Food Friday: In Praise of Rotisserie Chicken

We’ve got lots of outdoor chores to do suddenly – painting the back porch, clearing out corners of the backyard that have been overrun with ivy, watering the window boxes, weeding the tomato farm, coaxing grass to grow in the back yard and admiring the best hydrangea display we’ve ever had. The spring rain has worked its magic on the hydrangeas. And on the neighbor’s encroaching ivy. So I am cheating this week. I am not cooking because it is spring, and I have better things to do. Here are lots of rotisserie chicken ideas from lots of clever sources.

Oddly enough, June 2 is National Rotisserie Chicken Day. You read it here. Proof: https://www.holidaycalendar.io/holiday/national-rotisserie-chicken-day Normally I am a frugal shopper, and believe that I will save money if I do it all myself. This week, however, the garden beckons, and I would rather be outside than hanging in the kitchen, waiting for a chicken to roast. I will be throwing caution to the winds, and will give in to the convenience of picking up a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, which not only will be dinner tonight, but lunch tomorrow. And maybe the day after that. Practical, if not rationalizing, as ever.

A relatively inexpensive rotisserie chicken is considered a loss leader for grocery stores and big box club stores, like Costco. They buy the chicken in bulk, cook dozens at a time, and have convenient (though environmentally dodgy) packages of chicken ready as the harried customer stumbles through the door. Stores probably factor into their pricing that if you are buying prepared chicken, you might also spring for prepared salads, side dishes, breads, and desserts. Resist that temptation! Pull some leftover rice out of the freezer. Tear your own lettuce! Peel your own garlic. This is why we freeze chocolate chip cookie dough – for nights when we want a treat, but don’t want to spend another dime.

This is a crazy example of extreme diets, and the ultimate exercise in the consumption of convenience food: as a student the actor Adam Driver is alleged to have once eaten a rotisserie chicken a day, to help him lose weight. Just one rotisserie chicken. Nuts. Chicken is high in protein and low in fat – though it is probably loaded with sodium and preservatives. Adam Driver’s Rotisserie Chicken Diet:
https://nypost.com/2022/11/10/adam-drivers-rotisserie-chicken-a-day-diet-is-put-to-the-test/ This seems obsessive to me, but I shudder to think of my diet during my student days. It ran more toward Doritos, pizza, cheap beer and Tab. Rotisserie chicken is probably healthier.

There are many ways to serve a store-bought rotisserie chicken. I love warming it, and serving it with a side dish of hot, buttered rice, with a vegetable and a salad. I keep rice in the freezer for these culinary moments. You might prefer mashed potatoes, or green beans, or sweet spring peas.

Rotisserie chicken leftovers become the fun. How can you use up every little bit? Rip all the extra meat off the bones and shred it, and use it in dozens of ways. You can use that pie shell that has been lurking in the freezer and make a chicken pot pie. https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/easy-chicken-pot-pie/

Martha-approved chicken club sandwiches, with crispy iceberg lettuce, tomato slice and a bit of bacon, on fresh toast. https://www.marthastewart.com/1090538/roasted-chicken-club-sandwich

This is perfect for a quick lunch, or an impromptu road trip: https://www.keepingitsimpleblog.com/food/rotisserie-chicken-sandwiches/

Chicken soup: https://themodernproper.com/quick-and-easy-chicken-noodle-soup

Tacos! https://30minutesmeals.com/rotisserie-chicken-tacos-recipe/

Soup! https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/rotisserie-chicken-noodle-soup

Chicken carbonara! https://chewingthefat.us.com/2020/11/chicken-carbonara-adapted-from-giada-de-laurentiis.html

Here is a chicken salad worthy of a trip to the beach from our friends at Food52: https://food52.com/recipes/77588-beach-friendly-roast-chicken-salad They also have leftover-rotisserie chicken thoughts: https://food52.com/blog/25147-rotisserie-chicken-recipes

And finally, to completely empty out the fridge, you can add the last of the chicken to a chef’s salad – replete with tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, cucumbers, bacon, bits of leftover ham, Swiss cheese, croutons, grated cheese. Go into all the nooks and crannies in the fridge, and really clean them out. Then you can trot back to the store, get another chicken, and start all over again. The front porch is going to need a coat of paint now, too. https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a36753739/chef-salad-recipe/

“Everyone should know how to roast a chicken. It’s a life skill that should be taught to small children at school.”
–Anthony Bourdain

For your further reading:
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23207301/costco-rotisserie-chicken-poultry-farming-inflation

https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/rotisserie-chicken-with-chinese-oyster-sauce-glaze/

https://chewingthefat.us.com/2021/10/ten-costco-rotisserie-chicken-recipes.html