Cooking inspiration is everywhere! Try a simple marinade to make the best chicken kabobs.
How often I hear, “Karyn, your pictures look so good. You’re making me hungry!” Thank you, friends! My early pictures weren’t so good. I am glad to know I’m improving. BUT, have I inspired you to cook? That is my intent and I would love to know what you’ve been doing in the kitchen.
Yesterday I was asked about making kabobs. Immediately I shouted, “shawarma spices!” The question was really about cooking them, however. Simply put, I prefer to have meat and vegetables on separate skewers because they may need different cooking times, especially if you’re doing chicken kabobs. The exception is onion. I always enjoy onion alternating with chicken on a skewer…which leads me to the purpose of this post. Chicken and onion and shawarma spices with yogurt!
I’m salivating at the idea now. Do ideas about food ever keep you up at night? Recently I tried a recipe for a roasted chicken from Bon Appetit magazine. A recipe??? Yes, once in a while I do follow one…sort of. If something sounds particularly appealing, I will experiment with the general idea. Just don’t expect me to go line by line exactly.
So, you know I love a roasted chicken. It’s just about the easiest thing ever. According to this recipe, you marinate it in yogurt and shawarma spices. Cook it with onions, garlic and lemon slices. We enjoyed it, but now that I’m thinking about chicken kabobs, this could be the bomb! They say the yogurt is good for tenderizing and it was good for a little char. Mix it with shawarma spices and you have a winning combination.
With a couple tablespoons or so of shawarma spices, whisk in 4 cloves of crushed garlic, 1/4 cup of yogurt, and 2 Tablespoons of oil. Coat chicken in this mixture and season with salt. Let sit for 30 minutes before cooking or chill for up to 12 hours. Let chicken come to room temperature before cooking.
Ready to fire up the grill? What will you serve with your kabobs? Rice? Parsley salad? Hummus and flatbread? Yes, please! But honestly, this chicken and veggies are a meal on their own!
Use up leftover turkey or chicken by making a delicious gumbo ya ya that will transport your taste buds to New Orleans.
Wondering what to do with leftover turkey or chicken? Pick off the remaining meat and boil the carcass for a flavorful stock to use as a base for gumbo ya ya. Grab a smoked sausage like andouille or kielbasa, a few vegetables and spices and you’re ready to go. Adapt according to ingredients you have on hand and start cooking a delicious gumbo ya ya without a recipe.
I had part of a roasted chicken left over, so I first picked off all the meat that I could and put that back in the refrigerator. Then I boiled the bones and carcass in water to make the stock for the gumbo. Zero waste cooking meant I ended up with about a quart of stock, which was just about right for the amount of roux that I made next.
Roux
When I first started making roux, which forms the base of the gumbo ya ya, I followed the slow method. I would combine equal parts of oil and flour and slowly stir with a wooden spoon over low heat until it reached the desired color of brown. While it’s easier to avoid burning it this way, it also requires continuously standing at the stove, stirring slowly for 45 minutes. A little tedious, which meant I didn’t want to do it very often.
Eventually, I learned from one of Paul Prudhomme’s cookbooks to do it faster. I did burn it once in the early days though, so although it’s my preferred method now, do proceed with caution. It’s no fun to have to throw it out and start over. Especially if you are making a fast roux, I recommend using a pot with rounded sides like this one, if you have it. Less opportunity for bits to turn black in the inside crease around the edge of a flat sided pot.
Before you begin making the roux, make sure you have already chopped your onion, bell pepper and celery because you will need to add them to the pot to stop your roux from burning. Timing is crucial. (The amount of onion I used equaled about the same amount of bell pepper and celery combined. Here that meant one onion, half a bell pepper and two small stalks of celery.
In this case, I didn’t have much grapeseed oil left, so I measured that first to see how much roux I could make. You want an oil with a high smoke point. Olive oil will not do for this. I found that I had a little less than half a cup of oil, so I measured about the same amount of flour and put them both into my pot over high heat and whisked quickly for a few minutes until it turned dark brown like chocolate.
Then I immediately took it off the heat and added the chopped vegetables, continuing to whisk everything together. Returning the pot to medium heat, I cooked it for a few minutes before adding the chicken stock. Be careful here. Pour the stock slowly and away from you. It’s nice if it has had a chance to cool slightly also. You don’t want to burn yourself splashing hot oil and stock around.
Now you want to get this to a simmer and you can relax while you chop your sausage, if you haven’t already done so. You can add it to the pot before or after adding the stock. Then you can go get your spices to season the gumbo.
At Jazzfest in New Orleans, the best gumbo could be had at the fairgrounds
Spices For Gumbo Ya Ya:
1 or 2 bay leaves
cayenne (as much as your palate allows…I think I used about 1/2 teaspoon)
paprika
smoked paprika
French thyme
pinch of basil
pinch of oregano
a couple of cloves of garlic, minced
file’ powder (add at the end of cooking)
Once you have added all your ingredients, except the cooked chicken, you should let the gumbo simmer for a couple of hours. I needed to go out, so I put it into a slow cooker and let it cook on high for 4 hours. Half an hour before serving, I tasted and decided how much salt it needed and added the cooked chicken. Use all your senses to start cooking more intuitively.
Just before serving, stir in some gumbo file’ powder. I used about half a teaspoon. I forgot to add it once and it wasn’t the end of the world. So if you don’t have any, try it without. It does add a certain special something though.
This yielded 4 very generous main course servings. By the way, this is one of those things that tastes even better the next day. Make a great big batch and put some in the freezer for later. It’s a fantastic treat to give yourself a day off of cooking by planning ahead.
Serve with rice. White is traditional, but I usually use brown for everything. Pictured above, I used some brown rice that was left over from another meal.
Basic Ingredients In Addition to Spices:
oil
flour
chicken or turkey meat
chicken or turkey stock
andouille sausage
onion
bell pepper
celery
Understanding basic proportions means you can cook intuitively without a recipe. In this case, using my available ingredients, I combined a half a cup each of flour and oil to make roux for a quart of stock. Obviously, a cup each of flour and oil would be enough for 2 quarts of stock for the consistency I enjoy in gumbo ya ya. More roux would yield a thicker gumbo. Less roux for a thinner one.
Transport yourself to a sunnier place with this quick ginger chicken.
With all the extreme weather being experienced elsewhere, I don’t feel justified in complaining about the ever present gloomy skies we’ve had lately. Instead, I chose to cook something zippy to put a little spring in our step. What better to do that than ginger chicken topped with a tangy, savory sauce?
Turning to my treasure chest of freezer flavor gems, I pulled out some ginger root and broke off a couple of 1 inch chunks and peeled them. After mincing in the food processor along with a couple of cloves of garlic, I coated 5 chicken thighs with a touch of grapeseed oil and smeared them with the ginger and garlic. Covered and refrigerated for a few hours. I don’t suppose it’s necessary to start ahead this way, but it seemed the thing to do while waiting for laundry to finish the wash cycle. How did 24 pairs of my husband’s underwear pile up while I wasn’t looking? I’m sure it hasn’t been 3 weeks since I did laundry…
Anyway, now that I had started with my anchor ingredient, I was free to create using veggies on hand. I had purchased these darling pre-packaged snow peas on clearance, so I figured we couldn’t go wrong with an Asian theme here. After blanching and putting in an ice bath, they got tossed with a few drops of sesame oil, a sprinkle of salt and sesame seeds. I love them when they’re bright green and crisp.
Cooking the Ginger Chicken
While baking chicken in a preheated 425 degree oven for 35-40 minutes, I made a quick sauce of equal parts lime juice and soy sauce. I love the bold combination of umami and citrus, but you could absolutely cut it with a little water or chicken broth to mellow it a bit. Then you just need to thicken it up on the stovetop for a couple minutes. I used about half a teaspoon of rice flour because it was handy, but cornstarch would work just as well. Heat while whisking and take it off the heat once it has reached the desired consistency.
Given the combination of spicy, tangy and salty flavors going on here, I thought some fresh cilantro would top things off with a fresh herbal component. Is it Vietnamese inspired? I’m not going to claim to be an expert on that cuisine, but it did transport us to a sunnier place if only for a short time. Food has a way of doing that, don’t you agree?
Ingredients for This Ginger Chicken:
minced ginger
minced garlic
chicken thighs
grapeseed oil
soy sauce
lime juice
rice flour
Is it true that food can affect your mood for better or worse? If you’ve ever crashed after a sugar high, you can answer that. I was curious and decided to see what the internet had to say about ginger in this regard. I found this interesting article.
To be sure, ginger is an acquired taste. Perhaps it’s new to your palate. You could certainly cut down on the amount I used above. You might start by adding it in small amounts in combination with other spices. Fall is just around the corner. You may enjoy this sunny, squash stew with just a hint of ginger in the background.
I am always looking for ways to eat more vegetables. The simplest preparation is often the best. But what do you do if someone in your family objects? Find a way to sneak them in such as in these chicken spinach enchiladas. It’s a simple way to learn how to eat more vegetables when you don’t like them.
Realizing I had some spinach that needed to be eaten, I asked a reader what I should do with it. She suggested stuffing mushrooms or chicken breasts with it. Although that sounded delicious, I didn’t have either of those items on hand. I did, however, have some leftover chicken pieces in the freezer. So I was inspired to pair that with the spinach inside enchiladas. With enough sauce and cheese, I’m sure you could get even the pickiest eater to eat these.
Bonus points if you get your fussy eaters to eat broccoli and carrots too. I decided to roast them in the oven with chopped garlic until fork tender while the enchiladas were baking. What else might you season them with? I simply sprinkled everything with green onions at the end.
Do you get excited about the variety of colors in vegetables like I do? I keep reading that eating 30 different plants per week contributes to a healthy gut microbiome. This is part of why I don’t necessarily tout nutrients of one particular vegetable over another. Variety is key. How many plants are you eating per week? I can help you learn how to eat more vegetables when you don’t like them.
Preparing the Enchiladas
I sautéed the chopped spinach in olive oil with chopped red onion just until wilted and then tossed the chicken pieces into the skillet. After pouring a little green enchilada sauce into a glass baking dish, I put a slice of swiss cheese on each soft corn tortilla before adding the chicken/spinach mixture and rolling the tortilla, placing seam side down into the casserole dish. I topped with sauce and grated cheddar cheese before baking 30 minutes at 350.
These were delicious and Michael didn’t even notice the spinach until I told him what was inside. I don’t really like taking pictures of bites of food, but here’s one just so you can see what the inside looked like:
For a simple shortcut and tips, please read The Whole Enchilada Two Ways. Which vegetables would you like to serve more often in your household?
Stock fresh veggies and a pantry and you will always find new inspiration.
Sometimes we want to put meal prep on autopilot. How do I do that? Roasting a chicken is a hands off way to get started and ensure that I have protein for multiple meals later in the week or even further into the future if I put some in the freezer. I find 425 degrees for an hour and half to be just about right for a 4-5 pound bird. Pat it dry and sprinkle with seasoned salt before roasting. Simple meals don’t get any easier than that.
Near the end of cooking, I returned to the kitchen to decide what else I would add to create a meal. Yes, it had been a long day and I didn’t feel like expending much effort in the kitchen. Putting a pot of water on to boil for pasta seemed like a good idea. What would be refreshing on such an occasion? Lemon, I decided. The very fragrance banishes the cares of the day, doesn’t it? Taking a lemon out of the refrigerator, I perused the vegetables available. Which vegetable would be good with lemon and chicken? I contemplated cauliflower or broccoli and decided they would be equally delicious, but green broccoli would look nicer with white pasta. So that was that.
What else would I put into the pasta that would complement the other elements of this meal? Beginning with sautéing some crushed garlic in olive oil, I then smashed a drained can of anchovy filets into the pan. Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it. It’s a delicious umami flavor boost. After adding some dry white wine and letting that reduce a bit, I added the lemon juice and broccoli florets to let them cook until crisp tender. Sprinkled with a little parsley and pepper to serve.
Badda bing, badda boom. Dinner was ready and it didn’t require much effort at all. Taking the pictures was a bit more taxing, so pardon me if they aren’t perfect.
Ingredients for Pasta Sauce:
olive oil
garlic
anchovies
dry white wine
lemon
The main thing is to be aware that cooking without recipes is just a matter of combining ingredients on hand in a way that makes sense to you and your palate. Make sure you always have a variety of fresh vegetables, proteins and pantry staples on hand. They provide the basis for an infinite number of simple meals. How do you put meal prep on autopilot?
Here’s what you do when nothing is going right: improvise!
Sometimes a new combination of ingredients is born from a comedy of errors. Last time I ordered groceries online, they were out of corn tortillas. I had requested green enchilada sauce, but ended up receiving red instead. So I considered making my own flour tortillas because I didn’t have any corn flour…but then I decided to simplify by improvising with another corn product. Why not use grits? Cheesy polenta would do nicely with some chicken and enchilada sauce.
I love making grits in the slow cooker. I start by boiling 4 parts chicken broth and whisking in one part corn grits in a saucepan. After cooking for a minute or two, I put that into the slow cooker on high for about an hour and 20 minutes. I whisk the mixture once or twice while cooking, but otherwise it doesn’t require any attention.
Well, on this occasion I had inadvertently used far too much liquid for the amount of grits. When I went to stir the grits after about 40 minutes, I realized my absent minded mistake. Oops! It happens, folks. Don’t panic. No need to start over. I just dumped it back into a saucepan and added more grits. It simply meant I needed to continue to whisk it on the stovetop for another 30 minutes before adding some grated cheese. No big deal. That being said, I ended up with a lot more grits than I had originally intended, so guess what we had for lunch the next day?
Leftovers are made for casseroles! Starting with a layer of polenta in a greased baking dish, I topped with chicken and sauce, followed by another layer of polenta. More sauce and cheese finished it off and then I put it in the oven for 30 minutes.
Of course there are numerous ways to reinvent leftover grits. Read No Waste Begets Big Taste for another idea.
You can make a satisfying, simple meal in under 30 minutes.
Pondering what to do with some leftover roasted chicken, I decided that I wanted to use some mushrooms and a red bell pepper. What could I make with those anchor ingredients? I decided on cacciatore, an Italian hunter’s stew. It’s one of my favorite simple meals.
I really like the flavor that can be developed by simmering this dish long and slow. But I didn’t have hours and I was using chicken that was already cooked. So what could I add to deepen the flavor? An organic chicken liver that I had in the freezer was just the thing. Don’t worry. No one will know if you don’t tell them. Why? Because once thawed, I put it in the food processor to puree it.
After cooking some chopped onions and garlic in some olive oil, I added the pureed chicken liver to the pot to boost the umami quotient. Then the rest of the ingredients one at a time: mushrooms, red bell pepper, canned tomatoes. Seasoned with rosemary and thyme. A little wine never hurts. Simmer until vegetables are tender and the flavors start to come together. Taste with a clean spoon and adjust seasoning. Add cooked chicken to heat through.
In under 30 minutes you can have a satisfying meal with everyone asking for seconds. You could serve this with all kinds of things from polenta to rice, but pasta is my favorite. What’s yours? Buon appetito!
Ingredients:
chicken pieces
chicken liver
olive oil
onion
garlic
mushrooms
red bell pepper
canned tomatoes
wine
rosemary
thyme
Ready for more simple meals using a roasted chicken? Try a Jambalaya.
Simplify your turkey dinner and serve healthy sides like roasted acorn squash.
As we all continue to re-examine what matters most, we may find ourselves simplifying in many areas of life. Take a traditional turkey dinner, for example. Do you really need a whole bird or might a breast be sufficient? How many side dishes do you need? Every family is different. In mine, mashed potatoes and gravy are non-negotiable. Dressing is desirable. Although Michael prefers peas with this dinner, I forgot to buy some last time I shopped and found that he was just as happy with spinach. Roasted acorn squash rounded out this delicious, simple meal.
What About the Gravy?
The obvious issue with simply roasting a breast is that you have to make do without giblets and pan drippings to make gravy. So, we must improvise! In the freezer, I found that I had some chicken giblets and vegetable ends that could be boiled to start working on some gravy. After that had cooked down, I pureed the giblets and strained out the other solids. Then I combined the liquid and giblet puree with some stock from a carton and a bit of stew from Coq au Vin that I had made previously and put in the freezer. Voila! Adding that made just about the best gravy I have had in quite a while! Hooray for my treasure chest of freezer flavor gems and an effortless turkey dinner. Planning ahead makes for zero waste cooking.
Thickening Without Lumpiness
In a small cup, I put about a tablespoon of flour (or whatever amount is appropriate to the amount of gravy you’re making) and then whisk into it a small amount of the stock that is to become gravy. I ladle in just enough stock to make a paste at first and then a little more progressively while whisking to make a smooth slurry. Then add that to the pot of gravy. No lumps. Simply silky.
Dressing
What about dressing? Well, you might be able to squeeze a little under the skin of the breast, but not much, so put it in a casserole dish to bake. My mother-in-law puts pork sausage in hers and I think it’s delicious.
So first I toast some cubed French bread in the oven. Meanwhile I sauté chopped onions, celery and crumbled sausage in some butter in a skillet. Season with salt, sage, French thyme and Herbs de Provence. Once the bread is toasted, mix it together with the other ingredients and some chicken or turkey stock to moisten and pop it in the oven in a casserole dish during the last 30 minutes or so of roasting the turkey.
Roasted Acorn Squash
I decided to roast an acorn squash while I had everything else in the oven. It looks beautiful stuffed and served in halves, but we like it seasoned in bite sized pieces. So after peeling and chopping it, I seasoned it with:
salt
red pepper flakes
turmeric
coriander
ginger
cinnamon
cardamom
cloves
Tossed with oil and roasted on a sheet pan.
We enjoyed this turkey dinner and it didn’t require all day or many days to prepare, which is the beauty of simple meals. The biggest question is whether to serve red or white wine with it. Which do you prefer?
In case you wanted to know how to make the Coq au Vin that contributed to this excellent gravy, please read Don’t Whine, Cook Chicken With Wine next.
Try this recipe and learn to make southern chicken and dumplings the way your family likes best.
Who likes southern chicken and dumplings? There are so many variations on this recipe, so you probably have your own preference and opinion about which way is best.
After experimenting with various ratios of ingredients over the years, I decided that less is best on leavening agents because we prefer our dumplings on the denser side. Michael’s favorite chicken and dumplings was at Aunt Kizzy’s Back Porch, a soul food restaurant in Marina Del Rey, CA. Sadly, it is no longer there, but in its heyday, it was in his weekly rotation. I don’t think I ever had their dumplings, which appeared flatter than mine; but my mother also made them rather dense and I always enjoyed them.
If you like a fluffier dumpling, your recipe will differ from mine. (Use more baking powder) To each his own!
How To Do the Chicken
You could start the chicken in all kinds of ways. I have a friend who says that her favorite way to eat chicken is boiled and she calls it “stupid”. If it’s your favorite, what’s stupid about that? There’s a reason why so many cultures make chicken soup!
So, in a big pot, I put a whole deskinned chicken and enough water to cover more than half of it. I added some vegetable ends from the freezer and brought it to a boil, covered and reduced to simmer for about an hour until it was done. I flipped the chicken a couple times to cook it evenly.
Meanwhile, Some Vegetables…
In a big, deep skillet that I recently learned is called a “rondeau pan”, I heated some olive oil and added a chopped sweet potato. Once it was a little golden, I added half a chopped onion, a couple of chopped carrots and a couple stalks of chopped celery. Seasoned with dried sage and French thyme. You could experiment with all kinds of vegetables and herbs. Thicken up the stock in the end with some flour if you want it more like gravy. It’s up to you!
Ingredients for Dumplings:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
First, sift the dry ingredients through a strainer to remove any lumps. Then cut up the butter into small pieces and smash it with a fork into the flour mixture. Once the flour/butter combination looks a bit crumbly, add an egg beaten in a measuring cup along with the milk. Stir to combine and with wet hands, form the dumplings. I made 8 big ones with this amount.
Finishing Up
Remove the chicken from the pot and once cool enough to handle, pick off the pieces that you want to eat. Pour the stock through a strainer into the rondeau pan with the vegetables. While boiling, drop dumplings in, cover and reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes or until done. I flipped the dumplings over about halfway through cooking time and added the chicken pieces that I wanted to use. Resist the temptation to stir, especially when starting the dumplings because they will disintegrate into a mess resembling egg drop soup. Simply drop them in and let them to do their thing.
What’s your favorite way to do chicken and dumplings?
Ready for more comfort food inspired by Aunt Kizzy’s? Please read Keen On Beans and Greens next.
Simple meals are comforting and bring everyone together.
After hearing about a certain French restaurant from a cousin, I suddenly developed a craving for French food. Briefly lamenting that I couldn’t get up to Napa to sample its cuisine, I decided to make my own French dinner. I didn’t have the ingredients for his favorite dish, but I had a chicken and some wine, so I decided to whip up one of my favorite simple meals, a comforting chicken stew with wine and mushrooms.
If you bought chicken pieces of any kind, that works great. Thighs on the bone are my favorite. As usual, I had a whole chicken and I happened to be in the mood for hacking something up. So this was my opportunity for some therapy. Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it! Have some fun cooking simple meals without a recipe.
Steps
First, I chopped up an onion because I would need that immediately after browning the chicken to help me scrape up any browned bits. Mushrooms are very important to this dish, so I washed and sliced those next. I had some crimini and shitake to use. Then I opened a bottle of red wine. Nothing expensive. Any decent dry red will do.
After skinning and cutting my chicken into pieces at the joints, I salted them and dredged in some flour. Then I heated up my chef’s pot with rounded sides because it’s my favorite and most versatile for using on the stove top, which is what I had decided to do with this stew.
If I was cooking a bigger batch, I would have heated my big roasting pan instead. Start browning the chicken pieces on the stove top and then transfer to the oven once all the ingredients have been added.
Cooking
I browned the chicken pieces in a combination of butter and olive oil, a few pieces at a time so as not to overcrowd the pan. (I usually start with bacon instead. That is more traditional, but I didn’t feel like chopping and browning bacon first…) Removed browned chicken pieces to a plate and then added my chopped onion to help me scrape up any browned bits. Wine was at the ready in case I needed a little more help in deglazing the pot.
After cooking the onions for a few minutes, I added more oil and the mushrooms. Let those cook a few minutes, seasoned with salt and then poured in about half a bottle of wine and roughly 2/3 that amount of chicken broth. I sprinkled in some Herbs de Provence and snuggled the chicken pieces into the pot while the stew came to a boil. Then reduced to simmer and cooked for about an hour. Just look at it and poke the chicken to see when it’s done and the stew has thickened up a bit. That’s the key to developing your intuition in the kitchen and cooking without a recipe.
Finished With Carrots
I don’t usually take pictures while I’m cooking, but these carrots reminded me of legs and made me laugh, so I thought maybe you would find them amusing too.
Carrot chorus line
I wanted to put my carrots in about 20 minutes before the stew was finished. Usually I cut them into 1 inch pieces, but these carrots were so skinny that I decided to leave them whole and just let them cook right on top of the stew.
I served this the first night with mashed potatoes, but it would be great with polenta or pasta. Reinvent leftovers by adding red bell pepper or spinach for a variety of different meals.
Basic Ingredients
chicken cut into pieces
flour
dry red wine
chicken broth
onion
mushrooms (I used shitake and crimini)
carrots
Herbs De Provence or other dried herbs
butter/oil (and/or bacon)
Do you like putting everything in one pot as much as I do? Read Gumbo Ya Ya for another simple meal that will transport your taste buds.
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