It was only Tuesday, so in theory, there shouldโve been options when I opened the refrigerator to figure out dinner. Didnโt we just go shopping, like, yesterday? At this point in my life, Iโm no longer surprised to see Phoebe eat her way through a gigantic container of pineapple chunks before weโve even finished unpacking groceries. But dinner staples? Thatโs another issue. Thereโs usually more to work with than what I was looking at, which came down to a container of shredded kale slaw (impulse buy), a few straggler tomatoes, and three large chicken breasts, each of which was each hiding in three separate corners of the freezer. There was half an onion in a sad plastic bag and there was quinoa. Good old loyal, always-there-for-me quinoa. I submerged the wrapped chicken breasts in cold water and hoped inspiration would come while they thawed.
Sometimes, on days when Iโve done nothing but unload the dishwasher and shuttle the kids back and forth to their various pursuits and worry that Iโm letting my feminist forebearers down with every pair of sock I matchโฆI look at a chicken breast and I think to myself: Iโm not strong enough.
Inspiration never came. Luckily, Abby had to be at soccer practice. So I did what my agent has been trying to get me to do with the rest of my life: I delegated. To Andy.
It was like our own private game of Top Chef โ here are the ingredients, and now itโs Go Time. Best part: I was the landslide winner because two hours later I walked in the house and dinner was ready.
Iโll update later in the week to let you know what that dinner was, but first Iโd like to know: Assuming you had all your basic pantry staples, what would you have made with what you see in the pic? Best idea wins a free copy of Dinner: A Love Story andย Dinner: Theย Playbook. Letโsย say this contest ends on Friday, March 25. Have fun!
Update: Wow, thanks for the suggestions. (We feel so boring compared to all you guys.) Andy made a basic chicken and quinoa bowl with onions, lemon, and homemade stock. (Think chicken and rice but with quinoa instead.) Then tossed the kale in an Asian dressing: rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, Sriracha, grapeseed oil. Served on the side. Nice and bright.
Our winner is Tatiana who chimed in with this entry: ย โIf โbasic pantryโ includes Asian food staples (red curry, coconut milk, fish sauce), then I would make a red curry sauce, poach chicken in it and then let kale cook for just a bit to wilt and add lovely bitterness to the spice and sweetness of the curry. Serve over quinoa to soak up the sauce.โ Yum. Thatโs what weโll do next time. Thanks Tatiana and thanks to everyone who played!
Well, quinoa is from the Andean region of South America, so Iโd make up a sopa de quinua con pollo. Of all my pantry staples, frozen homemade chicken stock is my favorite and most relied upon. Spending an afternoon putting up a few garlicky, herbaceous, gelatin-rich quarts for the freezer feels like money in the bank. With this soup, Iโd start by tossing the chicken with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a few good pinches aji amarillo powder. In the bottom of my heavy-bottomed soup pot, Iโd toast a chile pasilla till it was evenly darkened and fragrant, let it cool, seed and stem. Saute the onions till golden and soft, deglazing with defrosted stock when necessary, add tomatoes, a few minced cloves of garlic, a good pinch of crushed cumin seeds and cook until tomatoes have burst. I would scrape this mixture into a bowl and puree with the chile pasilla using a stick blender. In my soup pot, Iโd add a bit more oil and brown my chicken pieces, add the rinsed quinoa, stir very thoroughly, and โ if the old wooden foot locker I keep in the dark cool of the pantry still had any purple potatoes or butternut squash from last fallโs farmers market โ add two or three cups of chopped root veg. I would top generously with stock, correct for salt, and simmer about 30 minutes till the chicken pieces were falling apart, the quinoa was cooked, and I could spear the root veggies easily with a fork. To serve, I would divide the kale slaw between bowls and ladle soup over. If I was really lucky and my girls hadnโt smuggled away all the limes (which obviously belong under the couch or tucked into my shoes) and I had actually remembered to wrap the cilantro in paper towels the last time I returned from the grocery, I would garnish.
I love the texts!
I probably would have made a two pot meal. Sauteed the chicken with the onion and garlic if you had any in olive oil. Added the greens until cooked down (with perhaps a tablespoon or two of water or better yet chicken stock if you have it), added the tomatoes for a short minute, and then added heavy cream and parmesan cheese (again assuming you have these ingredients). Would have meanwhile cooked the quinoa in water (or chicken stock / with herbs โ if you had them again), and served the chicken over the quinoa.
Fun task!
Not-Andyโs Chicken:
1.5 oz bourbon
2 oz water
Handful of cherry tomatoes
1 oz prosciutto if you have it
1 oz cheddar cheese if you donโt
Quinoa
4 TBLS butter, divided
3 TBLS flour
Cubed raw chicken (Iโm assuming 1.5 lbs)
Half an onion, thinly sliced
2.5 cups kale slaw
Two cups liquid (recommended: 1 cup chicken stock or broth, half cup white wine, half cup milk)
Cubed raw chicken (Iโm assuming 1.5 lbs)
1 tablespoons cider vinegar (or juice of half a lemon if you have it)
1 tsp dried tarragon
S&P to taste
Parmesan cheese if you have it
Prepare yourself a drink. Eat cherry tomatoes with prosciutto or cheddar cheese because youโre starving and youโll be either tipsy or grumpy if you donโt eat something already.
Prepare quinoa with salt if desired and set aside.
In large skillet heat 1 TBLS butter over medium high heat; lightly salt and add chicken in batches to allow for nice browning. Once chicken is all browned (but not yet cooked through), reduce heat to medium low and add onion, then kale slaw, and stir from time to time. Meanwhile, melt remaining butter in 4 cup or larger saucepan; once melted, add flour and cook for a couple minutes, then begin adding the liquid. Add acid and seasonings to taste, and reduce heat to low.
Check that the chicken is cooked through. Pour the sauce over the chicken mixture in the skillet, and adjust seasonings again. Divide quinoa among bowls and ladle chicken mixture over top. Grate parm on if you have it.
Pour another drink and yell, โSUPPERโ
If it was today, where schools are closing all over the area because of heavy snow, I would make chicken soup. So easy to make with quinoa, and add the kale at the last 2 or 3 minutes so itโs still bright green and delicious. I might have even made home egg noodlesโjust an egg and flour. If it was yesterday, I wouldโve put the chicken in the food processor so I could grill chicken burgers with a quinoa/kale salad with home made vinaigrette. And, I think that a glass of white wine would go great with either or both!
Quinoa patties/burgers! Cook quinoa, roughly chop, saute and soften greens, onions, tomatoes and mix together with an egg (or flax substitute) and a mashed can of white beans if your pantry is stocked. Add any spice and a generous swirl of sriracha and a few handfuls of panko. Let sit, form into burgers and fry. Top with sad fridge cucumbers, onion or slaw and wasabi or sriracha mayo. The chicken can be future dinners problem! (vegetarian house over here :))
I would have put together a kale quinoa Caesar salad with chicken. The dressing would nicely tie the main ingredients together. Perhaps with oven-roasted tomatoes for a pop of acidity.
Looking forward to hearing what came of the ingredients!
I would do a chicken quinoa bake with a hoisin sauce and an Asian kale salad. Though I havenโt tried it, I once saw a recipe where you layered uncooked quinoa, veg, raw chicken and sauce and baked it for something like an hour. Seems perfect since the chicken is already cubed. So I would put the quinoa on the bottom, diced onion on top, followed by chicken and then poor over a hoisin thinned with some soy sauce, sesame oil and lime. I like hands-off recipes. Bonus points for sesame seeds in the pantry. I would cut up the tomato, toss with that awesome kale salad and let it marinate in a dressing of soy sauce, sesame oil, lime, garlic, ginger and honey. Cold and crunchy with warm and homey.
Iโd make a Top Chef version of fried rice.
I would chop up the chicken in to bite size pieces.
Season with Arizona Dreaming.
Saute with the onion and some garlic.
Scramble in an egg or two. Mix in the quinoa so itโs equally distributed.
Season with a mix of sirarcha, rice vinegar, soy and lime juice
Then add the kale mix and halved tomatoes until just wilted and warmed.
Weโre vegetarians here, so Iโm not part of the challenge.
I would, however, like to let you know that the partnership, willingness, and culinary skills you and Andy represent are truly inspiring. Would that every household could be so well endowed.
Thanks for sharing your world viewโฆ..and for the Blue Hill at Stone Barns post a few years back.
Start with the quinoa: boil it with a crushed pod of cardamom as described on the package. Mix when readywith the tomatoes which you have blended to smithereens in your blender with a tsp of some sweetness from your larder.
S lice the onion , fry it in som oil and a TSp each of ground cummin and coriander, add the chicken give it a couple of minutesWhile stirring occasionally, add the cale and stir to coat it with the pan loveliness, add half a cup of water/chickenstock and a cup or so of cream of coconut .
Stir-fry is my go to when all I have are leftover veggies and protein. My protein of choice is usually tofu, but anything will work. Ginger and garlic are always pantry-staple status for me, so this is what Iโd do.
Youโd need: Ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, oil, soy sauce, sugar, chicken, kale, onion, quinoa. (Iโd leave out the tomatoes, but that is up to you!)
To start, cook the chicken through in a little oil over medium heat. Set aside. Then heat up a little more oil in the pan, add the ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes. Stir and wait until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Then quickly mix in sliced onions and shredded kale. Stir fry until the greens are wilted and the onions are just barely done. Toss the chicken back in the pan, add a splash of soy sauce and the tiniest sprinkle of sugar. Toss to coat & serve over cooked quinoa!
Oven Fajita Chicken Salad
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken in a greased dish. Combine 2Tbs veg. oil, 2 tsp chili powder, 2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, S&P, and pour over chicken. Slice up the onion and slice the tomatoes in half. Throw them in the baking dish. Stir to combine. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
While its cooking prepare the quinoa according to package instructions. Dress the kale with some lime juice and S&P. If you have a can of black beans, rinse them, throw them on the stove, and season.
To assemble the salad, I would do the kale slaw, black beans, scoop of quinoa, top with chicken/tomato, onion mixture. Add cheese, sour cream, avocado, whatever you have.
Would kale slaw with fajitas be weird? maybe? Probably?
I turn everything I buy at the grocery store into some sort of Tex-Mex dish. Sorry โ not sorry :).
Simple Stir-Fried โBuddyโ Chicken with Tomatoes and Onions, served over Grilled Lemon Quinoa with Sumac. Kale Slaw with Buttermilk Dressing.
If โbasic pantryโ includes Asian food staples (red curry, coconut milk, fish sauce), then I would make a red curry sauce, poach chicken in it and then let kale cook for just a bit to wilt and add lovely bitterness to the spice and sweetness of the curry. Serve over quinoa to soak up the sauce.
Otherwise โ massage kale with lemon juice, toss with olive oil. Cook quinoa, sautรฉ the onion and then chicken, deglaze with white wine and a bit of lemon juice, stir in a bit of butter and serve over quinoa with a healthy mound of kale.
Otherwise
chicken (quickly marinated in soy sauce, sugar, wine) + frozen corn + garlic, all stir fried over quinoa for the kids. The addition of kale slaw with ginger vinaigrette for adults (I use the Epicurious recipe). Not too interesting but my kids love chicken and corn so itโs an easy win for dinner.
My first thoughts were a stirfry or salad using all of these ingredients. Iโm afraid Inwouldnt win Chopped with that kind of creativity though!
Maybe quinoa bites using all these ingredients for something different? Or a frittata?
I would make a Quinoa bowl. Fry the onions, tomatoes and chicken together until tomatoes are soft and have created a sort of sauce, cook the quinoa with a stock cube (hoping you have one floating somewhere in the cupboard) and then dress the slaw in any vinegar you have on hand, some olive oil and if youโre lucky a crushed garlic clove and dollop of greek yoghurt. Dinner done.
I just showed my husband and his answer was: โIโd probably marinate the chicken in a simple marinade of lemon, olive oil, and some of that onion and chopped herbs and garlic. Grill that. Cook the quinoa. Slow-and-low oven roast on those tomatoes with some olive oil and salt and pepperโฆjust so they get kind of chewy and sweet. Throw it all together as a hearty slaw-salad with a creamy whole grain mustard vinaigrette.โ
Iโve had a lemon-chicken rice bowl recipe open in a browser tab for at least the last week, so I think I would cook the quinoa in chicken stock, then bake it with the chicken, lemon & herbs (either dried or from my vege garden, plus we almost always have at least one lemon or lime in the pantry). Served with the kale salad, mixed with the chopped tomatoes and a zingy vinegary dressing. Hmm, I think I actually do need to make thisโฆ tonight!
Dice the onion, sauce in olive oil, add chicken broth, then cook the quinoa in that. Roast the chicken. Build a bowl: quinoa, chicken, kale, all drizzled with a citrus vinaigrette.
Fire up the grill. Put the chicken cubes in a quick marinade: a yogurt based one like you make, lemon juice and olive oil based if thatโs not possible, skip the marinade and brush with bbq sauce at the end if all else fails. Skewer the chicken cubes and separately, the onion. Toss the tomatoes in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and wrap them in aluminum foil. Cook the quinoa. Grill the chicken until done, onion until charred, and tomatoes in packet until they burst. Chop the onion and mix it and the tomatoes with their juices into the quinoa. Season the quinoa salad with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and any fresh herbs on their last legs. Serve grilled chicken, quinoa salad, and your ready-to-go kale slaw.
If I was Andy I would have called you just as you were heading home and ask you to stop and pickup the Pizzaโs that were waiting for you at the local pizza take-out. But thatโs just me. Serve with a kale slaw, of coarse. Throw the chicken in a dutch oven, cut up as isโฆ. with the onions and tomatoes and a few other spices. Let the chicken cook while you eat pizza. Remove chicken from the oven and cool before shredding to put over the leftover kale coleslaw for tomorrows lunch
I would make tacos. I always have masa harina in the house so Iโd whip up some corn tortillas. Iโd sautรฉ the chicken with chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic and then toss in some handfuls of slaw mix just to wilt. Finish with a squeeze of lime and some finely diced onion and quartered tomatoes. Bonus points if you have cilantro in the fridge. Meanwhile, Iโd make a Mexican quinoa pilaf with sautรฉed onion, cumin, and tomato paste. Serve beside tacos.
I want to try this!
Xoxo,
Love from http://www.trangscorner.com {a lifestyle, fashion, beauty, and food blog}
This is not going to win for most creativeโฆ but honestly I would brown the onion, then make the quinoa in the same pot with some vegetable broth and raisins (assuming we are allowed to have raisins in our pantry). Then, separately, would saute the chicken, kale, and tomatoes (halved) with North African-ish spices and add enough liquid that it gets a little sauce-y. Serve together and possibly top with plain yogurt, if we allowed to have plain yogurt.