"Choose Your Own Adventure" Pantry Pilaf
"Choose Your Own Adventure" Pantry Pilaf
By Chadwick Boyd
PHOTO BY BROOKE SLEZAK
For HLN, I shared my secret to using up the meats, poultry, fish and spices that we bought last year and stored in our freezers and pantry when the pandemic began. I call it “Pantry Pilaf.”
Foods should only be kept in our freezers for one year. Spices, especially ground ones, and dried herbs begin to lose their potency after about a year, so we should use them up right about now.
My Panty Pilaf is an easy way to use it all. It’s a “Choose Your Own Adventure” approach to a simple, but big-in-flavor, one pot meal that feeds a family of four. You can use up beef, those frozen chicken breasts sitting on the bottom of the shelf, salmon or white fish fillets, tofu blocks and more.
I provide “spices in threes” combinations to use for this pilaf depending on your mood and taste preference - Mexican, Italian and Middleeastern.
My Pantry Pilaf is a base. Once you get the hang of it, you can make it completely your own. Adjust whatever spices you prefer. Add more heat or dial it down. But have fun and eat well while using up all that good food and spices that we’ve stored for a year.
Chadwick’s Checklist
What you need to know before you cook
- Always thaw frozen proteins on a plate in the refrigerator overnight
- If you are using seafood, add shrimp three minutes before the rest of the pilaf is done. Add salmon and white fish 5-6 minutes before the pilaf is finished cooking
- The spice combinations are a base to build from. If you like other spices, feel free to adjust to your liking
SERVING SIZE: 4 PREP TIME: 10 mins COOKING TIME: 25 mins
Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup sweet onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of each of these three spices
Mexican: ground cumin, chili powder, ground coriander
Italian: dried oregano, dried basil, dried thyme
Middleeastern: ground cinnamon, ground cumin, turmeric
1½ teaspoons salt
1 cup rice, quinoa, wheat berries, pasta
1-1½ lbs chicken, pork, beef, tofu, seafood, thawed and cut into ½-inch cubes. If using shrimp, keep it whole
2 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
3-4 tablespoons freshly chopped herbs - Italian parsley, cilantro, basil, rosemary, thyme
Directions
Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet on medium-high. Add the onion, garlic, spice combination of your choosing and salt. Stir until the onion and garlic are coated with the spices. Cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes.
Place your cubed protein in the skillet with the onions. **If using salmon or whitefish, add 6 minutes before rice is done; add shrimp 3 minutes before rice is done**.
Add the rice (or other grain of your choice) to the skillet along with the broth. Stir well with a wooden spoon. Bring the liquid to a low boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cover. Cook 20 minutes, or until the rice (or grain) is tender and the protein is cooked.
Remove from the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with fresh herbs.
Serve.
Chadwick’s Changeups
Switch things up. Have some fun! Do more.
- Add halved cherry tomatoes before serving
- Add a can of whole, peeled tomatoes when you add the broth, just drain the juice beforehand
- Feel free to add in other chopped vegetables, like butternut squash, zucchini, asparagus...whatever you have on hand! As a rule of thumb, add about 7 minutes before the pilaf is done cooking.
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