Leftover Chicken! Whatever will we do?

One of us got a nice chicken/asparagus lunch yesterday. The other enjoyed a sandwich, so that there would be enough chicken leftover for dinner last night. How, might you ask, would one stretch a chicken breast and a wing into a meal (or two meals) for two? Add vegetables, rice, and chicken stock and turn that into Risotto.

To make a delicious risotto, you need a few things:
2 Cups Arborio, or other short grained rice
1 finely diced onion
3 Zucchini/Yellow Squash -- diced
5-7 dried Shitake mushrooms (you could use Porcini if you're rich)
2 quarts of chicken stock, or a combination of chicken stock and wine/water
your leftover chicken parts
seasonings complementary to said leftover chicken parts

Yep, you could cut this recipe in half, but, then you wouldn't have any leftovers...

First, get a big pot -- taller is better than wider. I like a nice stockpot. Last night I used my chef's pan, and, well, there was too much surface area and it took more time/liquid than it should have. Tall and narrow is the way to go. If you do this right, you can make the whole meal and only dirty two pots.

Sauté your zucchini/squash in butter/olive oil and season with complementary seasonings. I used some garlic and onion powder, celery salt, some soy and sesame oil. Once softened, and beginning to brown. Remove this to a bowl and set aside.

Add a little more butter/oil and begin to sweat your onion in the same pot. A little salt on the onion will go a long way toward the sweating process.

Meanwhile, get another saucepan on the stove and add a good portion of your chicken stock to it. I warmed up a quart and a half at first. Add your dried mushrooms to this and bring it to a simmer with the lid on. When the mushrooms have softened (10 minutes) remove them from the cooking liquid, stem them and dice them.

Back to the onions, when they become translucent, add all two cups of rice to the pan and sauté the rice with the onions. By the time the onions start to color, the sides of the rice should be beginning to become translucent. This is a good thing.

Turn the heat to low and add enough of the simmering broth to just barely cover the rice. Let the rice absorb all the liquid, stirring the rice occasionally (like every minute or two). When the first dose of liquid is absorbed, repeat the above process. As you start to consume your broth, add more to your pot of simmering broth. Last night, I used two quarts, but, you could probably do this with less -- go ahead and heat the whole amount just in case. Please note it should take approximately 45 minutes to use up all your broth. By the time that happens, you should have a creamy, thick delicious risotto. But wait, it's just rice and stock.

I hope, while the rice was busy absorbing all that tasty liquid, you were dicing up your leftover chicken. As the rice absorbs the last little bit of stock, add the chicken, mushrooms and reserved zucchini/squash. This would be an ideal time to check the seasoning. I added salt, pepper and garlic to my risotto. Oh, and a little parmesan cheese. I know, parm isn't the most complementary flavor to Chinese 5 Spice chicken, but, it adds creaminess and saltiness.

Serve with a side salad, and some crusty bread. (Starch on Starch! My favorite!)

--Brad