Chicken and Rice Comfort Casserole



I'm always in search of a new idea for leftovers either meat or vegetables. My staple turns for leftovers are frittatas, enchiladas and pizza toppings, but I needed something new. I had leftover chicken and was craving rice, so googled the 2 for inspiration. Taking a lead from this recipe, here is the result.

I have to admit that much as I love love love the summer here, I do welcome the cooler weather; now I can turn on my stove again without cooking myself at the same time. So the prospect of brown rice needing 45 minutes on the stove, was happily an option, this morning, when I got a jump start on dinner.

This is a simple take on a casserole, but from from scratch. The sauce created is very reminiscent of a Campbell's soup casserole, but oh so much tastier and better for you. It checks off all the boxes for nutrition and throws in some major comfort too.

My oldest daughter has just started full day Kindergarten and in contrast to her usual hearty appetite, is often so tired by dinner that she has lost interest in food. So, tonight I prescribed comfort food, in the hope of getting a decent meal in her tired little body, before bed. It worked! I asked her if she liked her dinner and she answered, "Love it!". Score for Mummy!! Unfortunately my 3 year old was not so convinced; I'll keep working on her!

Chicken and Rice Comfort Casserole

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup low fat milk
1 cup chicken or veg broth ( preferably low sodium)
2-3 cups cooked chicken (chopped)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage (or herb of your choice)
2-3 cups cooked brown rice
1 1/2 cups frozen peas (thawed)
1/4 cup wholegrain breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan


Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400
2. Melt butter in a pan over a medium heat
3. Add the flour and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring.
4. Pour in the liquid and whisk over the heat until smooth and thickened.
5. Add the chicken and sage
6. Taste and season as necessary
7. Lightly butter or oil a medium sized shallow casserole dish
8. Place the rice on the bottom of the dish and sprinkle over the peas
9. Pour the chicken in the sauce over the top and spread evenly
10. Mix together the breadcrumbs and Parmesan and sprinkle on top of the casserole
11. Place in the oven for approx 30 minutes and serve with a salad, or not...

Notes on the recipe:
This is an endlessly tweekable recipe; adding more cheese to the sauce would be tasty. Also, many different herbs could replace the sage; thyme would be particularly good. Broccoli or green beans would be good replacements for the peas.

Enjoy!

A Risotto that hits all the right spots

Can you tell what's different?

We're still both tantalising close and yet months away from warm weather here; Spring in the Northeast can be a cruel, hope crusher. Last week, we donned shorts and teeshirts, slapped on some suncream and even trotted out the patio furniture. This week, we've already had snow and more is in the forecast for tomorrow. Humph.

All this leaves me very confused as to what to buy in my weekly supermarket sweep, and then what to cook on any given day. One day I feel like a salad and grilled food, the next, risotto. Today, with snow on the horizon again, it's the latter. I've intended on posting a version of this for a while; Mark Bittman turned the light on for me that, brown rice can also be used for risotto. Until I realised that, eating risotto for me was a guilty pleasure, but not now. I love the texture and nutty flavor the brown rice lends to risotto; it's a different dish for sure, but equally tasty and significantlt more nutritious.

I have to say, I've been a touch intimidated regarding the posting of a risotto. In my family, there are a number of foodies; to name a couple, my brother is "in the business" and knows his way around a kitchen in a more expert way than I for sure (check him out: http://thecoffeeboys.com/blog/).

My cousin, of guest post fame, is no slouch in the kitchen either; they recently told me of their plan for a "risotto off". The basic premise; both contestants feel very sure that no-one can surpass their "epic" risottos, so they'll cook them on the same night and have some "impartial" tasters rate them. They love a good bit of competition; I do not, so I immediately withdrew my interest and went quiet on my recipe.

A little time has passed and I had some asparagus and baby bella mushrooms waiting patiently to be put to good use and what better than a wholesome brown rice risotto. Ok, I'll enter the family risotto arena I thought. Here goes:

Brown Rice Risotto

Brown Rice Risotto

Ingredients

2 cups/400g short grain rice
approx 1quart/1 litre chicken broth
1 cup/ 250 ml white wine
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1 small onion chopped finely
1 clove garlic, finely chopped or minced
roasted veg of your choice (I used asparagus and baby bella mushrooms, chopped into bitesize pieces)
2 oz/ 50g finely grated parmesan
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoon finely chopped herbs of your choice (I used thyme and sage)

Directions

1. Bring a medium pot of water up to the boil, add the rice and boil for 12 minutes.
2. Drain the rice and set aside (I often do this part earlier in the day and refrigerate the rice until ready to assemble the risotto)
3. Place the vegetables you are using on a rasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, season and roast at 400°C for approx 15 minutes.
4. Remove and set aside.
5. Heat the butter or oil on medium high, in a large heavy bottomed pot, and fry the onions until softened; 2-3 minutes. Then  add the garlic and cook a further 1 minute
6. Meanwhile heat the broth and wine together in a medium pot
7. Add the rice to the onions mixture and stir around for a few minutes until coated with the oils and flavors.
8. Turn the heat down to low and add enough of the warmed liquid to just cover the rice.
9. Stir until the liquid is all absorbed, then do the same again. Stir stir stir...
10. This process will take approx 35 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed. Add more if it needs it.
11. When the rice is cooked, add the roasted vegetables, cheese and herbs.
12. Stir to combine and serve immediately.

A couple of notes on the recipe:

• great vegetable substitutes are roasted butternut squash and sage or pea and mint or basil. Anything goes really.
• As I was stirring tonight (a rare 30 undisturbed minutes for me, thanks to Tigger and Poo), I actually really enjoyed the simple pleasure of standing at the stove. However, I'm under no illusion that many of us can't commit that time to a risotto on a week night, so I got out my Delia Smith cookbooks. Delia has a couple of fantastic risotto recipes in her "How to Cook" books which are oven baked. If it works with arborio rice I strongly suspect it will work with the precooked brown, so I''ll test that and post an add on to this if it is worth doing.
• Oh and my 4 year old ate this (after a gentle nudge), the 2 year old ate only 1 bite.  I won't give up trying!

Update: 8/7/2013

Smoked Salmon Lemony Zucchini Risotto (Totally Yummy!)

I tried an awesome new version tonight, loosely based on Mark Bittman's Lemony Zucchini Risotto. 

Here's how it goes:

After 15 mins of stirring, add 2 yellow squash, grated. These will cook down and evaporate just like the broth, then continue adding broth and stirring until the rice is cooked. 

I also added smoked salmon, right at the end with a whole lemon, zested and juiced and about 3/4 cup of pecorino. Really, really good.

Enjoy!

Pork Extravaganza Part 2 : Healthy Fried Rice and Pork Tacos



It's all about the selling pitch, I find; I'm talking about whether my kids will eat what is prepared for them or push the plate away (arggghh!). This blog may primarily be about family friendly food, but be under no illusions, I do not have perfect eaters in this house and neither am I the perfect Mum. I have to use all the strategies under the sun to "sell" the food I prepare, but then I try not to hover or force them to eat it. There is a general rule, eat it or go hungry until the next meal (unless they are sick).

Anyway, hence the pink sauce. Having 2 young girls in the house, we are living the pink years. So I work it to my advantage, whenever possible. The sauce is actually salmon colored, thanks to smoked paprika, but my pitch seemed to excite the girls into taking at least their first bite. Then they realised their dinner was tasty.

If you read my previous Pork Post, you'll know it all started with a roasted stuffed pork loin. I didn't get my act together in time that night, to present that to my kids, as dinner. That night they had wholewheat gnocchi, pesto and corn. Point proven; not the perfect Mum.

I've taken some artistic licence with the tacos; the consistency is not what you'd expect but I wanted to disguise the vegetables. My youngest is going through a picky vegetable phase so the squash was my choice. Corn, tomatoes, peppers (roasted or not), even peas would work nicely/ nicer here.

Anyway, here are my 2 leftovers options:

Pork Tacos with Pink Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients for the Pink Sauce

approx 1 cup reduced fat sour cream

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

approx 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (approx 1 lime)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for the Tacos

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 teaspoon jalapeno pepper, diced finely (or some chilli powder, flakes or hot sauce, to taste)

2 cloves of garlic, diced finely or minced

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 lb leftover meat (diced finely)

1 package frozen winter squash, defrosted (substitute roasted peppers, cherry tomatoes or corn)

1 cup vegetable broth (or chicken if you have it)

1 can black beans (rinsed thoroughly to remove some sodium)

8-10 small 6" tortillas (I always prefer wholewheat to corn)

Directions

1. Whisk together the pink sauce ingredients and set aside
2. Heat the oil in a deep sided pot on medium high.
3. Add the onion and fry for 3-5 minutes until softened
4. Add the jalapeno, garlic and spices and cook for a further 3 minutes until fragrant
5. Add the meat and cook a further 2-3 minutes then add then add the squash and broth. 
6. Add the beans, stir gently to combine and add more broth if it needs it, to gain the consistency you like for your filling  
7. Heat the tortillas in the microwave, wrapped in a paper towel, on high for 2 minutes
8. Serve with the pink sauce and either guacamole or simply avaocado on the side

Enjoy!

Healthy Fried Rice

(sorry no photo!)

Serves 4

Sauce Ingredients

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons mustard (I used a garlic mustard)

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon garlic (I omitted, as garlic mustard used)

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (to taste)

3 tablespoons water

Ingredients

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic chopped finely or minced

4-5 cups chopped raw veg of your choice (I used carrots and corn; it was all I had left!)

2 cups cooked grains (I used brown rice but Lorna suggests barley or quinoa)

1-2 cups cooked meat (or scrambled egg)

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

Directions

1. Mix together the sauce ingredients and set aside (this will be too much but will keep for a month in the refrigerator)
2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok or a large pot and add the onion and garlic. Fry for 2-3 minutes until softened then add 1/4 cup water and the remaining veg.
3. Cover the pot and steam the veg for approx 3-5 minutes depending on the vegetables you are using.
4. Add the rice, meat and ginger. Stir to combine and heat through
5. Add enough of the sauce to coat everything.

Enjoy!

A great midweek dish



I'm always in search of the next good "one pot meal" recipe to add to my repertoire. One of my cooking goals at this stage in my children's life, is to be able to scoop out a spoonful of a dish I've created from real food, that checks most or all of the right boxes nutritionally for them.

But I love one pot meals for more reasons than that. Usually they can be made a little ahead of time; in fact they are often a little tastier, having sat a while, snuggled together in a pot, blending together their flavors deliciously. Making dinner a little earlier in the day suits my lifestyle; the "down time" in my day is usually after lunch at some point. If I'm lucky, one kid might nap and the other usually will be content with some sort of quiet activity for an hour or so. This is my time to rustle something up for dinner or at the very least prep.

I also love they way you can hide or at the very least disguise foods in a 1 pot meal; foods that might otherwise be given the screwed up face. My children have different palates; historically, one would eat fruit and most vegetables easily, but does not much like meat, nuts, beans and eggs. The other was the exact opposite. Now, thanks to the one pot meal strategy, I've sucessfully introduced a variety of new foods to both
Anyway, I was lacking inspiration for last night's dinner, other than I really wanted a very healthy meal. When dinner challenged, typically I will throw a couple of ingredients into one of my favorite food sites and search. Thank God for the smart phone. Thanks also to Heidi at "101 cookbooks", I found a great starting point.

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/spinach-rice-gratin-recipe.html

She basically combined eggs, spinach, rice and cheese and baked. So easy and incredibly versatile for a tasty but healthy dinner. I used it as a springboard, added feta instead of tofu (much as I strive to eat healthy, I just cant get excited about tofu), a few other flavors and it was a big hit with the kids and my husband, for that matter. All had seconds. Nuff said.

Spinach and Rice Gratin (my way)

Serves 4-6

Ingredients



5 cups precooked brown rice

1 16 oz bag of frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed out

8 oz light feta cheese, chopped or crumbled into small pieces

20 olives (your choice, I used kalamata), chopped

1/2 medium red onion, chopped finely

1/2 cup toasted pinenuts or almonds

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese (substitute and good melter)

6 large eggs, beaten

salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C
2. Grease two 2 quart size (approx) baking dishes or 1 large lasagna dish
3. Reserve half the cheese and pinenuts
4. Mix together all the remaining ingredients
5. Put the mixture in the dishes and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
6. Place the dishes in the center of the oven and bake for 30 mins, until the top is golden.
7. Sprinkle the remaining pinenuts on top and serve with a green salad or tomato salad.

I have a million thoughts on variation on this but you can start with these

• precook pancetta or bacon and add
• chopped sundried tomatoes would be lovely
• raisins or cranberries or even chopped apricots would give a nice sweetness against the salty feta and olives
• fresh herbs...parsley, basil or chives would be particularly nice

Go for it!