eating lately: roast chicken three-fer

I got kind of used to not making dinner while Peter was working nights in September, so it was a bit of an adjustment to go back to cooking - and especially to coming up with dinner ideas (generally my least favorite part of the process). So I started in easy with a favorite set of recipes I found in Everyday Food a couple of years ago. We pull these out every couple of months, and it makes for a very easy and quick three days of dinner, all from one roast chicken.

[photos via Everyday Food website]

For meal #1 I just pick up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and we eat part of it with a salad or whatever other vegetables I drum up. Super easy, of course, and Peter loves it. Then we pull the rest of the meat off the bones and put it in the fridge for...

Dinner #2, couscous with shredded chicken and asparagus, which aside from taking only about 15 minutes to make, is a one-pot meal - so it takes even less time to clean up. It's nice and light with only a couple of ingredients but still tasty.

And then #3, our favorite: chicken tostada salad. This recipe takes more like 25 minutes because of the prep work, but it's delicious. You start with a crunchy shell made from baked corn tortillas along with shredded chicken cooked with chili powder, onions, and garlic, and then add any other toppings you like - lettuce, tomatoes, cheese. I always make guacamole to put on them too (yum).

After all that there's even some more chicken left over for Peter to have some quesadillas if he's home over the weekend. Rather economical!