Monday Dinner

The salad I made tonight was one of my late father's favorites. He was a meat & potatoes man, and became a very picky eater in his latter years, but he gobbled this down every time I made it for him . My family calls it Hawaiian Chicken Salad (can't remember why) but it's really just my version of the Asian Chicken Salad that many restaurants serve.

For starters, I cube about 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken. I prefer using thighs, but breasts work just fine, too (that's what I used tonight). I saute the chicken in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat with about 1/4 cup Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame dressing - regular or reduced fat, it makes no difference which. The secret is to cook the chicken until all the liquid has evaporated from the pan and the chicken is browned and glazed and sticky.

In a large bowl, toss fresh spinach (my preference, but you can use lettuce) with 1/2 a large can of crunchy Chow Mein noodles, 1 15 oz. can of (drained) Mandarin oranges, and about 1/4 cup of the dressing. Divide onto individual serving plates, and top with warm chicken.

Totals:

$1.33 - 1 lb chicken purchased during Harris Teeter's B1G2 free sale
.89 - Mandarin Oranges (WalMart)
*free - spinach (about 1/4 of large bag from Costco)
.70 - Chow Mein noodles (WalMart)
free - Kraft dressing (after triple coupons at Harris Teeter)

$2.92 for dinner for 4 (my sister joined us)

NOTE: I've learned the hard way that Chow Mein noodles go rancid very quickly once opened. Store leftovers in the fridge and use as soon as possible. If you can't use them up before they go bad, it may be more economical to buy the smaller can even though you pay more per ounce.

*The spinach was from my sister - she buys the ginormous Costco bags and gives us half since she can't use it all before it goes bad. We used about 1/2 of what she gave us, which I figure is about $1 worth at Costco prices. If you're not dividing up a giant bag of the stuff, a standard-sized bag of washed spinach from the grocery store is about the right amount for 4 servings.