Rice Bowl with Chicken & Veggies

For all my university dorm room dwelling visitors I have a cheap and quickie meal for you. And it's even nutritious! So get out the hot plate and cook up my steamed Rice Bowl with Chicken & Veggies recipe. This tasty meal is cheap too.

And it's a one pot meal that only takes the time to cook a cup of rice. And as for vegetables, I add a frozen veggie mix. There are a lot of different types, so you can use any favorite, like: Oriental Stir Fry, California Blend, and Cauliflower, Broccoli, Peas, Corn and Carrots. You can even combine almost any other veggies you find in your local grocery frozen case.

For protein I add a small can of cooked chicken. It's about the size of a can of tuna. If you prefer cooked roasted chicken from your neighborhood grocery, then use some of that.

If you want to kick the meal up a notch, then top it all with a fried egg. Many Eastern cultures top an entree with a fried egg. Mix in a creamy yolk with the Rice Bowl and you'll see and taste why.

One pound packages of frozen veggies are cheap at any grocery store or Dollar Tree. You know how inexpensive rice is. As for chicken I get small cans of it from my local 99c only Store.

If chicken is too expensive then top the cooked veggies and rice with a fried or scrambled egg. Of course, you can keep this meal vegetarian and leave out the chicken and egg.

You can drizzle on my Rice Bowl with Chicken & Veggies a favorite condiment, like soy sauce, chili sauce, sweet and sour sauce, hot sauce, or anything you have on hand.

So just dump in those cheap ingredients into a pot and and get to cooking. You and your dorm roommate can devote your new found time to studying (yeah, right) while my simple and tasty recipe cooks away.

Ingredients (about 2 servings) 
1 cup of rice - white or brown rice.
1 package of frozen veggies - about 1 pound. Okay to use any favorite type, like:  Oriental Stir Fry, California Blend, and Cauliflower, Broccoli, Peas and Carrots. You can combine any you have in the freezer.
1 small can of cooked chicken - I used a 5 ounce can. Okay to use any leftover cooked chicken, included roasted chicken from your local grocery deli department.
1 1/2cups of water - for cooking rice. Normally it's 2 cups of water, but frozen veggies also provide liquid, so less water makes for less mushy rice.
Pepper to taste - I leave out salt, as the canned chicken has enough salt for me, but you can add some if you like.
Optional - Add a fried egg on top of finished rice bowl.

Directions
 In a pot or rice cooker add water, rice, chicken and frozen veggies. You can add the liquid from the canned chicken too.

Cook according to rice package directions. Usually, bring water to a boil. Cover pot and reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Let the rice rest covered for 5 minutes more.

For extra protein, while the rice is resting, fry an egg to top your Rice Bowl with Chicken & Veggies.

Hindsight
You could use raw chicken, but cut it into small bite-size pieces, so it cooks all the way through. And mix chicken into the rice and water. When done, cut into largest piece of chicken to make sure there is no pink color.

To fry an egg, like they do for a Japanese rice bowl, just add a tablespoon of oil to your egg pan over a medium heat. Crack an egg and add it to pan, careful not to break the yellow yolk. Now just let it cook until the white is cooked solid and the yolk is still soft. No need to turn the egg. When egg is done gently scrape it loose from the pan. Place the fried egg on the Rice Bowl when serving.

This meal is easy to reheat in the microwave the next day, too.

Chicken Satay With Peanut Sauce

Like L.A. with its taco carts, Thailand has its own street food, and that is grilled Chicken Satay. The Chef has only been to Thailand through travel cooking shows like Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" and food websites that describe street vendor food, but he likes nothing better than pulling over to the curb to investigate what's cooking on the corner. And now the Chef brings his whisk to this corner of Southeast Asia.

Skewered Grilled Chicken Satay may be a humble dish, but it seems to be a favorite on the party circuit - I had it recently at an opening for an exhibition of movie posters at the Motion Picture Academy in Beverly Hills. Not many street vendor dishes make it that far. For your own party, The Chef will show you how easy it is to make a platter of these tender and flavorful fowl fillets.

Chicken breast and skinned, boneless leg quarters are available for 99 cents or less at local Latin markets. There is little preparation to do; just slice into strips for skewering. Chicken breasts are simple to fillet -- just slide the knife blade along the middle breast bone and see how easily the flesh separates. Dark meat is the most foolproof -- it doesn't dry out as easily as white, and works best for a party where the cooked skewer satay may set out awhile.

The chicken strips must then be marinated in a mixture of condensed milk, powdered ginger and cumin. Without bones or skin, the chicken skewers cook in 5 minutes, so you can leave the chicken marinating until the last minute for a quick grill or broil. If you are cooking ahead of time, dark meat is better; white meat tends to dry out. Either way, set aside some coconut cream for basting, to help keep cooked chicken moist while it stays covered and warm in the stove. But there is nothing better than chicken satay hot off the grill !
To make a tasty Thai-style dipping sauce, mix peanut butter into heated coconut milk or coconut cream.

This dish pairs perfectly with my Thai Cucumber Salad and Coconut Rice. Just click on the names to see my recipes.

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

• 2 whole chicken breasts - or about 2 lbs white or dark meat
• 1 can (about 11 ounces) of condensed milk - OK to substitute 13oz. can of coconut cream or milk. Reserve a tablespoon for Peanut Dipping Sauce.
• 1 tbsp. ground cumin or curry powder
• 1 tsp. ground ginger - optional

Peanut Dipping Sauce 

• 1/2 can of coconut cream or milk
• 2 tbsp. peanut butter  - I used a cheap smooth type.
• 1 tbsp. condensed milk (optional)

The dipping sauce is made by mixing coconut cream, condensed milk and peanut butter together in a saute pot. Heat and mix until blended, about 5 minutes. Set aside until serving time. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Directions
Soak bamboo skewers in water. In a large bowl add condensed milk (or coconut milk) and mix in cumin and ginger. Reserve 1/4 cup of marinade for basting when grilling. On a cutting board slice chicken into strips or cubes. If you are using whole chicken breast it is easy to slice along middle bone/cartilage to remove large fillets to cut into strips. Dark meat thighs take a bit more work; the meat does not seperate from the bone as easily, but it is the cheapest way to go. I do find 99 cent per pound boneless chicken on sale at my local Latin market once a month.

Add sliced or cubed cut chicken to condensed milk bowl. Allow to marinate an hour or more covered in the refrigerator.

Heat your grill or broiler oven. Thread chicken pieces onto bamboo skewers. This is messy, so assemble skewers on a large platter. Grill or broil for 2 -3 minutes each side for white meat; dark meat may need an extra minute more. Use extra marinade or coconut milk for basting during grilling. Because the meat has no bone, it cooks fast. It is easy to overcook so keep an eye on it. Serve with Peanut Dipping Sauce on the side or in a shallow dish.

The Chef's Sunset Magazine Profile & An Under 2 Minute Salad - Video

The 99 Cent Chef takes out-of-towner Jenny Cunningham of Sunset Magazine in hand and shows her a banquet of L.A. frugal finds. Read her account in the May issue of Sunset Magazine now on newsstands, or the library if you are chintzy like The Chef. Photography is by Lisa Romerein. Some of the highlight destinations are a trip to Carney's hotdog train car on the Sunset Strip for a beer and hot dog totaling $3.50 -- to downtown destinations including: the "Too Hot Tamales's" Ciudad Restaurant for happy hour mojitos with carnitas tacos, and 35 cent cocktails at the glamorous downtown speakeasy The Edison -- a special offered from 5-7 p.m. every Thursday. A brief excerpt below:

An Under 2 Minute Salad - Video

Salads are economical, healthy and especially, quick to make. With packages of cleaned and trimmed spinach, lettuce, or mache blends of various leafy greens, crates of cherry tomatoes, canned veggies and chicken, everything is conveniently available for a speedy salad. The Chef recently noticed how quickly it can all come together during a lunch break, when a fellow worker popped open a few containers and, quicker than I could microwave my lunch, she had assembled and dug into a delicious looking salad. I complimented her leafy prowess, and made a mental note to try this at home - with a stop watch. Check out the following video to see exactly how fast the Chef tosses his salad. 

An Under 2 Minute Salad - Video

Play it here. The video runs 3 minutes 17 seconds.

Ingredients (2-3 servings)

• 6 oz. bag of spinach
• 15 oz.can of beets (whole, sliced, or julienne)
• 5 oz. can of chicken, turkey or tuna
• 10 oz. cherry tomatoes (small crate)
• 1 tbsp. each oil and vinegar - per serving 

Directions
In the video, I made a single serving; but you can add all the ingredients together for 2-3 servings. Make sure to drain liquid from canned goods. Lastly, whisk together oil and vinegar, or use your favorite salad dressing. For a work lunch salad keep canned drained ingredients in separate containers, so spinach does not get soggy.

Go here to embed or view video at youtube.