Rotisserie Chicken Recipes

Eight years ago, I moved from North Carolina to a mid-sized suburb of Atlanta. I moved here to be with my husband and, while I'm largely happy here, there are some things I miss about my old stomping grounds. One of those things is Boston Market. It's not that this incredibly tasty counter-service restaurant doesn't exist here so much as that the closest one is way on the other side of the city; as much as I love it, I'm not willing to drive an hour and a half one way to get there! One of their specialties is rotisserie chicken. Luckily, you can now get these at the grocery store and experience the intoxicating smell with a lot less effort. If you want a unique meal, here are a couple of recipes.

Chicken Soft Tacos With Slaw makes 6-8 tacos

1 pound rotisserie chicken (both dark and white meat)

6-8 corn tortillas, warmed (flour may work too)

1 cup mild salsa

Slaw

1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 package shredded cabbage (I like a mix of red and white cabbage)

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Pull the chicken from the bones and put in a bowl with the salsa. In a separate bowl, combine the slaw ingredients. Then, just spoon however much you want from each bowl onto the tortilla and eat!

If you prefer hard shells, use a wide-bottomed shell for ease of filling. I suppose you could also serve this in a tortilla bowl and make it a salad.

If you like the lettuce-wrapped dumplings from Ruby Tuesday, here is a variation you can make at home. Unlike other appetizers, they at least have some nutritional value!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps serves 4-6

1 pound rotisserie chicken, both white and dark meat

6 leaves iceberg lettuce

2/3 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 cup water chestnuts, sliced

3 tablespoons onions, chopped

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Stir-fry sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon spicy mustard

2 teaspoons hot water

1 teaspoon chili paste

½ teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Special sauce

½ cup water

¼ cup sugar

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 soy sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon sesame oil

Pull the chicken from the bones. Mix the stir-fry sauce ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, dissolve the sugar in the water and stir in rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice, soy sauce and sesame oil. Refrigerate.

Add oil to a large frying pan or wok and heat on high. Then, saute the chicken for about 2 or 3 minutes. Add the garlic, water chestnuts, onions and mushrooms. Now, add the stir-fry sauce and saute for another 2 minutes and spoon onto the lettuce. Add the special sauce, and enjoy!

Just because you don't have a lot of time doesn't mean you can't serve your family an awesome meal. For another use of chicken, here's a suggestion from Peter Gabriel-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzoLOTvNkjo

:)