Chicken wings with orzo pasta salad

I created this blog so that I'd be a little bit more adventurous with my cooking. However, I do like to revert back and cook what I know and love. Pasta salad and broiled chicken! I got the recipe for saffron chicken wings from marthastewart.com. It's so delicious that I cook it every time I don't have anything planned but still want a great dinner (especially on a Friday night).

Today, I decided to try out a gym near my apartment because a friend from work recommended it. I did check it out when I first moved back to Chicago, but I didn't want to dish out the big bucks for all of the extra amenities that I would probably never end up using. It's really a nice gym so I'm debating whether I should go for it or not. I have a week try it out, so we'll see.

The point is, I left the gym at around 9pm and met Zack at the local Jewel to pick up a few things. Obviously, we had nothing planned before going to the grocery store, so I decided to make chicken wings with salad. I got some chicken wings plus a granny smith apple, avocado and minneola tangelos (which, come to find out, is a cross between a "Bowen" grapefruit and a "Dancy" tangerine) for my pasta salad.

When I got home, I turned on the broiler and put the chicken wings on a wire rack over a baking sheet. The only additional ingredients are: 1) salt, 2) black pepper and 3) a little bit of saffron that I scored in Bali last year. I can't vouch for the quality due to lack of experience with saffron, but I do know that it was very, very cheap and creates very, very excellent food. As Martha Stewart would say, "utterly delicious!!"

While the chicken was broiling away, I created a simple vinaigrette using the juice of one tangelo, half a lemon (that I had left over in the fridge), dijon mustard, olive oil and salt/pepper. Then, I tossed some diced apple and avocado, sliced scallions (also left over) and cooked orzo pasta with the vinaigrette.

While I love the flavor combination of this salad, I also really love how this dish is so aesthetically pleasing with the monochromatic light green tones from the green apple, avocado and scallions. It's also a nice complement to the crispy chicken wings.

For dessert (let's not forget dessert), I made a strawberry-banana smoothie. :)