Creamy chicken, rice and spinach casserole

This recipe is one of my go-to hectic day finishers. It's very comfort-foody, particularly if you use rich milk or buttermilk to cook the rice. It could be made vegetarian if you simply omit the chicken and switch the stock -- I haven't had it that way, but I imagine it would retain its deliciousness. You may also want to replace the chicken with something like tofu, though I've failed miserably at every tofu recipe I've tried.

The recipe:

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken breasts
• 1/2 lb frozen spinach
• 3/4 cup rice or orzo
• 1.75 cup chicken stock
• 1.75 cup milk or buttermilk
• 2 Tb butter
• 2 Tb flour
  
• Lots o' grated cheese (I like queso fresco, but you could use whatever melting cheese you have on hand)
• A little bit of garlic
• A little bit of oil
• Minced dry thyme
  
• Optional: ground coriander, ground garam masala, panko bread crumbs

1. Put a little oil in a large pot and fry some garlic on medium heat. You can also add some ground coriander at this point. Stir until garlic and coriander are fragrant but not burnt.
2. Add in the frozen spinach, turn the heat to med-high and cook a few minutes, until the spinach is warm and has absorbed the spices.
3. Remove this mixture to a colander or bowl.
4. Return the pot to medium heat. Add the butter, wait until it melts and add the flour. Stir or whisk vigorously for about a minute, until the flour turns golden. Slowly add the stock and milk, whisking like mad in the process. Whisk like mad some more until the mixture simmers.
5. Add the rice, salt and pepper, the thyme, turn the heat to medium-low and cover. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the rice is done, stirring frequently. Note: orzo will probably need around 5 minutes less to cook.
6. When the rice is done, uncover and add the chicken. Cook the chicken for about 4 minutes, or until it's not pink on the outside. You should not cook the chicken thoroughly, as it's going to continue cooking in the oven.
7. Remove from heat. Add lots o' cheese, the spinach, and possibly some more salt and pepper. Transfer to a baking dish.
8. You can now bake as is, or top with some more cheese, or perhaps with toasted seasoned bread crumbs. Bake for 20 minutes at 400F, or until the mixture is bubbly and the top is browned.

I like to add lemon juice and some Mexican hot sauce to this when it's done, but I'd advise letting everyone season their dish.

Golf score:

• Utensils: a pot, a spoon, a whisk, a baking dish, a bowl/colander, a cutting board and a knife.
• Ingredients: mostly pantry staples, other than the chicken, and the spinach if you don't stock it like it's becoming extinct like I do.

How to improve the score:

• I've used breast tenders and kitchen scissors to cut up the chicken directly over the pot. That saves you a cutting board.
• You can skip the whisk and use the spoon to make the roux and the sauce, but be very diligent about stirring like mad. A whisk really does help.
• If you having a fancy Dutch oven I suppose you could bake this directly in the pot you use for making the rice, though not having a fancy Dutch oven I wouldn't know.

What is Recipe Golf?

Have you ever found yourself at the end of a day, hungry and tired, with a messy kitchen and seemingly no food whatsoever at home? And then you managed to make dinner anyway, and it was good? This is what Recipe Golf is about. Recipes that use the fewest ingredients and the fewest utensils, without compromising taste, for those times of emergency.