In our last post, we turned the foods we cooked in a few hours on a weekend into some delicious, quick meals. Let’s see what else we can make from our roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, black beans, salad greens and broccoli!
You can turn leftover chicken into so many different meals. Bring some with you for lunch with a green salad, or enjoy a black bean and chicken tostada or burrito for dinner tonight.
Or better yet, brighten up leftover chicken with a phyto-nutrient and flavor-packed sauce, like chimichurri. Chimichurri is a traditional condiment from South America, made from parsley and other herbs, which is typically served with meat. I like this simple version, which comes from Rebecca Katz’s Healthy Mind Cookbook. To make it, simply blend fresh mint, parsley, fresh or dried oregano, garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon, olive oil, and a little salt together in a blender or food processor.
Chimichurri also goes well with roasted or grilled vegetables, and is especially yummy alongside roasted potatoes. Rebecca has a wonderful collection of recipes in her cookbooks, including many that use fresh herbs. Her recipe for minted chimichurri is available to you at the link below.
After you’ve enjoyed all you can from your roasted bird, you can use the bones and any leftover meat to make a quick chicken soup. Simply place the bones in a pot with a quartered onion, some smashed garlic cloves, a chopped carrot, 2 chopped celery stalks, some peppercorns, a teaspoon of salt, parsley, bay leaves and a few sprigs of thyme, if you have any to make a quick stock. Cover with cold water and bring to a simmer. Let your stock cook for about 30 minutes to bring the flavors of the vegetables, chicken and herbs into the water.
While your stock is simmering, chop up some more onions, carrots, celery and garlic for your soup. When your stock is done, drain out the bones and veggies and put the stock back on the stove. Add your chopped vegetables, another bay leaf, parsley and thyme, and simmer until everything is tender.
You might wonder why you would use more bay leaf and herbs to finish your soup. Remember, when you are making soup, you are basically trying to flavor water, so it’s helpful to add flavorful ingredients at each step along the way.
When your vegetables are tender, remove the bay leaf, parsley and thyme. Add leftover chicken and leftover brown rice, season to taste with salt and pepper and a little lemon juice. You could also add chopped spinach or other tender greens, like arugula, to your soup at this point to notch up the nutrients and flavor just a little more.
Leftover yams or sweet potatoes are super-versatile and nutritious. They can be turned into a soup or incorporated in a casserole, or blended into batter for bread or biscuits. They also taste great chopped into a green salad or with black beans in a bowl or burrito. Or, try them in a quesadilla, or, in this case, a yamadilla! Watch video to learn how to make these or click on the link below for the complete recipe.
So, you can probably see by now that there really are endless possibilities for turning just a few basic ingredients into nourishing, delicious meals. Enjoy!
or click here to watch the video on YouTube.
Download the Minted Chimichurri Recipe: minted_chimichurri-1
Download the Yamadillas Recipe: yamadillas-1
Download the Fried Brown Rice with Loads of Vegetables Recipe: fried_brown_rice_with_loads_of_vegetables-1