A Taste of Teen Summit - Chicken Paprikash

At last month’s FARECon featuring Teen Summit, chef Joel Schaefer presented a session on how to remove common allergens from popular foods and replace them with simple ingredients. Teen attendees competed to create their own dishes, and the top two recipes were developed by Joel and Mary Schaefer of Your Allergy Chefs (yourallergychefs.com).

Inspired by Scout S-B, here’s the first of our winning recipes, a savory chicken paprikash featuring tender chunks of chicken in an unforgettably rich, flavorful and creamy paprika-infused sauce!

Chicken Paprikash

Makes: 6 servings

Free of: gluten and top 8 allergens

Paprikash Sauce

8 tbsp dairy-free, soy-free margarine or buttery sticks, such as Earth Balance

2 tbsp smoked paprika

1/2 cup sweet white rice flour

4 cups rice milk

2 cups veggie or chicken broth

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

Chicken

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cups sliced onions

1/8 tsp salt

12 ounces button mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and sliced (about 4 cups)

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into strips (see recipe notes)

24 ounces tater tots or tater puffs, baked according to package instructions (see recipe notes)

Method:

1. For the sauce, in a medium saucepan, melt margarine over low heat. Increase heat to medium. Whisk in the paprika until incorporated and cook for 1 minute. Then stir in the flour and cook for another minute, stirring constantly.
2. Gradually pour in the rice milk, whisking constantly until smooth. Turn the heat to high. Add the broth and stir until the sauce comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will cook away the raw taste of the flour and paprika. Season with salt and pepper. This will yield about 1 quart of sauce.
3. For the chicken, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Increase heat to medium-high and add mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add chicken pieces and cook for 2 minutes. Pour sauce over chicken. Bring just to a low boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.
6. Serve over a bed of hot tater tots and enjoy.

Recipe Notes:

• To make dinner even easier, leftover chicken or packaged, cooked, chopped chicken can be a real time-saver! In step 5, add cooked chicken and sauce. Bring just to a low boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until chicken is heated through.
• Traditionally served with “dumpling-like boiled egg noodles,” chicken paprikash is not only served over dumplings or noodles, but with spaetzel, rice or pasta. We found tater puffs to be our favorite!
• Remember to always read the label when using packaged foods in your cooking.