Olive

A plain old grilled chicken breast can be a bit uninspired, so we like to jazz up our breasts (who said that?) in this version of grilled chicken salad that has plenty of moxie. The marinade of fresh lemon juice and zest, olive oil, and fresh herbs infuses the chicken with a bright, sunny flavor (so yummy that you’ll want to use the marinade again and again for grilled meats). Here we team the grilled chicken with potatoes, celery, green olives, pistachios, and a creamy mayonnaise dressing for an over-the-top texture-and-flavor combination. This recipe doubles or triples beautifully, so it’s great for special lunches (think birthday parties, anniversaries, or bridal showers). It’s also great with a glass of chilled white wine and a crackly baguette.

Wild-caught striped bass are the best for this recipe, but you can use fillets from any firm-fleshed ocean fish. Whatever fish you choose, the shape and thickness of the fillets is important. Each fillet should be about 1 1/2 inches thick and narrow enough so you can fit all six fillets in the pan with the sauce. If your pan isn’t large enough to hold all the fillets, cook the sauce first, then divide between two skillets of fillets. As with any dish, you can take this recipe in a lot of different directions. I sometimes prepare it using scallions in place of the onions, or black olives and capers in place of the green olives. Rather than add the olives and capers to the tomatoes, I like to cook them along with the onions for a minute or two to bring out their flavor. This “layering”of flavors is one of the little tricks we professional chefs use to get the most out of our ingredients.

I prefer olives with the pits—I think they have better flavor. Adding the olives directly to the oil after the garlic has browned will give you a more pronounced flavor of olives. If you like a milder flavor, add them to the sauce once the tomatoes have come to a boil. Baccalà has a tendency to curl up as it cooks. If yours does that, press on the fillets lightly with a metal spatula so they caramelize evenly. In order to keep the sauce light—as its name says—spoon in a little hot water from time to time as the sauce simmers.

Cerignolas are large green olives, each the size of a plump almond, with a very nutty, buttery flavor. They are usually kept in brine. If you cannot find them, other brined green olives will do. But use the ones with pits, which you will remove. They have more flavor.

Some people dislike anchovies, but it would be a shame to leave them out of this dish. They add such wonderful flavor and, most likely, people won’t even know they are there. They dissolve during the cooking and add complexity to the other assertive flavors in this dish. I like to crush canned tomatoes with my hands, so I can feel when they are the right size and how tender or firm they are. That helps me to judge the cooking time better. If you prefer, you can mash them with a wire whisk or use a food processor. If you choose to process them, use just a few quick bursts—otherwise you’ll chop them too fine and incorporate a lot of air into the tomatoes, and they will turn pink. You can add basil to this sauce if you like, or stick to the traditional Italian-American accent of fresh parsley. I choose Pecorino Romano cheese for this dish. It is made from sheep’s milk and is much sharper than Parmigiano-Reggiano, which is made from cow’s milk. But if you prefer, you may use Parmigiano-Reggiano.

I like this and other seafood salads served at room temperature as soon as they are made, but most people like this dish chilled. If you are one of them, refrigerate it just long enough to chill it, a half-hour or so. Longer will dull the fresh flavors of the salad. Toss well and check the seasonings just before you serve it.

Classic salade Niçoise from the South of France is a relatively light dish to start. With only 477 calories per serving in the original, I was challenged on this one. There was wiggle room, though: My version trims a bit here and there by calling for canned tuna packed in water, egg whites only (instead of whole eggs), a lighter vinaigrette than the traditional anchovy-based dressing, and more greens.

I have a very beautiful friend, Mariel Hemingway. She eats all organic foods, only fish, no meat, and she includes no carbs whatsoever in her diet. She makes a double dinner every night: one for her, one for the fam. However, when she makes this one really crazy blender sauce, it gets passed to everyone. (Mariel makes half of her food for each day in a blender.) The sauce is awesome with chicken, pork, meat, or fish. This is my version of her specialty. I call it Mariel’s Sauce for “Mish”—meat or fish.

If you are completely exhausted, substitute the salmon steaks with canned salmon. Buy one large can (18 ounces), drain, and arrange the chunks atop the salad. Buy hard-boiled eggs from the salad bar at the market, or boil your own (see Tidbit, page 90).

For me, this is chicken and rice recipe number 14,655. And for you?

Lamb chops are always perfect for 30MM because they are quick cooking. If you are the type who only indulges in leg of lamb once a year at holidays, pick up some chops and try this one at home tonight.