Eating a healthy diet can be time consuming. Shopping for and cooking fresh foods requires a bit of planning. Like any new endeavor however, the tricks to making fresh and healthy foods a daily part of life will become simple habit if given time.
One of the most efficient habits of healthy cooking is the "cook once-eat-twice" principle. This week we focus on tips for chicken.
Cooking once and eating at least twice from that effort is not about eating an exact leftover portion of a meal. It is about using your time in the kitchen to a maximum efficiency and setting yourself up with quick meals for the next few nights.
Roasting chicken is a great way to get started. While you may consider roasting one chicken on Sunday afternoon, the idea here is to consider roasting two or three. One chicken will be dinner that night and one or two can be cooled off, wrapped and refrigerated or frozen. Now you have ready-to-eat cooked chicken for salads and wraps, soups and casseroles. The time and effort involved is about the same. The oven is on for the same amount of time if you roast one or several chickens, so it’s a great use of energy.
Finding easy ways to change the flavor of the chicken is what sets each meal apart and keeps eating exciting. These recipes for flavorful rubs transform simple roast chicken into exotic and enticing meals. Try one this week and at the same time, roast a simple herbed chicken. Save your herbed roasted chicken for easy meals over the next few days and serve your exotic spiced chicken tonight!
Recipes
Perfect Herb Roasted Chicken
Serves 4
When I make this for company I use butter. When I make it for weeknight suppers for family, I cut back on the saturated fat and use 2 tablespoons olive oil instead – even canola oil will work well!
1 large chicken (5 pounds), preferably organic
1 lemon
1 small onion
1 bunch parsley stems
4 sprigs rosemary or several sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 clove
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
Place lemon, onion, half of the parsley stems, bay leaves, clove and crushed garlic in the cavity of the chicken.
In a roasting pan, place parsley stems, few sprigs of rosemary or thyme. Place chicken on top and rub room temperature butter under and over skin, on thighs and breasts.
Truss chicken with kitchen string.
Place in pre-heated oven, uncovered and roast until golden brown, about 40 minutes. If browning too quickly, cover with foil and continue to cook until 165 degrees.
Remove and let cool before carving. Serve Drumsticks and thighs for dinner tonight with simple rice and salad, save breasts for killer chicken salad tomorrow night!
Flavorful Rubs for Chicken
You can use these rubs for any cut of chicken you like, or use for the whole roasted chicken above.
Mix all ingredients into a paste, coat chicken with paste and roast in a 375-400 degree oven. Each makes enough to coat four servings of chicken or one whole chicken.
Jamaican-Mon!
¼ cup hot sauce of choice
3 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 teaspoons salt (less if your hot sauce is salty)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
A Night in Spain
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons salt
½ small red onion, minced
½ teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
Elegant Indian
2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons grated onion (yes, grated like on a box grater)
1 tablespoons curry powder
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
By the way, all of these would be excellent served with steamed Basmati or Jasmine rice. Yum!
Join us at A. Chef’s Cooking Studio this Sunday, Jan. 31 from 4 to 7 p.m. for a free open house. We will be introducing local cookbook author Warren Caterson as he offers demonstrations of recipes from his new cookbook Table For Two. Chef Caterson is well known for making great food at home simple and delicious and many of his recipes can be prepared in 20 minutes or less! Free wine and cheese tastings as well. We look forward to seeing you all there.
