Spinach, rice, tons of spices

[healthyfoodie]

i'm at my bf's house waiting for him to come home. we went out to dinner last night and i'm not really in the mood to order in tonight. he doesn't have much - hoping you can help! I have a few ideas. here's what is in store:

frozen spinach
frozen corn
chicken breast
sausage
cheese
rice (risotto and brown rice)
refried beans
lots of canned soup
canned green beans
every herb and spice you can think of

I should also put in a small caveat - I don't eat meat, so it would be great if it could be something hardy that I can make just leaving the chicken out. I know, this is easy - chicken and rice, but I'm looking for something a little more creative. I thought about curried rice and chicken, maybe coconut rice?? I'm not sure if there's something I could do with the sausage?

ideas?

 

[Constance]

Does he have any tortillas? You could make cheese and bean burritos for yourself, and make chicken or sausage ones for him.

 

[healthyfoodie]

no torilla's

 

[bullseye]

Does he have any tortillas? You could make cheese and bean burritos for yourself, and make chicken or sausage ones for him.

If it comes down to it, IMHO, the tortillas are just a way to get the real food to the mouth. Not that I don't enjoy the added flavor and texture, but anything that can be on tortillas can be on bread/toast, an English muffin, or on its own. Constance has a good suggestion for what you could do with your ingredients.

 

[Yakuta]

I am assuming you have tomatoes, onion and garlic. If so here is what I would recommend.

Spicy Spinach:

1 large onion
1 large or two medium tomatoes
frozen spinach (I like fresh but you use what you have)
Chili powder or green chili or jalapeno if you have it
1 tbsp of oil (any kind will do)

First add the oil to a pan and thrown in the onions. Let them cook until translucent. Next add the jalapeno and tomatoes and spinach and cover and cook for about 15 minutes. Using a handblender puree it all together until it's smooth and thick.

Now chop atleast 4-6 large cloves of garlic. You will also need 1 tsp of whole cumin seeds and 1 tbsp of butter

In a clean saute pan add the butter. Once it's hot add the cumin seeds and garlic and saute it until the garlic is slightly golden. Now add the pureed spinach mixture to the garlic and cumin and let it simmer until the flavors all come together. Add salt to taste.

I normally finish this with some cream. If you have whole milk or half and half you can add 1/4 cup of that to finish the spinach. It's a great version of creamed spinach and has a ton of flavor

For rice - I recommend a simple pilaf. Add oil to a pan and temper again with some whole cumin seeds and some turmeric powder. Toast the rice with the oil and cumin and add some peas, water, salt and cook until done. Fluff with a fork and a very simple yet highly aromatic pilaf is ready.

For Chicken you can make a simple chicken curry with chicken cubes, curry powder and coconut milk.

 

[healthyfoodie]

that sounds good Yakuta - I'm going to have to try that one some time. unfortunately I had no tomatoes here. What I ended up doing was making a curry risotto, sauteed spinach w/garlic, and grilled chicken.

I added too much spice to the risotto, so it came out a little too fragrant. So I ended up mixing the spinach right into it, and that mellowed it a bit.

 

[Ben_Lines]

A really simple dish would be to slice the chicken and fry it until cooked then place some cooked rice in a wok or frying pan and mix in the chicken with some basil or coriander. Then season with salt and pepper or soy sauce if you have it. Serve some cooked spinach on the side as a veg.

 

[AllenOK]

Ok, I missed the deadline. But, here's my take:

I've been on a Mexican kick for quite some time now. I would have made some Spanish/Mexican Rice, the refried beans (complete protein there, since you're a vegetarian), maybe some corn with a little salt, pepper, and chile powder, and sauteed or grilled a chicken breast or two.