Thursday Night Slump

I know that Wednesday is 'hump day', but sometimes Thursday is the bigger hurdle for me. I've made it this far and Friday is right around the corner. Come dinner time on Thursday I just want something quick and easy. I'm tired of doing dishes, so if I can minimize that too I'm all the more thrilled.

I regularly pick up a roasted deli chicken at my local supermarket. I like the chickens because they can be really versatile and can certainly aid in getting dinner done quickly. You can shred the chicken for pasta or enchiladas, you can keep the breasts or leg quarters whole for quick dinner solutions, or sometimes I save the bones to make chicken soup or chicken broth. 

Tonight I reheated one of the leg quarters, cooked up some quinoa, and sauteed some spinach and mushrooms. All-in-all it took me about 30 minutes and it was a really delicious dinner.

To reheat the chicken I put the leg quarter in my cast iron skillet and put them in the oven while it was heating up to 350 degrees. That way the chicken could warm up slowly and retain it's juices. In total the cook time was about 15 mins between the time it took for my oven to heat up and a few extra minutes just to make sure it's warm throughout. I did leave the skin on the chicken, again- it helps retain the moisture and keeps the flavor locked in.

If you haven't tried quinoa yet, you might want to check it out. Its a whole grain with a protein boost. It's also super easy to cook and it doesn't take very long. The typical cooking formula I've seen is a 2:1 ratio. That is 2 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa. So for example, if you were cooking 1 cup of quinoa, you would use 2 cups of water. Quinoa will expand slightly when it cooks, but not a whole lot so when cooking for friends figure about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup per person.

Once the chicken comes out of the oven, move it to your plate to give a chance to cool off just a little. While the pan is still hot turn your stove to medium or medium high and add some sliced mushrooms and diced shallots. Don't forget the salt and pepper and maybe a little olive oil. Just be sure that the mushrooms aren't crowded in the pan or they won't brown properly.

Toss in some spinach and let it wilt from the heat. I did splash in just a little chicken broth to loosen the delicious brown bits and help finish off the spinach. Put it all on a plate and enjoy!

Happy Thursday!