Monday, March 21, 2011

Waste Not!! Issue #1: Roasted Chicken

The other day my friend Val visited me in my office and made a suggestion for my blog. She thought it would be great to have ideas to make one base dish, and then come up with ways to morph them into one or two other dishes during the week for easy dinners. Can't say I disagree!

I can't promise to be able to do this every week, but hopefully a couple of times a month I can explore this idea with you all.

All of these recipes are either ones that I make routinely more or less out of my head, or that I might come across in the newspaper or magazine, but it is interesting (and challenging) to combine them all consciously.,  Normally I just walk in the door and open the fridge and see what is there so I can make use of left overs.  Who knows, maybe I'll even get to the point where I have shopping lists for you all to download and print.

All in time.....

The other idea I had was to do posts on how to use up things you have too much of.  Like turning old bread into Panzanella Salad or Ribolitta or bread pudding or crostini, croutons, bread crumbs and more....the idea being to Waste Not!!

In this Waste Not!! menu the base dish is a chicken roasted in a dutch oven with lemons, potatoes and thyme.  The chicken will make its appearances during the week as follows:

Round 1:

Roasted Chicken with Lemon Thyme Gravy served with
Super Easy Smashed Potatoes and
Roasted Asparagus






Round 2:

Tandoori Naan Pizza served with Salad

Naan pizza has become a staple in our house and there are endless variations.  I think the first time I made it, there was some skepticism, but that first bite proved me right and we've all been making it ever since. For those that aren't familiar, Naan is an East-Indian flatbread that is oval in shape and more perfect a base for individual pizzas than pita in my opinion.

Adding Tandoori paste to basic tomato or pizza sauce transforms its flavour, and the cilantro and roasted red peppers add brightness.  For added entertainment value, Justin will teach you how to make the Naan pizzas.  And know that extras heat up and travel very well for a lunch the next day - the boys had them today.

Round 3

Corn Chowder with Chicken and Chorizo with Italian Bread

This soup is a variation of the one Justin and I made a few weeks ago using seafood.  I like the combination of chicken and chorizo.  Hell, I like the combination of chorizo with anything to be honest.



1 comment:

  1. What a great idea, Sandra...and a bold challenge to take on at that. I'm looking forward to reading more of these!

    Ben
    http://kissthecook-ben.blogspot.com/

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