Chicken Revisited

Oh, the many uses of the good, old rotisserie chicken. Well, preferably a new chicken. A fresh chicken that you have purchased from your favorite grocery store. This is a perfect meal for your grocery shopping day. I often find myself not wanting to cook a complicated meal after spending time grocery shopping and putting groceries away. It's just a little more exhausting to grocery shop with a one year-old. You can imagine, I'm sure.

A fifteen minute chicken meal is an excellent solution for a grocery store day. Whitney is the biggest lover of chicken that I know, but often finds herself in a rut--making the same chicken dinner over and over again. Having several chicken recipes in your arsenal is the best way to avoid that rut! (I am not including pulling the meat off the chicken in the 15 minutes.)

Meal 1: Tacos
Mix the meat with taco seasoning, black beans, and salsa in a skillet over medium-high heat.
While it's cooking, slice an avocado and shred lettuce and cheese.
Put all of the ingredients into taco shells and enjoy!

Meal 2: Pasta
Boil water for pasta of your choice.
Dice an onion and saute it in some olive oil.
Add a large can of diced tomatoes to the onions along with some other veggies of your choice. Good options include zucchini, carrots, celery, leeks, peas.
Get your pasta cooking.
Add chicken to your veggies.
If your sauce is too thick, add a bit of pasta water.
Mix the cooked pasta into the veggie and chicken sauce.

Meal 3: Big Salad
This is self-explanatory, so I will just give you a list of some of my favorite salad ingredients. Just try to really load it up with veggies to make sure it satisfies.
Greens: spinach and arugula
Veggies: peppers, carrots, celery, cucumbers, peas, tomatoes, snow peas
Toppers: cashews, beans, avocado, corn, sesame seeds, cheese
Don't forget the chicken!

Meal 4: Grain Bowl
We love eating grain bowls on a quick and easy dinner night. We all enjoy it--even our 15 month old!
Two parts water and one part grains need to be cooked in a pot. We just had a quinoa and barley mixture. It will take about ten minutes to cook.
While your grains cook, dice vegetable of your choice.
Veggie combinations: butternut squash, carrots and snow peas
                                   onions, peppers, and corn
                                   broccoli, peppers, and onions
During the last three minutes of cooking, add your veggies and chicken to the grains.
Right before serving, I often stir shredded cheese into the pot.

What are some of your favorite chicken dinners in a hurry?