Chicken Biryani

One of my favourite things about cooking is the challenge of making something out of what's on hand. I'm a bit of a hoarder, though, so I've usually got a full pantry and freezer to complement whatever's staring back at me from inside the refrigerator. And with Worldwide and the Gs away, I don't run the risk of abuse for one of my experiments going wrong, which they sometimes do. "Really dad? A peanut butter cup smoothie? That's gross."

Yesterday I was looking at a half-empty bag of Trail mix. I had taken out a couple of boneless chicken breasts earlier in the morning, not sure what I was going to do to them. But looking at the bag of raisins, nuts and coconut shreds, I had an idea: The Penzeys Chicken biryani recipe is a good one, although I don't make it too often these days (thanks to the vegetarian and spice averse members of the family). Would a smattering of nuts make it better?

Short answer: not really. Maybe a little. The nuts were a bit stale, and I think if I did it again, I'd toast them first, but that would have involved picking them out of the trail mix, which seems excessive, even for me. But it looked pretty, used up something headed to the compost bin, and I didn't have to make a trip to the store.

*I also used brown rice, instead of basmati, in keeping with my quest to eat more whole grain. That part, I liked.