Dinner tonight will be cooked not by me, but by the good folks at Saint Germain in the Hotel Arts tonight. I have a meeting. Of the very best kind (dinner).

But I did make lunch – does that count? I bought a bunch of cilantro last week, and even though it was only 38 cents, I hate when produce goes slimy and ends up in the compost bin. I chose this recipe because a) it contains cilantro, b) I still have some leftover shredded turkey, although this would also make great use of a roasted deli chicken, and c) I love the title. Also on my good-title list: Happy Winter Fudge Cake, from Laurie Colwin’s book of food-related short essays: More Home Cooking.

Bang Bang Turkey

Very adapted (except the name) from Feast by Nigella Lawson

Measurements are approximate – it is a salad, after all.

Chopped iceberg or Romaine lettuce
Fresh cilantro and/or mint
Cucumber, sliced into ribbons using a vegetable peeler
Grated carrot (if you like, marinate it for an hour or up to a few days in a mixture of 2 parts rice vinegar to 1 part sugar – I use 2 Tbsp. vinegar and 1 Tbsp. sugar for 1 large carrot – drain it before you add it to the salad)
Thinly sliced purple onion or green onion
Chopped leftover roasted turkey or chicken

Bang Bang Sauce:
3 Tbsp. peanut butter (preferrably the just peanuts kind)
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp. brown sugar or honey
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. chili paste (the red stuff in the squeeze bottle) or sambal oelek

In a nice big, shallow bowl, make a bed of chopped lettuce and sprinkle the cilantro and/or mint overtop. Add a layer of cucumber, carrot, onion and chicken or turkey, and drizzle with Bang Bang Sauce, which you have made by shaking up all the ingredients in a jar. Eat.