A Better Bag of Groceries

1 Chicken = 2 Meals + Leftovers

Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 07:09 AM

My friend and co-worker, Tina, who also has a NuVal blog, focuses on how to eat healthy on a budget.  Today, I’m taking a page from her book.  When I am feeling the need to keep a close eye on our family budget, I look for meals that stretch, without compromising on nutrition.  One of the best ways I know how to do that is to make a roast chicken, and follow it up with my famous chicken soup.

For this project, I bought a 7.5 pound roast chicken and planned to make it on a Sunday.  You don’t really need such a big chicken, but my grocery store had their store brand whole chickens on sale for 99 cents a pound.  No need to splurge for the $12 Perdue Oven Stuffer Roaster.  The store brand will definitely do. 

I like to make roast chicken using a Reynold’s Oven Bag.  My mom introduced me to these many years ago.  They are great for whole chicken, turkey, or roasts.  If you are afraid of roasting something for fear that it will dry out, try out these oven bags.  They are fool-proof.  While I needed a 2 hour window for roasting, once it is in the bag and in the oven, I’m free to do other things.  There are so many things you can do with roast chicken.  One of my favorite Martha Stewart recipes calls for placing a lemon and sprigs of thyme right inside the cavity.  On this particular Sunday, however, we were cleaning out the kids rooms and the downstairs hall closet, so I kept things really simple.  I removed the giblets from the chicken, rinsed it, and patted it dry.  I brushed it with a very light layer of canola oil and sprinkled it with black pepper, thyme and paprika.  I prepared the oven bag with 1 Tablespoon of flour and put the chicken in.  I closed it with the little tie that comes with the oven bags and put it in the oven.  Done! 

Growing up, my mom always put vegetables right in the oven bag with the chicken.  And I’ve done that too:  potatoes, parsnips and carrots.  The downside to that, however, is that the vegetables absorb a lot of the chicken fat.  So this time, I made my vegetables separately.  My kids don’t like potatoes (weird, I know), so I reheated some while parboiled rice (NuVal score of 82) for them and made a Dream Dinner side of roasted baby potatoes for us (they go right out of the bag on to a cookie sheet and are done in 25 minutes).  I also made a nice pot of steamed carrots (NuVal score of 99).  Dinner #1, Done!

Now, here comes the more labor-intense part.  The real reason I like to make a roast chicken is so that I can use it to make my Famous Chicken Soup.  Well, it’s not really famous, but my mother did tell me once that she thinks that I make better chicken soup than she does – so that’s famous to me!  My chicken soup is part Italian (with escarole) and part Jewish (with Matzoh balls). 

First, I take whatever is left of the chicken, and put it in my big soup pot, cover it with water, add 2 chopped onions, black pepper and a lot of dried parsley.

I bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer – for about an hour (usually while we clean up the kitchen from dinner and get the kids ready for bed).  Then, I turn the heat off and let it cool.  While it is cooling, I take out all the chicken parts, meat and bones with a slotted spoon.  I let the chicken cool on a plate.

Next comes the Not Fun part.  You need to pick the chicken off the bones.  However, because you’ve simmered it, it comes off easily and you can discard all the pieces that just don’t look appetizing to you.  Then, I put the chicken that I want to keep back in the pot.  I let the pot cool while we watch whatever has arrived from Netflix.  Before we head to bed, my husband’s job is to take the pot down and put it in our extra fridge that we have in the basement.

The next day, I pull out the cold pot.  The cool thing is that all the fat is now on top and I can easily skim it off.

Sorry for the unappetizing photo, but I needed to show you what I mean!  Once I’m skimmed off the fat, I put the pot back on the stove and bring it to a simmer.  Now, here’s where the healthy part comes in.  I add a lot of Incredible Vegetables:

• Escarole (NuVal score of 96)
• Celery (NuVal score of 96)
• Carrots (NuVal score of 99)

The only downside to escarole is that it often is full of dirt.  I fill my sink with water and shake all the dirt loose – at least 2 or 3 times.  Then I lay it out on the counter to inspect it one last time for dirt. 

Then, I chop it into coarse pieces.

I add the chopped carrots, celery and escarole to my pot.  Sometimes I go overboard with the amount of vegetables I put in!

It looks more like a salad than soup!  But everything shrinks down after simmering.  An hour is more than enough time.  It’s during this cooking that I taste and see what I need to add:  usually more parsley, more black pepper and just a pinch of Kosher salt.

Finally, right before dinner time, I add my winning ingredient:  Matzoh Balls.  I became a fan when my husband and I lived in Newton, Massachusetts.  Just outside Boston, Newton has a large Jewish community and some great restaurants.  I first started loving Jewish Penicillin at Johnny’s Luncheonette.  My own chicken soup has included Matzoh Balls ever since.  I make then from a Manischewitz mix – so easy.  Unfortunately we have not yet scored them at NuVal (although we will!) so I can’t give you the nutritional low-down.  They are a great finishing touch, though.  One thing to keep in mind is that the Matzoh Balls add a salty taste to the soup, so that pinch of Kosher salt that I mentioned in my last paragraph really is just a pinch!  Also, roll the mix into very small balls.  They really expand.  OK, so it’s a little more work, but Dinner #2 – Done!

My soup could feed an army.  There’s always some to send home with my Mom and Dad, some to bring for lunch and some to freeze.  It’s a great way to stretch a $7 chicken!

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Posted by: Melissa 8 comments

Posted in: Soup

Tags: chicken soup, roast chicken