Salsa Chicken and Rice Casserole

Yes, I know there’s a good chance it’s hot where you are and the last thing you want to think about is firing up the oven, but hear me out. You won’t need to spend much active time in the kitchen to put this delicious dinner together -- start the chicken in your slow cooker before you go to bed and you’ll have a pot full of delicious, shredded, salsa-y goodness waiting for you in the morning, which you can then stash in the fridge until you’re ready to make dinner. Cook the rice while preheating the oven, quickly stir everything together once the rice is done, plunk everything into your trusty Pyrex baking dish, and pour yourself a frosty beverage to enjoy during those 20 minutes of bake time. No biggie, right?

Salsa Chicken and Rice Casserole 
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 ½ cups of your favorite tomato-based salsa
¾ cup white rice
1 ½ cups water
¾ cup corn kernels
4 ounces sliced black olives
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
1 7 ¾ ounce can El Pato tomato sauce with jalapeño
7 ounces diced green chiles
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
⅓ cup sliced green onions

Combine chicken and salsa in slow cooker and cook, on low, for 8 hours. Shred chicken with fork and knife and stir to blend with salsa. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring water to boil in large saucepan. Add rice, reduce heat, cover and cook until rice is tender. Remove from heat. Stir in chicken and salsa mixture, corn, olives, beans, tomato sauce, chiles, cumin and chili powder until everything’s combined. Transfer mixture to 9-by-13 baking dish. Top with shredded cheese, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20-25 minutes. Garnish with green onions and serve.

Ain’t no party like a Pyrex party

I’m getting into the habit of spending a lot of time in the kitchen at the start of the week. I like making one big mess and multiple meals in a marathon session because then it’s easier to focus on other projects and activities later in the week. It feels like I’m working smarter, not harder -- if I’m going to use a certain vegetable in multiple recipes, I’d rather do all the chopping at once and save myself the hassle of washing the cutting board and knife twice. With proper menu planning, it’s also a great way to get the most out of your groceries while everything’s fresh. Take, for example, the following two meals that I made, one after the other, a few days ago. Both recipes include chicken breast, cheese and green onion -- I was able to use a two-pound package of chicken, a 12-ounce bag of pre-shredded cheese and one bunch of onions without having to stash any pesky remnants in the fridge. Knocked out a good portion of my prep work while baking the chicken (375 degrees for 20-ish minutes) and tackled the dishes while my concoctions bubbled away in the oven.

First into the oven was a gooey cheese-and-rice dish, the recipe for which I got from my mother-in-law, Lynn (it’s a family classic). After that, the newest of my never-ending attempts at making things delicious by smothering everything in enchilada sauce.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake 
Adapted from a recipe that originally appeared in “Casseroles” by Beatrice Ojakangas 
2 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 cup uncooked white rice
¼ cup unsalted butter
8 ounces sliced brown mushrooms
⅓ cup sliced green onions
3 tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
2 cups nonfat milk
2 cups shredded reduced-fat cheese, divided
1 (2-ounce) jar chopped pimentos, drained
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil with bouillon, stirring until bouillon cubes are dissolved. Stir in rice, bring back to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. In another medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and green onions and sauté 5 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and marjoram until blended. Remove from heat and gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute or until thickened. Stir in 1 cup cheese and pimentos and stir until cheese melts. Stir in chicken and rice. Pour mixture into glass baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Chicken Tortilla Casserole 
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast
2 tablespoons sliced green onion
1 cup cooked black beans
1 cup corn kernels
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 4.25-ounce can chopped olives
1 pack La Tortilla Factory green chile tortillas (or 8 corn tortillas), cut into strips
1 28-ounce can red enchilada sauce
2 cups grated reduced-fat cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix first six ingredients in medium bowl. In a 9-by-13 baking dish, layer all ingredients in the following manner: enchilada sauce (first layer should be enough to lightly coat the bottom of the baking dish), tortilla strips, chicken mixture, handful of cheese, healthy drizzle of sauce. Top the final layer of tortilla strips with remaining sauce and cheese. Cover dish with aluminum foil, bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10 minutes more. Remove dish from oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Feeding colleagues a family favorite

“Family Favorites” was the theme of a recent work potluck. Some of my mom’s top dishes are of the casserole variety, including the deliciously filling bake I recreated for my colleagues using my mom’s recipe.

Green Chile and Cheese Rice Bake
8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack
2 cups light sour cream
8 ounces canned diced green chiles
2 teaspoons garlic powder
4-5 cups cooked white rice (this dish works best when using day-old, cold rice)
1/2 cup grated cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first four ingredients in a bowl until blended. Alternate layers of rice and chile-cheese mixture in a greased 8-by-8-inch glass baking dish, starting and ending with rice. Top dish with grated cheddar and bake for 30 minutes.

Giving chicken soup a little kick

Homemade chicken soup is such a simply wonderful meal. It’s a great comfort when you’re under the weather, but a warm bowl full of chicken, broth and other goodies is delicious no matter how you feel. The next time you want a little twist on a traditional favorite, give this recipe a try.

Kickin’ Chicken and Rice Soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, ends removed, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
1 cup dry white rice, rinsed
1 cup diced cooked chicken
1 cup (7-8 ounces) diced smoked sausage (I used one of these guys)
8 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
8 ounces large shrimp, butterflied and separated

Heat olive oil over medium heat in large, heavy pot. Add garlic, onion, carrots, celery and bell pepper and sautée for a couple minutes. Stir in Creole seasoning, rice, sausage and chicken and sautée for a couple more minutes. Add broth and tomato paste. Bring pot to boil and then reduce heat, allowing soup to simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, or until rice is cooked. Stir in shrimp, cover, and simmer for another five minutes, until shrimp is fully cooked.

Balsamic, butter give tilapia a boost

I don’t cook a ton of fish (perhaps it’s just because I prefer it raw, dunked in soy sauce?) but I try to keep an eye out for recipes that give me some underwater inspiration.

This balsamic butter sauce seemed like a good way to jazz up the blank, plain canvas that is tilapia, a fish I’ve cooked a couple times with mixed results. I found this sauce to be quite tasty, if not a little too heavy on the butter.

Next time around I’ll probably go for more balsamic and garlic, less butter. Perhaps ½ cup balsamic and two cloves of garlic mixed with ¼ cup (half stick) of butter would do the trick.

I rounded out the meal with a rice-of-many-colors mixture I found in the bulk bins of my favorite grocery store, and some mixed greens cooked and seasoned with a little bit of soy sauce, dried minced onion and red pepper flakes.

Tilapia with Balsamic Butter Sauce
(from epicurious.com)
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup chilled butter, cut into half-inch cubes
6 4- to 5-ounce tilapia fillets
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

Simmer vinegar and garlic in small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to thick syrup, about five minutes. Reduce heat to low and whisk in butter, one cube at a time.
In a large frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over high heat. Season three fillets with salt and pepper and cook until golden, about two minutes per side. Repeat process for the remaining fillets.
Drizzle fillets with sauce before serving.

Trimming the fat with turkey stroganoff

Here’s another recipe inspired by “On Rice,” the cookbook I mentioned in my previous post.
I took the author’s cream sauce recipe and lightened it up, swapping out heavy cream for milk and fat-free sour cream, which I think gave the meal a tangy, sort-of-stroganoff kind of taste. Something I might try the next time around is using only half a cup of wine, and adding ½ cup chicken broth.

Turkey Stroganoff
Adapted from “On Rice” by Rick Rodgers
Steamed rice
¼ cup flour
1 pound turkey cutlets, cut into ¾-inch squares
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ cup finely chopped shallots
10 ounces brown mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 cup dry white wine
½ cup lowfat milk
½ cup fat-free sour cream
Salt and pepper

Combine flour, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper in medium bowl. Toss turkey in the flour, shaking off excess. Heat oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add turkey to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is lightly browned, about 5 or 6 minutes. Transfer turkey to a plate; set aside.

Melt butter in skillet. Add shallots, cooking and stirring often until softened, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms, lemon juice and thyme, stirring well. Cover and cook until mushrooms give off their juices, about 3 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to high and cook an additional 2-3 minutes, until mushroom liquid evaporates.

Pour wine into skillet and boil for a couple minutes. Add milk and cook for 7-8 minutes, until liquid has reduced slightly. Bring heat back to medium and stir in sour cream. Return turkey to the skillet and cook until sauce is slightly thickened, just a minute or two. Season with salt and pepper, and serve over steamed rice.

Rice, rice baby

Chris and I are trying to mix up our carbs a bit so we’re not shoveling spaghetti into our mouths all the time.
This recipe is adapted from one found in of my oldest cookbooks, “On Rice” by Rick Rogers. I bought it, used at a bookstore in downtown Chico, when I was in college. Although I’ve had this book for many years, I haven’t started cooking with it until recently. I used less oil and broth than the original recipe called for, doubled the garlic, amped up the dried oregano, used smoked paprika (the recipe called for Hungarian paprika) and added some diced stewed tomatoes.

Chicken San Juan
Adapted from “On Rice” by Rick Rogers
Steamed rice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into square-inch chunks
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup thawed frozen peas
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, in juice
½ cup medium pimiento-stuffed green olives
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick frying pan. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add onion, red pepper, garlic, oregano and bay leaf. Cover and cook until the vegetables soften, about 4 minutes. Stir in broth, peas, tomatoes and paprika and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer for a couple minutes, until ingredients are heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf. Serve over rice.

Baked chicken won't keep you in the kitchen all night

Running after work has put a bit of a dent in my weeknight cooking. I’m pounding out anywhere from three to seven miles after work, smelling everyone else’s dinners as I run through the neighborhood, so by the time I get home I’m starving.

Not wanting to wait until midnight to eat, I’m trying to do a better job with planning for and preparing quick, not-too-complex meals.
Here’s something I put together on the fly the other day, using ingredients already in my fridge and cabinets.

Baked chicken with mushroom and chilies
Three chicken breasts, butterflied and separated
8 ounces brown mushrooms, quartered
7-ounce can Ortega diced green chilies
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 cup chicken broth
Cooked white rice (I like about a cup per serving)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place mushrooms in bottom of 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish, topping mushrooms with chicken breast pieces. Pour broth over chicken before adding chilies.
Bake, covered, for 30-40 minutes until chicken is cooked. Serve over scoop of rice, using spoon to add mushrooms and chilies to the dish.

Curry in a hurry

I’m just now feeling human again after a nasty cold that rendered me useless for nearly two weeks. My diet no longer includes copious amounts of cough drops and Nyquil, and I’ve regained my senses of smell and taste.

I plan on tackling more complex recipe in the coming days, but wanted to share this quick, flavorful dish I zipped through the other day. One trip to Trader Joe’s will knock out your shopping list. We had some leftover cucumber salsa from a meal earlier in the week in the fridge, and it added some nice color and flavor to the plate.

Tofu Masala
1 15-ounce jar Trader Joe’s Masala Simmer Sauce
14-ounce package firm tofu, cut into half-inch cubes
2 cups edamame, steamed
Steamed brown rice

Simmer tofu, sauce and edamame in frying pan over medium heat and covered with lid, roughly 10 minutes, long enough to thoroughly heat tofu and edamame. Serve over brown rice. Enjoy with warm naan (we opted for Trader Joe’s Tandoori Garlic Naan).

My newest Trader Joe's snack addiction

The next time you’re at Trader Joe’s, keep an eye out for their Sesame Seaweed Rice Balls. I picked up a bag of these puffy little wonders a few days ago and they’re already gone. They’re salty and slightly sweet and super addictive, all at the same time. Only 99 cents for a bag of splendid snacking.