Dinner for One

Oh, dinner for one. What an absolute delight to cook for just me. I know what I like. I don't have to cater to anyone's desires but my own.

Tonight I want something warm, fragrant with herbs, and easy to make. I have a bottle of red wine open from the weekend that deserves a plate of food to accompany it.

How about spinach and arugula salad with shallots and hazelnuts topped with a lemony chicken breast rubbed down with Herbs de Provence. I may also nosh on the leftover roasted veggies I made last night.

First things first: what the heck is a shallot?

A shallot is a kind of onion. I find it milder, sweeter and slightly garlic infused. In my kitchen, it's a twofer. You know, a two for one. In this case, garlic and onion. Who doesn't love that?

Shallot, honey and balsamic vinaigrette:

1 small shallot

Good quality local honey (if you have allergies, eating local honey is a great way to get used to the local pollen that may be bothering you)

Balsamic Vinegar

Good Quality Olive Oil (I love Capay Oaks Olive Co.'s Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

Salt and Pepper

Small mason jar to shake and store vinaigrette in

Notice I did not give measurements for this. That was on purpose. Sorry if you hate that and are a devoted to following a recipe. The reason I did this is in hopes that you will learn my technique but develop your palate (or taste buds) and make this recipe the way YOU like it. Also, I like my vinaigrette quite vinegary and many people don't.

My suggestion for you is this: start with the measurements I give below and adjust the vinaigrette to your personal taste. Remember that whole palate development thing?

Tips for storage: I store the mason jar in my refrigerator and add more honey, balsamic, and oil until I can no longer taste the shallot's goodness. Then I make a new batch.

Step 1: Use a microplane (0r similar tool) to grate shallot into the mason jar. This is what mine looks like.

Get ready to be minced to a pulp you yummy shallot.

Step 2: Add 2 tsp. honey

Step 3: Add 2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

Step 4: Add Salt, pepper, and olive oil to taste. Start with at least 3-4 Tbs. Olive oil.

Step 5: Screw on mason jar's top and shake until it looks like this

Viola! You have made a vinaigrette. Congrats. Enjoy the goodness.

Hazelnut, Shallot, Spinach, Arugula and Lemony Herbed Chicken Salad

For the chicken:

1 chicken breast

1 Tbs Herbs de Provence

1 fresh lemon (juiced)

1 medium shallot

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

For the salad:

1/2 cup fresh baby spinach leaves

1/2 cup fresh arugula

1/8 cup roasted hazelnuts

Prepared Shallot, honey and balsamic vinaigrette

For the chicken: (Preheat oven to 375°F)

Step 1: Prepare an oven safe baking dish with 2 Tbs olive oil. Slice shallot to layer the bottom of the dish. It should look like this:

Step 2: Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken. Rub with Herbs de Provence. Place on top of bed of shallots.

Step 3: Pour the juice of one lemon over chicken and shallots and bake at 375°F for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. This will vary depending on the weight of your chicken breast. If you have a meat thermometer (a great tool to have for a new home chef - find a cheap one on amazon.com) it should read 165°F after it has rested. If you remove it from the oven at 155-160°F and cover it with foil, it will reach the desired temperature without being over cooked.

Step 4: Remove chicken from oven and let rest for 3-5 minutes while you prepare the salad. This makes it really juicy and yummy.

For the Salad:

Step 1: Combine spinach, arugula, and hazelnuts in a bowl. Add the cooked shallots to the salad.

Step 2: Slice chicken that has rested on the bias (that just means on a diagonal). This is just so that it looks pretty for your eyes. After all, you eat with your eyes first.


Step 3: Place your beautiful slices of chicken atop the salad. Drizzle with homemade dressing. Pour yourself a glass of wine, or perhaps heat up some apple cider, and enjoy.

This is lecker. I hope your dinner is lecker too.