Cooking Creativity-Struggle Meal edition

 One of the things that I had in mind when I started this was not just another recipe/cooking blog but also showing how a lack of adequate supplies can invent some tasty dishes. Nothing fancy, just whatever food we have is what we get.

Two dishes that were riffs on a theme: pasta, rice, meat, frozen veggies. No potatoes, sauces are low, down to bare bones but have at least chicken breasts left.

This one was...I believe chicken and rice dressed up with sauce of some sort. I forgot to take pictures until I was almost done eating. Oh yes, Crispy Cilantro Lime Chicken (and rice). It was rather tasty and straight from Pinterest. It was a tad too spicy for me but filling and easy to fix.

Ingredients"

3 tablespoons olive oil divided

 ¼ cup lime juice fresh squeezed, juice of 2 limes 

 ¼ cup fresh cilantro chopped

1 teaspoon red chili flakes or pepper flakes

4 cloves garlic minced
2 teaspoons brown sugar
¾ teaspoon ground cumin
6 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs or bone-off
1 pinch salt to taste
1 pinch pepper to taste
1 pinch fresh cilantro leaves to serve 

2 lime slices or wedges, to serve

That is the recipe as written, here are my adjustments:

1/4 lime juice from bottled

3 lg garlic cloves minced

2 bone in skin on chicken thighs

 

The directions say to put the marinade in a shallow dish with the chicken making sure it's covered. I used all the measurements given and there was very little to spread around even for two chicken thighs. Maybe not enough lime juice?  It was rather spicy in my opinion so I would probably pare down the cumin and remove the chili flakes entirely.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C).

In a medium-sized shallow bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil together with the lime juice, chopped cilantro, chili flakes, garlic, sugar and cumin. Add the chicken thighs to the marinade and toss to evenly coat. Cover and refrigerate thighs for 15 minutes.

Heat the remaining one tablespoon of oil in a non stick pan or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the thighs along with any marinade left over in the bowl, and sear chicken -- skin-side down -- for 4 minutes on each side until golden and crispy (chicken will not be fully cooked).

Transfer to preheated oven and bake until the chicken is cooked through (about 15-20 minutes).

Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and lime slices or wedges.

Serve over steamed rice or cauliflower rice, and drizzle with the pan juices.

 

I do not have a cast iron skillet so I transferred them to a glass baking dish and cooked longer than 20 minutes, more like a half hour because I had to cook the rice. I turned the heat off at 20 minutes and used the thermometer to check the thickest thigh. I used the previous recipe for Savory Rice and this time it was much better. 

So we have rice, some pasta, one last pound of hamburger and plenty of chicken breasts. Once can of Rotel, two cans of crushed tomatoes, one can of diced tomatoes and one can of tomato paste. No fresh onion or bell pepper.

Hamburger Rice meal coming up!

Another off the cuff, cooking by the seat of my pants meal.

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice, rinsed optional

1 cup mixed frozen veggies

1 tbl olive oil

1 lb hamburger

1 tbl Taco Seasoning

1 cup Beef bullion + 3/4 cup water

1 lg clove garlic, crushed

1 tbl dried onion flakes, re-hydrated in same amount of water (or 2 tbl finely diced onion)

1 can Rotel tomatoes 

Short list right?

Instructions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(If using fresh onion) Heat saucepan/dutch oven on medium heat with 1 tbl olive oil until shimmer, cook onion very quickly add in crushed garlic, stir until fragrant. Add hamburger and continue to cook until most of the liquid is cooked away add in Taco Seasoning, stir thoroughly until meat is well coated. Add in Rotel, continue to stir to combine then add in veggies. If using bullion cube, use 1 cup of water, cook in microwave for 3 minutes. Stir in bullion plus the extra water, then add rice. Stir to combine well wait for it to start bubbling good, put lid on and turn heat down to low/simmer for 20 minutes.

Lift lid and check for rice being plump, stir with large spoon and serve. Shredded cheese or sour cream makes an excellent topping.

I forgot to rinse the rice so it stuck together a bit more and wasn't fluffy as I hoped. Stick to your ribs and stomach kind of meal with very few ingredients. 

Will have a full larder and fridge in a few days and more repeats of well known favorites are on the menu plus one or two new ideas that are going to be a hit I'm sure! And maybe...even....lasagna!