Easy Chicken

Get Cookin’ TEXT BY: LISA OGANESYAN TEXT AND PHOTOS BY: DIOCELYN CARLON

A simple recipe for versatile chicken that any college student can make.

Do you feel like you’re dying inside but you’re smart enough to know that “this too shall pass”? Are you trying desperately to focus, not lose track of your goals and just power through? Good for you, because I feel the same! I feel like I wished upon some evil genie and was granted this: COVID-19. ” A swirl of its twisted, gnarled wand, some blinding flashes and here we are: on lockdown for over three months with hundreds of thousands of perished individuals around the world and navigating social upheaval and unrest on many levels. I am constantly overwhelmed with questions like “what can I do?” and “am I next?” My anxiety goes reeling and bouts of depression ebb and flow like the waves of an angry ocean. Sometimes all I can do is breathe and cook some dinner.

If you have felt even a fraction of what I have described, I am here to tell you that diet can help. According to the Mayo Clinic, although your diet cannot cure anxiety, there are foods that can help with anxiety and have a calming effect in the body, such as protein. Depression dulls the communication between your brain and your body, making it difficult to recognize basic necessities like hunger and sleep deprivation. In other words, if you are depressed you may become hungry without realizing it and then become anxious. Fiber from vegetables is also very important as it promotes gut health, not to mention their many vitamins and minerals which help to stabilize mood and promote a sense of well-being. I realize fast food is very attractive with its slew of brain stimulating chemicals to make you think it tastes good and its convenience. But even if you don’t suffer from depression, I challenge you to eat home cooked meals at least three times a week. You will feel better physically and emotionally as there is no better feeling than that of accomplishment and self-sufficiency. Here is an easy recipe for pan seared chicken that will keep you out of the drive-thru for a few days. Once the chicken is cooked, you can dice it or shred it or chop it to your preference. You can spread it around a tortilla with some shredded cheese, fold it in half and grill for a yummy chicken quesadilla or layer it in a sandwich. You can smear hummus on a pita and toss in some chicken, lettuce, and tomatoes. You can fry up some bacon, boil an egg, shred some cheese and toss everything along with some chicken on top of a bed of lettuce, smother with ranch dressing and have the best salad ever! Store your chicken in an air-tight container in the fridge.

1 average sized boneless chicken breast 1.5 to 2 cups of broth (any broth you’d like: chicken, beef vegetable, they all work fine) Juice from half of a lemon 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp paprika 0.5 tsp onion powder 1 tsp thyme, dried 2 cloves of garlic, minced 2 tbsp olive oil (any oil with a high cooking temperature is fine too) Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Pound the chicken breast until it is about half of an inch thick. To pound the chicken, make sure to protect it from the tenderizing mallet with something. I like to place the chicken breast in a food safe, reusable plastic bag, then place it on the cutting board and pound away with the meat tenderizer (actually, I just use my hammer). Or, you could place the chicken on the cutting board and lay parchment paper over the chicken before pounding. Either way is fine. Make sure to turn the chicken and pound both sides.

2. Make the marinade. In a bowl whisk together the broth, lemon juice, 1 tbsp olive oil, minced garlic and all other herbs and spices including the salt and pepper.

3. Marinate the chicken in a resealable plastic bag or small bowl. Lay the chicken in the marinade, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Overnight is ok, too.

4. Cook the chicken. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan. When the oil is hot, glistening and moves easily around the pan, place the chicken in the middle of the pan. Leave it alone except to check its color and turn it when the color is satisfying. Add more oil if necessary. Each side should take between 10 and 15 minutes to cook depending on the size of the breast. The flavor is in that smoky brown layer that builds as the chicken cooks. The richer you can achieve that golden brown without overcooking it, the tastier your chicken will be. Also look for firmness for signs of fully cooked chicken.

5. Slice, dice or chop. Let the chicken cool a bit and cut it up now to reserve its juices. If you cut it up after refrigerating, it may be a bit dry.

Enjoy!

L

FINAL JOURNEY

TEXT BY: RITA RIVERA ART BY: LIANDRA THIBODEAUX

“A peaceful end to a long journey.”

“It’s so hot.” My voice cracked but the sound still pierces through the silence. I don’t know why I needed to say it out loud, the heat is obvious to my aching feet, my shoes seem to be doing nothing to protect my soles from the heat radiating from the pavement. I think sometimes I spoke out loud in hopes I might hear an answer, although hearing an answer might be just as frightening as this ghostly silence. But I’m sure I spoke just to hear something, just to see if I still could. I used to sing, but I feel as if I’ve used up all the music I had in me on this journey. My body begged for a break, but I was saving the last of my water and I knew I was almost there. I had to be, I could smell it, the salty air was all that was keeping me going.

It was well over a month since I decided to travel west. The last time I was able to get my hands on a working car was on day 23, I stopped keeping track after that. I knew I was near the end now, I just had to see it, feel it just once. The empty shops and weeds and grass growing unchecked on the sidewalk was a common sight and the sun causing waves of heat to radiate off the cars were making me feel disoriented. I didn’t want to stop to check my map, afraid I would lose momentum and not want to start walking again. Luckily a break in the landscape of buildings helped me regain my focus, green. I had come upon what looked to be an overgrown park. I decided to walk through

it to take a break from the street. The noises startled me. Wind through the trees? No.

“Animals.” I rasped, squirrels maybe. The sound of my voice made what ever was there scurry away. I looked all around me just for a chance to see them. I saw the tail run up the tree, too big to be a squirrel. How long had it been since I saw a cat? I finally took notice of the eyes in the branches watching me. At least a dozen cats. As I continued walking through the park, I saw a dead mouse, I wondered if I would see one of the cats come back for it, but the animals knew better then to come out of their hiding places, especially in this heat. Just knowing there were living things here left me with a feeling of contentment.

Before I knew it, I was back on the street. The silence had only returned for a little while, I saw the parking lot at the same time that I heard it. That rhythmic crashing sound could only be one thing. I wanted to run, but my body lacked the energy. All I could do was pick up the pace, walking as fast as I could. My heart leaped when I saw nothing but the blue horizon. As soon as my feet hit sand I froze.

Despite the empty bleakness, I had seen many beautiful landscapes

on my journey. Farms and large outstretched plains that often made me stop to regain my bearings. When I had to travel through the mountain, I never felt as strong and proud as when I reached the peak and saw the world stretched out before me. I thought I wouldn’t make it when I was crossing the desert. That was around the last time I had found a car, the gas lasted most of the way according to the map, I’m sure I wouldn’t have made it if not for that. It was another mountain and through a forest that I thought about staying put. The tree’s a relief from the never-ending heat, the animals seemed to have had the same idea. Leave it to them to know where to go to survive. I had found a lake then that definitely put old Coldwater Lake to shame and I tried to tell myself it was good enough.

It was only after I realized my backpack was extremely low on supplies that I found the picture laying at the bottom of it. The picture of my parents when they first met, a ferris wheel behind them, sparkling blue all around. They looked so happy and I so desperately wanted to capture a piece of it. I became more determined than ever after that. I took shorter breaks and made less stops. It wasn’t until I stood beneath the shadows of Los Angeles towering buildings that I had to stop in awe. I had the urge to be a typical tourist, I wondered how far the Hollywood sign was, wondered if it was still even there. I thought about finding those stars with famous people’s names in the sidewalk, but it didn’t take long for the site of buildings to get tiring, the novelty wearing off the more trash I saw and old torn tents in the streets. I started to miss fresh air and yearned to reach my destination more than ever.

A loud creak pulled me out of my deep reflection. I pulled the old picture out of my pocket and held it up, trying to line it up to the tilted ferris wheel that was in front of me. I wish I could ride it, but the broken and fallen beams of the pier and loud creaking every time the wind picked up was a clear warning not to get too close. With the falling apart pier to my right and a washed-up boat to my far left, I had one clear path, straight to the ocean.

I walked up just to the line where water rushed up in the sand. I dropped my bag to the ground, took out my water bottle and poured the last of the water into my dry throat. “Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.” I smiled brightly to myself, I always wanted to say that. It renewed just enough of my energy and I quickly removed my shoes and ran the little stretch of sand that it took for the water to come rushing past my ankles. The water was warmer than I knew it should have been but I didn’t care, nothing mattered any

I took in the majesty of the ocean, the push and pull of the waves telling me the world would be just fine. It was the perfect ending to my journey, that long road I had traveled behind me, the blue horizon in front of me feeling like the edge of the world.

The sun began to set, the sky started to blaze into a brilliant orange. My legs finally gave way and I crumbled to the ground. I strained to keep my eyes open, I wanted this to be the last thing I saw. Maybe across that ocean there was someone else out there. I could only hope they weren’t alone, and that they had something just as beautiful to look at when their time was over. It began to cool down and I heard the unmistakable sound of a bird. The hope it gave me filled me with a sense of peace. As I laid on that beach and stared up into the sky, stars began to become visible, I thought of that old song my mom use to sing.

“The sun’ll come out Tomorrow Bet your bottom dollar That tomorrow There’ll be sun… Just thinkin’ about Tomorrow Clears away the cobwebs And the sorrow ‘Til there’s none…” I don’t know if the sky was growing darker or my eyes were just closing. But I knew it was time for me to rest, the sound of the waves my own personal lullaby. My journey was over, but I didn’t have to worry, there would be a tomorrow. L

LOGOS

ISSUE 2

SPRING 2020 ISSUE 2