Favorite Easy Dinner

This is a variation on my mother’s recipe for chicken. The recipe goes like this:1. Go to Publix.2. Buy an already roasted chicken.3. Go home.4. Eat it.In my version, I retain a greater morsel of self-respect. First of all I buy my chicken from Whole Foods. Granted, I probably spend a dollar or two more, but it’s worth it. And here’s what the chicken looks like when I take it home:The first step, then, is to carefully remove the cover. Technique doesn’t matter here: just get the cover off.Mmm, doesn’t that look good? And yes, I’m not so amateur as to believe that this purchased chicken is better than the one I could roast myself. But having roasted many a delicious chicken, I will say that the labor and money that goes into roasting my own is more daunting than the deliciousness differential between home-roasted and store-roasted chicken.But to achieve some degree of dignity, I do “make” a salad. I buy a bag of pre-washed, pre-packaged gourmet lettuce leaves and a tiny tub of cherry tomatoes. I put them in a large bowl and toss them with good olive oil, sherry vinegar (though tonight I used red wine vinegar because I couldn’t get the cork off the sherry!), kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. I lay the chicken across the top and wah-lah!Simple, healthy and delicious. A “home-cooked meal” in minutes. Oh God. I’m turning into Rachel Ray. Kill me now!