The Kitchn Archive: Jan 2016

Do you have leftover risotto hanging out in the fridge? If not, I suggest you make a batch, let it cool, and then make these roasted garlic and goat cheese arancini — little rice balls stuffed with fontina. To make arancini, you simply take leftover risotto, form it into balls, cover the balls in breadcrumbs, and fry them.

Still don’t know what you’re making for dinner tonight? How about this Greek-inspired chicken and rice casserole? You just need a baking dish and one hour. That’s right — you simply bake jasmine rice, chicken breast, and chicken stock in a casserole dish for about an hour until everything is cooked. While the casserole is baking, you can prep the toppings: feta, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, Kalamata olives, and fresh parsley.

If your winter meals are starting to look a little beige, this vibrant berry smoothie is here to help. Grab some frozen berries, an orange, some Greek yogurt, and coconut water – let’s make something delicious for breakfast. This smoothie is easy to adjust based on your preferences. You can choose any type of berry for this smoothie, but I went with frozen strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Like your smoothie a little less thick?

Q: Whenever my partner and I order Chinese or Asian takeaway, we get large bags of free shrimp chips/prawn crackers. I don’t like wasting food, so I have been keeping them fresh in the refrigerator, but they’re starting to pile up. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can use them for cooking? Could they be mashed/ground and made into a crust or be used as breadcrumbs? Any help would be great! Sent by Jennifer Editor: The first thought that came to mind was fried chicken.

There’s nothing like a warm bowl of rice pudding to comfort you during the winter months. But there’s no reason to wait until after dinner to whip up a batch. Grab last night’s leftover rice — we’re making dessert for breakfast this morning. I love how this recipe makes use of cooked brown rice. If you’ve got a container of takeout rice sitting in the fridge, this is the perfect opportunity to use it.

In today’s edition of why didn’t I think of that? I bring you mocha oatmeal. That’s right — this simple breakfast dish combines your morning meal and your morning coffee in one bowl. Ingenious! The key to true coffee flavor in this dish is boiling the oats in 1/2 cup fresh-brewed coffee and 1/2 cup water. Once the oats are cooked, you mix in vanilla extract, finely chopped chocolate-covered coffee beans, grated bittersweet chocolate, and cacao nibs.

When I was 17 and an ardent vegetarian (I’ve since recovered), my good friend Allison introduced me to soba noodles. These nutty, chewy, buckwheat strands cooked up faster than pasta and were delicious with a quick sauce of rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and minced ginger. I was doing much of my grocery shopping at Asian markets at the time and buying soba noodles by the armful. But then I found peanut sauce and my soba noodles took on a whole new, far more delicious life.

When it comes to morning meals, I always look for something easy and protein-packed to carry me through to lunch. These mini frittatas — with fresh dill, garlic, and shallot — definitely fit the bill. These mini frittatas couldn’t be easier to make: You simply whisk the ingredients together, pour the mixture into a greased muffin tin, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.