Mexican Avocado Chicken Salad

Oh my God. Words fail me...

... no I jest. You wish. 

I hate salad, as a meal. I like a side salad to accompany a meal. But as for making myself a plate of salad in the vein of the salads I ate growing up? Cold meat, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, pickles, boiled egg? I can't think of anything I fancy less. Mr G loves salad. So, when I spotted this recipe on RecipeTin Eats a few weeks ago, it went on the to make list, and it did not disappoint. I'm already a huge fan of her Prawn Mango Avocado Summer Salad, in fact, it's on the meal plan for Saturday or Sunday. This salad is in a similar vein. Fresh, tasty, and the combination of flavours... wow. The only amendment I made to the recipe was to use chipotle chilli flakes, as I didn't have chipotle chilli powder, and I omitted the devil herb (coriander) and instead used rocket. 

This is the very similar prawn salad, which also has orzo in it, so it is deceptively filling. I'm going to have a root around her archives to see if there are any other similar salads, the kind where you just chop everything up, toss it all together in a bowl with some dressing and whack in on a plate with a big spoon. But even if not, these two stellar recipes are more than enough salad to do me on rotation for the rest of my life.

I spent most of the day in the kitchen, I didn't get everything I wanted to achieve cooked and baked today, but I did manage to make; a slow cooked rice pudding, homemade beef burgers and chilli burgers...

I made onion bhajis to go along with the homemade curries I will now make tomorrow. I made them in a mini muffin pan today, more bite sized than burger sized.

And I made a bacon, red lentil and chilli soup for the freezer as well. This is a mildly spicy and hearty soup for those crisp autumn and winter lunchtimes.

Tomorrow, the plan is - a big pan of curry base sauce and hopefully at least three curries. I'm thinking Chicken Saag, because we're both a big fan of that, a Chicken Madras, and possibly a Rogan Josh. I want to make a big pan of Mr G's Better than Heinz (allegedly) vegetable soup. I want to make some bacon and cheese turnovers for the children, and hopefully some homemade pizzas, both of which can be cooked from frozen then. That's the plan, anyway. We all know what happens when I make plans, right?

And finally. Took my son into town today to deposit his birthday money into the bank. The only time off he has is an alternate Thursday. So, Mr G and I are walking up towards the High Street, the boy lagging a few paces behind and I am lamenting as to what a crap year 2020 has been thus far (I believe the word fuckery was used). When we got home he sent me this.

 Wouldn't surprise me.