Chicken & Rice Casserole

submitted by:Jill Owings

• 1 1/2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken (tenders, breasts, pieces. You can use frozen or thawed)
• 1 3/4 cup minute rice (you can use regular rice, just increase liquid and time)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 jar alfredo sauce
• garlic, salt/pepper, parmasean cheese to taste

Combine rice, broth and alfredo in 9x13 casserole pan. Stir to mix. season chicken with salt and pepper, as desired. Place chicken in rice mixture and cover with mixture. Cover pan, bake for 30 minutes at 400. Uncover, top with garlic salt and parmesean. Bake uncovered 10 min more until chicken is done and dish is bubbly.

For variety you can include olives, broccoli, or mushrooms

Mushroom Risotto with Peas

• 8 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
• 1/2-ounce dried porcini mushrooms
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups finely chopped onions
• 10 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or short-grain white rice
• 2/3 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, optional

Bring the broth to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Add the porcini mushrooms. Set aside until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Keep the broth warm over very low heat.

Melt the butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil. Add the onions and sauté until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the white mushrooms and garlic. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the porcini mushrooms to a cutting board.

Finely chop the mushrooms and add to the saucepan. Sauté until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and let it toast for a few minutes. Add the wine; cook until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 2 minutes.

Add 1 cup of hot broth; simmer over medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Continue to cook until the rice is just tender and the mixture is creamy, adding more broth by cupfuls and stirring often, about 28 minutes (the rice will absorb 6 to 8 cups of broth).

Stir in the peas. Mix in the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Fusili with Sausage, Artichokes, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

• 3/4 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, sliced, 2 tablespoons of oil reserved
• ½ OR 1 pound Italian hot sausages, casings removed
• 2 (8-ounce) packages frozen artichoke hearts
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 16 ounces fusilli or penne pasta
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan, plus additional for garnish
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
  ¼ to ½ cup Cream, optional
• fresh mushrooms, sliced, quantity to taste, optional
• 8 ounces water-packed fresh mozzarella, drained and cubed, optional Salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the oil reserved from the tomatoes in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausages & mushrooms and cook until brown, breaking up the meat into bite-size pieces with a fork, about 8 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a bowl.

Add the artichokes and garlic to the same skillet, and sauté over medium heat until the garlic is tender, about 2 minutes. Add the broth, wine, and sun-dried tomatoes. Boil over medium-high heat until the sauce reduces slightly, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the fusilli in boiling water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta (do not rinse).

Add the pasta, sausage, 1/2 cup Parmesan, basil, and parsley to the artichoke mixture. Toss until the sauce is almost absorbed by the pasta. Stir in the mozzarella. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Take pasta off the stove, add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup cream to taste. Serve, passing the additional Parmesan cheese alongside. Makes 6 servings.

Bulk Buy Idea: buy Costco sun-dried tomatoes & artichokes, freeze in servings for the recipe

Tortilla Soup

• Vegetable or corn oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons -- 2 turns of the pot in a slow stream
• 3 ears corn on the cob or 2 ears fresh-frozen cobs, defrosted
• 1 red bell pepper, split and seeded
• 1 pound chicken breast tenders
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 1/3 palm full
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/3 palm full
• Salt and pepper
• 1 small to medium zucchini, small dice
• 1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 to 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (medium to hot heat level), chopped -- available in
• small cans in Mexican and Spanish food section of market
• 1 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 3 cups chicken stock, available in re-sealable paper containers on soup aisle
• 4 cups blue corn tortilla chips, broken up into large pieces
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar or pepper jack cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Garnishes:

• 1/4 red raw onion, chopped
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro or parsley leaves
• 1 ripe avocado, diced and dressed with the juice of 1/2 lemon

Heat a grill pan to high and a soup pot to medium-high. Drizzle oil on corn and place on grill pan. Add red pepper to grill with corn. Char vegetables 10 minutes, total, turning occasionally. Remove to cool, 5 minutes. Remove charred skin from the pepper.

While vegetables cook, dice chicken. Add 2 tablespoons oil to hot soup pot. Add chicken to pot. Season with poultry seasoning, cumin, salt and pepper. Lightly brown the chicken. Add zucchini, onions, garlic and chipotle peppers. Cook vegetables with chicken 5 to 7 minutes to soften. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and stock. Bring soup to a bubble, reduce heat to medium low.

Scrape corn off cob and add to soup. Chop grilled red pepper and stir into soup. Add chips to soup in handfuls and fold in. Serve soup immediately with scatter of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Top with any or all of the suggested garnishes.

Spicy Chicken Salad

• 8-10 oz boneless cooked chicken meat, shredded
• ½ cucumber, thinly sliced/shredded
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced/shredded
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced/shredded
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Few lettuce leaves
• 2 small red chilies, seeded and shredded (omit if you don’t like hot dishes)
• 1 Tablespoon roasted peanuts, crushed (optional)
• Cilantro leaves, to garnish

Dressing:

• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon chopped ginger root (or ginger in squeeze tube)
• 1 small red or green chilies(s), chopped
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 2 Tablespoons each fish sauce and lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil

In a bowl, mix together chicken, cucumber, carrot and onion and season with salt and pepper. Arrange a bed of lettuce leaves on serving dish or plate. Spoon chicken mixture on top. Set aside until you are ready to serve salad. Note: This can be made ahead of time)

For dressing: use a pestle and mortar to pound the garlic, ginger, chilies and sugar into a paste. Blend the paste with the rest of the dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over salad when you serve and top with peanuts and cilantro.

Chicken Pot Pie

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 40 min

Level: easy

Serves: 6 servings

• 2 cups cooked chicken (left over chicken, pork, beef or turkey all work great)
• 1 package frozen mixed veggies
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• ½ can cream of potato soup (or you can chop one large potato and cook in microwave)
• ½ tsp thyme
• 2 pie crust (one top, one bottom. You can make your own or use store bought).
• 1 egg white
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix veggies, chicken, soup together in a bowl. Add thyme, salt and pepper.
Place bottom pie crust in pie pan. Put food mixture in pie pan. Top with last pie crust. Pinch edges. Brush top of pie crust with egg white. Poke with fork to release moisture while cooking.

Bake at 350 for approx 40 mins or until hot and crust is light brown. Let stand 10-15 mins before serving.

White Bean Chicken Chili

• 3-4 whole chicken breasts (or can use 2)
• 2 cans chicken broth
• 1 can green chilies, optional
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1tsp oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• Jack cheese, grated

Put everything in a crock pot and let cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Then at the end take a wooden spoon and break up the chicken. (It will just fall apart!) Grate jack cheese and put over each bowl of chili. Serve with corn bread and sour cream.