Cooking for two isn’t always easy– you end up with the same big mess in the kitchen, and leftovers you have to figure out what to do with later. Here’s a great Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad, with a freshly-made dressing that you can whip up in minutes with ingredients you’re likely to have on hand.

Quick & Easy Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad for Two

1 heart of romaine lettuce
8 oz. grilled chicken breast or chicken tenders*
1/2 cup croutons (optional; whole wheat for low carb)
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese (grated OK)
2 T. lemon juice (ReaLemon OK)
1 clove garlic
1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
pinch salt
fresh-ground pepper to taste

Combine all dressing ingredients except olive oil in processor or blender (2-cup mini-chopper works well). Process until well blended. With processor running, drizzle in olive oil and continue to process until well-incorporated.

Slice romaine heart cross-wise into 1″-wide ribbons, then cut ribbons into thirds. Wash and dry well. Place romaine in large bowl, and add all of dressing, mixing to coat greens thoroughly.

Slice chicken cross-wise into 1/2″ slices. Divide greens into two serving bowls. Top each salad with 4 oz. chicken and half of croutons. Add fresh-ground pepper to taste. If Parmesan is fresh-grated, sprinkle a little extra on top.

This is tasty, easy; there’s no leftovers, and there’s no mashing anchovies or raw egg to contend with.

And, of course, you can make it for 4, 6, or even more people simply by multiplying the ingredients.

*Chicken Tenders Preparation

Prep fresh chicken tenders by using kitchen shears to remove most of small tendon, if attached. Place in a brine composed of 1/4 cup Diamond Crystal kosher salt and one quart cold tap water for 6-8 hours (do this in the a.m, and they will be ready to cook by dinner time). Drain and rinse tenders in cool water and pat dry with paper towels. Season as desired. On a pre-heated, lightly-oiled George Foreman grill, cook for four minutes, or until meat temp reaches 160°. Use in salad recipe above while still warm or refrigerate for use later.

Quick Baked Beans (Sugar-free)

2 15.8 oz. cans Bush’s Great Northerns
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 T. pork fat or 2 slices bacon chopped
2 T. Heinz One Carb© No Sugar Added Ketchup
2 T. Log Cabin Sugar Free Maple Syrup with Splenda
1 T. Yellow Mustard
1 T. Worcestershire Sauce
1 t. Your favorite dry rub

Drain one can only Great Northerns. Render pork fat (or bacon) in bottom of medium saucepan until liquified. Add onion and cook until clear. Add drained and undrained beans and remaining ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Simmer low 15-20 minutes.

You can actually oven finish these if you wish, since all sweetening is from Splenda, or serve directly from stovetop. If pork fat is trimmed from barbecued pork butt roast, add 1/3 cup chopped “bark” for extra flavor.

Cucumber Tomato Onion Salad (Sugar-Free)

2 large cucumbers
2 cups grape tomatoes (1 pint)
1/2 med red onion
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
4 packets Splenda

Peel and halve or quarter cucumbers lengthwise and remove seeds. Slice into 1/4″ slices. Slice tomatoes in thirds. Coarsely chop onion. Place all in shallow non-reactive bowl. Mix remaining ingredients together and pour over cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion. Mix thoroughly
and refrigerate for a day, stirring occasionally.

Sugar Free Sweet Creamy Coleslaw

I love good barbecue, and with good barbecue you need coleslaw– sweet, creamy coleslaw. Having eaten low sugar for years, I thought I would have to live without it, but a recipe I found recently gave me new hope:

1 16oz. package shredded cabbage or slaw mix
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt (may sub. celery salt)
4 to 6 packets Splenda sweetener
1 tsp. Tabasco or Tabasco Chipotle (optional)

Place cabbage in bowl. Mix all other ingredients thoroughly in a
2-cup measuring cup, pour over cabbage, and mix thoroughly. Let sit in
covered bowl in refrigerator for best flavor/texture.

(Thanks to Keri C of Tulsa, OK for this one.)

Doug’s Hummus (Mideastern or Mediterranean Chick Pea Dip)

Just about every country in the Middle East, and well as the Mediterranean, has a recipe for
hummus, served as a snack or side dish. Made of ground chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans), garlic, lemon juice and tahini– which is a ground sesame seed butter– it’s also naturally SB friendly. Serves 4-8.

1 15 oz. can garbanzos (chick peas)
juice and zest of one medium lemon
2-3 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
3 T. tahini (aka tahina, tehina)(sesame paste)
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. fresh or dried parsley
1 t. Kosher salt or 1/2 t. table salt
pinch black pepper
4-6 whole wheat pita breads

You can do this in a food processor, but it comes out best using a high-speed stick-type hand blender such as a Braun. Use a regular-type blender only as a last resort. My description will assume a stick blender.

Drain garbanzos, reserving half the liquid. Place garbanzos and reserved liquid in mixing jar that came with stick blender. Add garlic, lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper, parsley, and tahini. Blend until pureed. Add olive oil and continue to blend until well incorporated. Warm pita breads in microwave for 30 seconds, and slice each into 6 wedge shaped pieces. Can be served immediately, but also can be refrigerated and served chilled. Traditionally served at room
temperature on a plate in a broad, shallow mound with the center hollowed out, some more extra virgin olive oil drizzled into the hollow (think hummus moon crater), and a pinch of the middle-eastern spice zatar lightly sprinkled over all.

If you don’t want to spend $2.99 on a jar of tahini (spelling varies), substitute no-sugar-added peanut butter – not quite the same, but still pretty good. If you do decide to get it, make sure the ingredients state “100% ground sesame seeds”. There are products on the market with similar sounding names that are essentially a canned version of the dip.