Rotisserie Chicken: 3 Ways

Buget Tip for Rotisserie Chicken:

Rotisserie chicken is one of the least expensive food items which can really go a long way.  I often pick mine up at Costco for $4.99 but supermarkets also carry them for $6.50 or $7.00, still making it quite affordable, especially when you see what I do with it!

(Blue Cheese) Chicken Salad: Recipe

Suggested Ingredients

2 rotisserie chicken breasts
1 or so cups of red seedless grapes, sliced in half
fat free mayo
1 granny smith apple, diced
2 celery heart ribs, diced
juice from 1/2 of a lemon
crumbled blue cheese to taste

Suggested Method of Cooking

There actually isn't any cooking in this recipe which I love! 

Remove any skin from the rotisserie chicken, remove the chicken from the bone.  Do NOT throw away the bones!  Those will be used later.  Dice the chicken up into small cubes.  Add the grapes, apple and celery and lightly mix together.  Add the mayo and mix until you feel the consistency is just right.  I like mine to be just a bit on the creamy side but not too much mayo.  Squeeze 1/2 of a lemon over the mixture and stir again.  To finish it off add a bit of blue cheese to taste.  Depending on how potent the blue cheese is will determine how much you use.  If you don't like blue cheese Gorgonzola is good, or if that is still a bit too much try something milder like shredded mozzarella or cheddar.

Breasts? Done.. next up, wings, legs and thighs!

Pesto Rotisserie Chicken with Bowties: Recipe

The most expensive ingredient in this recipe are the pine nuts.  Luckily, one package can make 4 rounds of pesto which you can freeze.  If you can manage it, have your own basil plant or buy from a farmers market or do what I do and collect basil from friends who grow it since I have no good sun in my yard.  Another thing to note here is if you can grow African Blue Basil, do so.  It makes a huge shrub when it's happy, provides alot more basil and is more potent than normal basil.  More basil for your buck!

Suggested Ingredients:

Rotisserie Chicken from thighs, wings and drumsticks
package of bowties (or any pasta really, recommend whole wheat pasta)
1/4 cup of pine nuts
2 cups of fresh basil
2/3 cups of olive oil (extra virgin)
1 -2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Suggested Method of Cooking

Boil the pasta according to package directions.  Pull off the skin and bones from the chicken pieces.  Chop the chicken up into smaller pieces.  You can pull the chicken as well, but I like to chop it up.  Save the bones! 

Pesto
Toast the pine nuts in the oven at 350 degrees for 5 or 6 minutes, stirring 1/2 way through.  Use a food processor to chop up the basil, pine nuts and garlic.  While running the processor, slowly add in the olive oil.  After all the oil is added, add in the Parmesan cheese then pulse a few times to mix everything together. 

Once the pasta is done toss the drained pasta with the chicken.  To serve, simply put a bit of pesto over the chicken and pasta and toss gently.  Be careful because the pesto is a bit on the strong side, of course, depending on how much basil and garlic you use!

Rotisserie Chicken Broth: Recipe

Now, the bones we saved from the previous two recipes can be used. 

Suggested Ingredients

Chicken bones from a rotisserie chicken
1 onion, chopped
3 celery heart ribs, chopped
smashed garlic (or roasted garlic if you have some extra time on your hands)
fresh rosemary
lemon zest peel

Suggested Cooking Method

This one is easy.  Throw the bones in a pot with chopped onion, celery a bit of salt, pepper, smashed garlic and fresh rosemary and cover generously with water.  If you are feeling frisky add in some lemon zest peel.  To get lemon zest peel, use a peeler to get just the top of the yellow part of the peel (no white part because it's bitter!)  Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer.  Simmer for a long time - at least an hour and keep tasting to determine when it's done.  When it's done strain out the goodies and the bones.  I like to freeze mine and use it as needed.  At the very least place this in the fridge to cool down.  Once it's cool, the fat will all rise to the top and can be scraped off and thrown away.  Now you have fairly low fat, low sodium chicken stock for use!

Now, you've used the entire rotisserie chicken!  I've used the chicken salad on whole wheat English muffins, croissants and served with crackers as an appetizer.  It's really yummy and makes quite a bit so it goes a long way.  Most of the recipes can be made with ingredients already in your kitchen and for less than $10.00.