Sweet Chili Chicken Fried Rice.

This is what I usually do with leftover cooked chicken. It's easy, fast, comforting and of course very tasty!
I think the first time I made this was when I lived in Whistler, one of my roomates had a bottle of sweet thai chili sauce in the fridge and I tried it in a stir fry, to make a change (because when I lived out west I used to eat A LOT of stir fry...), and I became hooked. That sauce makes this dish! Without it it's just another chicken fried rice. So next time you're in the asian food aisle at the grocery store, pick up a bottle you wont regret it! It's really good on shrimp too, or as a dipping sauce for spring rolls.
So here's one of my favorite chicken stir fry E-V-E-R:



Start by cooking a pot of rice. Then sautee some onions, garlic and celeri in a little bit of olive oil until they get soft. Season with a bit of salt and pepper.
Add the cooked shredded chicken and a good squeeze of sweet thai chili sauce. Then add the rice and a bit of soy sauce and mix it and sautee until all the ingredients are well aquainted. Then at the end, if you wish, throw in some fresh basil or oregano, or even tarragon would be nice. This time it was basil.



As it happens, this is the last dish I made with my fresh basil....the plant is dead...the sun is not strong enough anymore to help it stay alive, so no more fresh basil...'til next spring...

Rice and Zucchini "Lasagna"

This is what happens when I have NO idea what to make for diner because of too many options...
It's totally freestyle cooking at its best, it kinda came together I don't know how, I just got inspired as I cooked. Love that! It also used up a lot of letfovers...the spaghetti sauce was about a week old and needed to be used for something, the zucchinis were getting a little soft and the rice...well ok, I cooked that fresh but it was the bottom of the bag. Not too shabby, still, huh?



First I started by cooking some basmati rice, I think it was 1/2 cup DRY.
Meanwhile, I sauteed 2 medium sliced zucchinis in olive oil with salt, pepper, paprika and oregano.



Then I started with the layering, in a 8x4 loaf pan, or if you have a big family use your favorite casserole dish. (This one here feeds 2-3 people)
At the bottom of the pan a bit of spaghetti sauce, then a layer of zucchinis, some parmesan cheese, rice, spaghetti sauce, zucchinis, parmesan, rice, etc...up to the top, then finish with a layer of shredded cheese (here it's cheddar).



Then in a 400F oven until it starts to bubble (LOVE the glass pan!!) and under the broil for 2 minutes or so.

Pretty darn good for a week night...

I don't how to call this one...brown rice gratin? ok.. Brown Rice Gratin.

This is a perfect example of freestyle cooking. Tonight i had NO idea where I was going with this, I just kinda made this dish up as I was going along. I knew I wanted something with rice, brown rice, so as that was cooking I kinda startd chopping veggies with the intention of a stir fry, then I had the idea of turning it into a gratin. A little cheese never hurt anybody right? Everything tastes better with cheese anyway. So I think I ended up with something pretty darn good.



Here's how it happened:
First, I cooked the brown rice. Toasted it first in a bit of butter(unsalted butter!) and added 3 parts of water. I knew it was gonna be a little too much but that water can be used to add moisture to the stri fry. Meawhile, I shredded half a zucchini(it was a big zucchini...), chopped about 1/2 a cup of mushrooms. couple of green onions, clove of garlic and 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley. When the rice seemed to be almost done I started sauteing the veggies in grapeseed oil, added salt, pepper, paprika and cajun spices. As I had thought the rice was done with a little extra liquid at the bottom, I threw all that in and cokked for a few minutes. That would have been awsome on its own. But the cheese! So I threw the rice mix in an oven proof dish, mixed in a couple big pinches of parm in it, stirred and topped it with about 1/3 cup shredded Montrey Jack queso. In the oven at 425 for about 10 minutes to make the cheese melt,(in the meantime the dishes are done...)broil for 5 minutes to give it a crisp and voila! Oh and to be fancy I sprinkled dried parsley on top. Restaurant habits die hard...
Pretty good diner. Also, the brown rice and the cheese together make a complete protein, so it's a great vegetarian meal!