Act III of Rotisserie Chicken - Chicken Tortellini Soup

This is the final act of the rotisserie chicken that I purchased at my local supermarket for $4.99 and created several "meals for one" from................... ______________________________________________________________________ I'm sorry that you find yourself in the position of "cooking for one" and that your dinner companions are the TV or reading matter spread all over your kitchen table. But, simply because this is the most unenviable situation to be in, you should have absolutely delightful meals and not just purely servicable......... _______________________________________________________________________ For the chickie's final application, he's coming to the table as chicken tortellini soup with fresh spinach........................ ________________________________________________________________________ You remember that way back in Act I when I made the chicken quesadilla, I advised you to remove all the rest of the breast meat and use it to make chicken salad (that was Act II) and to wrap up the remaining chicken entire carcass and meat and freeze it - freezing also, the juices that were left in the bottom of the supermarket container that the chicken came home to roost in............... __________________________________________________________________________ Now is the time to remove that package from the freezer. No need to defrost it. First of all, wrap up the carcass in cheese cloth. This is prevent the bones from falling apart and floating around in your soup. (And this is a personal preference) I don't like meat floating in my soup. If it is all wrapped in cheesecloth, it will all stay where it belongs......................... ___________________________________________________________________________ Fill a large soup pot with cool water. Drop you cheesecloth wrapped package gently into the pot along with the juices that were in the store container bottom. Bring pot to a boil, then lower heat to simmer. Skim off any foam which gathers on top. Add veggies to the soup. I like to put them in whole so that it is easy for me to remove them when the soup is done. I put a couple whole stalks of celery - including celery leaves, whole carrots and a whole onion. I also add a small can of tomatoes or fresh tomatoes, if you have them................... ___________________________________________________________________________ Simmer for 1 - 2 hours. Remove wilted veggies. I mash the carrots with a fork and add them back in. I toss the celery and onion. All their goodness is now in the soup. Remove the cheesecloth package. Now you have a lovely clear soup...........

____________________________________________________________________________ Bring it back to a soft boil so you can cook the tortellini right in the soup. I add about half a 1# bag of frozen cheese tortellini to the soup. Cook according to package directions. When the tortellini is almost cooked, I add one half a bag of fresh baby spinach............................................. _____________________________________________________________________________ Dinner's ready. I serve this with a couple tsp. of grated romano/parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. If this doesn't seem like a hearty enough dinner, have a chicken salad sandwich with it. You can also have dessert - because there's not too many calories in the soup.!!!! ______________________________________________________________________________ After I ate my chicken tortellini dinner, I still had two quarts of soup left over. I put one in the freezer for another delightful future meal and the other in the fridge.

Act II of the Rotisserie Chicken

If you read last weeks post, you know I purchased one of those rotisserie chickens from my local supermarket for $4.99. I understand the price has gone up to $5.29 (.30 more). Still a good price for the amount of meals I made from that one little chicken. _______________________________________________________________________ I am cooking for one, so if there's more people to feed at your house, the chicken will not be as good a deal as it is for me. But even if you get 2 meals from it, it's roughly $2.50 a meal. I had at least four meals of chicken tortellini soup, three meals of chicken salad, and one meal of chicken quesadilla. That's eight meals from one little rotisserie chicken. About .63 a meal. _______________________________________________________________________ My recipe for chicken salad - I use only the white meat or breast portion - I shred that into a quart glass measuring bowl (with a cover). Dice a couple ribs of celery - a handful (1/3 cup) of halved grapes or white raisins - a handfull of chopped pecans. Mix that all together. Use enough mayonaise (I use light) to moisten the salad. Before mixing the mayonaise through the salad, I add a sprinkle or two of curry powder to the mayo. In the picture, I have served the chicken salad in a toast cup. But it can also be served on a lettuce leaf or in a sandwich. _____________________________________________________________________ For the toast cup, I buttered both sides of a piece of white bread, put it in a ramekin sprayed with Pam, into a 400 degree over for about 10 minutes.

Meals for One

Anything to do with the kitchen is exciting, stimulating, enjoyment for me. I love everything about it. Presentation, table setting, table linens, cookware, peeling, dicing, chopping, shredding, simmering, broiling, frying, roasting, grilling, sauteing - yes........even shopping. _____________________________________________________________________ Preparing dinner for a crowd of 30 people has me on high alert, making lists, preparing and freezing, rearranging furniture so everyone is comfortable while they eat. I draw up menus, make a time table, get out seldom used serving ware, think about decor (candles, paperware, beverages, etc.) And, all the while, I'm on cloud nine. ______________________________________________________________________ I have arranged a meal for all the faculty and staff in our local Christian School. I recruited a cooking-serving-decorating team. It was a lovely meal, consisting of a first course of chicken soup, chicken parmesan, stuffed shells, salad, Lemon ice for dessert. Backstage, it operated like a well-oiled machine. _______________________________________________________________________ But my current life situation has caught me off guard (a bit). I expected to be preparing meals, at least, for two, until I died. This has not been the case. My precious husband and dear companion went to be with Jesus a little over two years ago. I find myself in this "cooking for one" situation without much practice. But, I think I am finally getting the hang of it and I want to share it with you. Please send the link to this post to those you know who may be struggling with a similar situation and making do with "fast food" or prepared meals, when cooking for one is so rewarding and delicious. ________________________________________________________________________ When you're cooking for one, you usually make a whole bunch of servings - have one of them for dinner, separate the remainder into "one meal" portions and freeze. How lovely to peek into your freezer like you're looking at an array spread out at a sumptuous buffet. ________________________________________________________________________ Here's a START. Buy one of those rotisserie chickens at the supermarket. Choose the least spiced up one. (I usually get the lemon chicken). For tonight's meal - pull a little of the breast off - shred that - set it aside - cover a large tortilla with tex/mex shredded cheese - nuke for about 20 seconds (til the cheese melts)- lay your shredded chicken onto the top half of the tortilla on top of the melted cheese - then add whatever trimmings you like - I like medium hot salsa, sour cream, guacamole, a few scallion bits - roll up the tortilla by first rolling it over the filling, then tuck in the sides, then finish up rolling it, nice and neat. Cut in half crosswize on the diagonal. Serve with a tall glass of iced tea. And, perhaps a bit of dessert. This is very satisfying and meets the RDA food pyramid guide lines. _________________________________________________________________________ After dinner, remove the entire container with chicken to the fridge for tomorrows meal.On the following afternoon, remove remaining breast meat from the rotisserie chicken to make chicken salad from it for tonight's dinner (recipe on next week's post) After making chicken salad with the remaining breast meat, take the chicken carcass with the dark meat on it, wrap it in saran, tuck into a plastic zipper bag and freeze it. Also any juices in the bottom of the supermarket container. Pour them into a small container and freeze. Those will be for the wonderful chicken tortellini soup you'll make for meal #3.