Chicken Loaf

It’s kind of an uninspiring title isn’t it?  This dish is an adaptation of my college friend Lauren’s mom’s casserole (yes, called Chicken Loaf), which was always a huge favorite when we went home on weekends.  I suppose it’s supposed to be a chicken version of meat loaf?  It’s a fantastic dish for all those “well what can I do with that?” ingredients.  For example, my mother gave me 4 cans of chicken.  Canned chicken is not a staple in our house, and other than a quick chicken salad, there’s not much else I’ve ever done with it.  But we needed a quick prep dinner that could cook unattended tonight while we raced the sun to finish mowing the lawn (didn’t make it) before dark.  As I also had leftover brown rice, homemade chicken stock,  and a huge bag of homemade breadcrumbs in the pantry, this was a perfect fit. It can also be made ahead of time and frozen.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked, diced chicken (I used 2 cans of chicken for this recipe, though this is fantastic with leftover rotisserie or roast chicken)
• 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 3 cups broth (reserve 1 for gravy)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup (1/2 is intended for gravy, but I missed the small print on the post it note where I had the recipe written and used the whole thing–it didn’t hurt a thing, except that I added another half cup of breadcrumbs)
• 3 eggs well-beaten

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Beat eggs and mix with all wet ingredients.
3. Add chicken and rice.  Mix well
4. Add breadcrumbs.  Mix well.  It will be kind of soupy.
5. Pour into a 2 quart casserole dish or 9×13 pan for 45-50 minutes.

Variations:

In the past I have added some other veggies to this casserole, primarily diced crimini mushrooms, but you could take a sort of tuna casserole approach and add diced celery, peas, carrots, and/or scallions if you wanted to get your veggies in one dish.  I tend to prefer this as is, with a side veggie like green beans.  You might also add 1/2 cup of low fat sour cream for a richer flavor.

Second Time Around: Bruschetta

So earlier this week I made bruschetta with roasted red peppers, tomatoes, and goat cheese for a small dinner party I was hosting.  It was such a hit, I made a second batch for hubby and myself last night (and to save myself some work, I used a can of drained, diced tomatoes–I still think the fresh are better, FYI).  I had the last of the bread with the bruschetta for lunch today, but I still had about half a cup of the topping remaining.  So I decided to do some creative tinkering in the kitchen to see what else I could come up with to do with it.

Naturally, I wound up making pasta–because, let’s face it, almost everything is good on pasta in some form or another.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. dried pasta of your choice (I used cavitapi)
• 1/2 cup leftover bruschetta topping
• 1 whole medium zucchini, diced
• 1/2 cup baby portabella mushrooms
• 1 oz goat cheese
• 2  Tbsp light sour cream
• olive oil
• minced garlic

Instructions:

1. Drizzle olive oil in your skillet and heat over medium high.
2. Start your pasta water and salt.
3. Add garlic (your preference–I only used about a 1/2 tsp because there was loads of garlic in the bruschetta topping)
4. Add zucchini and mushrooms.
5. I also had some pre-grilled chicken (one of those rarely bought convenience foods that I don’t suggest–it’s never as good as when you make it yourself, but I bought it for my non-cooking spouse and then he didn’t like it–gotta use it SOMEWHERE) that I needed to use up that I tossed in, but this would be just as good without meat.
6. Dump your pasta in the boiling water.
7. Sautee veggies until zucchini softens.
8. Add bruschetta topping.
9. Turn down heat and add goat cheese and sour cream. Mix until cheese is melted.
10. Add drained pasta and stir well to coat.

It’s not really a pretty dish, but it was definitely tasty.

Seriously Comforting Chicken Noodle Soup

Guess I’ve got chicken on the brain. I’ve also got the infamous Crud (that sort of ubiquitous allergy/sinus/cold thing everyone here has this time of year), so I decided to make up a batch of my famous homemade chicken noodle soup for myself. Normally this is reserved for taking to sick friends and family but after having a can of Campbell’s the other day and being massively disappointed, I decided I was worth making my soup for.

Ingredients:

• whole chicken or 3-4 chicken breasts and/or thighs, bone-in (to make stock–homemade is best, but store bought is acceptable–approximately 2 quarts, in which case you can just use boneless breasts and thighs to make it in a hurry)
• olive oil
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 3 ribs of celery, diced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 cup of diced carrots (I usually just buy the crinkle cut ones in the freezer section)
• parsley (fresh or dried)
• thyme (1/8th tsp)
• kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper
• paprika
• cayenne pepper (the secret ingredient…the little bit of heat helps to decongest)
• 2 cups dry noodles of your choice (I prefer whole wheat rotini or No Yolks dumplins)

Instructions:

1. Boil chicken to make stock. Remove chicken to cool. Once cool, debone and dice or shred with a pair of forks.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat.
3. Add diced vegetables and garlic and cook over medium heat until onions and celery are translucent and carrots are starting to soften.
4. At this point you can continue on the stovetop or transfer to a crock pot.
5. To the vegetable mixture, add stock (approx. 2 quarts). Add the chicken.
6. Add herbs and spices and cover. If cooking on stovetop, simmer on low for 1 hour. If cooking in a crockpot, cook on low for 4 hours.
7. Add noodles and cook until al dente. Do not add until just before you’re ready to serve or they get mushy and fall apart in the soup.

I’ve always gotten rave reviews when I take this soup to sick friends and family, and I’ve turned quite a few of them into chicken soup snobs–once they had my soup they couldn’t go back to the canned stuff (though I’m sure a lot of that is that homemade soup in general is just a lot better than the canned stuff rather than any superior skill on my part). Bon appetite!

In A Pinch Chicken Salad

Uninspired for lunch or dinner?  Looking for something easy?  This is a good, fast recipe that came about because my mother was trying to lighten up and duplicate the chicken salad at La Bagette in Memphis (which is her all time favorite).  She mixed it up and asked what I thought and I (being the foodie of the two of us) started listing things I thought we should add.  So I mixed up my own batch of the following when I got home last night.  It turned out pretty well considering I just kinda threw it together as a 10 o’clock snack/late dinner last night.

Ingredients:

• 1 12.5 oz. can of chicken breast (obviously leftover home cooked chicken is absolutely acceptable and probably better, but we’re talking about convenience food here)
• 2 scallions
• 1 rib of celery
• paprika
• salt
• fresh ground pepper
• FF Miracle Whip (or whatever mayo type product you keep around the house)
• slivered almonds

Directions:

1. Open the chicken, drain well and dump into a medium sized bowl (Tupperware works well if you wont’ be eating all of it at once).
2. Finely dice the scallions and celery and add to the chicken.
3. Add Miracle Whip to taste (I used about 1/4 cup because I’m not a big mayo person).
4. Add a dash of paprika, a pinch of salt, and fresh ground black pepper to taste.
5. Serve with crackers or on the bread of your choice.  Also would be good on salad.
6. Sprinkle slivered almonds over the top.

Other variations:

• You could dry finely dicing some water chestnuts, grapes, apples, or any other high water content veggie (or fruit) you like to bump up the veggie and fiber content and help lower the calories further.  The aim is go with high water content, crunchy stuff.  You could, of course replace the scallions with some other onion or with shallots.  I like the pop of green the scallions add.  Shallots would be a nice mild flavor and a pretty pop f purple.
• The slivered almonds could be replaced with pecans or walnuts.
• For a little bit of heat, you could add just a LITTLE red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper.   Too much would overwhelm the other flavors.

If you omit the bread or make it whole grain and leave out the fruit, this is a suitable Wave One food for Sonoma Diet or Phase 1 of South Beach Diet.

Easy Low-Fat Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie is one of my favorite foods. All that creamy, comforting goodness. Of course, in my opinion the pastry is the best part, so this recipe doesn’t satisfy that particular craving. But it’s a darn good low fat substitute. It’s healthy and light. The phyllo dough is a good low cal alternative to heavy pastry.

Ingredients:

• 1 can cream of chicken soup (98% FF)
  1 medium onion, diced
  1 cup celery, diced
• ½ cup carrots, diced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 can low sodium Le Soeur Very Early Young Peas (English peas), drained
• any other desired vegetables (ex. broccoli, mushrooms, green beans)–step away from the Veg-all!
• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
• Phyllo Dough
• Sea salt (to taste)
• Fresh ground pepper (to taste)
• ¼ to ½ tsp. paprika

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat 2-3 tsp. extra virgin olive oil on medium high heat.
3. Sautee chicken until no longer pink.
4. Add garlic, onion, celery, and carrots, and sautee until transluscent
5. Add peas (and other vegetables, if any).
6. Pour sautéed mixture into a large mixing bowl.
7. Fold in the cream of chicken soup, sea salt, pepper, and paprika
8. Pour filling mixture into a casserole dish.
9. Top with phyllo dough, one sheet at a time, spraying each sheet with cooking spray before applying the next.
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cook’s notes: The filling can easily be frozen. Simply line a casserole dish with foil (several layers), add filling, close up the foil. Freeze in the casserole dish, then remove foil packet in stackable shape. When ready to prepare, return foil packet to casserole dish and allow to thaw. Then proceed from step 9 above.

The Beauty of Batch Cooking

Life is busy. I think this is probably the case with everyone, no matter their age, station, or walk in life. We’re all juggling family, jobs, maybe school, and other commitments. This means that it’s often a challenge to make a healthy meal each day at dinner. We’re all so pressed for time that those meals in a box touting “Today’s Homemade” start to sound appealing–well okay, not to me. I actually find that whole concept appalling–all those preservatives! Anyway, one of my techniques which helps dramatically when I’m busy (and between 2 jobs, family, writing, and 3 dogs, I am!) is batch cooking. This is something that can really be done any night of the week, but I really like to do it one day on the weekend. My batch cook staples:

• brown rice: Very healthy, but takes SO long to cook that it’s a pain to use in midweek dinners. However, it reheats BEAUTIFULLY! I tend to make about 3 cups’ worth in my rice cooker to use with stir fries and such during weekday lunches. I have to say my $10 rice cooker from Walgreens is one of my favorite kitchen appliances!
• black beans: These are my favorite kind of beans, and I find that I save a considerable amount of money buying them dry and batch cooking them. I rinse them, then put in the crock pot on low with about 6 cups of water. I’m sorry to say I’m never sure how long to cook them. I keep going back and checking after 2 or 3 hours. They should still be somewhat firm when done, as you’ll be likely cooking them some other way. Freeze in tupperware containers with the cooking liquid, then thaw and rinse before use in whatever recipe you choose.
• roasted chicken: Okay this is the same sort of principle as buying those rotisserie chickens at the grocery store, except you save quite a bit by doing it yourself at home. This is another one of those things, I find is better done on weekends. Wash chicken and pat dry. Rub with olive oil inside and out, then liberally coat skin with whatever seasonings you choose (I like greek or cajun). Bake at 350 degrees in a roasting pan for approximately 2 hours (checking at 1 hour 45 minutes…the skin should be golden brown). You can then use this meat in salads, pasta or whatever. And when you’re finished, save the carcass and skin to make…
• chicken stock: Never buy that pale, canned broth again! Place the carcass and skin in a large stock pot, adding carrots, onions, and celery (rough chopped), salt and pepper to taste, then cover with water. Boil gently for an hour or two. Place a colander over a large bowl or other stock pot and carefully (as it will splatter and be HOT!) pour the entire thing into the colander so that the bowl or other pot catches the broth and all the chicken bit and veggies are strained out. Cover the bowl or pot with plastic wrap just touching the surface and refrigerate. The fat will congeal on the plastic wrap so that defatting is a breeze! You can then freeze the broth (which should be a lovely dark gold color). I like to freeze it in ice cube trays, then put the stock cubes into large Ziplock freezer bags for use with any recipe calling for bouillon, broth, or stock.