I saw this recipe for fennel-pomegranate salad with Grilled Chicken and I knew I had to try it. There were two ingredients that I really wanted to get more comfortable with and it really sounded yummy.  Of course, you know I couldn’t be bothered actually reading the ingredient list or the directions, so here’s what I did and how I did it.

1 package of thin sliced chicken cutlets
1/4 c. Orange juice
1 large fennel bulb cleaned, trimmed and sliced thinly
4 tangerines, peeled, segmented and seeded
the seeds of two pomegranates (see this link from AATIF for instructions)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Thin sliced Almonds
Wild RIce

put the sliced fennel, 1/4 c. of orange juice and two tablespoons of Olive Oil in a bowl.  Toss to combine, cover and put in the fridge for 1/2 hour.

Put up the wild rice and cook according to directions.

Take the fennel out of the fridge and add pomegranate seeds, tangerine segments, salt and pepper and sliced almonds.  Toss and set aside.

Heat up a grill pan till it’s screaming hot and grill the chicken breasts, about 5 minutes each side.

Plate everything and eat it.  The salad is tart, and fresh and earthy; really delightful and it goes perfectly with the grilled chicken and wild rice.

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I love to cook – I think we’ve already covered that. That being said, there are times when mom really needs a short cut, a way to get something on the table that’s not evil fast food, or yet another DiGiorno Pizza. So when I was looking up the Publix flyer last week I saw that Tyson Meal Kits were buy one get one free and anyone who knows me, knows that I love me some BOGO.

Not usually a fan of meal kits, I decided to try this one anyway. The quesadilla meal kit looked harmless enough and it gave me an excuse to have some of the La Mexicana salsa (available at Publix and so good that I almost never make homemade anymore). I also picked up some Wholly Guacamole because I didn’t want to have to be tied to fresh avocado’s timeline – this meal was supposed to be about an easy meal that would be there for me when I needed it and I remember that she said it was really good. She was right. I usually don’t like any prepared guac. but this was almost as good as mine.

So, I set everything up and went about preparing the quesadillas and found that there wasn’t near enough filling for six quesadillas and the chicken was what you would expect from Tyson. Not awful, but just not terrific. The general consensus was that while these were certainly more than edible, I won’t buy the kits again. When they’re not BOGO – the cost is prohibitive; I believe it was $7.49(?) for the package. One package would not feed this family of four. And it would be just as easy to buy the fresh ingredients seperately and oven roast the chicken and then chop it. If you didn’t want to chop the peppers and onions yourself, bags of frozen peppers and onions are readily available and very cheap.

All of that being said; I still devoured three of them.

It is OK to use my photos or content provided a link back and proper crediting is given