Radicchio Feta and Date Salad

The bitter radicchio, with the salty feta, and sweet dates, makes for a complex salad that comes together quickly for dinner any night of the week. In a large bowl, combine the radicchio with some chopped pitted dates, sliced cucumber, finely chopped mint, and crumbled feta. When you’re ready to serve, drizzle with your best olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and a splash of red wine vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste.

To make it a bit more special, caramelize the dates in a hot pan and serve them over the top.

Chicken Cutlets with Celery Salad

Between the cornmeal crust, celery, lemon juice, and parmesan, this is one crunchy flavorful dish. To get your celery salad going, thinly slice the celery, then toss with some extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, shaved parmesan, mint or parsley, salt, and pepper.

Pour enough vegetable oil into a large pan to generously cover the bottom and leave over low heat. Prepare three bowls for battering the chicken, one with flour, one with some lightly scramble eggs, and the third with cornmeal tossed with some granulated garlic and paprika, or Lawry’s Seasoned Salt…but don’t tell anyone I told you that.

Liberally season the chicken breast cutlets with salt and pepper, turn up the heat on your oil, then individually coat the cutlets with flour, egg, and then the cornmeal. Cook for a few minutes per side, making adjustments to the heat so they’re golden but not burnt, and add more oil between batches if needed.

Drain on a brown paper bag and serve with the celery salad over the top.