Baked Chicken Spaghetti

It's time for another Secret Recipe Club recipe. I'm kind of excited because for the first time I got someone I know (not personally, but we look at each other's blogs). Kind of fun. I had Rebekah at Family, Food, and Fun. She likes kids, cooking, and hiking. Right up my alley. I managed to pin plenty of her recipes. The one I made for Secret Recipe club was called Chicken Spaghetti. Why did I pick it? Because I had one lonely chicken breast languishing in the freezer waiting for something in which to sing. And my family loves pasta. And even though I don't make as many casseroles (or casserole-like foods) as I could, I'm a firm believer in them. They are a great way to turn a hodgepodge of foods (even leftovers) into something awesome. And speaking of leftovers, this could really be an ideal meal for a leftover Tuesday. It does well with adaptation. You could probably throw in whatever vegetables, pasta, and cheeses you had. Then proceed with her base recipe. As I said, I love a good casserole. Rebekah's was especially appealing because you could use cream of whatever soup, but you didn't have to. And while I'm not opposed to cream of whatever soup in a pinch, I really love me a whole foods casserole.

Baked Chicken Spaghetti
adapted from Family, Food, and Fun
makes 1 9x13 pan (we halved it for and 8x8x)
Prep time: 30-40 minutes (if using leftovers, this will take 5 minutes)
Cook time: 20-25 minutes
Cost: $5.10 (or about $.63/serving)
pasta: 1.00, chicken: 1.00, spinach: .35, cheese: 2.00, white sauce: .45, chicken broth: .30

Note on pasta: Rebekah used whole wheat. I went the low road and used regular. Also, I found that we didn't have any spaghetti (whaaat??? we always have spaghetti) so I used Radiatore)

Note on vegetables: Rebekah used onion, pimentos, and green pepper. Kip doesn't like those things, so I used 2 cups of baby spinach, chopped very small instead. I'd wager a host of different veggies would work well in this.

Note on cream of whatever soup: You can use it or you can make this simple white sauce: 4 Tbsp butter mixed with 4 Tbsp flour, then add 2 C milk and boil until thick, add salt and pepper. Rebekah has a more elaborate cream of recipe on her blog; here's the link. As a note, just making your own white sauce (5 minutes) is going to save you $1-2 dollars. It's $.45 as opposed to $1.00-2.00 for the canned soup.

Note on seasonings: I kept mine to simple salt and pepper, but Rebekah added 1 tsp seasoned salt, and a bit of cayenne.

Crunched for time: Use cream of chicken soup and canned chicken in this. Then throw in a can of drained vegetables (or pre-chopped vegetables) of your choice. It's not as cheap or as healthy, but it's better than a McDonald's run.

1 (13.25 oz) package spaghetti or angel hair (or other pasta)
2 1/2 C cooked chicken, packed
2 cans cream of chicken/mushroom soup
2 C shredded cheddar cheese
1 small onion, diced (or do as I did and add several sprinkles of onion powder)
2 C baby spinach, chopped very small
1 1/2-2 C chicken broth (as needed for consistency)
salt and pepper to taste
1 C shredded cheddar cheese (for topping)

Cook pasta in pot of salted water until al dente (seriously, don't get it to gloppy state; it's going to cook some more in the oven). (Alternately, you can use leftover spaghetti--3-4 cups.) Drain.

While the pasta's cooking, cook your chicken if you need to. I just boiled mine, then shredded it.

In bowl, combine cooked chicken, cream of whatever soup (or basic white sauce), 2 C shredded cheddar, onion (or powder), and spinach.

To this add cooked pasta and chicken broth. Start with 1 C of broth and add more as needed to get it to a consistency that you like--not soupy, but not to stiff. Add seasonings.

Spread in 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Add remaining 1 C cheese on top and return to oven until it's melted. (I put my one cup on at the beginning because I like mine to have a little color.)

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Chicken Divan

Broccoli and cheese kinds of casseroles have gone and gotten a terrible name for themselves in the foody kingdom. In the foody kingdom people eat only lamb and arugula. Or home grown foods. Or "real" foods. Or any of a number of foods that I am truly not opposed to in any way. But sometimes when you consider what the average American is beginning to eat (hint: rhymes with dig smac or at the very best brozen finner) on a very very, almost daily basis, you remember that maybe sometimes it's okay if one of the foods in tonight's dinner didn't come from the farmer's market or have less than five ingredients in its ingredient list. Sometimes it's doing pretty good to turn out an actual dinner from your actual oven that did not come from a box (pizza, take out, or frozen dinner). Sometimes it's okay to hearken back to an earlier time when your frazzled mother/grandmother, who did not own a dishwasher and/or dryer, managed to flop some sort of fairly nutritious food onto the table every night. And sometimes it's good--wholesome even--just to run with that. Today we're running with that.

 And--truth be told--we could be doing so much worse. This recipe contains 2 large heads of broccoli, cheddar, chicken, and (here's its whole food undoing) mayonnaise (which could potentially be subbed out with or cream cheese to good effect, though I haven't tried it). It can be served over rice, farro, or barley to very very good effect. It's easy to pull together (it was one of the first foods I learned to make when Kip and I were first married and I didn't cook at all), has a definite comfort food aspect to it, and did not come from a box of any sort.

You made it with love. It didn't take your whole day. It tastes really really good. And you can enjoy it hot with those you love. Do so.

P.S. Don't ask me why it's called chicken divan. It just is.

Chicken Divan
makes 1 9x13 inch pan
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

3-4 chicken breasts
2 large heads broccoli
2 C mayonnaise
1/2-1 C chicken broth (unsalted)
3-4 C shredded cheddar cheese (I prefer sharp, but Kip likes this best with medium)
salt and pepper to taste

Boil chicken breasts in water. Shred. (Alternately you could use some that you'd already roasted or cooked another day--you'll need a couple cups of it shredded.).

While your chicken is boiling, chop your broccoli and shred your cheese.

When chicken is done, take it out and shred it. Hold onto the water you boiled it in.

Put shredded chicken, broccoli, and half the cheese in a 9x13 inch pan. Add mayonnaise and mix it around. It will be a little thick.

Here's where you use that water you boiled the chicken in. Thicken it by boiling it and then adding a bit of cornstarch (1 Tbsp) mixed with 2 Tbsp water. Pour this into the boiling broth, stir, and let it thicken a bit. Pour some of this over your chicken/broccoli/cheese/mayo mixture. It will loosen it up and make it just a bit runnier. That's what you want--not soup, but not something super thick either. It'll look like this when all mixed in.

If you used chicken you already had or accidentally threw out your water, use a bit of low-sodium chicken broth, thicken it a bit, and throw it on.

Spread in pan. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cook at 375-400 degrees until cheese is melted and bubbly and edges are beginning to brown (20-30 minutes).

Serve over rice, farro, or barley.

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Taco Pie--a Template

Cheap Eat Challenge, Part 2: Watch as our family of 6 eats on less than $10/day.

I threw this together one night when I was going to serve leftovers, but then realized that if I added some ground beef and taco seasoning, our leftovers could equal a taco pie. 

Which is one of the great things about a taco pie. In fact, the night I made this I had this Brilliant Idea to make a cookbook in which I took, say, 5 ingredients and some different seasonings/condiments and arranged them into 5 different meals. Brilliant Idea, right? Except that then I couldn't think of anything to make with these 5 ingredients except for taco pie. Although now that I'm sitting here without the pressure, I'm thinking that you could also make some kind of taco hamburger and taco pizzas and maybe a taco soup. So...hmmm. Perhaps it wasn't such a bust of a Brilliant Idea after all. But that's not what this post is about. 

This post is about taco pie as a leftover meal. Like so many of it's savory pie brothers, it's a pie that is about combining odds and ends that you have and making something that is often purely sublime. 

I had in my refrigerator 2 tortilla shells, various bottles of partially used salsa, some freshly made green tomato relish, the end of a block of cheese that was getting old, and some sour cream. I had nearly a pound of hamburger in the freezer and some slightly stale remnants of a bag or tortilla chips. And so I made a taco pie. 

But you could also do it if you had some pie crust dough in your freezer (or the ingredients for some dough in your pantry). You could do it with canned biscuits or canned croissants. You could do it with beef or chicken or possibly even beans. You could do it with a variety of cheeses (we sometimes end up with leftover bits in bags). You could do it with sour cream or yogurt or possibly even a bit of ranch dressing. And when it is all over, you can doll it up however you want--with sour cream or avocado or tomatoes or green onions. 

What leftovers/foods you need: 

-meat or beans or a combination

-some kind of cheese (sorry vegans, but you do)

-taco seasoning

-something to hold it in: burrito shells, crushed tortillas (stale is fine for this), a pie crust, biscuit dough, or some type of canned refrigerated dough

-taco seasoning or at least some chili powder and salt and pepper

What's nice to have around: 

-salsa or tomatoes (I almost put this in the need list because I like it so much). Green or red tomatoes are both fine for this

-sour cream or something else creamy

-corn

-veggies for topping

Taco Pie Template

something to hold it in (burrito shells, tortilla or corn chips of some sort, pie crust, or refrigerated dough of some kind)

1/2-1 lb beef, chicken, or beans (or a combination thereof)

2 Tbsp taco seasoning

6 Tbsp salsa or relish 

1/4-1/2 C sour cream, yogurt, or creamy stuff

2 C grated cheese (you're safe with cheddar, jack, mozzarella, or a cheese along that line)

Grease a 9-inch pan. Add your crust of choice or crumble a good layer of tortilla chips in the bottom (or do both).

Cook your meat/beans. Add taco seasoning to meat. Add salsa to meat. If you've got some corn, heck mix that in too. 

Layer meat/beans, then sour cream, then cheese. You can do one layer or you can do it in 2 groups--as in 1/2 of the meat/beans, 1/2 of the sour cream, 1/2 of the cheese, and then repeat (this is my preference).

Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is starting to color a bit. 

Garnish with vegetables if desired. 

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How I did mine (and it was now that I think of it a little bit of a taco lasagna):

1/2-1 lb beef, browned

1-2 Tbsp taco seasoning

1/4-1/2 C sour cream

2 C grated sharp cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp green tomato relish

4 Tbsp salsa

2 burrito shells (10 inch)

Brown your beef. After it's browned, add taco seasoning. Then add relish and salsa

Grease a pie pan. Put one burrito shell in. Add 1/2 the meat, 1/2 the sour cream, 1/2 half the cheese. Add the second burrito shell and repeat layers, topping with some crumbled tortilla chips. 

Bake at 375 until the cheese on top is just getting some color, about 20-25 minutes. 

Squash Casserole

Cheap Eat Challenge, Part 2: Watch as our family of 6 eats on $10/day.

Do you know what I love? I love a recipe that contains ingredients my husband normally refuses to eat, but that is so good that he eats it, sometimes with enthusiasm. This is just such a recipe. My sisters both gave it rave reviews and I tried it because it looked good and because I had squash. But I tried it thinking I'd be eating it on my lonely. (I often eat good, vegetable-laden foods on my lonely.) And then, lo and behold, Kip liked it. Is it his favorite food? No. But when someone hates squash and goes in for a second helping, I consider that a mighty good thing.

The inspiration for this recipe called for yellow squash, which is what we used, but I bet it would work just as well with zucchini.

Also, if you'd like to make this a little lower fat, you can use olive oil to saute the vegetables and then omit the other 2 Tbsp of butter, but I like the buttery flavor it adds.

Squash Casserole
adapted from allrecipes
makes 9x9 inch pan
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20-25 minutes

2 1/2 C chopped squash (we like ours chopped small).
very small onion, (chopped, grated, or heck--just throw 1/2 tsp onion powder in if you man is going to object to onion)
20 Saltines (crushed small--not powder, but small chunks)
3/4 C cheddar cheese, shredded (I like it sharp)
1 egg
scant 1/2 C milk
4 Tbsp butter, divided
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste

Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a skillet and saute the squash and onion in it for several minutes until tender.

Meanwhile crush your crackers and shred your cheese. Put these together in a bowl and mix them up. When the squash and onion is read, take it off the heat and put it in its own bowl (or, if you are lazy like I am--and why not be--put it right in the 9x9 inch pan you'll be using). Add 1/2 of the cracker/cheese mixture to the squash onion mixture. Mix the egg and milk together and add that to the squash mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Put it in the pan (if you haven't already) and top it with the remaining cracker/cheese mixture. Melt the remaining 2 Tbsp butter and drizzle it over the top of your casserole. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.

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Broccoli Barley Casserole

Cheap Eat Challenge: Watch as our family of 6 tries to eat on $6/day.

A little over a month ago, my sister announced that they were having something weird for dinner that night: farro. I thought she said 'sparrow' and agreed that that was incredibly weird. I also wondered out loud how ones goes about procuring and eating sparrow. We eventually got it straightened out. Turns out, however, that farro is just as hard to find as sparrow in Evansville. When I asked at the co-op--normally a fairly reliable source of weird food potential--the girl in charge hadn't even heard of it.

My sister suggested I use barley instead, saying that they had a similar texture. Which is what I did. And let me say that I've had barley before--mostly in soup, but this casserole really made me fall in love with it. It was chewy and perfect, and something about the textures in this casserole made me understand how vegetarians sometimes say that a meatless meal is sort of 'meaty.' For me, the barley provided a sort of meatiness. It was more toothsome and complex than something like rice would have been. Now, my brother-in-law loves this casserole so much that he wants my sister to make it every week, but for the record, and for purposes of full disclosure, Kip did not fall in love with barley in this recipe, nor did he find it to be in any way 'meaty.' So don't go telling your husbands that it's just like chicken, just tell them they have to eat it in front of the kids. Maybe they'll like it. Maybe they won't. Either way, tell them thank you if they eat it because, whether they deserve to be thanked for eating your perfectly delicious food or not, it'll help the next time around when you spring something weird on them. As long as it's not sparrow.

Broccoli Barley Casserole

Makes 9x13 casserole

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Cost: $5.02
(olive oil: .02, onion: .10, barley: .60, broth: .10, Parmesan: 1.00, broccoli: .80, spinach: .15, garlic: .15, beans: .20, Montery Jack: .90)

4 tsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 C farro or barley

2 C vegetable or chicken broth (I used 2 bullion cubes in 2 C water)

1 1/2 C water (for the barley I ended up using about 2 or 2 1/2 C)

1 C shredded Parmesan (2 oz)

2 heads broccoli

1 C spinach, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (these can be skipped if you don't have them; a dash of hot sauce might also do the trick)

1 14 oz. can or 1 3/4 C rehydrated white beans (I used Great Northern)

3/4 C Montery Jack cheese (the original recipe called for fontina, but we're living cheap here)

salt and pepper to taste

Heat 1 tsp of the oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add oil and cook onion until very lightly browned.

Sitr in barley (or farro) and cook until lightly roasted (about 2 minutes). Stir in the broth and water and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and continue simmering, uncovered, stirring often, until barley is tender and remaining liquid has thickened to a creamy sauce (about 20-25 minutes). (Note: When my liquid was nearly gone, my barley was still not done, so I added 1/2-1 C more water and cooked longer.)

Take off heat and stir in Parmesan. Taste and season with salt and pepper if desired.

While the barley is simmering, put the broccoli in a microwave proof bowl with 1/2 C water, cover it with plasic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes. (Alternately, you can steam it on the stove.) Drain water off.  

In a new pot, add remaining oil, garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minutes until sizzling. Stir in broccoli. Add spinach and stir for a minute until spinach wilts. Off heat, stir in beans and cooked barley. Taste again and adjust salt and pepper. (Note: I followed this step, but I bet you could simplify this whole thing by adding the garlic and red pepper flakes at the beginning after the onion had browned and then once the barley had cooked and you'd added the Parmesan, just throw the broccoli and white beans into the pot.)

Position oven rack 6 inches from broiler and heat the broiler. If you're using a Dutch oven, sprinkle with Montery Jack and throw it into the oven. If not, put it in a broiler safe 9x13 inch pan, then sprinkle with cheese and broil it until lightly browned, about 3-5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

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