Quack, Quack, Multitask!

Few things are better than turning a simple ingredient into several flavorful dishes, all with their own flare. Thanks to Ina Garten, I know how to make perfectly roasted chicken breast. It's quite simple, actually. Buying the poultry as split chicken breasts with the bone in and skin on allow the chicken to roast with plenty of flavor and it shreds beautifully afterwards. All you have to do is brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, roast in a 375 degree oven for about an hour. Easy! With this yummy chicken I made chicken pot pie, home made birthday dinner for Alpine and Pepper, and white bean chicken chili. Other uses for this chicken include a plethora of soups, for use in salads, or as the star of yummy sandwiches.

Ok... yes, you heard me right - I made my dogs their own home cooked birthday dinner. They turned two this weekend and I just couldn't help it! I was roasting all of this chicken and they were prancing around with their snouts in the air just searching for the crisp scent of roasted chicken, ears a- flapping! I boiled some jasmine rice with water, peas, and chopped carrots (which I already had out because of the chicken pot pie). I mixed this rice meal with a little shredded chicken and they ate it extremely fast and loved it!

Full bowls to empty bowls in record timing!

Chicken pot pie is something rather decadent and rich, usually. I tried to change that up a little and use a healthy serving of chicken stock with a touch of fat free half and half at the end for creaminess (rather than a whole quart of it). Also, for the pastry I made a whole wheat crust to pierce with your fork as you dig into the individual pie! If you are into this type of thing, give this a try

Chicken Pot Pie

4 split chicken breasts

2 cups peas

2 cups chopped carrots

2 cups onion

5 cups reduced sodium chicken stock

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1/4 cup fat free half and half

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

Place chicken on a sheet pan, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast in a 375 degree oven for about an hour, or until cooked. Allow it to cool. Remove the skin and bones from the chicken and shred the meat, set aside. Heat the chicken stock and bouillon in a saucepan. In a soup pot, melt the butter and add the onion. Sauté until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the flour and stir constantly for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and stir until thickened. Add the peas, carrots, and half and half. To this add about 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp pepper. Stir until combined and taste for spice. A little handful of freshly chopped parsley really helps here. Serve 2 ladels full of the pot pie mixture into individual ramekins. If you desire, make a pie crust and top each one!

Top with pastry, brush with egg wash, and place a slit in the top.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour.

This recipe made 4 individual servings and also enough pot pie to fill an 8 x 8 pyrex dish that I froze for dinner on the next cold and tired night. On Saturday I wanted something roasted and cheesy all in one. I thought that pizza would do the trick! I made a delicious herbed half whole wheat pizza crust. While the dough was rising, I prepared my toppings:

Fresh chopped bell pepper, roasted bell pepper - which I skewered and charred directly over the gas flame on my stove, fresh greens, cilantro, an assortment of cheeses, caramelized onions, and roasted garlic - chop the top off of the whole bulb and place in a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes, you'll be surprised how earthy and nutty roasting can make the garlic... it's completely transformed. Also, I made a classic béchamel sauce to add an extra creamy element to one pizza. To make the white sauce, heat together an equal portion of melted butter and flour and add milk or fat free half and half until a creamy but thick sauce forms. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and nutmeg and you've got a winner! Yum! Don't be afraid to mix and match toppings - I usually make a pizza, then Vincent makes a pizza and if we have a friend over they make one too! (Relatively small in size). The roasted chicken that is great in everything is also a nice addition to a pizza!

White bean and chicken chili was more of an afterthought when I had 2 extra chicken breasts and Vincent's mom mentioned that a friend made her a batch. I thought - oh, perfect! All I did was sauteed an onion in some olive oil, added a box of store bought chicken stock, a can of white beans, 1 1/2 cups of frozen corn, 2 tsp each of cumin, hot mexican chili powder, oregano, salt, pepper. Then I added the chicken and simmered for about 30 minutes. A little red pepper flakes and hot sauce for an extra kick and you have a nice easy soup!

See how the chicken is a multitasker? It is very helpful to make one ingredient like chicken into multiple dishes because when I cook on the weekends, I save leftovers for work. It also saves money on ingredients because you can stretch the one pack of chicken over several meals, bulking it up in the ones where it really counts! Hopefully you can enjoy some of this yumminess too!