In my never-ending quest to not waste food and use everything in my refrigerator, I've realized that I challenge myself regularly with my own version of "Chopped." If you don't want to throw your money into the garbage, learn to cook with what you have on hand before you buy new groceries!
Here's an example of my daily routine. We had lots of raw vegetables and a few hunks of cheese leftover from a big dinner we hosted. Then my son and daughter-in-law brought over some chicken tenders they wanted to cook.
If these were my "Mystery Basket Ingredients" I would make this Southwestern Chicken Casserole.
I sauteed a panful of the vegetables, starting with some onion, scallions and garlic, then adding chopped zucchini, red and yellow peppers, carrots, cauliflower, red cabbage, and an ear of fresh corn cut off the cobb. It was great to clear out the vegetable drawer in the fridge! Once everything was in the pan I let them cook for about 10 minutes, just enough to take the raw edge off, but not enough to make them mushy.
I found a can of refried beans in my cupboard and spread them on the bottom of a 9 x 13 glass pan. Then I put all those sauteed vegetables on top.
I cut the chicken tenders into 1-2 inch chunks and browned them lightly in an oiled pan for 3 minutes on each side. They weren't completely cooked through because they would finish in the oven. They went on top of the veggies.
I opened a jar of black bean and corn salsa and poured it over everything, covered it with foil and put it into a 350 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes. You could take off the foil and grate some cheese on the top for the last 10 minutes.
We ate this with some taco chips. It was fantastic!
Become your own Chopped Champion and create with what's in the fridge!
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