don’t waste food

My own personal chicken-based rebellion

NOTE:  This post is not sponsored. I just got curious and I had a coupon for this product.

I’ve been feeling a little rebellious, lately. Sassy, if you will. If you’re into astrology, you might have some logical explanation for why a Virgo who thrives on order has literally decided to thrust herself into Let’s Just See What Happens-land this year, but from my end, it just feels like it’s not the time to play it safe. Even when I cook, I’ve been throwing caution to the wind. I’m usually not good at things not coming out the way I want them to in the kitchen, so this is kind of a big step for me, this being okay with not being sure thing.

But, here we are.

I’ll admit, this chicken recipe was somewhat of a calculated risk, in that, I sort of knew that if the product was what I thought it was, it would probably not be awful. However, when I saw a coupon for a free package of Bush’s “Hummus Made Easy” product on the local grocery store app, I will also admit to not really reading the package before I grabbed it and threw it in my cart. I got a general sense that if you put the contents of the packet into a food processor with a can of chickpeas, you’d end up with something resembling hummus.

You guys, I didn’t want hummus. I’m a little sick of hummus right now. I thought about hummus and it just made me kind of sleepy.

But it was free! And I already took it home! So….. I literally thought about nothing but the fact that I didn’t want to make hummus with this stuff for like, a week. Every time my brain tried to go into “screen saver mode,” it would jump back to this free package of hummus mix that was sitting in the cupboard. Waiting.

I’m taking a really long time to tell this story. Sorry, I got a little stream of consciousness there.

Anyhoots, someone at work used the word “marinate” when talking about thinking about something for awhile before making a decision, and then it hit me. Yes! I’ll use it as a marinade. Because I’d been marinating on this whole, “what to do with the free hummus stuff” thing so long, I feel like it was sort of meant, you know what I mean? I finally read the ingredients and discovered that the list was really straightforward. Nothing to be creeped out about at all: Water, tahini, olive oil, garlic, salt, lemon juice, sugar, and a little citric acid.

My FoodKeepr app told me I had some veggies in the fridge that were about to not be edible anymore, so I gathered those up, along with a package of chicken thighs, and set about turning this stuff into actual food. Not hummus.

Equipment:
Cutting board
Knife
Gallon sized zip top bag
Baking dish/Casserole dish type thing

Ingredients:
1 package of Bush’s Hummus Made Easy, Classic Flavor*
4-6 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
2 cups (ish) large diced red potatoes
1 cup (ish) white button mushrooms (or whatever kind you have handy), sliced or cut into quarters
4-5 stalks green onion, peeled and trimmed, but otherwise left whole
Pan spray
salt & pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Spray your casserole dish with a little pan spray, and set aside.
2. Season both sides of each chicken thigh with a little salt and pepper. Add the whole package of Hummus Made Easy to the plastic bag, then toss the chicken thighs in. Seal it up and give it a good roll around, then stick it in the fridge to marinate while you prep your veggies, about 15-20 minutes.
3. Dice your potatoes and mushrooms, and trim/clean the green onions. Add the veggies to the baking dish, season with salt and pepper, and give them all a toss so they make friends with each other.
4. Arrange the marinated chicken thighs on top of the veggies, then drizzle the whatever is left of the marinade over everything.
5. Cover the chicken and veggies with foil and pop into the oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. If you want the thighs to brown a little, remove the foil for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

I served this with some farro, but it would work with plain old rice, or even couscous. Bear in mind, these are the veggies I had to use up, but if you have a different combo, go for it. Or, if you want to use a different protein, that’s cool, too. I think the Southwest version would be especially tasty with some pork chops, sweet potatoes, chunked up white onion and large diced pasilla or ancho chili peppers.


On the tasty scale, I give this one a solid nine, only because I didn’t get the foil off the chicken in time and the skin wasn’t as brown and crispy as I like. But that marinade really brought so much flavor to the party without having to add a lot of anything else, and it mingled with the chicken and veggie juices in a really lovely way. On the difficulty/effort scale, this recipe comes out at around maybe a four. You can have it on the table in, I’d say, an hour and 15 minutes, at the most, which makes it great for week nights, especially if you’re a meal prepper and have some of the work done ahead of time. Give it a shot, and let me know what you think!

*It also comes in a Southwest flavor, and a roasted red pepper flavor, and I’m sure those would be just lovely, as well.

A Feast of Fermentation

Credit for BFR event photos: Ainslie O’Neil

Sometimes, The Universe conspires to give you a really great opportunity. Typically, it’s not some random chance, but happens as the result of something you yourself put into motion long ago. Maybe you forgot about it, but The Universe didn’t. I guess you could say this post is about the power of intention, and the momentum that can be created simply by saying a thing out loud.

Remember way back in May, when I attended the Forward Food Summit? During our lunch break, I signed up to be available as a volunteer for the Boulder Food Rescue. I didn’t have any real idea how I could be helpful, but, of course, when the form asked me about special skills I wrote down things like cooking and menu planning. Maybe I could teach a cooking class or something? I very firmly believe that community food rescues like the ones in Boulder and Denver are the key to solving our hunger crisis in this country. Being involved in this critical solution has been pretty high on my priority list for a long time now.

Fast forward to July 13th, when an email popped into my inbox with the subject line, “Seeking cook [Boulder Food Rescue].” They asked if I might be interested in helping them out with their annual fundraiser, Feast of Fermentation. I went thinking they were just looking for a volunteer to help cook some food, but after a quick meeting with Hana, the executive director of the BFR, I was officially the head chef of the whole shebang. *GULP*

The event took place on my 41st birthday– September 9th. Our menu included a baked potato bar, taco bar, sourdough waffle bar, and a brats & sauerkraut station. We had tons of great fermented food like kimchi, sauerkraut, and fermented firecracker onions donated by local producers on the menu, along with my own fermented peaches and pickled grapes, fermented Bloody Mary ketchup, and beer cheese sauce, to name just a few of the yummy toppings we created.

fof-1-of-20-1

We were expecting somewhere between 180 and 200 people to show up, but ended up with about 240. Thanks to some kind of crazy “loaves and fishes” type of miracle, everyone was well fed and happy. I guess when you’re doing good things, stuff just works out, yeah?

fof-7-of-20

Along with all that great food, attendees sampled offerings from competitors in a home brew beer competition, as well as local breweries and distilleries. They also bid on a bunch of cool items and experiences, donated by local merchants. in a silent auction. The grand total raised that night? $10,700! That money will go towards continuing the amazing programs the BFR has in place to rescue food from local grocery stores, restaurants, and community farms and gardens, and redistribute it to those in need.

I’m so proud of what we all accomplished that night, and blown away by all the amazing volunteer help we had to prep the food, serve it, set up the event space, and clean it all up at the end of the night. Seeing what a small group of very determined people can do with just a few resources and whole lot of passion has me convinced that the issues of hunger and food insecurity CAN be solved.

On a personal note, I also believe that this type of work is exactly what I’m meant to be doing. I’ll admit, I’ve been struggling to find my place in this movement. Writing about it never seemed like it would ever be enough. Now that I’ve got this event under my belt, I’m ready for what’s next!

What’s that, you ask? At the end of this month, I’ll be headed to Portland, Oregon to join fellow members of a group called Kitchen Warfare in serving breakfast to residents of the Right2DreamToo Unhoused Community rest site. This is the second such meal our group has been involved with at the R2DToo site. I had to organize the last one from here in Colorado, but this time I actually get to be on the ground. I’m so excited!

13051644_10153607771378963_413704624978006640_n

We’re looking for just a little bit of financial help to make sure we can cover the cost of food. If you’re able to help, please visit our GoFundMe page. Even $5 helps– but of course, so do prayers, good vibes, and messages of support. We’re hoping this is an effort we can continue at similar camps around the country, so our success in Portland will help provide the momentum we need to keep the love coming.

If you’re looking for a way to help out in your community, just shoot me a message at gonnacookthat@gmail.com, and I’ll help you do the research and provide suggestions. Get on board this love train, folks! There’s plenty of room.