It's soup night and a perfect way to use some of the delicious veggies I bought at the Saturday Morning Market this week. Several years ago I discovered some great low carb cook books by Dana Carpender including, 500 Low Carb Recipes. It has some amazingly delicious ideas including this soup. The beauty of this recipe is not only is is low carb, it's also low fat if you don't add the cheese. (Why anyone wouldn't want a little cheese, I don't know, but....) I've added chick peas to the original recipe which are tasty and up the fiber content. You will love the fresh taste of this yummy soup!
This recipe makes 10 servings, but it freezes well. You can also easily cut it in half.
Ingredients
3 quarts chicken broth
2 cups diced cooked chicken or boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed
2-3 ribs celery, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 small carrot, shredded
1 small zucchini, diced
2 cans(14 1/2 each) diced tomatoes, including juice
1 can chick peas, drained
1 package frozen chopped spinach
2 TB dried oregano
2 TB dried basil
2 tsp pepper
At least 8 oz Mexican Queso Quesadilla or Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
5 ripe avocados, diced
Directions
1. Heat the broth and the chicken in a large pot over low heat.
2. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, garlic, celery, green pepper, carrot, and zucchini together until they're limp. Stir the oregano, basil and pepper into the vegetables and saute for another minute and add them to the soup along with the tomatoes, chick peas and spinach. Let the whole thing simmer for 1/2 to 1 hour to let the flavors blend.
3.When you're ready to serve the soup, put 1/4 - 1/2 cup of cheese (more won't hurt) in the bottom of the bowl, and anywhere from 1 - 3 chipotles, depending on how spicy you like your food. If you want it even less spicy, just add some of the adobo sauce, or leave it out completely. Ladle the hot soup over the cheese and the peppers. Top with avocado.
Serve with tortilla chips or cheese quesadillas.
OK, this event is right up my alley! I have fond memories of Puppy Daddy offering to take me out to dinner at Sam's Club. "You can get everything from appetizers to deserts, all for free!" he would declare. Of course he was just kidding. Puppy Daddy is very romantic and treats me like a queen. So here are the details.
A Taste of Sam's Club - All area Sam's Clubs invite members to "try before they buy" at an event to sample "gourmet-to-go" appetizers, main courses, side dishes and desserts. Find out how to plan interesting menus, make celebrations special and keep prep work minimal.
Dates:
November 16, 17, 18 at noon
I love Italian sausage! I use it crumbled in lots of pasta dishes. A few weeks ago I was watching the Rachael Ray Show and she made Homemade Hot Sausage with Lentil Soup . I wasn't so interested in the lentils, but I definitely was excited about making my own sausage. The sausage turned out to be delicious and very easy to make. It's also about $1.50 per pound less than premade sausage. One of the best things about making your own sausage is that you can adjust the flavors to suit your taste. I love lots of fennel in my Italian sausage, but this caused a problem in my first batch. I didn't want whole fennel seeds in the sausage, but I couldn't find ground fennel in the grocery store. I know you can grind spices in a coffee mill, but I didn't want my coffee to taste like fennel so I tried grinding it in my food processor. Note to self, don't try that again. Fennel seeds are very hard and it took me forever to get just a little fennel dust. Thankfully Savory Spice in downtown St. Petersburg has just about any spice you could ever need including ground fennel. My next batch of sausage was even better than the first because I could pile in the ground fennel.
This recipe is great because you can use it to make many different kinds of sausage.
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground pork, dark meat chicken, dark and white meat turkey or lamb
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (2/3 palmful)
2 teaspoons sweet paprika (2/3 palmful)
2 teaspoons granulated onion (2/3 palmful)
2 teaspoons ground sage (for pork or lamb) or poultry seasoning (for ground chicken or turkey), (half a palmful)
1 teaspoon fennel seed (1/3 palmful)
Salt and pepper
Directions
Combine all ingredients and chill for several hours or up to two days ahead.
The Saturday Morning Market in downtown St. Petersburg has recently become a favorite outing for Puppy Daddy and me. I can't believe it has been in existence for ten years and we have just now discovered it. The market has several fresh produce stands, baked goods, gourmet foods, arts, crafts and prepared foods. We love buying our fresh produce for the week and fresh bread. This week we bought Tomato-Basil Penne from Pappardelle's. They make over 100 flavors of dried pasta and fresh-frozen ravioli, sauces and pestos, each
handcrafted in small batches using every facet of traditional Italian pasta
making techniques. It is sold only in a few gourmet shops and farmers markets across the country. We bought the very last of the Tomato-Basil Penne on Saturday. The poor customer right after us had to make an alternate choice. This recipe uses the pasta and fresh asparagus from the market. I served this pasta with delicious rosemary rolls, also from the market. If you haven't been, I encourage you to check it out soon!
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
4 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup milk
4 TB prepared marinara sauce
1/2 lb asparagus, sliced into 2 inch pieces
1 lb penne pasta
salt
Directions
Fill a large pot with water add a generous amount of salt and bring to a boil. When water is boiling add pasta and cook according to directions on the package.Add asparagus to the pot for the last 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile make the sauce. In a medium sized sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. When melted add cream cheese. Stir until melted. Add milk and marinara sauce. Continue to stir until sauce is melted. Drain pasta and asparagus, and add to tomato cream sauce. Stir to coat pasta.
The boys have needed their sweaters for the past couple of days. Yes, in Florida when the temperature gets below 65 degrees, we must bundle up, especially the Whippets. These puppies have short hair and very little body fat, so they get cold easily. I know most dogs hate and don't need clothes, but my dogs enjoy their sweaters in the chilly weather. Of course, chilly weather means a warm pot of chili. Everyone has their own recipe and in this post I will reveal my "secret ingredients". Being a heat lover married to a non-heat lover, I have always made our food without, adding it in to my own serving after cooking. But this pot of chili was an adventure because Puppy Daddy, who has never been a fan of spicy food, has decided that he wants to learn to love heat. Puppy Daddy convinced me to make the chili "a little" spicy so I added one chipotle chili in adobo. Surprisingly, Puppy Daddy didn't think that the chili was very spicy, so I've increased the chipotle chili in adobo amount in this recipe. We'll see what he thinks next time!
This is an easy, basic chili recipe. Saute the onion in olive oil. Add and brown ground beef. Then add garlic, chipotle in adobo, beans, diced tomatoes, ground chili, and cumin. Then come my "secret" ingredients.
Surprise, unsweetened cocoa and cinnamon. I know it sounds weird, but these two ingredients really add a great depth of flavor. I also like to add a tiny pinch of Splenda or sugar.
Bring everything to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for at least and hour. More time is definitely better and of course it's even better after it sits over night in the fridge. Of course you should top it with your favorites like cheese, sour cream, green onions and my favorite, pickled jalapenos.
Ingredients
2 TB olive oil
1 medium or 1/2 large onion, diced
2 lb ground chuck
2 15.5 oz canned kidney beans
1 28 oz canned diced tomatoes
1 large clove garlic, pressed or grated
2 chipotle in adobo, finely chopped
1 TB chili powder
1 TB cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
pinch Splenda or sugar, optional, to taste
Toppings
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
chopped green onion
pickled jalapenos
Directions
Heat olive oil over medium high in dutch oven. Add chopped onions. Cooked until soft. Add ground chuck and cook until browned. Add garlic and cook about 1 minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for at least 1 hour. More is better. Serve with your choice of toppings.
My favorite salad dressing is Ranch and I've taken to making it myself lately. I've used several different recipes, but usually just eyeball it and add what ever herbs, fresh or dried, that I have available. Last week I experimented with using Capital Hill Seasoning from Savory Spice Shop in downtown St. Petersburg. It is the best I've ever made. Capital Hill Seasoning is the perfect blend of seasonings for Ranch Dressing, shallots, salt, pepper, dill weed, parsley and chives.
I used a recipe that I found on allrecipes.com and just traded out Capital Hill Seasoning for the herbs and spices listed. It truly is perfect!
Ingredients
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1 TB Capital Hill Seasoning
milk or buttemilk, optional if you want the dressing a little less thick
Directions
Combine all ingredients. Chill for 1 hour.
Wow, it's amazing how busy you can get being semi-retired! I haven't blogged in almost a month now, but I've still been doing plenty of cooking. Even when I'm DOG tired, my favorite thing to do is pour a glass of wine and prepare a home-cooked dinner. This recipe has been a family favorite for as long as I can remember. It came from a holiday cooking magazine about 20 years ago, but it makes a great any night meal. Even my son Brandon, who was quite a picky eater when he was young, loves this.
There are just a few simple ingredients: Chicken Breast, Lemon, Heavy Cream, Chicken Stock or Broth, Grated Parmesan Cheese and Butter
Begin by pounding the chicken breast very thin. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper and saute in some butter. When the chicken is done take it out of the pan, place it in an oven safe dish and keep it warm in the oven while you make the sauce.
Next deglaze your pan with lemon juice. Then add lemon zest, chicken stock and heavy cream. Bring to a boil and reduce by half. Add your Parmesan cheese. Stir until sauce thickens and serve it with your chicken. So tangy and cheesy!
Ingredients
2 TB butter
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Melt butter in 12 inch skillet. Pound chicken between plastic wrap until about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Saute in melted butter, about 4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from skillet and place in an oven safe dish. Place in the warm oven while you make the sauce.
Deglaze the skillet with 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Next add one tablespoon of lemon zest, chicken stock and heavy cream. Bring to a boil and reduce by about half. Stir frequently and reduce heat if sauce is bubbling too much. The sauce should easily coat the back of a spoon. Then add Parmesan cheese and stir until cheese is melted. Serve sauce over chicken breast.
