Date I made this recipe: Sunday, October 22, 2017
Rachael Ray Express Lane Meals – A 30-Minute Meal
Cookbook by Rachael Ray
Published by Clarkson
Potter/Publishers
ISBN: 1-4000-8255-2; © 2006
Purchased at: Paperback Exchange, Minneapolis
Recipe: Leek-y Chicken and Couscous – p. 22-23
Reader, I don’t know when
I’ve been so decisive on selecting a cookbook and recipe, but this was a new a
new record for me. In fact, I wasn’t
even trying when I pulled it off the shelf.
This is not normally how it goes for me, but maybe I should try this
more often?
To set the stage, I had a
couple of other dishes on deck to make this weekend, but when I ran them by
Andy, he was rather “meh” about them and so I tabled them for another day. I was also torn between making something that
said “fall” but then our weather warmed up and something warm and heavy didn’t
seem appropriate.
That said on Saturday, I
attended a pot luck and one of the attendees brought pulled pork (which to me
says “fall”) and dang, did that taste good!
So, hmm, maybe a crock pot meal?
At this point, I still had a
fairly decent window to make something in the crock pot without going too late
into the evening, and so I did a quick scan of my collection, and up on one of
my very top shelves, I spied Slow Cooker
cookbook. Alas folks, nothing in there
floated my boat, so I re-shelved it and was rethinking my options when I found
myself eye to eye with several Rachael Ray cookbooks and decided to look
through Express Lane Meals. To be clear, Rachael Ray is famous for her 30-minute
meals, so there went the crockpot idea!
This turned out to be a good thing though, since Andy and I had a few
stops to make before we could get to a grocery store and by that time, the
afternoon was flying by.
I’ve mentioned before that
Rachael’s chipper personality can be grating but her recipes are spot on and
Andy and I have enjoyed almost everything we’ve made; this dish was no
exception. In fact, to quote Rachael,
this was “delish!”
At this point, I had totally
lost interest with heartier and/or slow-cooked fare and decided I needed
something “light.” Not “salad” light,
but along those same lines. Fall may be
the season of hearty and comforting food, but I am slow to embrace fall; bring
on endless summer!
As you’ll see below, the
book’s “Table of Contents” was brief which was fine except I had to take the
time to go through each page to find recipes of interest; I prefer a more
streamlined approach. Our chapters were:
- · “Meals for the Exhausted” (76 pages of recipes and instructions)
- · “Meals for the Not Too Tired” (104 pages of recipes and instructions)
- · “Bring it On! (But, Be Gentle.)” (44 pages of recipes and instructions)
You see? How were these categories helpful?
Further, I just had to
chuckle over the first two categories, “Meals for the Exhausted,” and “Meals
for the Not Too Tired.” Let’s break this down, starting with the interpretation
of what was written, particularly the “for the” designation as in: these meals are being made FOR people who are
exhausted or not [yet] too tired. Well,
where does that leave the cook? What if
I’m the one who is exhausted or not [yet] too tired? What result?
Assuming then, (dangerous, I
know), that Rachael intended these recipes to be made BY me or others who are
exhausted or will be shortly, let’s look at how many pages there are for us to
review. If you’re already exhausted,
then you must look through 76 pages of recipes and instructions. If you are merely working your way up to
being exhausted, then you need to review 104 pages. I’m going to go out on a limb here and
suggest that reading that many pages will change your status from “not too
tired” to “exhausted” in a Rachael-Ray minute!
Okay then, since the
possibilities of me ending up on my couch instead of in the kitchen cooking
were high, I decided to make it easy on myself and look for recipes that were
easy and light and concluded that this meant chicken, seafood, or pasta sans
heavy sauces. This meant that I could
pretty much tear through the cookbook, saving my strength for the cooking to
follow.
Happily, it didn’t take me
long to find what I was looking for because right there, on page 22, was the
recipe I selected: Leek-y Chicken and Couscous.
This recipe was very easy, and I did appreciate that it was not too
taxing for me to make seeing as how I was already “exhausted” and everything!
Here were some other contenders:
- · Cacio e Pepe (Cheese and Pepper Pasta) and Spinach with White Beans – p. 30
- · Toasted Garlic and Sweet Pea Pasta (I love peas!) – p. 52-52
- · Cowboy Spaghetti (with fire-roasted tomatoes and Cheddar cheese) – p. 60-61
- · Smoky Black Bean and Rice “Stoup” – p. 64-65 (Rachael likes to call something that is a soup/stew a “stoup.” I can’t say that word does much for me but it’s her word so she gets to use it.)
- · Everything Lo Mein – p. 114-115
There were a few others of
interest and there were some other heartier recipes that I might have made on
another day, but I liked the sound (and the taste) of chicken and leeks.
Once I selected the dish of
the day, it was time to go shopping and since I needed to go to Kowalski’s (local, family-owned grocery
store) to get a few things, I thought I’d pick up the chicken there, and so I
got two packages of chicken tenders and went home to start cooking.
Folks, as I walked into the
house, I smelled something rather awful and could not figure it out until I
took the [still sealed] packaged chicken out of my grocery bag. Ew, that did not smell good! Then I opened it and ew x 2, that really did
not smell good. I called Andy over for a second opinion and he thought one didn’t
smell too bad, but the other smelled “interesting.” Well, I am totally my mother’s daughter, and
I don’t “do” chicken that smells “interesting” or is “not too bad” so I called
Kowalski’s and asked to speak to the meat department.
Folks, if you live in the
Twin Cities and are close to a Kowalski’s you need to visit them because here’s
what happened next. I spoke to Brian in
the meat department on Grand Ave and said, “Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t
think this chicken smells right.” He
said, “Well, rather than take a chance that it’s gone bad, if you want, you can
bring it back to us and we’ll exchange it for a product that does work for you,
no charge, and we’ll give you a gift certificate for your trouble.
Ponder that a second: Not only did they give me new product for
free, no questions asked, but they rewarded me for letting them know and
bringing it in. I LOVE this grocery store
even more than I already did! I dispatched Andy to go to the grocery store to
do the deed, and he too, came back glowing.
I even posted this on my Facebook page because getting any type of
services these days is a miracle, but getting this type of service was outstanding.
Okay then, now on to the
recipe and how we fared. This was a very
easy recipe to make and one that seemed healthy and that was what I was looking
for. First, you make the couscous, then
you make the chicken and leeks and ta-da, you are done! That Rachael – when she says “30 minutes” she
means “30” minutes! Enjoy!
Leek-y Chicken and Couscous – 4 servings
1 ½ cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup golden raisins, a
couple of handfuls, chopped
1 ½ cups plain couscous
2 tablespoons EVOO
(extra-virgin olive oil), twice around the pan
1 ½ pounds chicken tenders,
cut into large bit-size pieces
Salt and black pepper
2 medium leeks or 1 large
leek
1 cup dry white wine (eyeball
it), about ¼ bottle
A handful of fresh flat-leaf
parsley, chopped
Heat the chicken stock and 1
tablespoons of the butter in a medium pot with a tight-fitting lid. When the liquid boils, add the raisins and couscous. Take the pan off the heat. Stir the couscous and place the lid on the
pot. Let it stand.
Heat a large nonstick skillet
over medium-high heat and add the EVOO.
Add the chicken in a single layer and season it with salt and
pepper. While the chicken browns on all
sides, trim the rough tops and the root ends off the leeks.
Cut the leeks in half
lengthwise, then cut them into 1-inch half moons. Place the leeks in a colander and run them
under cold water. Separate the layers to
release the dirt and grit. Rinse well,
then drain well.
Add the leeks to the chicken
and wilt, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the wine
and let it cook down by half, 3 to 4 minutes. The leeks should still have some
color but should be tender and the chicken should be cooked through. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and
swirl into the sauce.
Fluff the couscous with a
fork and stir in the parsley. Place a
bed of couscous on each dinner plate and top it with the chicken and leeks.
