A Few of Our Favorite (Fast) Foods

Around 1750 the Earl of Sandwich put some meat between two slices of bread and gave fast food a good name. It was several hundred years before American ingenuity came along to ruin its reputation.

But fast food doesn’t have to mean a hapless piece of meat or produce that’s been fried to a frazzle, wrapped in layers of paper and plastic and sold for the cheapest possible price. Fast food can be made from scratch, served with pride and consumed with pleasure. The following recipes, a few of our favorites, prove the point.

Quack as a Wink

Chinese chicken salad is one of my favorite things to eat. The only problem is that it usually requires a lot of preparation. This recipe uses Chinese roast duck, which is available in Chinatown and many Chinese markets. I think the duck gives the salad an interesting flavor, but a roasted chicken may be substituted.

The salad, along with rustic bread, makes a great lunch or light dinner. You can also pick up hoisin sauce and some green tea ice cream for dessert while you’re at the Chinese market. (Hoisin sauce is also available in the ethnic sections of most supermarkets.)

CHINESE DUCK SALAD

1 whole Chinese duck

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded

4 green onions, sliced

1/2 cup whole toasted almonds

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup vinegar

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon minced ginger root

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Salt, pepper

Remove meat from duck. Cut in bite-size pieces and toss together with lettuce, green onions, almonds and cilantro.

Combine oil, vinegar and hoisin sauce in bowl. Whisk until blended. Stir in sugar, ginger, garlic and sesame oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add amount of dressing desired to salad and toss. Serve any additional dressing with salad. Makes 4 servings.