Chicken & Rice Casserole

I'm not gonna lie to ya, baking is pretty easy.

For awhile, when my sister and i were living in the same town, we took turns hosting the other on Tuesday nights, which involved dinner & a movie, or Scrubs, or a board game.
There was a short time when we took some of our favorite casserole/hotdish recipes and updated them so they were more in accordance with our current diet.
This is yet another updated version of my dad's famous Chicken & Rice Casserole. When my dad made this it was just chicken & rice & cream of mushroom soup.

Okay well enough trivium & neuroses.

Chop your veggies and put them in a pan like the one pictured below.
I'm not sure the dimensions, but it's rectangular & serves 4-6 people.
We have a couple vacancies in our house and we're courting a potential housemate and having a nice house meal together.
*Update: we totally got her. This dish IS a winner*

Anyway, the veggies are the usual suspects: peas in the pod, broccoli, asparagus and shiitake mushrooms.
You don't need to add a bunch. In fact if you do you could over flow your pan.
Heat makes stuff expand ya know.
See, I even refrained from using all the mushrooms I had.

I also rubbed olive oil all over the pan. I don't know if that matters at all.

Last summer we built an herb spiral and the herbs are kinda going crazy right now, which is awesome.
Here we have the freshest herbs you can get: sage, thyme & tarragon.
And the not as fresh (but still fresh): garlic, basil & serrano.
Finely chop them.
Chop them all!
Yeees. Like that.

Now would also be a good time to season the dish.
Again, the usual suspects: black and white pepper, paprika, turmeric, tamari.
Cumin would also work, but I haven't been too into that lately.
Curry would be pretty good too because of the following step.

So, as some of you know, I generally don't do dairy. But for some reason, when I do something 'dairy-free' this translates in my head to 'vegan.'
I was telling folks this is a vegan chicken & rice casserole. Which it is... except for the chicken & the egg.

The 'dairy-free' part of this 'vegan-except-for-the-chicken-&-egg' dish comes from coconut milk & nutritional (or brewer's) yeast.
I recently got into pasta, not because pasta is inherently good (it's actually not as it turns out), but because there's this place just down Hawthorne, Pasta Works, that makes the best fresh pasta ever.
Growing tired of marinara sauces, I desired the alfredo sauce, but alas, too creamy from dairy.
Anyway, I found this vegan alfredo sauce that is as follows: 1 can coconut milk, 1/4 C nutritional yeast.

Don't use more than 1/4 C nutritional yeast to 1 can coconut milk.
Don't.
It's easy to do, but don't do it. You may think you like nutritional yeast, but you don't like it this much. Stick to the ratio. If anything, go less.
Learn from the mistakes of others.

Okay. Well, enough of that.

Add rice.
I can't remember how much I put in. I think it was 2 C.
I also added an equivalent amount of water, which I feel was unnecessary. I'm sure half that would have worked.
Noted: rice:water = 1:1/2

This is probably also unnecessary, but whatever.
Add an egg.
Beat it first.
I don't know why, I just like throwing an egg into things. I think it somehow affects the structural integrity or something, like it brings all the ingredients together.
But whatever, I don't need to justify my egg usage to you.

Okay now stir all that business up nice & even. Then slip in the chicken fillets.
Trust me, they're in there.

Cover it & Bake it.
Since this isn't in the recipe books, I'm just gonna go with 375 for about 30 or 45 minutes (or so I thought).

So 30 minutes goes by and I check the corner... still a bit liquidy.
45 minutes, still liquidy.
I turn it up to 400 and check in another 15 minutes... still liquidy.
This is getting ridiculous.
I finally just pull it out, it's been in there for an hour, its definitely cooked.

Well, as it turns out, all the stupid liquidy stuff is congregating in the corners, which is the only part I was checking.
Der.
In retrospect, I should have cooked it uncovered after a half hour, which I knew, just kinda didn't think of then.

Let it cool.
Or not.

Serve with beer & garlic bread.
Mmm.

It was pretty good.
I feel there was too much nutritional yeast.
Everybody else liked it (except Bob, he's not that kind of 'vegan').
The only comments were that the chicken was in fillet form rather than diced & evenly distributed, which seems weird to me. My dad always put real chicken parts in there for us to find and rip apart.
At least I used fillets.
To each their own.

So, if you're taking notes on this dish, use less water & cook uncovered for a bit.
Lesson learned.

Raw Soup

Yes, this is very similar to Gazpacho, but it's also kinda like V8.
Here's what I use/the usual suspects:
Tomatoes, Guac, Asparagus, Cucumber (peeled), Basil, Arugala, with a Carrot, Beet, Ginger juice base & faux milk. Along with some spices.

Usually there's jalepeno, but I've had this cough for about three weeks. Is it an infection? Is it allergies? Is it a reaction to food? I don't know, so I'm trying a few things and one of those things is less fresh hot pepper and more garlic. However, I don't do raw garlic, so there is neither garlic nor hot pepper in this batch.

Chop, peel, prep however you need before putting these guys in the blender:
Tomatoes, Guac, Asparagus, Cucumber (peeled), Basil.
I have actually noticed a difference in consistency depending on the order in which I put the veggies in. For some reason I prefer the tomatoes to be blended first, rather than oh, say, the red peppers.
But, ya know, whatever works.

Season it.
Salt, again, is what makes this taste bad if you don't put it in. I also use paprika & turmeric.


Juice the carrots, beet & ginger. Usually 2 carrots, a chunk of beet about half the size of a twinkie, and a chunk of ginger about the size of a quarter.
Add the juice.

Blend.

Fascinating.

I usually add the arugala in mid-blend.
But I don't think it's that big of a deal when you add it.
Add the fake milk until you get the desired consistency.

Then try it.
Careful not to blend off your finger.

Hmmm.
This batch needs salt and more guac, for flavor & consistency.

You have to be careful with the guacs, like the bananas as you will see in another recipe (that rhymes), which do contribute flavor, but more importantly affect the consistency of such creations.
They emulsify, so everything kinda sticks together better rather than separates as soon as you quit blending it.
If the guac is not ripe enough it gives the soup this weird gelatinous texture that I don't like.
The riper, the better. But not too ripe. You don't want a mushy, brown, veiny mess. The guac has to have some integrity.

I pack my lunch.
I pour it in jars because it's a surer seal, therefore less likely to spill, plus glass doesn't leach like plastic does. And it's easy enough to just drink it.
Of course, the sooner you eat..? drink..? Consume. The sooner you consume it the better, but it will keep for a few days in the fridge.

Enjoy.

Breakfast Tacos/Burritos

Okay so today we're making breakfast tacos, or burritos, or whatever...
In 17 easy steps!

We're making hash browns first.
Rice would also work, but I'm a hash brown kinda guy.

To begin, you will need one cast iron skillet about a foot in diameter.
If you don't have an iron skillet, just stop reading this blog right now because we will have problems.
Actually two would be better, but whatever...

Okay so, take one iron skillet, add high heat oil, like sunflower oil. Guess what temperature to set the burner.
Chop hot peppers.
I've been on a serrano kick lately.
Garlic is quite tasty. If you desire garlic, now would be the time to add it as well in a similarly chopped fashion.
Once it's lightly sizzling, shred the potatoes.
I'm a fan of Yukon Gold potatoes, they make superior hash browns, hands down.
These, however, are not Yukon Gold, despite being in a basket labeled as such when I bought them.
These generic whites will work though.
I like to shred them directly into the pan.
Season them.
Salt is what makes potatoes taste bad if you don't add it. Black pepper is kind of necessary as well.
I am also adding chipotle pepper powder.
Okay, now mix it all up and shape it into whatever shape you desire.
I'm planning on cutting them into 'strips' later for easier assembly, so I'm making it more square. Generally, they end up more circular, but ya know, whatever.
Once you get them shaped, flatten them and leave them alone.
Seriously, this is what ruins hash browns; stirring and fiddling with them.
Don't.
Patience grasshopper.
Wait until the edges start turning brown or when you can smell them in the other room, then add a bit of oil evenly over the surface and flip them.
Same thing for side B. Let them sit there until they're nice & brown.

So while the hash browns are cooking gather your veggies for your scramble.
You should know what these are, but for the beginners (no judgment), top to bottom on the left: Asparagus, red pepper, snow peas (or are they sugar snap?), shiitake mushrooms.
The leafy greens are Basil (in the middle) & Arugala (right).

Do step one again, chop & saute hot pepper and/or the garlic, add oil to pan, etc.
Chop the veggies (save the leafy greens for later).
When the peppers are sizzling add the veggies.
Season accordingly.
Yes, my hair looks like Tin Tin in the morning.
Salt, pepper, paprika, turmeric, white pepper.
Add a bit of water and cover so as to steam it.
Coooook!
Yeah. Like that.

I made beans earlier.
I got some dried beans, soaked them over night (which is unnecessary, you only need to soak them a couple hours), then cook them in a covered pot for about 30 minutes or until they have reached the desired tenderness.
I keep the cooked beans in a jar in the fridge.
On mornings when I don't cook beans I'll throw a bunch in with the hash browns once they're mostly done and the pan is still hot.... right before I warm the tortillas.

Okay now, as the veggies be cookin' chop the greens.
Don't dice the digits!
Cilantro would also work here.
To each their own.
Add them to the veggies. Mix it up and make little pockets for the...
Eggs!
I find that making little pockets for the eggs cooks them faster & kind of keeps them from spilling out all over the part of the pan where there are no veggies.
I'm particular about my eggs. I like the yolks a bit runny.
Usually one egg is enough for the scramble, but this morning I have a guest.
I would also use less veggies if I'm just cooking for myself, but leftovers are nice if you want to make taco salad (everything is the same except I use tortilla chips & no potatoes, and everything is in a bowl) later in the day.

Okay now, back to the eggs. For the consistency I desire, I half scramble my eggs.
So I add a bit of water and steam them a bit.
Steammm themmm!

Now is usually the time I add the refrigerated beans to the hash brown skillet and turn the heat off or down.

Stay focused. Back to the eggs.
I usually wait until they're kinda losing they're translucency, kinda just about to turn white & opaque and then half scramble them.
Yeah. Like that.

Don't forget to warm your tortillas.
Not pictured are the 2 corn tortillas steaming over the veggie (half) scramble.

While things are coolin down (or as they're heating up), I'm usually chopping toppings.
Staples for a situation like this are tomatoes & guac, but I also like to add a bit of fruit, like pineapple or mango, orange would work too, but today we're using peach.

Now the final step... assembly.
A strip of hash browns.
Veggie (half) scramble.
Beans.
Toppings.
Congratulations, you totally won.

Don't forget the hot sauce.
~*~