Cooking With Beans: Chicken and Rice

As the weather starts to grow colder and the days shorter, we spend a lot more time indoors where it's cozy and warm. This also means a lot of friends dropping by, sometimes unexpected. My family and I tend to eat a lot of slow cooked, savory meals that stick to the bone this time of year, and one of our favorites is a chicken and rice recipe that I inherited from my mother. The great thing about this dish is that it makes enough to feed a small army well, and the ingredients can be easily multiplied if your kids bring in a few extra friends at dinner time.

You will need:
3 cups of chicken stock
4 Chicken leg w/thigh
2 bell peppers cut into strips
1 small onion coarsely chopped
15-20 button mushrooms, whole
2 lbs. coarsely chopped turnips
15-20 cherry or grape tomatoes
2 cups of rice
1/2 lb. of sliced bacon

Spices: Tarragon, parsley, 2 bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper

Start by spreading the bacon strips out on the bottom of a stock pot. Begin cooking bacon on medium heat and layer the chicken on top. Add turnips, peppers, onion and turnips. Allow the bacon on the bottom to sizzle for about ten minutes so that it forms a nice layer of fat. Add chicken stock and spices, cover and simmer on medium until the chicken is fully cooked. Remove the chicken from the broth and take out the bay leaves. Drain chicken and allow to cool. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Once the chicken has cooled, pick it from the bone and toss pieces back into the broth. After all of the chicken has been added pour in the 2 cups of rice. Return the lid to the pot and pop the whole thing in the oven for about thirty minutes. Pull it out and dump in the tomatoes. Return to the oven covered for another ten minutes.

This is one of the most delicious dishes I have in my recipe box. I hope you'll try it out, and don't be afraid to experiment. No one in my family likes onions, so they are often omitted, or chopped into large enough pieces that I cook with them for flavor, then remove the evidence before deboning the chicken. I have also used turkey bacon and chicken breast when making this for a lower fat solution.

If you do make this dish, definitely let me know how it turned out. Enjoy!

Cooking with Beans: Zesty Fiesta Chicken and Pasta

Lately we've been longing to spend less time running around and more time at home. That was why we bought a house in the first place, wasn't it? So, as part of our quest to spend more time at home I have been trying a lot of new things in the kitchen so dinners stay interesting.

I wanted to share two of my new recipes because both end results were so tasty, I can't wait for an opportunity to make them again.

My first dish was inspired by a bite from a frozen dinner I had a few years ago that was actually pretty good for frozen, prepackaged food. I wanted to recreate the dish with my own spin, so I sat down and tried to think about the flavors I remembered. Here's what I came up with.

Fiesta Chicken and Pasta in Cheese Sauce

You will need:
1 lb. Penne Pasta
2lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small white onion, chopped
1 tsp. Cumin
1 tsps. Chili Powder
8 oz. can of green chiles (undrained)
8-10 oz low fat sour cream
10 3/4 oz can of cream of chicken soup
3 cups shredded colby-jack cheese
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups crushed corn chips
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place a medium sized pot of water on a back burner on medium-high heat and add a dash of salt. While you're waiting for your water to start boiling add oil and minced garlic to a large pan. As the garlic browns, chop chicken breast into bite sized chunks and add into the oil. Once the chicken begins turning white, cut open a piece to make sure it's about 3/4 cooked. Add the chiles, cumin and chili powder. Simmer the chicken and chile mixture for about five minutes, and then add the cream of chicken soup. Stir until all ingredients are mixed well. Allow to simmer on medium heat for five minutes. Slowly stir in sour cream and simmer once more for about five minutes. About this time your pasta water should be boiling, so pour the pasta in and stir to keep them from sticking. Returning to the sauce, add two cups of colby jack cheese slowly your sauce mixture. Reduce heat to low, and allow the sauce to simmer. Stir occasionally while the pasta cooks. When the pasta is finished cooking, drain the water and pour it into a baking dish. Add the sauce mixture and thoroughly stir. Spread the remaining cup of colby jack cheese over the top and then do the same with the crushed corn chips. Bake for twenty minutes, or until sauce starts to bubble up into the chip crust.

This is so simple to make, but it's zesty and melt in your mouth cheesy. Low fat and/or organic ingredients can easily be substituted for a healthier alternative. This is a great covered dish to take to pot luck suppers! ENJOY.

Tune in next for Shepard's Pie a la Beans.