BOGO Meals: Roast Chicken and Minestrone Soup

One of the best ways to save money and get the most out of your food is to be able to make two meals from one. An easy way to do this is with chicken! Chicken is one of the most versatile meats and if you buy a cut with the bone in, it's even more versatile!

The first dish is a simple: Roast Chicken with Vegetables.
2 chicken legs with thigh meat, bone and skin still attached
1-2 potatoes
1 carrot
1/2 onion.
1 clove garlic
2tbs olive oil
sprig of fresh thyme and rosemary if you have it (makes a huge difference)
salt and pepper for seasoning

Cut the vegetables into rounds like hockey pucks.
Lay them on the bottom of your baking tray.
Place the chicken on top.
Mince the garlic and slide it under the skin of the chicken.
Sprinkle salt, pepper, and herbs.
Drizzle the olive oil and rub the chicken and all the vegetables, WELL! However, make sure the chicken is still laying on the bed of veggies.
Don't use too much oil because the chicken will exude oil when cooked for the veggies.
Bake at 350 for 20-30mins.
Let rest for 10 mins before serving or all the yummie juices will pour out when you cut into it.

Dish two: Minestrone Soup w/ chicken stock
Chicken bones
1 carrot
1 onion
1/2 bell pepper or bunch of string beans
1/2 cup kidney or white beans
1/3 pasta
1 tomato
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic

Basic Stock:
Save the bones, fat, and skin from the meal.
Boil in a pot with peppercorns, half a carrot, half an onion, a clove of garlic, and a bay leaf.
Strain and you have stock! You can freeze it for later or use it for soup the same day.

Soup
Now, saute another clove of garlic with the remaining onions, carrots, and peppers or string beans in some of the chicken fat on med-low heat.
Once it starts to smell good, add the stock and bay leaf.
Grate the tomato into the soup. Chop the skin and toss it in.
Add the beans and pasta after 10 minutes.
Let cook for another 20.
Turn the heat off and let it sit, allowing the soup to cool and flavors to congeal.
(If you like it hot, because some like it hot, throw in a small chili into the pot!)
There you have it, two meals for the price of one!

Magic Chicken Soup-Arroz Caldo

Being biracial, I hardly ever get sick, however, on the rare occasion that I do come down with something, I use this: my magic chicken soup. I shit you not, it helped cure me when I caught a case of SARS :)

Prep Time: 5
Cook Time: 40

Magic Chicken Soup
Two chicken thighs, bone in skin on
1/2 cup rice
1.5 inches of ginger diced
1 onion finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
3 peppercorns
1 bay leaf

Directions:
Saute the onions, garlic and ginger in a tsp of oil.
Add the chicken. Sear the skin.
Add water, bay leaf and peppercorns.
After 20 minutes, add the rice and cook until the chicken is falling off the bone.
Before serving you can remove the bones and skin.
It may not be the prettiest dish at the ball, but it's effective, easy, and delicious. Thank me later.

*Again, since this is a Filipino recipe, the measurements don't really matter. You can add less chicken, more chicken, less rice more rice. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS YOU LOAD IT UP WITH FRESH GINGER!

Lentil Soup- Like Draino for your Bowels

I realize lentils are more of an autumn/winter dish, however, it's rainy and chilly here in Spain so I figured I'd show the lentils in my pantry some love. However, if I were to be really, brutally, honest, I'd admit that I made the lentil soup in order to help my troops move as they haven't been marching. For as many of you may already know, healthy bowels is essential to happiness. To quote my good friend Aaron, "People always over estimate the importance of sex and under estimate the power of a good shit!" So here's a recipe that is delicious, healthy, and FULL OF FIBER!

Ingredients:
1 cup lentils (soaked over night, change the water every few hours to DE-gas them)
1/2 an onion finely diced
2 large cloves of garlic (here in spain garlic cloves are called teeth)
1 tomato diced
1/4 Red Bell Pepper (I say red for color, use green if you use red lentils)
1/2 zucchini
1 carrot diced
3/4L chicken stock
1 medium potato diced
1 bay leaf
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika (sweet or spicy)
2 tsp salt/pepper
1tbs balsamic vinegar
sprig of rosemary and thyme (if you have it, if not, no worries)

Directions:
Saute onions and garlic in a tsb of olive oil.
Once they've sweated, add the lentils. Stir for a few seconds then add the chicken stock and a cup of water.
Throw in the bay leaf and spices (careful with the salt if using salted chicken stock). Let it all boil.
After a half hour, add the potatoes, carrots and bell peppers. (Add the harder vegetables which take longer to cook first)
Then fifteen minutes later add the zucchini and tomato.
Add the vinegar.
Let it cook for 15 more minutes. If the lentils are thoroughly cooked remove from the heat, let cool then serve!

Not a great date food but it does the trick if you need help with your bowels and clearly, IT'S DELICIOUS!