Recipe for leftover chicken

I am not a gourmet chef by any means.  When it comes to recipes, the simpler the better is what I say.  If a recipe has more than about 5 or 6 ingredients, I glaze over and start looking for something else.  I leave the complicated, cordon bleu stuff to my friend, Ness – she actually enjoys cooking. 

With three kids and a hectic schedule, cooking dinner needs to be as effortless and as painless as possible.  And when the above-mentioned Ness cannot be persuaded to come up and cook dinner for us, I am left to my own devices.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  Sometimes, when I am in my Gordon Ramsay mood, I tackle exotic recipes with reckless abandon and thoroughly enjoy myself…..most of the time.  But when it comes to the daily cooking of meals, I’m a firm believer in quick, easy meals that are nutritious and taste good.

So while I may, from time to time, share exciting recipes I have found on Pinterest, for the most part, the recipes I post here will be my own, tried and tested, get-out-of-jail-quick, made-it-up-and-it-works recipes.

Like this one.  Perfect for those nights when you are short of time and have some leftover chicken in the fridge.

Ingredients:

Cooked chicken – whatever leftovers you have.  About 1 – 2 cups should do it.

1 onion, sliced

1 tsp crushed garlic (or two, if like me, you love garlic!)

1 packet Cream of Chicken Soup Powder (usually about 60gm)

Approximately 1 -2 cups of milk.

Method:

1. Chop up or shred your cooked chicken.
2. Fry the garlic and onion with a dash of oil until the onion is soft.
3. Add the chopped chicken and stir through to heat it.
4. Mix the contents of the soup packet with one cup of milk and then add it to your saucepan.  The milk should just cover the chicken.  Add more milk if necessary.  (Add a small dash of white wine if you are feeling sophisticated.)
5. Stir over a medium heat until the sauce has thickened.
6. Serve with rice, mashed potatoes or pasta.

What I like about this recipe is its versatility.  If you don’t happen to have any leftover chicken, you can use uncooked chicken fillets (about 4 usually does it and feeds the five of us) – chopped into cubes or strips.

Add this after you’ve fried the onion and garlic and cook on a medium heat until it’s cooked through.  Then continue from item 4 on the above list.

If you add some sliced green pepper and / or mushrooms, you will have some “I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-Chicken a la King”.