I am sure you, too, have seen some of the unbelievable recipes that are published these days. Magazines, daily newspapers, television shows - there are too many to keep track. But my problem is not with the sheer number of recipes, but the complexity of many I see today. Lists of ingredients are long. The directions seem to go on and on. Does anybody really make these recipes at home? I know I don't. If a recipe has more than about ten ingredients and has more than two or three steps in the making, well, I lose interest fast. And what about the ingredients? They go from exotic to obscure to almost non-existent.

I'll give you an example. But, to be fair, I will use a made up, 'fantasy' recipe.

Let's say we have a recipe for Brined Roast Chicken with Twenty Herbs and Grilled Red Peppers in a Pinot Noir Wine Sauce. One knows that the list of ingredients is going to be a long one just from the title. Anyway, first we make the brine. Probable something like this: salt, sugar, ten of the herbs, lemon juice, a little grated lemon rind, and some of the wine. Then, once the chicken has marinated overnight, we've got a big wet bird to dry with paper towels. Then the rest of the herbs can be rubbed on before roasting. Into the oven at 500 degrees for so many minutes, then turn the heat down to finish roasting for another arbitrary length of time. And don't forget to baste every ten minutes. Then the beautiful bird comes out of the oven and we move on to making the sauce in the roasting pan. In go the rest of the herbs, and some more wine (I could sure use a glass of wine right about now). Be sure to scrape up the browned bits in the bottom of the pan, too. Oh no, I forgot to grill the red peppers before bed last night so that they would be ready to peel this morning! Now what?

You get the idea. I like simple recipes to make simple food. The less thinking I have to do, the better the chances of having something I can serve. That is why I like recipes like this one. Pure and simple, wholesome and delicious, and really, really easy.

Mix and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.