In my previous life as a chef for a busy catering company I was tasked with making a batch of chicken salad for a group of Junior Leaguers from Baton Rouge Louisiana.

Talk about pressure.

If any group of humans on earth know chicken salad it's going to be a pack of Junior Leaguers from the Deep South.

I was frightened.

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This is a topic that comes up quite frequently with me and my friends most of whom are chefs or kitchen workers of some sort.

After toiling through a long shift where we may be up to our elbows in foie gras, frito pie, yom nua or what have you, what do we cook when we get to the house?

One friend who's on a fine dining cooking journey through the Napa Valley swears by a big bowl of King Vitaman when he's done for the night. A good monster cereal is his backup plan.

I dare not tell you how many chefs I know who go to Jack in the Box on the way home and get a lousy yet beloved combo meal with stale fries and a flat coca cola.

After killing a hundred or so checks on a busy line why do Jeno's pizza rolls taste so good sprinkled with garlic salt and broiled just to the point they burst and the low grade cheese caramelizes on the pan they're cooking in?

One of my favorite post shift meals is a small batch of tuna salad served on a bolillo from a nearby Mexican bakery. Here's my quick, simple take on a delicious end-of-a-busy shift meal you can make in under 5 minutes.

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