Olympic Games - Hockey

"Ice hockey originated in Canada in the early 19th century, based on several similar sports played in Europe, although the word “hockey” comes from the old French word “hocquet”, meaning “stick”. Six-a-side men’s ice hockey has been on the program of every edition of the Winter Games since 1924 in Chamonix. Women’s ice hockey was accepted as an Olympic sport in 1992, and made its official debut in 1998 in Nagano." (www.Olympic.org, regarding Ice Hockey)

 In a 2010 interview with NHL, Zach Parise, the captain of the USA hockey team, mentioned that his favorite food is chicken tacos. Well, tacos are way too messy to send as a portable lunch. So as a tribute to Zach Parise, here are "Chicken Tacos Deconstructed".

This lunch is SO easy to make, sort of. Here's the difficult part - cutting out an Olympic hockey pictogram from a sheet of nori (edible, pressed seaweed). The good news - the rest of it is easy to create.

The nori hockey player is laid on a packed bed of rice. Packed into the opposite corner is cooked, shredded chicken, topped with shredded cheese. As a barrier between the rice and the chicken, I placed three small silicone cups. Each lunch recipient chose which toppings go in the cups - sour cream, chopped tomatoes, shredded cheese or guacamole. Instead of tortillas (which are too messy for the kiddos!), I sent along some tortilla chips.

At lunchtime, the kids will be able to mix together the rice, chicken and toppings, and then scoop it up with the tortilla chips. Delicious!