Suitable for freezing

Serves 6

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Cooking canned pinto beans for our Chicken Tostadas with Spicy Cabbage Slaw in a skillet along with some of the juice from the can gave them a creamy texture similar to refried beans. Tasters preferred queso fresco—a fresh, soft Mexican cheese available in many markets—in our Chicken Tostadas with Spicy Cabbage Slaw; however, we found we could use crumbled feta cheese instead. To save time we went with a bag of coleslaw mix instead of making the slaw from scratch. Using jarred jalapeños allowed us to add some of the brine to flavor the tostada filling as well as the slaw.

Serves 4

Use any combination of white and dark meat. For even cooking, halve breasts crosswise and separate leg quarters into thighs and drumsticks. Reduced-fat sour cream can be used in this recipe. We like to serve this chicken over egg noodles or rice.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces gave our Chicken Paprikash the best flavor of all the possibilities we tested. If left on, the skin imparted an unwelcome greasiness to the sauce. We easily remedied this by discarding the skin after browning the chicken.

We discovered that not all vegetables were right for this dish. Some were slimy, others added too much bulk, and many detracted from the sweetness of the paprika. Caramelized onions and red bell peppers worked best. We really needed to pile on the paprika before it became noticeable in our Chicken Paprikash. But in large quantities it tasted harsh and gritty. A bit of tomato paste offset the bitterness of the paprika while allowing us to include enough of the spice to do justice to the dish’s namesake.

This is really good. My kids used to request this meal when they came home from a week at camp!
Usually I end up using more chicken and more spaghetti than actually called for; when I do this I add an extra can of cream of mushroom soup.