The following is a REALLY good way to save yourself a small piece of sanity.

Tip #3.  Have a “back pocket” recipe.
A back pocket recipe is something that is really yummy, really easy, and really quick.  You’ve been at work all day, followed by a trip to *gasp* The Mall where you have done battle to get the perfect gift without being pepper-sprayed by rabid shoppers, and now you’re home and the family is hungry and you have two choices: make something quick or run away to Canada.

Cook’s Illustrated has a special edition out now that is 30 minute suppers and I’ve tried several of the recipes with great success.  I also highly recommend slow-cooker cooking.  Real Simple also does a good job of highlighting easy recipes.

Here is one of my favorite “back pocket” recipes that I use A LOT and yet, we never tire of it.  I keep the ingredients on hand, so there is no running to the store at 8pm, and it is EASY EASY EASY.  I was a little skeptical about the combination of ingredients here, but believe me, it’s delicious.
Leftover Bonus: It is also good cold and my mom swears it makes a great base for a soup (I’ll see if she can write it down for me to share with y’all).

Easy, Delicious Paprika Chicken Thing

Adapted from recipe in Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen
(I’ve edited this down to the way I make it…. aka the lazy person’s version)
Serves 4

4-5 frozen chicken tenderloins
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
1 Tbl rosemary leaves, chopped (fresh if you have it)
2 tsp smoked paprika
¼ cup raisins
½ pound whole wheat spaghetti or linguine
½ cup pine nuts, toasted (you can keep these in your freezer; also, I use my toaster oven to toast nuts.  Just throw them on that miniature baking sheet or tin foil and then toast for about 6 minutes)

Preheat oven to 400.

Drizzle olive oil in roasting pan then add chicken (don’t even bother thawing), salt & pepper, rosemary, and paprika, then a bit more olive oil.

Cover and cook in oven for 20-30 minutes until meat is cooked through.

While that’s cooking, boil water for pasta.  Throw raisins and pasta in the boiling water and cook until pasta is al dente, then drain.

Remove pan from oven and cut the chicken into pieces.

Dump the noodles and raisins into the roasting pan with the chicken and stuff.

Add the pine nuts and toss it all together.

Taste; add S&P if necessary.

Serve!
Now congratulate yourself on being a responsible adult and not running away.  Maybe celebrate your amazingness by pouring a bottle glass of wine and hopping in a hot bath. 

Do YOU have a back pocket recipe you don’t mind sharing with the group?  Post it here!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 at 2:30 pm by Kat and is filed under holiday, recipe for awesome. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.