Chicken Thighs, Portobellos, Wild Rice & Noodle Bake

Maybe it isn't Thursday (or maybe it is by the time you read this), but what we've got here is a throwback. A throwback recipe, that is. Our cold and snowy weather outside had me remembering warm kitchens and tempting aromas of slower times and some old fashioned family recipes. 

Memories of a rice and egg noodle side dish I used to make back in the seventies kept nudging me until I looked up the old recipe. It included a little soy sauce and some water chestnuts along with chicken stock. In fact, it was kind of a made-from-scratch Rice-a-Roni twist...which (sigh) I couldn't have because of the celiac issue. 

You know, I reworked that old recipe into a one dish dinner with chicken thighs and beefy portobello mushrooms and ended up with an entire Sunday dinner that was even better than the original side dish. Instead of egg noodles, fine rice noodles worked perfectly. Instead of Minute rice, I used a box of Near East Wild Rice mix (this brand is gluten free). And, of course, I used wheat free tamari in place of soy sauce. Chicken, portobellos, wine....voila! A throwback recipe that was updated to be gluten free, that was almost a one dish dinner, and was everything I'd remembered. 

All that was needed was a salad or a green vegetable for a Sunday dinner that brought back warm memories with a whole new and easy dinner. They say you can't go back. Maybe, with a good old fashioned recipe in hand, there's a way after all.

Chicken Thighs, Portobellos, Wild Rice 

& Noodle Bake

• 2 T olive oil
• 5-6 skinless chicken thighs (or equivalent chicken breasts, if you wish)
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 large portobello mushroom caps, sliced across in half and then into 1/2" pieces
• 3 T butter
• 4 oz fine rice noodles (half a box of 8.8 oz Thai Kitchen Thin Rice Noodles or same amount of another brand)
• a 6 oz box of Near East Long Grain & Wild Rice mix (original), save the spice packet
• 1/2 C dry white wine
• 20 oz low salt chicken broth
• 1 T wheat free tamari or soy sauce
• 1 can of sliced water chestnuts - do not drain

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

On top of the stove, in an ovenproof Dutch oven, heat olive oil. 

Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper, then brown on both sides. Remove from pan. Add mushrooms to the pot and stir a minute or two until just cooked. Remove to same plate as chicken.

Add butter to pot and melt. Add noodles and stir until lightly browned in places; add the wild rice mix - do not add seasoning packet yet. Stir rice and noodles until coated with butter. Now sprinkle the seasoning packet over the mixture in the pot and pour the wine in; stir up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add chicken broth and tamari, stir again. Add water chestnuts, including the liquid, and stir well.

Top rice and noodle mixture with browned chicken and then with the mushrooms. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Serve with a side salad or green veggie.

A Twist On The Traditional Tuna Noodle Casserole

Is there anything as easy as a tuna noodle casserole? Take a can of tuna, cooked noodles, a can of mushroom soup, maybe a little cheddar, bake until its browned and bubbly and there you have your typical Friday Lenten dinner. Wham, bam, done. Unless you're gluten-free. Then it's a wee bit more complicated. (But not ALL that much!)

When it comes to a gluten-free tuna casserole, some of the basics are the same...or nearly so. Tuna? No issue there. Noodles? There are REALLY good GF noodles, so that's not an issue either. Good ol' Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup? Nope. That's where one of the things we (old fashioned) cooks take for granted goes awry.

Condensed cream of mushroom soup, this basic ingredient of the All American casserole is laden with gluten! What's more, this pantry shelf wonder is almost irreplaceable for that good, rich, traditional favorite national casserole dish. (Note the word almost in the previous sentence?) You may think what will I do?! How will I live the rest of my life without this old timey staple for nearly every family favorite casserole? The answer? Not a big deal, really.

These days I make my dish with lots of big slices of browned-in-butter fresh mushrooms instead of those teeny, tiny mushroom-ish specks in the tan-gray glop from the can. I add the color and flavor of sauteed red (and maybe yellow and orange, too, if I have them on hand) peppers and beautiful green spinach, a little onion and not only is the tuna mixture looking colorfully gorgeous, it's been pumped up with vitamins and fiber, too! Creaminess? Just a little Greek yogurt or sour cream (if you're feeling indulgent) takes care of that just fine along with lots of good sharp cheddar chunks that melt into ooey, gooey treasures studded throughout the noodles. Sounds even better than the original, doesn't it? It is!

Even if you don't have to watch out for that old demon gluten, you may just want to give this version a spin with regular "gluten-FULL" noodles. You know, the same ones you used in your old version? Maybe this one does require a few more steps than just opening a couple of cans, but I think YOU might just think those extra couple of minutes are worth it. I do!

Tuna Casserole Twist

Serves 6-8

• 12 oz. package rotini pasta (twist shapes to go with the 'twist' theme!) - I used Barilla gluten-free rotini or you can use whatever shape you like best. Be sure not to overcook. Cook them just short of al dente because the pasta continues to cook in the oven and absorbs the flavors of the casserole.
• 2 T butter, plus another 2 T to butter the casserole dish - soft butter to make the buttering easier
• 8 oz. sliced mushrooms
• 1/3 C red pepper, diced
• 1/3 C yellow pepper, diced
• 1 1/2 C fresh baby spinach, left whole (or if you have bigger spinach, cut into ribbons or chop roughly)
• 1/4 C onion, finely diced
• 2 cans light tuns in water, do NOT drain - broken into smaller pieces (I like light tuna for a casserole, but white for tuna salad)
• 1 C Greek yogurt (you know I use Fage 0%) or sour cream, if you wish
• Jane's Crazy Salt (my fave seasoned salt) - I used about a tablespoon as this is a big casserole and LOTS of freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 6-7 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, diced small

Set oven to 350 degrees.

While the noodles are cooking, melt 2 T butter in a skillet. Saute the mushrooms, peppers and onion until just wilted. Set aside.

Drain the cooked noodles in a colander. When all the water is drained off, put the noodles carefully back into the pot. Add the sauteed veggies, spinach, tuna, yogurt (or sour cream), Jane's Crazy Salt and pepper and stir gently. Add the diced cheddar, stir gently again. Butter a large, deep casserole dish with the remaining 2 T of soft butter.

Pour the mixture into the casserole dish. Bake approximately 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Thai(ish) Coconut Peanut Noodle and Veg Salad with Grilled Steak

Summer pasta salad fatigue setting in yet? Getting tired of the same pasta salads over and over again? You know what I mean...macaroni salad - been there, bow-tie pasta salad - done that, all the mayo-based or Italian-salad-dressing-doused or from-the-box-ala-Suddenly-Salad kinda salads that turn up on every picnic and dinner table in America. Ho hum. What to do...what to do....

Bored and in the mood for a little something different - and just maybe a little exotic - I set about making a Thai-inspired noodle salad with a box of Annie Chun Pad Thai noodles I had on the pantry shelf. The warm salad included lots of bright green basil, broccoli and spinach, crisp sprouts, a little heat of finely slivered jalapeno, freshly squeezed lime juice, sweet and creamy coconut milk accented with umami flavors of peanut butter, fish sauce (don't turn up your nose...it doesn't taste fishy, just adds BIG Thai notes) and tamari.

To serve this one-dish-meal-in-a-salad, we grilled up a cap steak from the rib eye, sliced it into medallions before laying it lovingly atop the salad, scattered crunchy, salty peanuts over all and garnished the whole thing with extra basil and lime to taste. The result? I'm positive our tastebuds gave an appreciative standing ovation to the salad excitement they beheld (and be-tasted?). Vive la summer pasta salad différence! 

Thai(ish) Coconut Peanut Noodle and Veg Salad 

with Grilled Steak

Serves 4

• 2 ribeye cap steaks - or your favorite cut, seasoned and grilled how you like it - 1/2 steak per person

• 8 ounces rice noodles, pad Thai style (I used Annie Chun brand), cooked according to package directions - al dente - drain in a colander and rinse well with cold water - set aside

• 1 cup fresh spinach, julienned
• 6 medium basil leaves, fresh, cut into chiffonade
• 1/2 large jalapeno chile pepper, seeds and ribs removed, sliced thinly into slivers 1/4" long
• 1 cup bean sprouts, fresh, rinsed and dried
• 1 cup peanuts, salted - reserve 1/4 cup for garnish
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 cup broccoli florets, cut into small pieces

• 3/4 cup lite coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
• 2 teaspoons tamari soy sauce, wheat-free to make this GF or regular soy sauce if gluten isn't an issue for you
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce

Make the salad ahead of time and grill the steak the way you like before serving.
 
Mix the dressing ingredients - coconut milk through fish sauce - in a bowl until the peanut butter is thoroughly incorporated and pour over the cooked noodles. Add the spinach, basil, jalapeno, sprouts salt, broccoli and salt. Toss well until all the veggies, noodles and sauce are well-combined. Arrange the salad on a platter and top with sliced steak and garnish with the rest of the peanuts and lime to squeeze as needed.
 
NOTE: Feel free to make this by itself without the steak for a lovely side dish!

Asian Beef & Noodles

I love making foods that are super easy, but also SO yummy! Okay, many of us have had a time in our lives where we could do without having ramen noodles ever again...maybe you HAD to eat them too many times in your life.

Here's a recipe that will change the way you look at that old college staple and instead turns those dreaded ramen into a whole new and different Asian dish you might want to make again and again. Really!
 

• 1 1/4 pounds ground beef, extra lean

• 2 packages ramen, Oriental flavor noodles

• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, oriental variety

• 1/2 teaspoon ginger

• 2 green onions thinly sliced - well up into the green

• 1 small can of sliced water chestnuts, coarsely chopped

• 2 cups water 

 
In large skillet, brown ground beef over medium heat until there is no pink left; breaking up into pieces. Drain the grease from the skillet and remove the beef to a large bowl. Add ONE seasoning packet from noodles (save the other for later in the recipe) to the beef in the bowl; set aside. 
 
In same skillet, combine 2 cups water, veggies, noodles (broken up), ginger, water chestnuts and remaining seasoning packet (told you you'd use the other packet!). Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer 3 minutes or until noodles are tender. Return beef to skillet; stir in green onions. Serve!