Kitchen Sink salad

Yep, I’m always prepared.  Just like a boy scout. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Mmm hmm, that’s the absolute truth (can you see my crossed fingers from there??) All right, I give — I just totally fibbed. I do try though.
In my mind I always go into Monday thinking I have a week’s worth of menu plans in my arsenal, so I’m not sure what went awry yesterday. I opened my fridge thinking: easy. Reality hits.... not so easy...it’s all but empty.
Heres the moment that you internally let out the cry known only to the desperate woman who would rather starve her family than brave the grocery store after work.  Instant mantra: “I must make this work, I can make this work, I WILL make this work.”  Oh Lord, I just got flashbacks of the Little Engine that Could. Enough whining already!
It made me think back to last week when a friend of mine was asking what I had put in a particular dish. I had to laugh out loud, because I had really and truthfully just thrown everything I could reach into it! Hence the name: Kitchen Sink Salad! 
That reminder made me sigh with relief as I realized, “If there is no recipe, how can you not make it? The answer was obvious — Kitchen Sink was going to save the day... again.
I told you guys that I go through phases. Currently it’s salad, so bare with me. I do find it very funny and very “me” that only at the END of swimsuit season do I put away the aged steaks and pull out the leafy greens. So backwards. I really need therapy.
With no recipe, I always count on my cabinets to provide the path. This time I lucked out. I had chickpeas, almonds, cranberries and croutons (in comically varied amounts). My fridge provided half a head of broccoli, ¼ of a red onion, a carrot, a yellow pepper, some new potatoes and an a egg. Graciously my freezer offered up some frozen chicken breast strips. Woot Woot! A meal is born.
I defrosted my chicken and cut it into small pieces, dusted it with chicken seasoning. Yes, I, Sarah Tenberg, chef, used a pre-made seasoning and I’m not ashamed — I’ll shout it proudly!! (done only when found in desperate measures such as this particular one.)
I then rolled it in cornstarch and lightly fried it. Yum. I don’t care who you are, fried chicken makes anything delicious.  Let it drain as much as possible on paper towels and keep at room temperature.
I boiled the new potatoes and eggs together (more efficient when dodging looks from Matt that were meant to make it clear that he was on the verge of starving to death) for about 8 minutes, then pulled the eggs out and put under cool water. I let the potatoes cook until tender. I sliced my peppers, itty bitty onion, shredded my carrots for a little variety of shape and texture and beheaded my broccoli. I tossed it all in a large salad bowl with some salad greens, then topped it with all my pantry treasures and little bits of fried chicken.
The greatest debate of this 10 minute meal...ok maybe 15, was the dressing. I ALWAYS have an abundance of dressings; I like variety and despise the single dressing pigeon hole. I mean some days you just don’t feel like a thousand islands! This salad is screaming for ranch, but that felt so pedestrian to me. So I settled on a second cousin — Green Goddess, or at least a version of. I threw some avocado in the blender with some buttermilk ranch, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper, et voila! A whole new sassy salad dressing! It was SOOOO good.
Whew! Somehow I evaded the dinner doldrums and filled us both to the gills with good healthy food! It felt a little like an episode of “Dinner Impossible.” But hey, who doesn’t like a challenge?
Here is my “recipe” (I use that term VERY lightly) for my Kitchen Sink Salad  Please toss it and eat it in good health.
1 yellow pepper
¼ red onion
1 head of broccoli
1 carrot
varied amounts of nuts, cranberries, chickpeas,croutons
4 new potatoes
2 eggs
½ package chicken breast strips
Fiesta Chicken Seasoning
1 cup cornstarch 1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 large handfuls of salad greens

Dressing
½ avacado
1 ½ c buttermilk ranch dressing
1 tbl garlic powder
1 tbl onion powder
salt & pepper to taste
Add a little milk if it gets too thick.