Chicken Salad

I almost didn't "blog" about this, since after all, it is so basic a recipe. But then I remembered why I write this blog, http://alexandheathereat.blogspot.com/ and the whole point is that I have a point of reference when I run out of ideas for what to cook, and as a personal food diary. The posts then magically appear in my facebook notes, random hours later due to an RSS feed.

Alex and I have long made chicken salad from a leftover roast chicken. In this case, it was even easier since we used a store bought rotisserie bird from Russo's! This birdie was lemony but dry. Perfect for salad.

Pick it apart and toss any tough pieces. Be picky and snack while you pick ;D.
Chop 2 stalks of celery and 1/3 of a sweet onion.
After veggies are chopped, give the shredded chicken a fine chopping. Toss chicken & veggies to desired amount (we left some onion out).
Mix with a decent glop of mayonnaise. Season with fresh ground sea salt & pepper.
This time it was on the tad salty side yet we couldn't help "sampling" it over & over again!
Make sandwiches using Scali bread (has sesame seeds) and lettuce & tomato.

Cheese Tortellini with Sage Mushroom Cream Sauce

Dishes like this are guaranteed to put on the winter weight but they are oh-so-good.
This was easy to put together: store bought fresh tortellini and an easy to prepare sauce.


First, have on hand some fresh sage leaves, green onions (scallions) and mushrooms (I used boring white mushrooms since we had them on hand, feel free to use other varieties).
Melt 2 Tb butter and put in mushrooms, saute a bit until they begin to soften. Add a large sprig of sage leaves, salt & pepper and a spoonful (I just used jarred) of chopped garlic.
Saute on medium heat until the mushrooms are cooked to your liking, slightly browned.
Add a teaspoon of flour and toss it up.
Pour in approximately 1 cup of heavy cream. Allow to simmer and thicken up. Chop some green onion into the mix.
Meanwhile, cook the tortellini to your liking. I found 8 minutes to be a good time.
Remove sage leaves from sauce. Toss amount of desired sauce with pasta and grate fresh parmesan on top. Sprinkle with more snipped green onions.
YUM!
This sauce can be used for all sorts of pasta. Next time I hope to have some better mushrooms on hand, though it was plenty flavorful with what I used.