There are a few cues that always alert me to the end of the spring semester. My toes no longer freeze on the way to class, the days suddenly seem twice as long, the city becomes increasingly green and colorful and I lose all desire to do schoolwork.

Even though exams are about to “start” (though they never stopped after week three for me), summer is just a mere three weeks away.

Nevertheless, let’s celebrate small victories while we can. The cold has ceased. The rain has temporarily stopped (no guarantees about the near future). You can even walk to class in a t-shirt. Who would’ve thought?

As many of you know, green-oriented days accompany the nice weather. Tomorrow is 4/20, one of the greenest days of all — right up there with the first day of summer and surely comparable to St. Patrick’s Day. Thus, it seems only fitting this week’s recipe involve some sort of greens.

Let’s begin.

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Chicken caesar salad

Caesar salad is always a crowd pleaser. You can’t really mess it up, so keep this tucked away for when you need to make a salad in a pinch, or pair it with another dish. This is an extraordinarily easy recipe, taking less than 30 minutes to prepare from start to finish. So, even with exams, you don’t really have an excuse to buy takeout or a microwave dinner.

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Ingredients for two:

Two 6-ounce chicken breasts

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup white wine

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 bottle of your favorite caesar dressing (I like Ken’s)

1 small handful croutons

3 large handfuls of chopped romaine

Directions:

Preheat your medium saucepan on medium-high heat. While the pan is heating, salt and pepper your chicken on each side. Once the pan is hot, add the oil and wait a moment for the oil to heat up. Place your chicken breasts in the pan and sauté on each side until the breasts have developed a brown color.

Once the chicken has browned, add the wine, turn down the heat and steam the breasts for about 15 to 20 minutes with the pan covered. Make sure to check if your chicken is cooked.

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While the chicken is cooking, take your chopped romaine and toss with your desired amount of salad dressing and the parmesan cheese. Once the chicken is done cooking, allow it to rest for a few minutes so that the juices are not lost when the breasts are cut.

After the breasts have rested for a minute, slice the chicken and place it on top of the salad with croutons, tomatoes and additional parmesan cheese.

That is all for now.

As always, let me know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions at [email protected].

That is all for now,

Chef Sogs