Bird's Eye View-7/12/10

Richard was my photographer tonight.  He got impatient waiting for me to take a picture of our food before we could eat and he just grabbed the camera.  He just got home from work and was pretty hungry.   I didn't have the heart to retake them because he thought he was being helpful but I don't like the "bird's eye" view of this food.   Looking at the picture makes me a little dizzy, like the plate will start spinning in a circle any moment.   I'm going to make this a short blog post so I don't have to keep staring at the pictures.  Tonight I made two dishes from this month's Bon Appetit magazine.  Neither were a dish that intrigued me greatly but tonight crept up on me and I needed quick and easy.  I made the Piri-Piri Chicken on page 69 and to be even quicker and easier, I used boneless chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken.  I might have sacrificed a depth of flavor in the meat itself but with a flavorful sauce, I knew there would be plenty of flavor in the sauce.  The chicken was good  but not outstanding.  I'd love to try the Portugese classic dish made by a master.  I'm sure it is much better than the dish I made. 
My second dish for tonight was the Quinoa, Garbanzo, and Spinach Salad with Smoked Paprika Dressing.  I used to hate garbanzo beans.   There have been some great recipes in the last few months of cooking magazines that are changing my mind about my mom's chick peas.  This dish was really good.  The spinach was actually an awkward add on.  The bean salad was great without it.  The feta, tomatoes, quinoa, and garbanzos dressed with a simple vinegar  and oil dressing with a dash of paprika is definitely something I will make again. 

Piri-Piri Chicken- B-
Quinoa, Garbanzo, and Spinach Salad with Smoked Paprika Dressing-A-

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