Odds and Ends Turned Yummy

I have to say it again – simple food is good.  I have pasta and sausage leftovers from last night and I’m going out for dinner tomorrow night.  Tonight I needed to make something that would use some odds and ends left in the fridge and wouldn’t create any leftovers.  So, let’s review the odds and ends mostly leftover from last Saturday’s trip to the farmers market.  The first small yellow squash from the garden (yay!); a zucchini; a golden zucchini; a red onion; a lime; some leftover roast chicken (mostly dark meat) from the Father’s Day dinner.  Oh, the other key element?  It’s 98 degrees outside and my A/C keeps cutting out.  No way am I spending lots of time by the stove or the grill.

The plan?  Squash ribbons with caramelized onion, roast chicken and goat cheese.  Light and yummy.  It takes about 15 minutes to make.   Pretty too.  You could leave the chicken out and serve it as a side salad.  I liked it at room temperature, but I’m sure it would be good chilled as well so make it ahead if you need to.  The squash is a little sweet and a little crunchy.  The onions provide the perfect sweet to balance the tangy goat cheese.  The dark meat chicken adds a little juicy, buttery flavor and texture.  And the lime juice adds a very fresh finish.  Not bad for a few odds and ends, right?!

Good? Yep.  I was a little surprised how good!
Easy? Yep. Few ingredients and almost no time.
Good for company? I’d serve it as a side. The squash ribbons are so pretty.
Special shopping? Maybe the goat cheese depending on what you normally keep in the house.

Remember that I was aiming for no leftovers so I only made one serving.  The measurements are far from exact since I was winging it.  That seems to be the theme after the highly organized Sunday dinner earlier in the week.  Here’s what I did.

Ingredients

1/2 each small to medium summer squash, zucchini and golden zucchini

1/2 red onion
1/3-1/2 C roasted chicken, chopped or shredded
1 oz goat cheese, crumbled
1/2 lime
Salt and pepper

Directions

Put a small pot of water on to boil.
Cut the onion into strips.
Put onion in a small, heavy skillet with a few drops of olive oil. Saute on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until slightly charred.
Cut the squash into ribbons using a vegetable peeler.
When the onions are nearly done drop the squash into the boiling water.
Blanch for 1-2 minutes.
Put squash in a bowl of cold/iced water to stop the cooking and cool the squash.
Arrange the squash on a plate or in a shallow bowl.
Top with onions, chicken and goat cheese.
Squeeze lime over the dish and finish with salt and pepper.