Tonight's Dinner: November 5, 2012

This week we are trying to clear out our freezer.  I bought accompanying produce this weekend and pulled out two packs of frozen chicken, a rabbit a friend of ours gave us, and various sauces that I had stored away.  I can actually see the second row rack now! I think we will do this again next week.  Tonight we started with chicken.  I am very pleased to say that this dinner was truly a one pot meal.  A lot of times I can manage to get it down to one messy pot and one easy to clean pot. I don't really count the easy pot as cleaning because it's usually just pasta water or our nonstick rice cooker pot.  I tend to clean these myself before we eat dinner so that Nick only has to clean the messy pot.  Tonight it was truly a one pot meal.  I strategically planned my steps as I was walking Emmy during lunch.  I first started by boiling ravioli.  While that was boiling, I seasoned my chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Once the ravioli was drained, I added 4 tbsp of EVOO to the hot pan.  I browned the chicken on both sides over medium-high heat before lowering the heat to medium.  I cooked it covered it for 10 minutes.  I removed the chicken and put them in the bowl that we were going to use to eat with. I realized my pictures of the chicken are on my actual camera and not my phone so there aren't any to show you of the golden brown chicken.

After removing the chicken, I cranked the heat back up and threw in a medium
 sliced onion to saute.

The carmelization from the chicken turned out really well.  I used our All-Clad
instead of our non-stick Calphalon so that the browning process would be
better.  I find that I can't get a proper sear when using a non-stick. 

Once the onions were sauteed, I added a 5oz box of organic kale to wilt.
Honestly, I can't tell the difference between organic and non-organic kale,
but that is what the store had.  I know Costco sells kale in giant bags now and
 if your family can eat that much, by all means, get it.  I got it once and struggled
to finish it.  It did seem to last longer than the Costo bags of baby spinach.

Next, I added one cup of dry red wine to deglaze the pan.  This is a great recipe
to hide dark greens from kids if you have picky eaters.  You could use spaghetti
instead of ravioli to entice them.  If you don't want to use wine, a low sodium
chicken stock  will work just as well. Don't use cooking wine because those
are full of salt.  I much rather substitute chicken stock than use cooking wine.

I added a tomato sauce that was labeled "beef tomato sauce" from our freezer.  I
don't remember making the sauce at all, but I figured that was a good reason to get rid
of it. You can use any kind of tomato sauce that you want.  This would also go well
with just a can or two of stewed tomatoes.   Let it simmer down so that the tomato
juices reduce if you go that route.

I added the chicken back in and let simmer until the sauce was at the consistency
that we like. 

One pot meal, ta da!

While I was puttering around the kitchen, Emmy flipped over her bed and took
a nap with her frisbee.  I was also watching Love at the Thanksgiving Parade,
which I'm sure bored her.  Unfortunately for Nick, he had to sit through the
second half of the movie.  These Hallmark Channel movies are basically the
equivalent of a Nora Roberts novel.  I can't stop watching them.