Oh Won't You Show Me the Way, Everyday

I forget where I picked up these ingredients for a salad but I just had an email to self that read: artichoke hearts, onion, black olives, feta, lemon and chicken.  I predict there will be a tv chef that becomes famous by communicating recipes in a new way, such as a simple list of ingredient combinations like this.  This chef will appeal to home cooks like me that don't want a science lesson necessarily just to get dinner made.  But they do want fresh ideas.  They're working with much of same players each week so it's easy to get in a creative slump.  Many folks are getting more exotic products in their local grocery stores so they can experiment but need foundation building blocks.  For me, it's like I want a Garanimal system of cooking for all kinds of cuisine.  I learned this idea from the Mexican-American fundamentals at my mom and dad's restaurant.  You almost can't screw up, they all taste good together in a myriad of unions.  Salsa, lettuce, meat, torts, beans, rice, avocado.  How many dishes could you make with that small list?  Lots!

I truly admire real professional schooled chefs and love to learn from their dishes but for me, realistically, day to day, I'm a home cook that loves to eat, can't afford lots of expensive items, and have limited time to prepare.  But not just that, depending on the season, mood, time of day, etc, I can decide how I want to prepare them, I just need the basic concepts.  

So I took sliced chicken breast, marinated it in lemon juice, oregano and garlic and charred it up on my Emeril grill pan.

In a large bowl I thin-sliced my sweet Vidalia onion, chopped Moroccan oil-cured olives, capers, artichoke hearts and mixed baby greens and dressed with lots of fresh squeezed lemon juice and olive oil, salt and pepper.

Crumbled feta cheese goes next and honestly, this alone would be such a nice fresh salad but I needed this to be dinner so I added the sliced grilled chicken.

This might be fun as a phone App or computer game of sorts.  Players get the daily combo lineup and decide how to put it together, maybe share their pics via a food instagram!  Jazz hands!