Chicken with Wild Rice Soup

I made this last night - so easy and good! Chicken and wild rice soup from the february Everyday Food mag

I tripled this to have leftovers for lunches and froze some as well. This plus some bread was a yummy dinner!

1 T olive oil
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
salt and pepper
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
2 boneless skinless chicken thighs (approx 8 oz total)

1/3 cup wild rice blend

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium high. Add carrots, celery, onion (I also added 1 chopped red pepper, but I also tripled the recipe to have leftovers). Cook stirring occassionally until vegetables are crisp-tender, 3-5 min.Add broth, chicken, rice, and 1.5 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cover. Cook until chicken is opaque throughout, 6 to 8 minutes.

With a slotted spoon, remove chicken and put on a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, shred with two forks.

Meanwhile, continue to cook soup, uncovered, until rice is tender, 6 to 8 min. Return chicken to the pan; simmer until reheated through, about 1 min. Season with salt and pepper.

Store in refridgerator in airtight container up to 2 days, reheat over medium about 10 min. Or freeze.It was really yummy :)

Soy Glazed Salmon

This is another (yes ANOTHER) Everyday Food recipe from the Jan issue. WOW. This was AMAZING. I love salmon and am always interested in new recipes since we have it so often. I have never broiled salmon before (crazy huh) but I think I need to start, this was great!

The only change I made from the recipe was I used skin-on salmon filets instead of the steaks since that is what my store had. Still was yum! Oh and only 2 pieces of salmon but used the same amt of dressing. So easy, so quick (the recipe says total time is 15 minutes and that was actually ACCURATE), we both wished we could have second helpings of it!

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 T soy sauce

1 T honey

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

4 salmon steaks

1) heat broiler with rack 4 inches from heat. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, and ginger.

2) Place salmon on prepared sheet; brush with soy mixture. Broil until browned on top and opaque throughout, 5 to 6 minutes.

Spinach Chicken with Balsamic Glaze

I got this recipe from Dinner with the Bickfords. Nice healthy and filling meal! I think the balsamic was a bit much, but I may have over-dressed our plates.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. salt, divided
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 bell pepper (any color - I used orange), cut into thin strips
1 cup thinly sliced red onion

2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups loosely packed fresh spinach
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. packed light brown sugar

Directions

1. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with 1/4 tsp. of the salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the chicken to the oil and cook 4-6 minutes, turning once. Cover and reduce the heat to medium; cook 4 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the center. Place on a plate and cover loosely to keep warm. (took much longer than this for me)

2. Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the bell pepper, onion, and garlic to the same skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes until the veggies just begin to soften. Add the spinach and sprinkle the vegetables with the remaining salt. Remove from the heat and toss until the spinach is barely wilted. Place on plates and top with the chicken.

3. Return the same skillet to high heat. Add the vinegar and brown sugar. Bring the vinegar mixture to a boil and boil for 30-60 seconds until slightly thickened. Drizzle the balsamic glaze over and around the chicken and vegetables.

Sesame Green Beans

This is from the Jamuary issue of Everyday Food. I am not a big green beans fan but Ryan likes em so I make them occasionally. THis was a interesting recipe - very good! I over-peppered them though so I didnt eat much, but Ryan ate his and mine :) I forgot to grab Sesame Oil, which is a big flavor, so I will try them again sometime with it.

Serves 4
1 pound green beans, trimmed
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (I just used olive oil instead)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Directions
Set a steamer basket in a large pot. Fill with enough water to come just below basket; bring to a boil. Add green beans to basket; reduce heat to a simmer. Cover, and cook until crisp-tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together vinegar and oil; season with salt and pepper. Add green beans and sesame seeds; season with salt and pepper, and toss.

Tortilla Soup

I saw this recipe on Confections of a Foodie Bride's blog. Easy though time consuming, and so so good. Next time I make it I will double it to freeze.

Texas Tortilla Soup

4 plum tomatoes

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 1/4 cup yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced (about 1/2 cup)

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

3 cups chicken stock

1 dried ancho chile pepper

1/2 (15-ounce) can peeled tomatoes

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cayenne, for heat (optional)

2 cooked, shredded chicken breasts

4 oz corn, fresh or frozen (thawed) (used about 8 oz)

For garnish:

1 Avocado, peeled and sliced

Tortilla chips or strips (omitted)

1 plum tomatoes, diced

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (used cheddar)

Sour cream (omitted)

To make the soup:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the plum tomatoes in half. Spread 1 Tbsp of the olive oil on a baking sheet or pizza pan and arrange the tomatoes on top, skin side up. Drizzle the tomatoes with another 1 Tbsp of the olive oil. Roast the tomatos for 35 minutes, until the skins wrinkle and the tomatoes are slightly brown around the edges.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a heavy-bottomed, 4-qt soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and bell pepper and sauté about 5 minutes, until the vegetables become soft. Stir in the chili powder and cumin and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, 1 cup water, and ancho chile. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then cover, decrease the heat and simmer about 15 minutes, until the ancho chile softens.

Remove the chile from the soup and pull off and discard the stem. Cut the chile in half and discard the seeds, if desired. (Leaving the seeds in makes for a spicier soup, I left them out but the soup wasnt spicy at all, next time I will leave them in) Place the softened chile, the canned tomatoes with their juices and the roasted tomatoes (included as much as possible of the juices and browned tomato bits) in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Puree the chile-tomato mixture about 1 minute. Transfer the chile-tomato mixture to the soup and continue simmering, covered, about 1 hour.

Add salt and pepper to taste and ground red pepper (if using) along with the cooked chicken. If using fresh corn, cut the kernels from the cobs, add the corn to the soup and simmer for 5 minutes. If using frozen corn, add it to the soup and gently heat until corn is hot.

Ladle the soup into medium bowls. Lean 3 to 4 slices of avocado against the edge of each bowl, partially sticking out of the soup. Arrange the tortilla chips or strips in a similar way. Sprinkle each bowl with a handful of diced tomatoes, some cilantro, and shredded cheese. Top with a spoonful of sour cream. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

Adapted from The Pastry Queen, 2004.

Artichoke Shrimp

NOTE: This isnt a pretty dish. My photos arent great bc, well, it just isnt pretty. But dont let that deter you - it tastes FAB.

This is one of my favorite meals and I can not believe it has been so long since I made it last. I came up with this years ago when I was on South Beach and wanted a hearty dinner with lots of roughage while still diet-friendly. I add noodles for ryan or anyone else who wants them.

These quantities made just enough for 5 people with only a tiny bit left over.

in your largest skillet, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil with 1.5 onions, chopped, and 4 cloves of garlic, smashed. Heat over medium until onion is transluscent. Add 6 plum tomatos, diced, and 2 bags of baby spinach (add in stages - as the spionach wilts you can add more). Add 2 cans of Artichoke hearts, torn in half and drained. Add 6-9 more tomatos, 2 pounds of shrimp (thawed, peeled, deveined), and a generous handful of pine nuts. Cover and cook stirring occassionally until shrimp is opaque through.

Add 4 oz of feta, crumbled, on top and cover for 1 more minute until its softened. Stir and top with the remaining 4 oz of feta to serve.

Great plain or over noodles!

Rosemary-Roasted Parsnips

Parsnips are one of our new favorite veggies from 2007 so when I saw this recipe on Bhutanese Red Rice blog, I printed it out to try.

I really liked this take on plain roasted parsnips - I find the parsnip to be more mild than sweet potatos or carrots, but Ryan finds them to have a stronger flavor, and did not pick up on the lime and rosemary and cayenne like I did. I thought they added a great dimension myself!

ROASTED PARSNIPS WITH ROSEMARY, CAYENNE AND LIME

Chop up some parsnips into cubes or matchsticks.
For 3 cups chopped parsnips:
Preheat oven to 425 F.
Put 1.5 tablespoons vegetable oil on a metal baking sheet, add salt to taste. Toss the parsnips around in the oil. Spread them on the sheet.
Place two or three whole rosemary sprigs on the sheet. Bake the parsnips for 25 minutes (or until golden and crisp on the edges), shaking and tossing them around once in between.
Take them out, sprinkle cayenne powder and lime juice, garnish with fresh rosemary, and dig in.