Sharing Plate – Your Cooking Coach |

What do you do with leftover chicken? Well, I usually make chicken salad, stuff quesadillas, make soup or fried rice.
This time I wanted to make something different. I kept looking at the leftover chicken breast I had from the day before- and couldn’t come up with anything.

Somehow, after a few minutes, chicken hash came to mind. I envisioned chopped chicken paired with things that were sitting in my vegetable crisper in the fridge. I had green onions, chilies and a red pepper. I also had potatoes and tomatoes in my pantry. I chopped everything up and started cooking.  As the base flavor, I used my favorite condiment- Trader Joe’s tomato chutney. I love using it for everything including sandwiches and as a topping for eggs and meats. In this case I added a few tablespoons and it gave the dish a tangy, salty and sweet flavor. I finished it with a dusting of feta cheese and chopped cilantro.

It was such a beautiful dish- multi colored and delicious. I had some ‘bake at home’ baguettes. I baked one and served a green salad with the chicken hash. It was a big success. This meal would be a perfect for a brunch party!
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My daughter was having one of her play dates again and two of her friends were coming over and staying for dinner. My daughter loves having her friends over for dinner- “it is so much fun”, she always says. I usually remind her that I have to make something healthy and usually from scratch so it is quite a lot of work me me- but honestly, I enjoy it too. Especially because I get to try out different kid-friendly dishes and see their reactions.

For this particular dinner I needed to make something in advance since I was not going to be home. Our sitter would be giving them their meal. I had two chicken breast on the bone which I decided to roast with the skin on. I shredded the meat once it was nice and juicy after taking the skin off. I bought bowtie pasta to make things a little interesting. I bought baby spinach since I needed the meal to be made in one pot and it also had to be well balanced.

I cooked the pasta and mixed the shredded chicken and baby spinach in the sauce pan. I added some homemade tomato sauce to give the pasta additional yummy flavor. I transferred the pasta into an oven proof dish and mixed in and topped with some shredded mozzarella cheese.

It was simple and quick. Once I got home I was curious to know their reactions. I was told they were all skeptical at first since everything was mixed in together but once they tried it- they liked it. My daughter who is more used to eating such meals thought it was delicious.

Next time you have a dinner play date for your kids- try the bowtie pasta with spinach and chicken.

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I had forgotten about this dish. I grew up eating it. My Mom would make it with green peppers and served it over white rice.

While she was a young girl, she stayed with her brother and sister-in-law in the UK. She learnt a lot of local cooking and one of the dishes my aunt used to make was chicken paprika.

Even after moving to the US, my Mom made this particular chicken dish quite often. I am usually not a big rice eater, but love white rice with this particular dish. As some of you know I am big into healthy eating and brown rice is part of the repertoire- but with this meal white rice tastes the best.

The dish itself is very easy to make. The gravy consists of onion and garlic and the main ingredient is sweet paprika. A pinch of cinnamon brings out the sweetness in the chicken and the peppers. As I mentioned before, my Mom would use green peppers but decided to use one green and one red. It makes a delicious and colorful dish.

My daughter was very curious while I was cooking it. She was a bit put off by the peppers- she doesn’t like them. I told her I would give her the chicken with the rice and one or two pieces of peppers. She loved the chicken and tolerated the peppers. Overall she enjoyed and so did my husband- he thought it was delicious.

Next time you are wondering what to do with the chicken in the fridge- try Chicken Paprika.
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This is the quickest meal I have made recently. It was a rare unscheduled weekend day and we were planning to do absolutely nothing. My daughter usually is very good at keeping herself busy or playing with her Daddy on the weekends. I like to get a bit of a break where I hide in my room to read a book or watch a movie.

My daughter somehow secured herself a play date for the whole day. Her friend came over at 10 and stayed till around 3. She was thrilled. Actually we all were. My husband needed to work from home and I decided to go out with a friend for coffee.

Before leaving, I wanted to make a quick lunch for them. I did have a couple boxes of macaroni and cheese but I wanted make something else. I had a pack of chicken sausages in the fridge- which my daughter loves. I sauteed them quickly and added frozen broccoli florets. I boiled some penne on the side and added the cooked pasta with some of the starchy liquid to make a simple sauce. I topped the pasta with some light shredded mozzarella and that was it.

It was a fast and delicious meal- perfect for a quick lunch for the kiddies. Try the chicken sausage and broccoli pasta- it is yum!
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We were entertaining a few weekends ago and yet again, I was at a loss- what should I make?? My brain is usually all stressed out until something comes to mind and then I am at peace.

As I have mentioned many times before, our favorite restaurant is Arturos here in Maplewood. My favorite thing to eat there is a wild boar and mushroom ragu. I love that dish- I actually dream about it. It is consistently good and I can’t get enough of it.

I decided to make something similar but in a lasagna form. I had recently bought some dried mushrooms from Trader Joes. I reconstituted them and added them to some delicious cremini mushrooms. I used ground turkey meat instead of wild boar- well where was I supposed to get that?? Anyway, I am more comfortable using turkey meat for health reasons. The lasagna was layered with a simple bechamel sauce. I also used a truffle paste I picked up from Spello, Italy. I finished the ragu with a drizzle of truffle oil (thanks to Trader Joes).

I served the lasagna with a garlic cheese bread and a citrus salad. I of course had to serve a side of fresh tomato sauce- since my husband loves his red sauce.

It turned out to be a very successful dinner. Everything was delicious- I was very happy. Next time you have a few minutes- try the mushroom and truffle ragu- you won’t regret it.
Click here for the recipe… »