Hello friends! It’s summer, and we’re trying to figure out how to eat the best sort of meals with the least amount of work. Because we want to play outside, and we certainly don’t want to be slaving over an oven for hours on end. Let’s leave that to the pros, and we’ll take the fruits of their work and use them for our own purposes. Today, I’m talking about five ways to use a rotisserie chicken to make lunch and dinner interesting all week long. Trust me, I’ve done it, and it works out quite well!
Keep in mind that in doing this, I’m cooking for one. I can eat pretty heartily on one chicken all week long, with some to spare, so if you’re making this for a crowd, you may need more than one bird. Just saying.
I’ll be linking to some of my favorite chicken recipes- they may require some cooking or adaptation, but remember that the hard part- the chicken cooking- is done! It may just require adding a spice mix to some diced chicken.
First things first: when you get home, cut up the chicken breast, legs and thighs, diced, and separate out the bones. You will likely get approximately 4 cups of chicken, depending on how big your bird is. Put the bones and the skin in a small stockpot with any extra veggies you may have lying around (onions/carrots/celery/herbs/root veggies, etc). Cover with water (approximately 4 cups) cover the pot and set to boil for an hour. Now you’ve got stock…more on that later.
Day One:
Let’s start the week on a healthy note with this Moroccan Cobb-Style Salad. Take about 1 cup of the diced chicken and season it with1/8 tsp ground cumin, 1/8 tsp smoked paprika, and sprinkle each of ground coriander, turmeric and cinnamon.
Day Two:
Taco Tuesday! You know I love tacos, and these chicken tacos with tequila caramelized onions is a keeper. Take 1 cup of the diced chicken, add about 2 tsp taco seasoning and make the rest of the recipe as written.
Day Three:
Sandwiches are my jam. And this Coronation Chicken Salad Sandwich is the best way to get over hump day.
This one takes a bit of cooking but I assure you it’s worth it! Prepare this recipe, cut in half and take the remaining chicken meat (~2 cups) and coat it in the sauce. BONUS! Want to make the whole batch so you have extra sauce? Throw it on some hard boiled eggs for coronation egg salad!
Day Four:
Soup’s on! Keep is veg-ish today with this silky smooth cauliflower soup. Chop this recipe in half using about 3 cups of the stock you made on day 1. Reserve the rest for tomorrow.
Day Five:
This is a good one, hearty and delicious. This broccoli rabe risotto is chock full of veg. Swap out the beef stock for what’s left from the chicken stock you made on day 1, using water if necessary to make up the difference.
That’s it! Here are just a few suggestions on how to get the most out of that $8 chicken, and to eat the world all week long!
