Asian style roast chicken becomes Chicken noodle soup the next night

Roasts are huge time savers, good for the budget, and they are dinners you can prepare and shove in the oven with a kid hanging from your hip. You can’t really stuff them up and the smell wafting through the house is magic. It seems such a waste to throw away the chicken carcass after a roast. There is so much flavour just waiting to be upcycled – and that is the concept of double duty dinners. Most of the prep is done the first night, you use up all your leftovers and you get two family meals out of it. Roast chicken is a hearty and healthy option for a family dinner. Make it even better for you, by not eating the chicken skin. The leftovers become a Chicken noodle soup, with a homemade broth/stock. It’s an excellent way to reduce your salt intake, as a lot of store bought stocks are high in salt.

Dinner one: Asian style roast chicken

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

What you need

• 1 chicken, whole

Rub

• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 lemons, rind and juice
• salt/ pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Vegetables

• 1 broccoli, cut into florets (or use broccolini or cauliflower)
• 4 bunches bok choy, thick stems removed and leaves separated (or use spinach, kale, swiss chard, silverbeet, chinese cabbage)
• ¼ cup water
• Splash of sesame oil
• ¼ cup of store bought Tamari seeds/ nuts – These are sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds toasted in Tamari soy sauce (or make your own here)
• handful coriander, fresh

How to make

1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Mix all the rub together and rub all over the chicken with clean hands. To add more flavour, make a cut through the skin and rub directly onto the meat.
3. Put the squeezed out lemons up the chicken cavity.
4. Roast the chicken in a baking dish for 1 hr or until golden.
5. Start this ten minutes before the chicken is served.
6. In a frypan add broccoli and place bok choy on top and add the water, steam fry for 5 minutes until bok choy is wilted. Drain water, add a splash of sesame oil. Add nuts and fry for a few minutes.
7. Place chicken on a serving dish and spread the broccoli and boy choy around the chicken. Scatter coriander.
8. Serve with steamed rice.

The next days dinner: Chicken noodle soup

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

2 hours

Total time

2 hours 10 mins

What you need

Chicken broth/ stock

• Chicken carcass (remove any excess chicken and set aside)
• 6 litres water
• 3 star anise
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
• 3 cinnamon sticks, broken in half

Noodle soup

• 200g noodles ( I used egg noodles)
• 1 can of baby sweetcorn
• 1 cup of red cabbage and carrot, shredded or grated
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce or oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• handful of coriander, fresh

How to make

1. In a large pot add water, chicken carcass, star anise, cinnamon sticks and garlic.
2. Bring to the boil, and then simmer for 2hrs. Skim off any fat and sieve.
3. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before placing it into fridge or freezer.
4. Freeze stock for another day or keep in the fridge for tomorrows night’s dinner.
5. Bring your broth to a simmer, add baby sweetcorn, red cabbage, carrot, and noodles, soy and sesame oil and any leftover chicken
6. Cook for 5 minutes.
7. Serve with a scattering of coriander.