As soon as I learned about his company closing I stopped adding meals to my freezer and switched to a focus on eating what we had. It was great to not need to cook on top of everything else we had going on. We didn't quite make it through all the meals we had in the freezer, and I gave the last of them to a woman I knew who had just had a baby. Now we are in temporary housing while we wait to move into the house we are in the process of buying. That means no freezer meals for us right now. I miss them. Life is much simpler when dinner is ready and in the freezer every day. I do have a couple recipes that I made in my last batch of freezer cooking that I haven't gotten around to posting yet what with all the frantic packing. So I have something to post while I wait to get back to my freezer cooking.
This isn't a chicken tikka like you might be thinking about with chunks of chicken in a creamy tomato sauce that is served over rice, although I do have a freezer version of chicken tikka masala if that is what you are looking for. No, this is chicken marinated in a yogurt marinade and roasted with potatoes and cauliflower. It is delicious. I served this to guests a few months ago and one in particular raved about it continually.
This freezer meal falls into a category of doing some prep work that can be frozen to make the meal simpler the day of. Really the only work that is being done in advance is making the marinade, putting the meat in it and freezing, but that little bit of advance work makes getting dinner on so much easier, especially if you use pre-cut cauliflower florets that are available in most supermarket produce aisles. So if you have other meats you like to marinade, it might be worth it for you to go ahead and get them in the marinade and freeze. It's also worthwhile to look at other things you like to eat that may be simplified by some of the prep being done in advance and frozen.
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Some Assembly Required
Recipe Column: DQ
Head over to Smitten Kitchen to find the recipe. For the freezer just make the marinade and coat the chicken with it. You'll do the potatoes and cauliflower when it's time to serve. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I highly recommend checking your grocery store to see if they have minced, fresh ginger. It's generally with the jars of minced garlic in the produce section and is becoming pretty common. I love the smell of mincing fresh ginger, but when you have a lot to mince it is a major pain and can be time consuming. Using already minced ginger makes this process go a lot faster.
To freeze:
Divide the chicken and the marinade into the desired number of containers or bags and freeze.
To serve:
4 yukon gold potatoes or 6 red potatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 bag cauliflower florets from the produce section (you may need to break the florets up into bite-sized chunks if they are particularly large.)
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
Thaw the chicken overnight in the refrigerator. Line a rimmed sheet tray with foil and spread the potatoes and cauliflower out on the pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Spread the potatoes and cauliflower evenly across the pan then make holes to put your pieces of chicken in. Remove the chicken from the marinade and place in the holes. Discard the marinade. Bake at 425 degrees until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees and the potatoes and cauliflower are tender, about 40 minutes. Halfway through the cooking process, stir the potatoes and cauliflower to ensure they cook evenly.
You can serve this by itself or with some naan. Many grocery stores are starting to carry naan in their bakery sections which is very convenient.
If you want to go all out with your Indian dining at home, make an easy mango lassi to go with it.
Category: Some Assembly Required
Recipe Column: DQ
Head over to Smitten Kitchen to find the recipe. For the freezer just make the marinade and coat the chicken with it. You'll do the potatoes and cauliflower when it's time to serve. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I highly recommend checking your grocery store to see if they have minced, fresh ginger. It's generally with the jars of minced garlic in the produce section and is becoming pretty common. I love the smell of mincing fresh ginger, but when you have a lot to mince it is a major pain and can be time consuming. Using already minced ginger makes this process go a lot faster.
To freeze:
Divide the chicken and the marinade into the desired number of containers or bags and freeze.
To serve:
4 yukon gold potatoes or 6 red potatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 bag cauliflower florets from the produce section (you may need to break the florets up into bite-sized chunks if they are particularly large.)
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
Thaw the chicken overnight in the refrigerator. Line a rimmed sheet tray with foil and spread the potatoes and cauliflower out on the pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Spread the potatoes and cauliflower evenly across the pan then make holes to put your pieces of chicken in. Remove the chicken from the marinade and place in the holes. Discard the marinade. Bake at 425 degrees until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees and the potatoes and cauliflower are tender, about 40 minutes. Halfway through the cooking process, stir the potatoes and cauliflower to ensure they cook evenly.
You can serve this by itself or with some naan. Many grocery stores are starting to carry naan in their bakery sections which is very convenient.
If you want to go all out with your Indian dining at home, make an easy mango lassi to go with it.
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