Double Up Roasting

Quicktip

by Kate Hehyoe

Double Up: Roasting two chickens uses about the same amount of energy as one. So roast two at the same time, enjoy one for dinner and save the other for sandwiches, tacos, or simply another meal. Freeze the meat for chicken salad.

Do the same with turkeys at Thanksgiving; after all, aren’t the leftovers the best part of the Thanksgiving dinner?

Quick Tips

Find more tips to shrink your cookprint in Kate Heyhoe’s book Cooking Green

Hazelnut Chicken Salad on Shredded Napa Cabbage

Serves 4

Green Meter:

Green Goodness: No added fuel; uses precooked chicken and roasted hazelnuts (try the Ginger Poached Chicken above; roast the nuts anytime your oven’s hot, as described below)
Prep/Cooking Times: 10 minutes total prep
Prime Season: year round
Conveniences: Can be partially made 1 day in advance and refrigerated.

The Ginger-Poached Chicken and Broth recipe yields moist, flavorful chicken, perfect for this distinctive chicken salad, but any cooked chicken will do. Napa or Chinese cabbage is sweeter and milder than regular cabbage, and the leaves add a crunchy, frilly contrast to the dish. (To shred the cabbage, stack the leaves and slice into 1/8-inch strips.) Hazelnuts make this a sophisticated dish, with crunchy, toasted flavor.

Roasted Hazelnuts: Roast the nuts ahead of time, whenever you’re already baking something between 350 and 375 degrees F. Place them in a single layer on a baking sheet; roast for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring once. When the skin crackles, pour them into a clean towel and rub vigorously to remove most of the skin (do this outdoors for less mess). Refrigerate or freeze, up to 3 months, and toss them into salads, pastas, breads, and desserts.

3 cups shredded cooked chicken meat
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 green onions
1/3 cup mayonnaise
8 ounces (3 cups packed) finely shredded napa cabbage leaves (about 7 medium leaves)
3/4 cup (2-1/2 ounces) toasted, coarsely chopped hazelnuts, plus extra for garnish
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mix the chicken and vinegar in a bowl, until the vinegar is absorbed. Trim and diagonally slice the green onions (both green and white parts) about 1/4-inch wide. Stir the mayonnaise and hazelnuts into the chicken. (The salad may be prepared up to this point and refrigerated for 1 day before continuing.) Just before serving, mix in 3/4 of the cabbage, most of the green onion (reserve a bit for garnish), and pepper. Spread the remaining cabbage on a serving platter, spoon the salad on top and garnish with green onion and hazelnuts.

Ginger-Poached Chicken & Broth

A Green Flame Recipe

Serves 4 to 6

Green Meter:

Green Goodness: 15 minutes of cooktop fuel cooks a whole chicken, with healthful broth
Prep/Cooking Times: 5 minutes prep +15 minutes active cooking + 60 minutes resting time
Prime Season: year round
Conveniences: Can be made 1-2 days in advance and refrigerated.
Morphable: Use the broth wherever chicken broth is called for; shred meat into soup, salads and sandwiches, rice paper wraps, spring rolls, tortillas, or serve pieces hot with soy sauce and rice. Vary the seasonings for a Mexican, Indian, or other flavorprint. (See specific recipes in headnotes below)

In this Chinese poaching method, chicken simmers for a short time immersed in seasoned water, then the flame is turned off and the chicken continues to gently “cook” in the hot liquid. The meat is far more tender and moist than if boiled until done, and the resulting chicken broth fills the house with aromas of ginger, green onion, and sherry. My favorite cure for a cold? A bowl of this chicken and broth, with noodles, and bok choy or shredded Chinese cabbage.

If you cook this dish in advance and refrigerate it, the fat hardens and you can just lift it off. Also, the chicken meat stays moist in the broth and is easier to shred when cool. I usually stretch this dish across three meals: I first serve most of the chicken pieces with a sesame-soy or Vietnamese style dipping sauce and rice. The broth can go into Wonton Soup, and I shred the remaining chicken into a sophisticated but amazingly easy Hazelnut Chicken Salad on Shredded Napa Cabbage.

1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), without giblets
2-3/4 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 inches fresh ginger, cut into 6 slices
5 whole green onions, green and white parts diagonally cut into 2-inch lengths
2 tablespoons dry sherry

1. Rub the chicken all over with the salt, including inside the cavity.

2. Place the chicken (and neck if available) in a pot just large enough to hold them. Add the ginger, green onions, and sherry to the pot. Fill the pot with enough water to just cover the chicken by 1/2 inch.

3. Bring the water to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, skim away the brown scum that rises to the top and discard. Partially cover the pot and reduce the heat. Simmer the chicken 15 minutes.

4. Turn off the heat. Leave the chicken fully covered in the pot for 1 hour. Serve the meat and broth as a soup, or separately in other recipes. If desired, refrigerate overnight before use. Before serving, skim or remove the fat and discard the cooked ginger, garlic and green onions.