Chicken – Page 8 – The Food Wife

Instant Pot Mexican Rice Bowl

22nd January 201922nd January 2019
by thefoodwife

Serves 2-4

The Instant Pot is excellent for one-pot meals, especially as you can sautÃ© ingredients first without using multiple pieces of equipment. This is just such a dish, it is quick to prepare and can be as easy (or as (moderately) complicated!) as you like; you can use homemade or shop bought spice mixes, omit any toppings or have all the toppings.

It is gluten free, and if you are including the chicken, itâ€™s a good way to use up leftovers from a roast and make a completely different second meal. However it can also be a vegan meal (just donâ€™t include any meat and keep the toppings vegan friendly). If you’re not including any meat then using beans is a good alternative protein. If you are using meat, then itâ€™s a good way to bulk the meal out to serve more people.

N.B. It is important to keep the rice on the top of the contents in the Instant Pot to avoid it catching or burning.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp Oil
1 red onion, medium dice
1 pepper, medium dice
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 portion of fajita spice mix (or a shop bought sachet)
130g sweetcorn (tinned or frozen)
Optional: 1 tin of (kidney) beans, drained
150g basmati or long grain rice (approx. 1 Instant Pot cup)
320ml water (2 Instant Pot cups)
Optional: 2 raw chicken breasts or 250g cooked shredded chicken
Optional toppings:
Sliced spring onions
Grated/crumbled cheese
Shredded lettuce
Diced tomato
Sour cream
Avocado/guacamole
Sliced jalapeÃ±os
Lime wedges

Step 1: Set your Instant Pot to sautÃ© and add the oil along with the onion and pepper. Cook for a few of minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.

Step 2: Add the tinned tomatoes and spice mix. Stir well. Sprinkle in the sweet corn and beans (if using). If you are using raw chicken breasts, place in the pot now.

Step 3: Add the water and rice (sprinkle evenly around the pot).

Step 4: Switch off sautÃ© mode and place the lid on and ensure be valve is set to sealing. Manually set on high pressure for 10 minutes.

Step 5: When complete, carefully release the pressure using a wooden spoon and a tea towel.

Step 6: If you have cooked the chicken breasts in the Instant Pot, shred these now. If you are using ready-cooked/left over chicken, stir through the rice now. Replace the lid and leave for a couple of minutes to heat through.

Step 7: Serve each portion in bowls with a selection of toppings of your choice.

Whatâ€™s For Dinner?

21st January 201922nd January 2019
by thefoodwife

This week weâ€™re having several of the recipes from The Food Wife which I thought Iâ€™d share for some inspiration if youâ€™re struggling to come up with ideas for meals this week.

Friends are joining us for lunch on Sunday and Iâ€™ll be cooking my roast chicken with preserved lemons but this time rubbing the skin with olive oil and ras al hanout before it goes in the oven and serving it with my spiced butternut squash, feta and pomegranate salad. A winning combination for a lighter lunch rather than a full roast dinner!

With the other half of the butternut squash weâ€™ll be enjoying my butternut squash risotto. I have plans for the leftover chicken too, with a yet-to-feature Instant Pot Mexican rice bowl (watch this space).

Today Iâ€™ve made a big batch of daal thatâ€™s been portioned up and popped in the freezer so Iâ€™ll be getting that out later in the week to enjoy, making a quick and easy, nutritious meal.

And Friday night is currently homemade pizza night in our house; although Iâ€™ve been changing things up a bit and making the base using a sourdough starter. I use 300g of starter and reduce the flour and water by 150g and 150ml respectively, and omit the yeast; it proves a little longer but otherwise the recipe is exactly the same.

Hopefully thatâ€™s given you some culinary inspiration, including some ways of making ingredients stretch to more than one meal. Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried out any Food Wife recipes this week, and if you haven’t already, why not sign up to the newsletter to get each week’s recipes direct to your email.

Rabbit (or Chicken) with Prunes and Marsala

7th November 20187th November 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 2-4

We have just come back from a long weekend in the Netherlands, and returned via the ferry from France which allowed us to stock up on various goodies in the French supermarket. I had declared before we went that I was keen to bring back a rabbit (the kind for cooking, you understand) as I had memories of doing so as a child with my parents. This time I managed to avoid bringing back one with the head still attached and instead brought back four pieces, which all happened to be back pieces with the loin either side. Far less traumatic to deal with!

If you are making this at home then you could use a whole rabbit, cut into pieces, or, if rabbit isnâ€™t your thing, then chicken thighs would work well instead.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp oil
4 pieces of rabbit/skinless chicken thighs
2 tbsp seasoned flour
4-5 shallots, peeled, halved and sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed or finely minced
3 tbsp marsala
250ml stock (vegetable or chicken)
10 prunes, halved
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp wine or cider vinegar
Salt and pepper

Step 1: Heat the oil in a casserole dish over a medium high heat. Dust the rabbit or chicken pieces in the seasoned flour and then brown each piece and remove to one side.

Step 2: Soften the shallots in the pan with the remaining oil (add a little more if necessary) and cook for about five minutes. Next add the garlic and cook for a further minute.

Step 3: Deglaze the pan with the marsala and then return the meat along with the prunes, bay leaf and stock.

Step 4: Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 25-30 mins until the meat is cooked through (you do not want to overcook rabbit as it is such a lean meat it will become very dry).

Step 5: Stir in the vinegar and season to taste.

Serve with mashed potatoes or fresh egg pasta and some green vegetables.

Tarragon and Mustard Chicken

4th September 20184th September 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 2-3

Tarragon is such a beautiful herb and is a classic with chicken. Here it is paired with Dijon mustard and lemon to make a marinade that can be easily scaled up, but the quantities here are perfect for two or three chicken breasts.

Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breasts, butterflied

For the marinade:
2 tsp rapeseed or olive oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp light brown sugar
4 tsp tarragon, chopped
A pinch each of salt and pepper
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Step 1: Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a dish or sealable bag and mix.

Step 2: Add the chicken and massage so the meat is coated in the marinade.

Step 3: Either cover the dish in clingfilm or seal the bag and leave to marinate for an hour or two in the fridge.

Step 4: Remove from the fridge 20 minutes before you are ready to cook.

Step 5: Grill under a high heat for about four minutes on each side until cooked through.

I sliced this into thin strips and served it with a roasted vegetable and grain salad at lunchtime. It would be good as a more substantial meal, left whole, serving a breast per person with a warm potato salad (why not use tarragon in the dressing) and a large green salad on the side.

Enchiladas

7th August 20188th August 2018
by thefoodwife

Makes 8 (serves 4 adults)

Last week we had friends round for a midweek meal. I wanted something that I could cook fairly easily once The Food Baby was in bed that could then be put in the middle of the table and everyone help themselves. We went Mexican. I marinated the chicken earlier in the day but everything else was done in about 45 minutes. And half an hour of that was it cooking in the oven.

Whilst I have opted for chicken (in my case I go for thigh meat as it stays so moist), but it would also be good with thinly sliced pork or beef. If you wanted to go meat-free then butternut squash would be delicious. Use the same spice mix but roast it in the oven once coated in the marinade (step 1) for 25-30 minutes and then mix with your cooked peppers and onions (step 3).

Ingredients:
2x my fajita spice mix (with 2 tsp set to one side)
2 tbsp oil
500g chicken fillets (thighs or breast) cut into thin strips (or a meat or vegetable of your choice)
1 onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
1 – 2 peppers, halved, deseeded and thinly sliced
8 corn & wheat tortillas
500g passata
125g mozzarella

Step 1: Combine the spice mix (making sure youâ€™ve taken out two teaspoons’ worth to save for the sauce), one tablespoon of the oil and the chicken (or meat/vegetable of your choice) in a bowl, cover and leave to marinate.

Step 2: Separately combine the reserved spice mix with the passata and leave to one side.

Step 3: Heat a frying pan over a medium high heat and add your remaining tablespoon of oil. Fry the peppers and onions for a few minutes and then add the marinated chicken. Stir frequently until the chicken is just cooked through (if you have cut it thinly this will not take long and you donâ€™t want to over cook it as it is going in the oven too).

Step 4: Lay out your tortillas and spoon equal amounts of the cooked filling down the centre of each tortilla.

Step 5: Carefully tuck in the two ends and then roll each tortilla so it is enclosed.

Step 6: Place the tortillas carefully in a baking dish. You want to pack them in next to each other, but donâ€™t over lap them.

Step 7: Pour your spicy passata over the top and make sure they are all covered.

Step 8: Tear your mozzarella (or sprinkle if you are using pre-grated) over the top and place in a preheated oven (180c) for 25-30 minutes until bubbling and the cheese is golden.

This is good served with a salad (why not try my Mexican-style salad) and some crunchy, cheesy nachos. I layered up a dish with salted tortilla chips, a sprinkling of Mexicana cheese, dollops of salsa, sour cream and guacamole and finely chopped jalapeÃ±os (repeated until the bag of tortilla chips ran out) and cooked these for 20 minutes in the same oven as the enchiladas.