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Chicken and TurkeyDinnerQuick

โ€˜Top Chefโ€™ at Home

By March 23, 2016March 27th, 201681 Comments

It was only Tuesday, so in theory, there shouldโ€™ve been options when I opened the refrigerator to figure out dinner. Didnโ€™t we just go shopping, like, yesterday? At this point in my life, Iโ€™m no longer surprised to see Phoebe eat her way through a gigantic container of pineapple chunks before weโ€™ve even finished unpacking groceries. But dinner staples? Thatโ€™s another issue. Thereโ€™s usually more to work with than what I was looking at, which came down to a container of shredded kale slaw (impulse buy), a few straggler tomatoes, and three large chicken breasts, each of which was each hiding in three separate corners of the freezer. There was half an onion in a sad plastic bag and there was quinoa. Good old loyal, always-there-for-me quinoa. I submerged the wrapped chicken breasts in cold water and hoped inspiration would come while they thawed.

Sometimes, on days when Iโ€™ve done nothing but unload the dishwasher and shuttle the kids back and forth to their various pursuits and worry that Iโ€™m letting my feminist forebearers down with every pair of sock I matchโ€ฆI look at a chicken breast and I think to myself: Iโ€™m not strong enough.

Inspiration never came. Luckily, Abby had to be at soccer practice. So I did what my agent has been trying to get me to do with the rest of my life: I delegated. To Andy.

It was like our own private game of Top Chef โ€” here are the ingredients, and now itโ€™s Go Time. Best part: I was the landslide winner because two hours later I walked in the house and dinner was ready.

Iโ€™ll update later in the week to let you know what that dinner was, but first Iโ€™d like to know: Assuming you had all your basic pantry staples, what would you have made with what you see in the pic? Best idea wins a free copy of Dinner: A Love Story andย Dinner: Theย Playbook. Letโ€™sย say this contest ends on Friday, March 25. Have fun!

Update: Wow, thanks for the suggestions. (We feel so boring compared to all you guys.) Andy made a basic chicken and quinoa bowl with onions, lemon, and homemade stock. (Think chicken and rice but with quinoa instead.) Then tossed the kale in an Asian dressing: rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, Sriracha, grapeseed oil. Served on the side. Nice and bright.

Our winner is Tatiana who chimed in with this entry: ย โ€œIf โ€œbasic pantryโ€ includes Asian food staples (red curry, coconut milk, fish sauce), then I would make a red curry sauce, poach chicken in it and then let kale cook for just a bit to wilt and add lovely bitterness to the spice and sweetness of the curry. Serve over quinoa to soak up the sauce.โ€ Yum. Thatโ€™s what weโ€™ll do next time. Thanks Tatiana and thanks to everyone who played!

81 Comments

  • Avatar Wendy R. says:

    Iโ€™d probably just stir-fry all the veg and chicken and make bowls atop the quinoa.

    • Avatar Gabrielle Mauerman says:

      Iโ€™m thinking pan fry the chicken, remove to warm oven and deglaze the pan with chicken broth or white wine, whatever youโ€™ve got dregs of in your fridge. Cook down 50% and add butter to make the pan sauce silky smooth. Pilaf with the quinoa and onion (ideally using some of that wine or broth, but water works too, just up the seasonings with dry herbs), side of steamed kale with halved cherry tomatoes (and some of the onion) for vege.

  • Avatar Jess says:

    Assuming all pantry staples, I would have made quinoa-crusted chicken fingers (would need parm for the quinoa as well as eggs, Dijon, and flour) and a kale salad with diced onion and cherry tomatoes with a basic vinegar and oil dressing.

    Thereโ€™s a four-year-old in my house so when in doubt we slice proteins into hand-hold-able sizes and coat them with something crunchy ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Avatar Emma King says:

    I think Iโ€™d make a quinoa faux-pizza crust (water, baking powder, salt, olive oil, quiona) with low-temp-oven-roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions and lemon pepper chicken. I typically keep fresh pesto at hand in the freezer, so thatโ€™d be my sauce! and make a lemon-y vinaigrette to toss that kale slaw in. mmmmm, maybe dinner tonight for me and the hubs?!

  • Avatar Stephanie says:

    The first thing that comes to my mind is a quick and easy chicken salad. Chop the onion and brown with the chicken and some spices from the pantry. Mix that with cooked quinoa and the kale slaw. Top with chopped tomatoes. Pretty boring, but dinner is served!

  • Avatar Courtney says:

    I would have sautรฉed the onion, then added the quinoa and toasted it for a minute, add in chopped tomato and then stock/water, salt and pepper. Sautรฉ the kale slaw with olive oil, salt and pepper and some stock/water until wilted and hit it with a splash of vinegar. For the chicken, I probably would have leaned Mediterranean and made chicken skewers (since it was already cubed) with dried herbs (oregano, parsley, maybe basil), salt, pepper, and some lemon juice if you had it or vinegar if not.

  • Avatar Jaclyn Nguyen says:

    Our tried a true Thursday night dinner is Chicken and Quinoa Bowls.

    Mix citrus juice (or any kind of vinegar), soy sauce, honey, garlic, and olive oil. Use half to marinate chicken for 30 minutes and half of the mixture to mix with the kale and set aside. Prepare Quinoa per package instructions. Sautee onions and tomatoes and set aside. Grill Chicken.

    Assemble with quinoa on the bottom, kale, onion tomato mixture, top with chicken. YUMMM

  • Avatar Lisa C says:

    I would have made skewers with the chicken, onion and tomatoes. Maybe add a little oregano or other Greek spices? The kale slaw would have become a kale salad with a vinaigrette (Iโ€™m thinking red wine vinegar) and the quinoa cooked with some olive oil, diced black olives and feta cheese added to it to finish. Now Iโ€™m hungry!

  • Barbara says:

    Assuming the chicken breasts started as whole, I would have sautรฉed half of the kale and the onion (and some diced bacon if it was on hand) then stuffed the chicken breasts along with any cheese we had in the fridge, and pan seared/baked until done. Slice it into rounds so it could stretch to feed four people, and serve along a quinoa, tomato and remaining kale salad dressed lightly in a lemony vinaigrette dressing.

    Come to think of it, I have all of these ingredients at home (including the bacon!) so now I know whatโ€™s for dinner! Thanks!

  • Avatar Ariana says:

    How fun! Well the best way to maximize the flavor with just a few tomatoes is to roast them, for sure. So I would halve and roast those first. I think I would definitely kebab and grill the chicken (I also live in Miami, always grilling season) and make a faux satay sauce using pantry staples like peanut butter, coconut milk (is this a pantry staple? I usually have a can) and some of that rice wine vinegar. From there I would saute the onion and kale slaw with anything else I could find (do we get garlic? Ginger?), dump the sauteed bits in with the cooked quinoa and add some tahini, vingear, whatever else you can find to make it bind (eggs would sure help ๐Ÿ™‚ ) and make some quinoa patties! Grill em or saute them up, and top each cake with the roasted tomatoes. Extra satay sauce on the side. A little riskier than a stir fry bowl, but more interesting! Such a fun challenge, thanks for the post xo

  • Avatar Laura says:

    I would make chicken lime tacos (sautรฉ the chicken with a mixture of lime juice, red wine vinegar, and oregano) with corn tortillas that I had on hand and a creamy avocado/greek yogurt slaw to top it with as well as some homemade pico de gallo with the onion, tomatoes, and cilantro that I had on hand. I would make a Spanish โ€œriceโ€ with the quinoa and deem it โ€œtaco night!โ€

  • Avatar Molly says:

    Saute the chicken with cumin and chili powder. Brown the onion then add the kale and cook down, splash with vinegar. Top cooked quinoa with kale, chicken and halved tomatoes. Make a garlic/yogurt/tahini sauce to drizzle over it. If you donโ€™t have to separate out parts, you could probably cook the onion and kale in the same pan after the chicken is almost all the way done. But Iโ€™m a vegetarian, so what do I know? ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • Avatar Lela says:

    I would make a kale and quinoa thai style salad with a lime, fish sauce, peanuty dressing. Add some edamame from the freezer. Marinate the chicken and skewer along with tomatoes and onion for the grill.

  • Avatar Jess. says:

    The answer at out house lately is to curry all the things (lentils, sweet potatoes, chick peas, pot pie, chicken & dumplings, pork, etc. Have you ever had curried green apples?!?!!! Amazing). So, I would start by sauteeing the whole onion in oil with curry powder, salt, pepper, cumin, tossing the tomatoes in at the end to blister/burst. Since Iโ€™m lazy, I would probably then just layer everything else in, starting with the greens simmering in some broth/miso/salty water added to the onion/curry situation, quinoa with enough time to cook, then the chicken just long enough to cook through. Iโ€™m excited to see what Andy did. You guys are a great team! xox

  • Avatar Amy says:

    First, Iโ€™d slice and saute the onion, adding ginger and garlic (occasional pantry staples) at the last minute. When the onions are soft and the garlic and ginger is fragrant, add a dollop of red curry paste and stir for a moment to mingle the flavors. Add a can of coconut milk and a little chicken stock (either Better than Bullion or homemade from the freezer). Iโ€™d simmer the cubed chicken until cooked through in the curry mixture, then add the kale slaw at the last minute, so it just wilts. Serve this curry-stew concoction over fluffy quinoa, which may or may not have been improved by a knob of salted butter at the end. Slice or dice up the tomatoes as a garnish on top.

  • Avatar Rachel Vail says:

    Chicken Salad โ€“

    Bake Chicken
    Carmelize Onions
    Prepare Quinoa according to package. โ€“
    Mix cooked quinoa with kaleโ€ฆ.should help it wilt a bit.
    Assuming you have the following:
    Soy Sauce, tamari, honey, lime (zest & juice), scallions and red pepper. Might as well throw in some rice wine vinegar too :). Combine and dress the quinoa/kale salad, throw the chicken in too.
    Plate and top with carmelized onions.

  • Avatar Mom of boys says:

    I canโ€™t resist taking the challenge!
    Throw the tomatoes and onion and any spice/herb you have (and garlic if you have that) in the blender (you may need to add a little water to get it really well blended) with a good amount of salt. Puree. Heat oil in a pan and dump the puree into the pan. Heat until bubbly. Then toss the chicken into the sauce and put in the oven at 300 for about 30 minutes. Take one avocado and smush in the bottom of the salad bowl and mix with salad dressing on hand. Toss kale into avocado dressing until well coated. Put the quinoa back from where it came. Dinner is served.

  • Avatar Bethany says:

    Iโ€™d marinate the chicken with olive oil, red wine vinegar (or lemon juice), garlic, and herbs (Iโ€™m thinking parsley, oregano, and thyme, either fresh or dried). Then Iโ€™d skewer them up and grill or sautรฉ.
    Iโ€™d combine the kale slaw and quinoa with the tomatoes and a bit of onion (maybe even quickly pickled?) to make a sort of quinoa tabbouleh, with the kale replacing the parsley, and dressed with a vinaigrette similar to the chicken marinade.

  • Avatar CJ says:

    Ha! Iโ€™d love to try this with my husband the next time Iโ€™m feeling uninspired. Although heโ€™d probably just call for pizza. Not to say that would be disappointing, all things considered ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • Avatar Jill says:

    I would have made a simple soup โ€“ sautรฉ the onions, add chicken, a can of crushed tomatoes if on hand, chicken stock, kale, quinoa, dice the straggler tomatoes, salt, pepper, olive oil, done.

  • Avatar Rain says:

    quinoa & kale pesto bowl, shredded chicken, quick roasted tomatoes.

  • Avatar Kelsey says:

    I would probably make a chicken burrito bowl. Use some homemade taco seasoning to cook the chicken, and maybe cook the quinoa in salsa and chicken stock to imitate โ€œspanishโ€ rice. Add a can of black beans, cooked with some onion and a little cumin. And probably treat the kale slaw to your very own sandwich slaw dressing. Mix it together with some shredded cheddar cheese and call it a night!

  • Avatar jessatbountyhill says:

    Warm quinoa kale salad (vinaigrette) over pan-fried, breaded chicken breasts. Lemon wedges. I love salad layered on protein. (Definitely weeknight easy.) By the way, sometimes your security question math is hard! ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • Avatar Nancy E says:

    The makings of an easy, family-friendly Middle Eastern feast:
    Whisk together a tangy yogurt marinade for the chicken: yogurt, lemon juice, dried oregano, rosemary or thyme, (or a medley of all three), minced garlic, salt and pepper.

    Marinade the chicken while you make the kale-quinoa tabbouleh: cook the quinoa in water (or vegetable stock, if you have on hand); cool to room temperature by spreading out on a baking tray. Mix cooled quinoa with shredded kale, tomatoes (medium chopped) and onions (fine chopped). Dress with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Refrigerate while you are cooking the chicken.

    Skewer the chicken pieces and grill or broil. Serve with pita wedges (I usually have some kind of flat-bread floating around in my freezer).

    To top it off, hereโ€™s an easy pantry dessert: Mix tahini (sesame paste โ€“ a staple for making hummus and other veggie dips in our house) and honey to taste (adding water, a teaspoon or so at a time, to yield the right consistency). This dip is reminiscent of halvah, the sweet tahini and honey confection of the Middle East. Serve with apple wedges for dipping. If you donโ€™t have tahini in your fridge, substitute peanut butter.

  • Avatar Blaire says:

    I would have turned it into tabouli (kale, quinoa, onion, tomatoes, lemon juice) served with grilled โ€˜greekโ€™ chicken skewers (seasoned with oregano, mint and garlic)

  • Avatar Marissa says:

    I have a yummy recipe for quinoa with roasted garlic, spinach, and tomatoes. I probably would try that with the kale. Thatโ€™s usually enough for us, but grilled chicken would also be yummy mixed into it.

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