Big Bend Eats
By Carolyn Brown Zniewski
TIME FOR CHICKEN SALAD
I
love chicken and spring is a great
time for one-dish meals that can be
made ahead and refrigerated until it
is time to eat. When I started to do a lit-
tle research about chickens in prepara-
tion for this column, I got to wondering
about raising chickens in Alaska. What a
surprise: when I googled "Alaska chick-
en" I found a wonderful town called
Chicken, Alaska. It seems like the Twin
Sister Town of Terlingua; or rather,
maybe the mirror image, considering
the weather. I immediately fell in love. I
bet the Northern Lights are spectacular.
There is a nice video on Youtube called
Downtown Chicken Alaska. Check it
out! You will be glad you did.
Chicken is eaten all over the world. It
was domesticated in Africa, Asia, India
and the Pacific Islands close to 3,000
years ago and became a common bird in
Europe in the Middle ages. It is the
domesticated version of the Red
Junglefowl native to most of the Eastern
Hemisphere. Chicken is not native to
the Western Hemisphere but arrived
about 500-600 years ago with European
explorers in North America and
Polynesian Explorers in South America.
Chickens are social animals. They
share nests and keep each other’s eggs
warm. The males actually do a dance to
court the hens. So there really is a
“chicken dance.” They eat seeds and
grains and bugs, lizards and small
snakes. If you are going to raise chickens
give them plenty of room and keep the
yard tightly fenced to keep out dogs, cats
and those ever-so-tricky racoons.
CHICKEN, CHERRY & BLUE
CHEESE SALAD
Salad:
4 cups torn mixed salad greens
½ lb. cooked chicken in bite-sized
pieces
2 Tablespoons crumbled blue
cheese
2 Tablespoons dried cherries
½ red diced onion
½ cup chopped pecans
Dressing:
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon pepper
6 Tablespoons olive oil
Assemble salad in a pleasing manner.
This will make 4 servings. Mix dressing
ingredients in a pint jar with a tight lid.
Shake until well-mixed. Let each person
add their own dressing. This salad is
scrumdillyishess.
PECOS CHICKEN SALAD
Salad:
6 cups torn mixed salad greens
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken
breasts, cooked and sliced
1 medium cantaloupe, peeled and
sliced
3-4 chopped whole green onions
Dressing:
¼ cup lime juice
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Arrange salad. Add dressing ingredi-
ents to pint jar with tight lid. Shake well.
Dress salad. This is an excellent recipe
for those delicious cantaloupes from the
Pecos.
YARD SALE CHICKEN SALAD
Salad:
1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated
cheese tortellini
1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges,
drained
1 cup halved red grapes
1 cup halved green grapes
1 cup sliced strawberries
2 cups cubed cooked chicken,
optional
gently. Dress just before serving.
Dressing:
½ cup honey
½ cup lemon juice
Combine salad ingredients. Combine
honey and lemon juice. Pour dressing
over salad. Refrigerate for an hour or up
to 24 hours. Serve over lettuce. Makes a
hearty dinner salad. For a vegetarian
option double the tortellini and leave
out the chicken. This is called Yard Sale
Salad because it has a little bit of every-
thing.
BBQ CHICKEN SALAD
Salad:
3 cups spring greens
1 small thinly sliced red onion
Chicken meat from a rotisserie
chicken
1 pint halved cherry tomatoes
1 medium sliced and peeled
cucumber
1 pint blueberries
¾ cup cheese curds
1 Tablespoon dry rub
CINNAMON CHICKEN SALAD
Salad:
2 packages spring mix salad greens
4 slices cinnamon-raisin bread
2 cups diced cooked chicken
2 cups sliced fresh Bartlett pears
½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
½ cup dried sweet cherries
Dressing:
1 / 3 cup olive oil
3 Tablespoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 / 8 teaspoon sea salt
Dash pepper
Arrange salad. Add dressing ingredi-
ents to pint jar with tight lid. Shake well.
Dress salad.
CHICKEN, GRAPES AND BRIE
Salad
1 package (10 ounces) hearts of
romaine salad mix
3 cups chicken
1 cups honey-roasted cashews
2 cups seedless red grapes
4 ounces Brie cheese, cubed
Dressing:
Raspberry vinaigrette dressing
Combine all salad ingredients. Toss
continued on page 27
Cenizo
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