At some point just about every day, I call Jacque and ask
her if she has any thoughts about what she might want for dinner. Today was no exception. Being in the midst of
the holiday season, and Jacque having spent the first of what will be about
five days of transforming our home into a Christmas wonderland, she wanted
something simple. I had her take a few
boneless and skinless chicken breasts from the freezer. I buy these by the bag from the grocery store
or Costco and keep them on hand for a protein option when cooking.
Not knowing what I was actually going to do with the chicken
when I got home, I scavenged our refrigerator and found a large beet that
needed to be used up. Off to the IPad
and a Google search of chicken and beets and presto! I found several
options. The second one on the page (http://www.primalpalate.com/paleo-blog/rosemary-balsamic-chicken-and-roasted-beets/)
called for chicken with rosemary, garlic, and balsamic. A quick check of the
pantry, and yes I had all of the ingredients (the actual recipe called for
fresh rosemary; I used dried…but heck this was just the inspiration).
·
2 – 3 chicken breasts
·
¼ cup olive oil
·
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
·
½ tablespoon dried rosemary
·
Lots of
garlic – can you have enough?
·
One very large beet
·
Olive oil
·
Salt and pepper
·
¾ cup sliced mushrooms
·
¼ cup diced onion
·
¾ cups wild rice
·
1 ½ cups water with chicken bullion added to it
(I don't bother taking the skin off of my root vegetables when cooking them...just was them well)
I started off cutting the chicken breasts into a few smaller
pieces. This was primarily so I could
return them to the cold water and quickly accelerate their thawing. While I was letting the chicken continue to
thaw, I cut the beets into chunks and tossed in olive oil and seasoned with Himalayan
salt and black pepper. I spread them
over half of a rimmed cookie sheet and returned to the chicken that was now
thawed.
I poured about a ¼ of a cup of olive oil, and a couple of
tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Next, I
added in half a tablespoon of dried rosemary, and a lot of crushed garlic. (I put six cloves through my garlic press.) I hand mixed/massaged it all together and
placed it on the same cookie sheet as the beets, then placed the sheet in a
preheated oven on convection roast at 400 degrees for about thirty minutes.
(sautéing the mushroom and onions)
(a pantry staple)
For our side dish I cut up four mushrooms and about a ¼ cup
of Walla Walla onions and placed them in a saucepan with olive oil. I cooked
them on medium until tender and then added chicken based bullion and brought it
to a boil. Upon boiling I added organic
wild rice and reduced to low for about thirty minutes.
My timing was off a little tonight, so my chicken and beets
were done prior to my rice. I simply
turned off the oven and let it rest in there rather than letting it cool, or
moving to the warming drawer.
Our wine tonight followed suit with the rest of the night,
and I found a bottle of Robin Ridge Flamingo 2011. We drank it by default because it was already
upstairs and did not require a trip to our wine cellar. It is
a Rose’ that has more of an orange than a rose tint to it. While the label itself suggests pairing it
with a warm evening (current whether outside is 10 degrees), I found it very
enjoyable on this cold night. Jacque and
I are both at a loss as to where or when we acquired this wine, nor can we
remember ever visiting Robin Ridge winery. Nonetheless, it was very refreshing,
and I’m glad we had it on hand! (http://www.robinridgewinery.com)
The moral of the story: Keep a well-stocked freezer and
pantry, and make it work.
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