I had one of those days today where nothing went the way it was planned and everything took longer than it should have. For example, my couch was supposed to be delivered between 12-4pm, and at 4:30, I hadn’t heard anything from them. It did eventually get here though, so that was good. 
I didn’t have anything planned for dinner, but when I stared aimlessly into the fridge hoping for inspiration, I realized I had most of a leftover rotisserie chicken I’d bought the other day. I googled “what to do with leftover rotisserie chicken” (thank goodness for the internet!) and came upon this gem: 25 Things to Do With Rotisserie Chicken. I didn’t even have to read the whole first page to know immediately what I wanted to make: Pho!
It’s something I’ve only ever had in restaurants, but the recipe for Cheater’s Chicken Pho made it sound like something I could do relatively easily. I’m easy to please: anything spicy with cilantro and lime is my favorite. That’s why I love Mexican food so much. Actually, it’s kind of surprising how many flavors Mexican and Vietnamese food share for being so far apart in the world.
I made guacamole the other day, so I already had lime, cilantro and a piece of a jalapeno. I made a really quick trip to the store for fish sauce and hoisin sauce. They didn’t have any bean sprouts, so I went for snow pea shoots. Also, no edamame in the frozen veggies, so I got a bag of basic stir-fry vegetables.
The ingredients in five spice powder vary depending on who you ask, but it’s usually star anise, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and some sort of pepper. I didn’t feel like buying any, so I threw in a pinch of cinnamon, ginger, and a few whole cloves, which I fished out before I added the chicken. Other than those substitutions, I just followed the recipe. It was awesome! Seriously, you should try it. It was so satisfying and delicious for an impromptu, thrown-together dinner.
Pho in the pot
With sprouts, hoisin, sriracha, jalapeno, lime juice and cilantro. Yum!
Harder Than It Seems 