Untitled Improvisations

Here are two delicious fast things to do with a saute pan. They're somewhere between risotto and stir-fry, and have infinite flexibility. The 28th and 29th saw improvisational cooking at its best.

Day 1:

Saute some of the minced garlic in olive oil until fragrant, then add chicken. Cook until just brown on the outside and set aside. Saute more minced garlic, then chopped onion, carrot, and celery (about a cup each?) and saute some moe. Without adding water, add about 1 c chopped tomatoes and boil with 1 tsp oregano, dried basil, rosemary, thyme, and a bit of black pepper.

Add chicken and rice (how much depends on how many veggies you use). Cook, stirring often, until the chicken is cooked through and everything is nice and hot and well blended. Serve with heavy whole wheat bread. :)

(Sorry it's a crappy picture; the flash was misbehaving and I was hungry!)

Day 2:

Brown the chicken in sauted minced garlic like day 1, but with the addition of Famous Dave's Country Roast Chicken Seasoning. Remove, add more olive oil and minced garlic to the pan, and saute the already cooked broccoli for a minute, then add cooked brown rice and browned chicken to the pan. In lieu of canned cream of whatever soup, I added a 1/4 c (skim) milk and about 3/4 c grated cheese (mostly cheddar, but also some romano to use it up), and lots more of the chicken seasoning.

(Easy, efficient way to grate cheese. These guys are infinity times better than the box kind.)

(This guy reminds me of  Gavroche singing "Little People" from Les Mis)

Cook, stirring often, until the chicken is cooked through and everything is nice and hot and well blended to creamy deliciousness.

Chicken Debut

Stir fry is fantastic for lots of reasons, all of which I'm too hot to write about right now. Tonight's was an epic success, taste-wise and protein-wise. It went like this.

1. Saute trimmed chicken in 1.5 tbsp olive oil until it's done on the outside. Remove to plate that can't absorb chicken germs.
2. Saute minced garlic until fragrant. (You can can turn up the heat after adding the veggies because you no longer have to worry about smoking the olive oil.) Then add chopped broccoil, onion sprouts, scallions, and carrots until half done. (The broccoil should be half cooked. The easiest way to do this is to cut and wash it, and put it in a ceramic bowl with a cup or two of water and microwave on high for ~2-3 mins. It doesn't need a cover. Take it out with a hot pad, pour off most of the water, and add to sizzling veggies in more olive oil.) Add a tablespoon or three of water.

3. To veggies, add 0.5 tbsp peanut butter and 0.5 tsp salt.
4. When veggies are half done, add back chicken and stir lots more.
5. When cutting through the thickest piece of chicken reveals it to be done, add cooked bulgar and mix well. Serve piping hot.

Lessons:
1. Scallions and sprouts cook down a TON. Add extra.
2. Next time exchange carrots for onions. The Pteph, you knew you don't like cooked carrots, so why did you put them in?
3. The bulgar should be added before serving, to warm it up, break up the chunks, and integrate everything better.