Cinnamon and Chicken Stew

1 tbsp oil
3 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp minced, peeled fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 x 15-oz cans chickpeas (or 3 and 1/2 c cooked chickpeas)
1/2 small lemon, seeded and finely chopped, plus wedges for serving
4 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
3 sticks cinnamon
1 and 1/2 c water
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces, skin removed
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 c coarsely chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish

Heat a large stockpot over medium heat and add oil. Add onion, ginger and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, till onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add cumin and stir for 30 seconds. Add chickpeas, lemon, tomatoes and cinnamon; cook till tomatoes soften slightly, about 3 minutes.

Season chicken with salt and pepper; add to pot. Add water, nestling chicken into liquid. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook, partially covered, till chicken is cooked through -- about 40 minutes. Remove chicken.

Continue cooking over high heat to reduce slightly if necessary, crushing some chickpeas to thicken. Stir in cilantro. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Spoon chickpeas and liquid into serving bowls; top with chicken. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lemon.

***
Sorry, don't know where this recipe came from. Somewhere online I suppose.
I didn't have a whole chicken handy so used a tray of chicken thighs instead.
The local store doesn't have fresh cilantro either so I did a google search and found a suggestion to use celery leaves.

Faye's Oven Rice Casserole

2 c rice
1 pkg onion soup mix
2 cups fresh mushrooms (I often replace 1 c with green beans)
1/2 c oil
4 tbsp soya sauce
4 c water

Mix in large casserole dish and bake, covered, at 350F for one hour.
I didn't have any mushrooms in the house but I did have a can of baby corn, so I chopped those into chunks. Not bad! In the photo below, you can see I've thrown in green beans and green onions. Depending on the veggies you add, it may be necessary to remove the lid and bake the casserole for an extra 10 or 15 minutes to get rid of extra liquid. I also added a few slivered almonds one time, for some crunch. It may be impossible to go wrong with this easy, tasty casserole. It's so delicious the ingredients in the list above are doubled (all except the onion soup mix, which doesn't need to be; at least, not when using a commercial mix). You want lots, and you want leftovers.

Onion Soup Mix

1 and 1/2 tsp dried parsley
8 tsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp sugar

I found this mixture online when I was trying a new recipe and didn't have commercial onion soup mix in the house. It made the rice casserole quite yellow but it was tasty.

Veggies with Noodles

1 TB olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 an onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
small tin of water chestnuts, sliced "matchstick-style"
2 c fresh mushrooms, sliced as above
2 TB soya sauce
2 TB black bean sauce
1 TB butter chicken curry paste
2 green onions, chopped
2 c fine egg noodles (or any noodles; why not?)
chopped lettuce (about 2 c or to taste)

Saute, in olive oil, the next 5 ingredients for 5 or 10 minutes: first the garlic, onion and pepper, and last the water chestnuts and mushrooms. Then add the soya sauce, black bean sauce and butter chicken curry paste and warm over low heat. Boil and drain noodles. Toss all with chopped lettuce and green onions.

Original recipe: Asian Lettuce Wraps

I didn't have all the ingredients called for in the original so used what I had on hand instead.