Chicken Stock Recipe

So, you made my fauxtisserie chicken (You did right? It's wonderful and easy.). What do you do with the chicken carcass? Make chicken stock of course. Like everything else I make it's super easy. And, you can use it to add flavor to many healthy dishes (like rice and lentil pilaf or curried spinach and chickpeas), without adding many calories.

Ingredients

1. Chicken carcass (any pieces you won't eat)
2. 1/2 to 1 cup celery
3. 1/2 to 1 cup carrots
4. 1 onion
5. 1/2 tablespoon vinegar
6. Herbs (optional)- These are not necessary. But, I like it with fresh parsley or 1tablespoon dried basil.

Directions

1. You've just finished cooking fauxtisserie chicken.
2. Remove the chicken and the foil balls from the crock pot (leave the juices in the pot).
3. Carve the chicken, remove all the meat you will eat.
4. Place the chicken carcass back in the crockpot (with the juices from cooking the chicken)
5. Chop the celery, carrots and onion. Add to pot. This is just to add flavor, you will not be eating them. So, you can use the tops of the celery, the carrot peel, and the outer layer of onion if you want to save the good parts.
6. Add vinegar
7. Add any desired herbs
8. Fill pot with water (I have a 5 quart crock pot)
9. Cook on low for ~10 hours
10. Strain to remove bones, and veggies.
11. Refrigerate overnight. Skim fat off the top.
12. Use in your favorite recipe, or freeze for later.
13. Enjoy!

Rice and Lentil Pilaf

This is one of my favorite healthy side dishes. It goes great with salmon or chicken. Adapted from http://www.campbellskitchen.com/RecipeDetail.aspx?recipeId=25666&ref=%2fSwansonBroth.aspx.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 large onion- chopped
• 1/2 cup dry lentils
• 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
• 2-2.5 cups chicken broth (or vegetable)
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
• 2 medium tomatoes- seeded and chopped

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, carrots and celery. Cook until veggies are tender.
2. Add broth, lentils, and rice. Heat until boiling. Cover, reduce heat and cook for ~40 minutes.
3. Stir in tomatoes and parsley.
4. Enjoy!

Fauxtisserie Chicken

This is one of my favorite quick, easy, and healthy dinners. Basically, it tastes like a rotisserie chicken, but is cooked in a crock-pot. Perfect! Have dinner waiting when you get home. A quick web search will turn up numerous variations of this recipe. But, however you season it, you get juicy, tender, fall off the bone meat, that requires about 10 minutes of work. Delicious! Adapted from Yummy in My Tummy.

You will need:

• Crock-pot (large enough to hold a whole chicken)
• 1 whole chicken (~5lbs is perfect for my pot)
• Aluminum foil
• Garlic
• Salt
• Seasoning of choice (any flavor you like)
• Fresh herbs (optional- such as rosemary or oregano)

Directions

1. Make 3-4 balls of aluminum foil (~2in diameter) and place them in the bottom of the crock-pot. The chicken will sit on these so it's not stewing in its own juices.
2. Rub chicken with you choice of seasoning and salt. Lift the skin up and get the seasoning between the chicken and the meat.
3. Put garlic under the skin, along with any fresh herbs you desire.
4. Place the chicken in the crock-pot breast side up.
5. Cook on low for ~8hours. All crock-pots cook a bit differently, so you may want to check with a meat thermometer that your bird is up to 165 degrees.

That's it! Super easy. Enjoy! Keep the juices and chicken carcass to make chicken stock.