top chef obsession

glad to see i'm not the only one completely obsessed with top chef.

neighborhoodies has a whole line of top chef t-shirts. but this doesn't really show tom colicchio's dumpy charm.

i generally wouldn't trust any woman as skinny as padma lakshmi about food, but i've made one of her recipes, and it was fabulous:

tandoori chicken salad

Serves 6

• FOR THE MARINADE
• 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 2 teaspoons garam masala powder
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 jalapeno chile, stemmed seeded, and finely minced (optional)
• 4 1 1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, gently flattened and cut into strips
• FOR THE SALAD
• 1 (3 cups) small head shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1 (3 cups) small head shredded red cabbage
• 6 (3 cups) large diced plum tomatoes
• 1 bunch (1 cup) sliced radishes
• 1 (2 cups) large sliced cucumber
• 1 small bunch (2 cups) large sliced scallions, minced
• 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups diced jicama
• FOR COOKING AND SERVING
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Juice of 2 to 3 small lemons

Directions

1. Prepare the marinade: In a medium bowl combine yogurt, garam masala, ginger, garlic, turmeric, salt, and jalapeno, if using. Add chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate while preparing salad.
2. In a large bowl, toss together lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, radishes, cucumber, scallions, cilantro, and jicama; set aside.
3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken along with the marinade and cook, stirring, until the chicken is just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Transfer chicken and pan juices to salad mixture and toss to combine. Drizzle with lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine.