy and super-satisfying main course salad on my table.

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Fruit Fools

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

Fruit, in all of their glorious colors and flavors, are showing up in the market right now, including the first of the season’s strawberries and blueberries.

One of the easiest and quickest desserts that I know of is a fool, an English dessert that is usually made by pureeing fruit and folding it into freshly whipped cream. A fool is simple and quick enough to make for one, or if company is coming, it can be made at the last minute with just three ingredients on hand.

I happened to have an overripe mango, which is perfect for pureeing, so I was inspired to make the recipe below. Instead of the whipped cream I decided to healthy it up and use Greek yogurt which will give you a rich, thick mouthfeel as cream would have, plus the added nutritional benefits of yogurt.

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Mashed Taters and Leek Lessons

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite indulgences and when mixed with the sweetness of caramelized leeks, what could be better?

Ramps, known as wild leeks, are everywhere at this time of the year and they certainly can be used in place of the leeks. But I would reduce the amount by one-third, because the ramp, while a cousin of the leek, is from the boisterous, assertive side of the family.

Leeks are much more timid and sweeter and they are native to Mediterranean countries where they have been enjoyed for thousands of years.

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On a Roll with Tuna

Enter to win a collection of food items from France, selected by Sandy, along with Around my French Table cookbook by Dorie Greenspan. To enter the sweepstakes, go to http://bit.ly/YGrDyy. Follow Sandy in France on Twitter to keep updated on new goodies for the prize package.

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

I have written many times about my summer vacation in Maine and the food that I've enjoyed there. Since August is still a long time away for me to grab a real Maine lobster roll and since lobsters, at the moment, are a bit pricey, I decided to make a roll with a more affordable filling. Also, my other inspiration was that I found in my local Hannaford’s, top-split hot dog rolls, more commonly known as New England-style rolls.

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Rainy Day Soup

Enter to win a collection of food items from France, selected by Sandy, along with Around my French Table cookbook by Dorie Greenspan. To enter the sweepstakes, go to http://bit.ly/YGrDyy. Follow Sandy in France on Twitter to keep updated on new goodies for the prize package.

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

The spring rains have begun as well as some amazing thunder clappers. This past week delivered not only tons of rain and high winds but lots of buds and flowering bushes and green grass. This is my favorite time of year (fall is a close second).

Today is a day of gardening and digging out of last year's twigs and fall leaves that found there way into my garden to form a protective blanket until spring really arrived. So maybe it's a tad early, as I know that up here in the Hudson Valley, they say, do not plant or uncover until frost is really a distant memory, which locals say is around May 15.

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