Time for another round of crowd-sourced inspiration! Here’s the question I posed to you all via facebook the other day: “I have at least half a rotisserie chicken in the fridge at home that I have to use tonight or forever regret tossing it. How would you stretch it into dinner?” A few hours later I was faced with an embarrassment of riches — There were almost 150 directions I could’ve taken. My faves:
1. Pot Pies, Tacos, and Enchiladas seemed to be the default direction for 50% of you.
2. From Sally: “Lettuce Wraps: Shred, layer with cilantro, pickled onions, cucumber, and hot chilis on a lettuce leaf. Wrap in rice paper wrapper that has been dunked in warm water for a second. Wrap, roll, and dip in a garlic chili lime sauce. Easy, engages the whole table, and super fresh.”
3. From Adina: “Burrito Bowls, every time!”
4. From Naria: “Curry Chicken Salad, crunchy bread, hearty green salad.”
5. From Cheryl: “My favorite Chicken Salad. So nice to have a simple cook night. Chicken with a light coating of mayonnaise, halved red grapes, salt & pepper to taste, and roasted cashew halves served on top so they keep their crunch. Eat with lettuce as wraps or on a nice rosemary bread.”
6. From Ada-Marie “Orzo cooked in chicken broth and a little butter; mix in chicken, frozen peas, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, shake of oregano. We call this Easy Peasey Cheesey Chicken Orzo.”
7. From A Bowl Full of Simple: Summer Rolls
8. From Molly: “Obviously, you have to make Indonesian Chicken Salad.”
9. From Jorena: “Avgolemeno.”
10. From Alex: “Cold Ginger Peanut Noodles with sliced cucumber, green onions, and chicken.”
That last one from Alex was exactly what I was in the mood for. But instead of making a peanut sauce, like I usually do (See page 261, Dinner: A Love Story) I decided to put my ponzu to use:
Ponzu Noodles with Chicken
1) I whisked together about 1/3 cup ponzu sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, a dash of fish sauce, a teaspoon of Sriracha, a squeeze of lime, few drops of sesame oil.
2) Boiled 3/4 pound of soba noodles, drained, then (in same pot) sauteed minced scallions, garlic, and ginger in a little grapeseed oil (you can use vegetable oil) before tossing the noodles back in to the pot with chopped up CSA green beans, chicken, chopped cilantro and mint, and the ponzu dressing. I really wished I had cukes or chopped peanuts — that would’ve been killer. It was missing the crunch factor.
3) I reserved a little of the chicken for Phoebe, who doesn’t like noodles in any form, and made a quick chicken salad for her with mayo, mustard, salt, pepper and a little curry powder (thanks Naria!) Green beans on the side.
And that was dinner. Thanks for the help everyone!
My favorite way to stretch rotisserie chicken is white bean chicken chili: saute an onion, add a few tablespoons jerk sauce, two cans of white beans, and the chicken. Super easy and delicious!
This sounds amazing! Going to try ASAP!! The sauce….sounds like something I had at a Japanese festival once on yakisoba and it had a tasty sauce like this with a bit of mayo and I could never figure what all was in it ~ I think this will be/taste similar!!!
rotisserie chicken is almost better the next day, i love to use it to quicken up my pulled bbq sandwiches or make into a refreshing chicken salad.
http://semiweeklyeats.blogspot.com/2013/08/reinventing-chicken-salad.html
I’ve been known to save leftover rotisserie chicken in the freezer for the next time I need to make chicken soup. I also save the bones for this reason!
Excellent list! That reminds me, I have to try that peanut sauce recipe in your book. 🙂
The cold ginger peanut noodles are calling my name, but everything sounds good.
I almost never buy rotisserie chicken because I have serious doubts about the quality of those that are readily available to me.
These noodles look soooooooooooo good with our without the chicken. Where does one find ponzu sauce?
Honestly, this is such a good blog! So many great ideas.
Sue – you can find ponzu sauce at any Asian market and “better supermarkets” like Whole Foods. CJ: thank you!
OO I have to agree with Sally. Chili lime sauce makes my mouth water.
Hi, Jenny, Why is there mayo in the ponzu sauce? I’m just curious because the sauce sounds fine (and a lot like the sauce I make for my noodles, w/o mayo or mustard). Thanks!
Oops, I meant to write, the sauce sounds fine w/o mayo, so I’m wondering what it adds? (Besides fat! ha)
I have been in such a quesadilla rut lately! So many super ideas here to try on my 2.5-year old. Thank you!
Stir fry!
Perfect timing as I have a 2/3 of a rot. chicken sitting in my fridge right now and had no brain power left to decide on Friday night dinner. Thank you, thank you!
Nice! Lots of great ideas 🙂
Left over chicken? This never happens any more at my house.
I made chicken salad from a Rotisserie Chicken over the weekend but I replaced mayo with mashed avocado and greek yogurt and served it on a toasted baguette with sliced homegrown heirloom tomatoes, life changing.