The Poverty Kitchen

Bell & Evans packages some bougie chicken. Typically towards the top of the supermarket prices, Bell & Evans does have a more consistent product.
So imagine our delight at finding a 4-pack of B&E bone-in chicken thighs at reduced price.
“Last Day of Sale! 30% off!”

Day One: Debone two chicken thighs. Reserve the bones. Chop and set aside for Stir-fry.
Cook 1 cup of Jasmine Rice, chop a head of Bok Choi, half a head of Napa Cabbage, half a Sweet Onion, rinse a package of Bean Sprouts.
Stir fry.
$2 of chicken. $1 of rice. $4 of veggies, $1 of oil and soy sauce. $8 for 4 portions.

Day Two: Season and roast 2 chicken thighs, with the two reserved bones from yesterday.
Remove from the oven and pour everything into a 4 quart stock pot, with a chopped stalk of celery, two carrots, and one bay leaf. Simmer for an hour until the stock is reduced by 50%. Take off the heat, and debone.

Skim the stock, dice the chicken, strain the stock and reserve. Clean the stockpot.

Return the stockpot to the stove, add 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil, the remaining half of the Sweet Onion, and saute´ until translucent.
Add the celery and carrot from earlier, then the chicken and stock.
Simmer. Add 2 cups of chicken stock – either boxed, canned or from bullion concentrate, then add one cup of Wild Rice.
Simmer for ~ 1 hour, until the wild rice has puffed, and is typically tender.
Add 1 cup of frozen veggie mix (your choice) and heat through.
Taste and adjust seasonings.
As the chicken, house made stock, and commercial stock have seasonings, I prefer to wait until now rather than over-salt.
$2 of chicken, $2 of wild rice, $1 of stock, $2 of veggies. $7 for 4 portions.

If we total up both days? $15 for 8 dinner portions. That’s La Cucina Povera.

So why Wild Rice?
First, the purchase of Red Lake Nation Wild Rice supports an Indigenous enterprise.
Second, nutrition.
Wild Rice has 25% less calories, 50% more protein, 20% lower carbohydrates, 3% more iron, and 4% more zinc than White Rice.
Third, flavor.