Thursday, August 28, 2008

Chicken croquette salad with lemon-yogurt dressing

Last night my Very Special Friend Jason came over for what will (hopefully) be a weekly Project Runway dinner date. The darling brought a jug of decadent 2% milk (for drinking, I'm a skim girl) and two dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies for us to enjoy during the runway show. Happy sigh! I made lemony roast chicken, mashed potatoes with mushroom and giblet gravy, and peas & carrots. It was like being a kid again, but with better cooking and more homosexuals.

After the gym tonight (I know, I actually went!), I wanted to use up my leftovers, but I was fucking starving! No time for my usual roast chicken leftovers (pot pie with drop-biscuit topping). Plus I had the mashed potatoes to eat. So I shredded the chicken, added a beaten egg and the leftover mashed potatoes, grated up half an onion and mixed it all up with a pinch of S&P. I formed patties and dipped them in panko seasoned with dried oregano and S&P, fried them in a little oil to brown, then finished them in the oven while I got the salad ready.

I chopped up some redleaf lettuce and added some tomatoes, Anaheim chiles and fresh oregano from the garden (and some cuke from the store). I whipped up some dressing from Greek yogurt, lemon zest/juice, minced garlic, a driz of olive oil and some S&P.

It was so good, I forgot to put out the little olive ciabatta rolls I picked up from the bakery! Guess I'll have them with leftover croquettes as little sammiches tomorrow. Yay!

23 comments:

April was in CA now MA said...

Can I come live with you puh-leeeeze? I'll live in a box on the porch or something.

(That's me sayin Damn! That looks good!)

Manggy said...

Croquettes from leftover chicken! I dunno why that hasn't crossed my mind before. It looks delicious!

Leanne for the win! I did feel really bad for Keith. That was a breakdown of epic proportions.

glamah16 said...

You are reading my mind. I was thinking of some version of a croquette this week! That salad is so crerative and Im sure tasty.I have been dragging myself to the company treadmill a few times a week. Pure agony, but I feel better the next day.

Peter G | Souvlaki For The Soul said...

Ok...this has to be my favourite post so far...(apart from the pulled pork which I will be attempting in the near future). love the croquettes Heather..and that salad and that dressing!

Nikki @ NikSnacks said...

See? This is the type of food I eat when I'm alone and there's nobody to cook for. It's like you're in my head. Don't worry, you can stay in there ;)

Laura Paterson said...

Cool, you're going to have leftovers from the leftovers!

Well done you for going to the gym. I managed to have a watertight excuse to stay at home for the 5th week in a row yesterday...

Alicia Foodycat said...

What is this "gym"? Those croquettes look delicious! And it's salad, so it is in keeping with a gym visit!

Jen said...

Wow... what a great recipe! Definitely going to brew up this one some time soon.

Susan @ SGCC said...

That's a great idea for leftover chicken. They look delicious! I love croquettes. Don't know why I never think to make them myself.

Brittany said...

Seriously,can I just move in? I won't even make a mess, and I will do the dishes, I just want yo to feed me.

maybelles mom said...

OH, delicious.

Heather said...

April - If there's a box on my porch, my cat's probably pooped in it. ;)

Mark - Leanne is the Portland girl, so I'm rooting for her. Keith's crying jag at the end was pretty monumental.

Courtney - I feel better immediately after getting off the machines! :D

Petah - I didn't want to call the dressing "Greek" because the rest of the dish wasn't really cohesive, but it was pretty tasty.

Nikki - Hey, it's pretty fun in your head! I always wanted to know how it feels to be a sassy black girl.

Kittie - As long as the excuse is watertight! I've had flimsy excuses all week. :(

Foodycat - Maybe since I ate salad it counts as two gym visits?

Jen - It was worth the trouble (which was not much).

Susan - I was planning on making latkes with the leftover potatoes, then decided to just add chicken. Glad I did!

Brittany - Well now that you're eating for two, I guess you need some good nutriment. We can't have you living off cereal from the box anymore.

Maybelle's Mom - That's "nom nom nom" around here.

Lo said...

We just played a bit of croquette last weekend at my in-laws... :)

But seriously. Love the idea of these as litte sammiches! *drool*

Thistlemoon said...

That sounds like a great use of leftovers to me Heather! I love every part of this dinner! :)

Anonymous said...

Tasty looking plate of food:-)
XX M

cookiecrumb said...

Eee! Chicken Ranch.

(Oh, you know it was.)

Emily said...

Mmm croquette sammich. Croquette panini?

Pretty fancy meal that you threw together!

That would be fun to have Project Runway parties. I'm glad Keith got kicked off - couldn't stand him. There are so many annoying people this season, I'm not sure I have a favorite. I guess Leanne would be my pick also, just cause she doesn't annoy me. I used to like this one girl (name?) but her voice and laugh annoys me.

Heather said...

Lo - Groan. Lil' sammiches are always good.

Jenn - I knew you'd approve! Because of the leftovers and all.

Matin - Hey, long time no see!

CC - Uh...I don't get it. :\ Is that some kind of Hidden Valley stab?

Emiline - A croquette panini would be good, except the croquette might get a bit smooshed. And that would be a sadface. Keith was such a little bitch when he got auf'd. That wannabe-pinup bitch Kenley is dead to me.

Cynthia said...

I love that plate!

MrOrph said...

Croquettes are such a big Philly thing. We used to have them with mashed potatoes and white gravy. You can get them at most any diner in and around the city.

These look so good. I want some now.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Great way to use the leftovers...Jenn at Leftover Queen would be proud:D I love chicken always!!!!!!!!!

Brittany said...

You have roasted chicken leftovers? How come I never do? Hubby and I usually knaw at that carcass until the only thing to be done with it is stock.

I will have to roast one up especially for something like this. It looks f'ing amazing.

Anonymous said...

Hi Heather :),

Very yummy salad, looks perfect for warm summer days!

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Thanks :),

Sophie
KI Chief Blogger