Arroz con pollo is a stand-by when my wife and I are signed up to help bring dinners to folks in need. It cooks in one dish, which can be disposable, and it freezes and reheats well. We tend to under-salt and under-spice if we don’t know the recipients well.
I also like to use things like orzo, couscous or quinoa when bringing dishes. While they fill the same niche as pasta/rice, they’re probably something that no one else thought to use.
Well, these last in the freezer for awhile and they’re REALLY good:
Ingredients
3 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound white mushrooms, coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 scallions, thinly sliced (onions work too)
Grated peel of half a lemon and juice
1 8 ounce package cream cheese, cut into small pieces
1 17.3 ounce package frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees . In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook until the liquid evaporates, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl along with the parsley, scallions and lemon peel; season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cream cheese and 1 teaspoon lemon juice.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 puff pastry sheet to an 11-inch square, then halve it. Repeat with the other pastry sheet. Arrange one-quarter of the filling crosswise on 1 half of each piece of pastry, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Brush the borders with some egg, then fold the pastry to enclose the filling. Cut 2 vents into each turnover and crimp the edges; transfer to a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with more egg. Bake until puffed and golden-brown, about 18 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes.
I froze some - they were fine - just let them thaw for 1/2 hour before you bake them.
My wife makes roast chicken, on the grounds that it is very versatile. You can eat it for dinner but you can eat it in sandwiches for lunch. You can cut it in two if it is too big. It freezes, and it keeps. And pretty much everyone likes it.
Plus we can make another for our dinner at the same time.
Stuff the chicken with quartered onions, celery, and carrots. Make gravy from the drippings, put in a separate dish. This, with mashed potatoes or rice, will serve 3-5 people nicely, and will freeze well.
Turkey loaf is good, too. I don’t have measurements, but I dice up some onion and celery and simmer in butter until the onion is transparent and limp. I add this to ground turkey, an egg, some milk, bread crumbs, poultry seasoning, and a little seasoned salt. This can be baked as a loaf or fried as patties. I like to bake potatoes with this, and cook up some green beans or squash.