For context of this post, you have to first read Part 1. As I mentioned in it, I used to live on ration food and make do with what we could find. One’s survival instincts guide them through such situations.
Below are a few ideas how to use all parts of a chicken and make the most of it. Although there are lots of vegetables in these recipes you can easily go to the basics available at the moment. Substitute cauliflower and broccoli with potatoes and carrots for example. Do without fresh mushrooms. Use potatoes in the soup, etc.
If you don’t frown on legs, giblets and other innards, buy a whole chicken from an ethnic store. These will contribute to a tasty soup.
The easiest way that will produce most meals is boiling the entire chicken during the weekend. Cover it with water and boil until done. I use 2 cubes of chicken stock, but just salt will be OK too. Pull the chicken out and partition it once it cools. Use wings, drumettes, legs, neck, head, rump and giblets and the carcass for soup and save the rest for quick dinners during the week. One can actually shred the meat with a fork and keep it in the fridge, while using all the bones for the soup.
Let’s begin with the recipes that will give you more bang for your buck (or chicken, that is). In the first 3 recipes the chicken is cooked (either on the rotisserie, boiled or roasted)
My favorite these days is Alex’s broccoli & mushroom-soup casserole. When I met him, he was using broccoli only and a lot more chicken, but these days we use just one chicken breast to cover the bottom of the baking dish and add broccoli, cauliflower and mushrooms to the mix.
Broccoli & cauliflower chicken casserole
We use a 2.8l CorningWare oval baking dish.
Ingredients
1 cooked chicken breast
About a cup of sliced mushrooms
About 2 cups of broccoli florets
About 2 cups of cauliflower florets
A cup of toasted bread crumbs or crushed croutons
2 cans (284 ml each) of concentrated mushroom soup
Optionally ½ cup of grated hard cheese and 1 tsp of curry
Preparation
Slice the mushrooms and spread them on the bottom of the dish (optional). Slice or shred the chicken breast and cover mushrooms.
Meanwhile, steam the broccoli and cauliflower (enough to fill the dish up) then place over the chicken.
Dissolve the mushroom soup (1 to 1) using the water in which the veggies were steamed (you can also mix in a teaspoon of curry powder).
Pour over the cauliflower and broccoli. Sprinkle the bread crumbs/crushed croutons over. If you want, top it with grated cheese.
Preheat the oven to 375F and place the dish in. Bake for 20 to 25 min.
This yields about 8 servings. Thus, you have 2 dinners for your family of 4. And it is simply delicious.
Note: If you don’t have broccoli and or cauliflower you can substitute one or both with potatoes, asparagus, green beans, fennel, peas, cabbage or brussels sprouts
Chicken black beans chilli
This yields about 12 servings (there you have 3 meals for your family of 4). When I make it just for the two of us, I freeze at least half of it for later.
Ingredients
1 chicken breast – cooked and shredded or cubed on small pieces
2 cans (540ml each) black beans (I do cook mine from dry, but it is easier to use canned)
1 can (796ml) of dices tomatoes
1 medium zucchini, diced – optional
1 red bell pepper, diced – optional
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cube of chicken stock
2 cups of water
½ teaspoon of chilli flakes (optional)
1/3 cup of chopped parsley
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
Preparation
Oil the pot (I use a non-stick Dutch oven) and stew the onion to transparent.
Add the chopped chicken breast, the pepper and zucchini and stir for about 2 min or until the veggies are soft.
Add the beans and tomatoes. If you use, add the chilli. Dissolve the chicken stock in a cup of water and pour in the mix. Add the rest of the water and let it simmer for about 15 min or until vegetables are cooked.
This stew freezes well, so you can freeze the leftovers for your road trip.
The 2 recipes above used the 2 breasts of one chicken. Combined the two dishes provide 20 servings.
The rest is bonus.
If the chicken was roasted over potatoes or on rotisserie you can use the two thighs and the two drumsticks with the potatoes and salad or with other sides. There you have 4 servings. And we still have not used the wings, the drumettes, the rump, the neck and the carcass. These can make you a tasty soup, but in the case of soup I prefer to use raw chicken parts.
Chicken soup
Note: My photos here are from chicken asparagus soup which is even easier: chicken, asparagus, salt or chicken stock and lemon juice. And water of course😊
There are endless chicken soup recipes. Below is an easy recipe
Ingredients
Chicken wings, drumettes, legs, neck, head, rump, giblets and carcass
1 small onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, 2 stalks of celery, half of small parsnip, optional parsley root, all chopped
parsley, bay leaf
1/3 cup of white rice,
1 egg to finish and thicken the soup
1 spoon of lemon juice
Preparation
- If you’ve boiled the entire chicken first, once it’s done take it out of the pot. Reserve some of the broth for other dishes. Add all the vegetables and the rice in the remainder of the broth and cook until done. Add back the chicken parts and cook for another 5 min.
- Alternatively, if you are making the soup with raw parts, cover with about 6 cups of water and after boiling skim any foam from the broth. Add a cube of chicken stock or salt (your preference). After skimming the foam add the chopped vegetables, chopped onion, rice and bay leaf.
Once the rice is cooked, add the parsley and remove from the stove top. If you want to thicken the soup wait until the it cools about 90C or about 10min. Meanwhile beat the egg and then slowly add a ladle of the hot broth to it, beating it carefully so the egg-white blends smoothly. You may add a second ladle of soup. Pour the mix slowly into the soup while stirring quickly and making sure the egg white doesn’t separate. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice just before serving.
The soup will produce about 12 servings.
Chicken fricassee
For the fricassee you can use shredded meat from any part of the chicken. It all depends on your preferences for the other dishes.
Ingredients
1 cup of shredded or cubed cooked chicken meat
½ small onion
2 tbsp of flour
½ tsp of paprika
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
Chicken broth left from boiling the chicken or water if you barbequed or roasted it.
Optional: 1 to 2 cups of chopped vegetables in hand. For this one I used half a red pepper, and a few florets of broccoli and cauliflower. One can use carrots, mushrooms and celery too. Or if you don’t have any, just chicken will be OK too.
Preparation
Cook/stew the onion in the oil to golden, add the vegetables and cook until they are done. Add the shredded chicken breast.
Stir and add the flour and paprika. Stir well and slowly add the broth/water while stirring quickly to make sure the flour does not clump.
The sauce should be smooth and thicker than the usual gravy you’d make for other occasions.
Here you have 4 servings.
Peas and chicken stew
This one is really easy and fast. You can use any parts of the chicken or the entire chicken if you wish.
Ingredients
Half of uncooked chicken cut into individual portions
1 kg frozen peas (you can use fresh or canned if you wish)
1 can of diced tomatoes (you can use fresh if you want)
½ cup of parsley or dill
1 small onion
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
Preparation
Cook the onion in a pot until golden. Add and cook the chicken until almost done (about 15min), stirring occasionally. Add the peas and the tomatoes and cook until the chicken and the peas are done. Add parsley and turn off the cook top.
Risotto with chicken
Ingredients
1 cup of rice
2 cups of chicken broth (you can replace ½ cup with white wine)
2 cups of cooked shredded chicken (any part you have). Here I used a leg.
2 tbsp of vegetable oil.
1 small chopped onion
This is general enough, however if you have vegetables, you can add some. I used mushrooms, spinach and cherry tomatoes.
Preparation
Cook the onion in the heated oil until golden. Add the vegetables and cook about 5 min, stirring. Add the rice. Gradually add the broth and wine if using and stir until rice is cooked.
Basmati rice with chicken thighs
Ingredients
This is much easier, since no stirring is involved. Use 1 cup of basmati and 2 cups of chicken broth.
2 chicken thighs and 2 drumsticks (any parts of the chicken really, this is just an idea). Here I used cooked chicken but you can also use uncooked.
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
Preparation
Oil a roasting pan and cook the onions until golden. Add rice and stir. Initially the rice clumps. Stir until the rice begins to separate. Pour the chicken broth and top with the chicken parts you are using. Preheat the oven to 375F (or 400F) depending on your oven. Place the pan in the oven and bake until the rice is done.
Note: If you use raw chicken, cook it in the pan before adding the rice. Remove, cook the rice and add the chicken before placing in the oven.
Chicken roasted over potatoes
This, too, is easy and it is just an idea. Before having a rotisserie, I used to do an entre chicken over potatoes. Back home where chickens were lean and dry, I’d use about 125 to 250g of unsalted butter placed over the sliced and salted potatoes under the salted chicken that I usually cut open through the breast bone (i.e., butterfly it), but not the back so it can be placed over the potatoes. I then would roast it in the oven 400F until chicken is cooked.
These are just a few ideas. You can use shredded chicken is sandwiches, salads and many other.
Bon appétit!
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