We had a little dinner party here last night, just a few friends, a few tapas, and some nice wine. We ended the evening with a fabulous bottle of limoncello that my brother-in-law brought back from Positano for my birthday.

One of the best things about the party, was that it was followed by a do-nothing day. We’d had a busy week, and even a busy day leading up to the party last night. I hadn’t left myself enough time to do what I really wanted to do, but it was good friends, and nobody really cared about anything but hanging out and being together and relaxing a little. Everyone had had equally busy weeks.

But, back to our do-nothing day today: It was made even better by the fact that I had made tandoori chicken skewers and had enough leftover to add the chicken to salad tonight for our dinner so I didn’t really have to make dinner tonight.

It was so good, and so well received by the family, that I’ll plan it again in the future. The tandoori chicken is perfect for our Friday Night Appetizers-for-Dinner, and I’ll make enough extra for another Do-Nothing Sunday Dinner.

I adapted the tandoori chicken recipe from the Purcell sisters’ Tandoori lamb with cumin dipping sauce. I had chicken and I was looking for an interesting way to serve it, so I used this recipe.

Tandoori chicken with cumin dipping sauce

2 c plain yogurt
2 T ground coriander
2 T paprika
2 T fresh lemon juice
1½ T ground cumin
1½ T ground ginger
½ t turmeric
½ t ground cardamom
½ t salt
1 garlic clove, minced
2 lb chicken breast, cubed


¾ c sour cream
¾ c plain yogurt
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 t ground cumin
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine the first 10 ingredients in a bowl and blend thoroughly. Add the chicken, and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

When you’re ready to prepare the skewers, mix together sour cream, yogurt, lemon juice, and cumin. Salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat broiler. Place chicken onto 5-inch skewers on a broiler pan. Broil for about 3 minutes on each side. Remove to serving platter.

Tandoori chicken salad
For my salad today, I heated my chicken and added what salad ingredients I had in the fridge.

1 lb tandoori chicken skewers, leftover from Appetizers-for-Dinner
10 oz salad greens
1 pt grape tomatoes
1 cucumber, peeled, quartered, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
3-4 new red potatoes, boiled, chilled, quartered (these were leftover from Thursday’s mashed potatoes)
cumin dipping sauce, leftover from Appetizers-for-Dinner

Combine salad greens, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, and red pepper. Top with potatoes and chicken skewers.

You can dress with whatever salad dressing you like, but it was delicious with a batch of the cumin dipping sauce.