Hot Chicken Salad — Roman chicken on China Romaine

Our romaine lettuce, as it happens, is a vegetable of ancient Rome. It was eaten cooked as well as raw, and believed to have medicinal properties. There's no doubt in my mind that Romaine does have medicinal properties! It's packed with vitamin A, for one thing, which is needed for good eyesight, and it has many antioxidants.

As it would happen, Romaine is also very close to a Chinese vegetable, Ei-A vegetable. More about that is explained at this delightful blog http://asiabyfrida.com/2011/10/26/easiest-chinese-stir-fry-recipe-–-romaine-lettuce/ which served as the inspiration for this little cooking experiment. That and the package of Romaine lettuce past its prime in my recently cleaned out fridge.

So having that neglected package of Romaine lettuce and a craving for some chicken diavolo ... a fusion of tastes came together in my mind ...

Bit of magic for 69 cents a pound

Chicken reminds me of a black Magician's hat. Because a chicken, like the magic hat, can provide so many meals from one small bird. Every savvy cook knows this and has an array of recipes that take full advantage of the 69 cents per pound magic whenever it appears.

Chicken stirfry, center, spiced with sage,
lemongrass and red pepper.

My boss for example buys three such chickens and cuts off the wings for her first round of endless meals. That's 12 chicken wings which can be served with a nice salad or pan-fried potatoes for a Friday night wing deal. I love this idea and have copied it a few times.

From there we depart ways a bit ...