- richard cocks via flickr
If you're like many people, you just can't help but pass the rotisserie chicken section at your local supermarket without sticking one of those juicy, crispy, perfectly machine-roasted birds in your cart. But after a couple of days it just sits in your fridge with parts missing, looking kind of like an avian amputee. Do you throw it out? No need to waste your money. Here are five easy and delicious recipes for leftover chicken.
Chicken Vegetable Soup:
This recipe works well for those of you who collect odds and ends in your kitchen pantry. Soup is an excellent way to use leftover foods and stuff you want to get rid of. Start by chopping up celery, onions, carrots, and any other green vegetable you may have laying around (asparagus, zucchini, watercress, etc). Do not use broccoli or cauliflower, as these will impart a sulfur taste to your soup that most people will find unpleasant. I always keep a jar of organic chicken bullion on my fridge, but you can also use powdered chicken bullion or packaged chicken stock, and worst case scenario, just use water and salt. Fry your veggies with a little olive oil until the onion becomes translucent. Add a couple of minced garlic cloves, and the chicken. You can put in the whole chicken, cut it in parts, or you can take the meat off by hand and just add the meat. Fill with water until it just covers the chicken and veggies. If you're adding rice, pasta or barley, make sure you add more water to compensate. Mix some chicken bullion in the water until it tastes like a nice flavorful chicken stock. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 1 hour uncovered. If the pasta, rice or barley absorbed too much water, add more water and adjust the chicken stock if the taste is too bland. Season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary and enjoy!
This article appears in Jun 9-15, 2011.