Eight Days of Chicken * Dig In With Dana

GFHY

Easy Spicy Broiled Chicken

Let eight days of chicken solve what’s for dinner with everything from easy Tex Mex chicken soup to creamy chicken enchiladas with salsa verde.

Dilemma: When it comes to meal planning, I often make roasted or oven broiled chicken, then add a vegetable or a grain for a fuss-free dinner. But let’s face it, sometimes chicken can just be boring.

While it’s easy to make a whole roasted chicken or just buy one at the grocery store, what do you do on Day 2 when there’s lots of chicken left over and you’ve run out of ideas for dinner? Below you’ll find links to some of my favorite ways to use homemade or store-bought roasted chicken, from Tex Mex Chicken Soup to main dish salad ideas like Chicken Nicoise or Chicken Waldorf. Plus there’s a few recipes to flex your chicken cooking techniques, from sautéing and braising in the Braised Rosemary Chicken to poaching in the Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde. These recipes offer you BASIC techniques and fresh flavors to add variety to your dinner table.

Ina Garten explains this concept in her book Parties :
“The key for me is a core group of recipes that provides a framework for lots of variations.”

Ina’s philosophy is meal planning magic.

Master the basic cooking methods from baking to braising and then make variations using different spices, sauces or meats.

This idea works two ways. The first way is to use the basic recipe, like roasted chicken, to provide enough extra chicken to extend to chicken soup, enchiladas and main dish salads. The second way is to apply the same basic cooking technique to other proteins. Using the basic spices for roast chicken, roast a loin of pork or turkey breast instead, checking with a thermometer for doneness. Apply the recipe for grilled or broiled lime chicken with peach salsa to swordfish or flank steak.

Click on the links below for easy, adaptable recipes you’ll love.