Fun with leftovers: Orange Chinese cashew chicken

Game plan:

Put some basmati rice on the stove to cook (follow package directions.)

Shred leftover chicken and toss with Hoisin sauce and a mounded Tbsp of orange zest.

Mince a couple of cloves of garlic and a knob of fresh ginger and slice up a few green onions (reserve one green onion for garnish.)

Segment the orange that you used for the zest, letting any juice fall into the chicken. (You'll need about half an orange for each serving of chicken.)

Get some cashews at the ready (I keep them in the freezer so they’re always there for me when I need them -- without going rancid.) Say, a scant handful for each serving of chicken.

Dribble a bit of vegetable oil in a pan or wok, and then cook the garlic, ginger and green onion for a minute or until fragrant.

Toss in the shredded chicken mixture and warm through. Add the orange segments, some chili flakes, and then the cashews. Toss around for a couple of minutes more. Serve on warm basmati rice and top with green onion.

How fun was that?

Busted fridge salad

My fridge broke: Died on me overnight, poor thing. My first thought was that it would have been the perfect time for someone to crank call me with that “Is your fridge running?” joke. And my second thought was that I needed to buy a new one, fast.

I surfed the Net for a few minutes and noticed that Lowes was having a sale on the model I'd been eyeing (a snazzy but simple stainless steel GE). I drove over, was there in 10 minutes, was helped within seconds – the nice man said my desired fridge had gone on sale at midnight and that it was the Cadillac of refrigerators – he even cautioned me against buying a more expensive Frigidaire -- and I was at the checkout five minutes later with over $200 saved. Because that’s how I roll.

Back at home my neighbour let me put some things in his fridge and freezer but the majority was a lost cause, the saving grace being that since I mostly buy fresh food there wasn't a ton of stuff to begin with.

As for the bits and bobs of fresh produce, I had to think fast. And for some reason Spain came to mind. So did salad: Sliced orange peppers, some navel oranges that I segmented, a few sliced green olives and green onion, solid white tuna, lettuce, and a quick vinaigrette made of red wine vinegar, olive oil, sugar, and salt and pepper. I also toasted some slivered almonds for kicks.

The one thing I was a bit upset about was throwing out all of the condiments, some of which had become like old friends, hanging around for half a decade. I ditched every last one of them but now that they’re gone, I can’t imagine what I had taking up three full shelves in the fridge, because my new list is only 10 items long.

Any ideas for must-have sauces, jams or jellies? Let me know soon. The fridge is being delivered today -- my window of opportunity is apparently between noon and 4pm…

FRIDGE UPDATE:

They actually showed up at 4:50pm, but it didn't matter. The fridge didn't fit. I had measured the old one but not my door jam. Arrrgh! So back to Lowes I went, and purchased a stainless steel Whirlpool for a bit more money.

News you can use: Whirlpool makes the shallowest (meaning not as deep) 18 c.f. refrigerators in the biz. In fact, it was the only quality fridge in the entire store that would have fit through my door. A couple of days later, in fact moments ago, it was delivered to my house, whereupon the great delivery guys took apart the old fridge to fit it through my troublemaker office door, took the office door off of its hinges, took the doors off the new fridge, then put everything back together and ta-da! That melodic refrigerator hum is mine once again.