Refrigerator raid!

I got home late from work last night after being stuck in traffic for an hour. I just wanted to get home, and in that traffic fog I forgot that I haven't done any grocery shopping recently!  So I had to make something up on the fly. It's actually my favorite way to cook.

Open the fridge, and what do you find?  Be creative!

What did I find?

Well let's see...
 

• Leftover rotisserie chicken
• Roasted red peppers
• Kalamata olives
• Artichoke hearts
• Frozen spinach

Hmmm, sounds like an antipasto doesn't it?  But, I was craving something hot, so I decide to warm it all up into a pasta-like dish.  Enter Quinoa!



I'm sure you've eaten quinoa by now, but do you know that it is really good for you?  High in protein and vitamins, and it gives you a great nutty, crunchy base for just about anything.  Into one cup of boiling water, I put  about a half cup of dry quinoa.  That equals about 1 cup cooked quinoa when it's done.  You'll know it's done when its' rings start to disengage, and it is just slightly crunchy to the bite.

While that was cooking, I mixed together the chicken, spinach, peppers, olives and artichoke hearts in a big frying pan. I use a Calphalon pan so I hardly ever use oil but you may want to add something before you toss this all together. Cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat. 

Then, add in the cook quinoa with the veggies and chicken, and then add a quarter teaspoon of "Better than bouillon" paste. I also added some onion powder and garlic powder at this point. Cook until it all smells good and is nice and hot.
 

This should make three servings, and as you'll notice it's really about the protein and veggies with a little bit of quinoa thrown in.  It was about 1 1/2 chicken breasts, 4 oz of red peppers, 6 artichoke hearts and 12 olives. Put one serving into a bowl and add 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar. It added a really nice rich flavor. I had it today for lunch as a cold dish and it was just as good


What can you make from your refrigerator finds? Go check it out, you might be surprised at what you find!  I also suggest using http://www.supercook.com as it has a great tool that lets you enter the ingredients you have and provides you with a list of recipes you could make with those ingredients.

Share your recipe finds with me on twitter or on Instagram as bostongaljm.


I hope you enjoy!