Italian Chicken-Vegetable Soup (formerly named "Healing Soup")

I make a lot of soup for sick people. It's October 2022, and we are hopefully done with the serious Coronavirus variants that have swept America for the last 2 1/2 years. Most recently, I whipped up a batch of soup for my daughter and her family as they recently suffered through a week of Coronavirus Omicron 1. Yes, they lived. This soup has everything anybody needs to be healthy--especially if you make it with homemade bone broth. But if making homemade broth takes too much time for you, simply buy one 32 oz. box of stock and one 32 oz. box of bone broth at the grocery store. Some brands of bone broth can be overpowering--so diluting it with regular stock is a good failsafe.  Be sure to taste it before using!

Ingredients:

2 large onions, peeled and chopped

2-3 cloves peeled garlic, smashed and chopped

2 T olive oil

2-quarts good chicken broth (preferably homemade)

3 pieces celery, sliced

1 14.5 oz. can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained (optional)

1 15 oz. can chopped tomatoes, undrained (or 2 C chopped fresh tomatoes)

2 large peeled and sliced carrots (or 2 C sliced "baby" carrots)

2 x- large baking potatoes, peeled and diced (or 1 lb. white mini-potatoes- skins on)

2 medium-sized zucchinis, sliced (get one yellow and one green if possible)

1 small bunch spinach, thoroughly washed and chopped

1 Rotisserie Chicken's meat OR 3 large, cooked chicken breasts, torn in pieces

3 t Italian Seasoning

1/2 t black pepper

1 pinch curry

1 small Bay leaf

Salt to taste

Important Note: I use chicken or vegetable boullion packets or cubes instead of salt to taste--more flavor!

Homemade or store-bought Pesto (optional)

Directions:

In a large pot, combine all ingredients except the spinach, zucchini, and pesto. After bringing the pot to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for at least 45 minutes. Then, turn up the heat and add the spinach, and zucchini.  Boil for 15 minutes, then ladle into bowls.  Top with a teaspoon of pesto and serve. Makes 8-10 servings

Mary's Pork Loin with Garlic Sauce

Hey y'all, I am here in Round Rock, Texas, and I am getting fat! Why? Because there are so many good cooks around here! One of them is my second cousin, Mary, who made this incredible and delicious main dish for a party she had last Christmas. She is a very outgoing lady, and this is an expression of her love for people...

Ingredients: 

1 large pork loin--2-3 lbs. 

6 cloves minced garlic

1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped

1/3 C vegetable or chicken stock

1 3/4 C heavy cream

3 C chopped spinach

1 t Italian seasoning

1 t red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper

1 C Parmesan Cheese (grated)

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet. Season meat with paprika, salt and pepper. Brown outside of loin by turning over in skillet until all sides of meat look cooked (don't worry, we will cook the inside later). Remove from pan and put to one side.

Melt 2 T butter in same skillet. Add garlic, onion, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. Sauté until fragrant over medium heat. Add stock, allow to reduce. Reduce heat to low, add cream and salt and pepper to taste. Add spinach and cheese and pour over meat in a large baking dish (or two smaller ones, after you cut the meat in half). Bake in a 350-degree oven until the meat is done, a long slowwwwww cooking time is best, probably about 45 minutes in the oven or 4-6 hours on High in a Crockpot. Mary served this with tiny (red?) steamed potatoes, but cauliflower rice or cous-cous is fine.

Note: The sauce will separate when it cooks with the meat. So, to avoid this, after the sauce is made and cooked, I pour half of it into the Crockpot or baking pan with the meat and reserve half in the saucepan I make it in. Then I add 3 Cups of Chicken broth to the sauce in the Crockpot or baking pan. That takes care of the needed moisture for cooking the meat. Finally, I add about 3/4 Cup of sour cream to the reserved sauce before I serve it alongside of the meat. It takes down the spiciness just a tad and gives the sauce more body. Delicioso!

 

Jeanne's Fabulous Shrimp

Ok, this isn't just good, this is the best shrimp dish I've ever had. I live in Texas now, and shrimp here is inexpensive compared to any other kind of seafood. My friend Jeanne found this recipe and monkied around with it a bit, and voila! Perfection! 

Ingredients:

2 lbs. peeled and de-veined, wild-caught, cooked shrimp (high-quality frozen shrimp is fine)   

1 T "Pretty Thai" brand seasoning salt--no substitutes (available at various markets and at Amazon.com) 

1 scallion, chopped fine

4-6 T plant-based butter (which doesn't burn as fast) or regular butter

10 oz. coconut milk (shake it up to incorporate the creamy top)

Fish sauce to taste (she uses "Thai Kitchen" brand)

Directions:

If you use frozen shrimp like I did, defrost it according to the directions on the bag. Then, spread out two layers of paper towels on a cookie tray and spread the shrimp evenly on top of the towels. Then, put two more layers of paper towels on top. Start at one end of the pan and roll the paper towels and shrimp like a jelly roll. Repeat this with fresh paper towels until the shrimp is dry. No water is the key!

Next, sauté shrimp in butter until one side is cooked--one or two minutes. No need to turn it, shrimp is easy to over-cook! Then, remove shrimp and set aside. Important note: if there is a lot of water in the pan after the shrimp is cooked, dump it out before proceeding! It wrecks everything! In the same pan, sauté chopped scallion in butter until soft.

Add coconut milk to scallions plus 1 T "Pretty Thai" seasoning salt and heat. Add fish sauce to taste (it's salty). At this point the mixture is supposed to reduce and thicken, however if you don't want to wait, mix 1 t cornstarch with about 4 T water and stir into the heated liquid. Finally, add shrimp and heat until warm and serve on a bed of basmati or jasmine rice or any other kind of rice. Wonderful!

                     

Chicken and Date Tagine

It's Mother's Day in 2020, and this recipe is my Mother's Day gift to you! Everyone has a mom, is a mom, or knows a mom--so make this scrumptious dish for them. It's Moroccan in style but tastes a lot like Indian Curry--due to the similar spices. This is adapted from a Medjool Dates Company recipe from "The Costco Connection" magazine.  The dates in it provide a nice, sweet note to offset the savory cumin and turmeric.

Ingredients:

2T oil
6 boneless chicken breasts (or use a pound of packaged pulled breast meat from Costco)
a pinch or two of salt
1/4 C olive oil
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 t ginger
2 t turmeric
1/2 t white pepper (yes, you can substitute black)
1 T coriander
1 T cumin
1 cinnamon stick
1 1/2 C chicken or vegetable stock
3 T honey
1 T chopped cilantro, plus sprigs for garnish
1 T chopped parsley
10-12 pitted Medjool dates
Rice or Couscous

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add oil to a large skillet, heated over medium heat. Brown chicken, sprinkled with salt. Set aside. Skip this part of the recipe if you are using pre-packaged pulled chicken breast meat from Costco. Each package is 2 lbs, so use 1/2 package.

Replace oil with 1/4 C olive oil. Add onion and saute until limp. Add garlic, cook 3 minutes. Add all dried spices, cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add stock, and simmer while stirring until spices, garlic and onion are incorporated. Add chicken, return to simmer and cook 10 minutes. Salt to taste.

Place pan in oven, cook 30 minutes. Meanwhile prepare rice or couscous according to the directions on the package if you haven't done it ahead of time.  Remove and set chicken aside, keep warm. Simmer sauce to thicken, then add honey, fresh herbs and dates. Heat through. Serve chicken on a bed of prepared rice or couscous. Serving on individual plates is best--a large serving platter is more authentically Morroccan, but a bit messy. Pour sauce on top and garnish with cilantro.

Baked Polenta with Sausage and Artichoke Hearts

This is something my daughter found on MarthaStewart.com. It's a really easy weeknight dish, layered, similar to lasagna. Actually, it's more like layering shake shingles on a roof. Using ready-made polenta is great for working mamas. No one has to know you didn't make it over a hot stove.

Ingredients:

2 t extra-virgin olive
1/2 white onion, thinly slices
2 cloves of sliced garlic (about 2 t)
1 lb. sweet Italian sausages casings removed, or use bulk Italian sausage
3/4 C marinated artichoke hearts
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tube (18 oz.) prepared polenta, cut into 1/4-inch rounds, drain off liquid
1/3 C chicken stock
1/4 C fresh parsley, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, heat oil on medium. Add onion and cook until softened. Add crumble sausage meat into skillet and cook until browned. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Remove skillet from heat and stir in artichokes, season with salt and pepper.

In a 2-quart baking dish, layer polenta rounds and spoonfuls of sausage mixture. Start with sausage and do what looks like shingles layered one half over the next. Pour stock over the top and bake until bubbling and polenta is pale gold, 20 to 25 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Melody's Granola

I got this recipe from my friend Melody Nicholson. She is a very warm and wonderful person. And this granola is just as nice as she is. Healthy too! I serve it in my Airbnb bed and breakfast...it's expensive to make but worth it for gluten-free folks

Ingredients:

7 C rolled oats (GF if you are celiac)

1/2 C. honey

1/4 C vegetable oil

1 C flax seed

2 T brown sugar or coconut palm sugar 

1 T vanilla 

1/4 t salt (or a bit more to taste)

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 C sunflower seeds (unsalted--raw or roasted is fine)

1 1/2 C coarsely chopped almonds

1/2 C golden raisins 

1/2 C black raisins 

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut parchment paper to fit and place on a cookie sheet.  Stir together ingredients --except raisins--in a large bowl. Dump half of mixture in bowl onto cookie sheet and spread out evenly. Put in oven for 15 minutes. Should smell wonderful! Take out cookie sheet and with a spatula--turn the mixture over so the bottom is on the top (so it can get cooked). Spread 1/4 C of each kind of raisins evenly on the top of the mixture. Put back in oven for about 10 minutes or until browned. Watch carefully! Do not go online or do your hair! Especially watch the raisins--don't let them burn! If they puff up--they probably are burned--so pick them off the top. 

Chipotle Orange PorkTacos

In border-state California we are huge fans of Mexican food--like tacos. This is a new take on the taco. Everybody in my family loves it and says it's a Keeper. I only like it. That's because I don't just LOVE sweet pork--I prefer my men sweet and my carnitas spicy. But that's just silly me. This is spicy and sweet. So, if you like things like sweet pulled pork--you will really like this! It's very easy--just throw it in the slow cooker and leave for the day! Makes a ton and keeps really well.  I make a big pot and use it for lunches for two all week. Found by my daughter on the BudgetBytes.com site. Adapted only very slightly. Yield: at least 12 tacos--maybe more.

Ingredients:

4-5 lbs. pork roast
1 med. onion
12 oz. can frozen OJ concentrate
7 1/2 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 T plus 1 t minced garlic
2 C water
2 whole bay leaves
1/4 C cider vinegar
1 1/2 t soy sauce

Taco Toppings:
12 6" corn tortillas
1 med. red onion
1 med. avocado
1/2 bunch cilantro

Directions:

Dice the onion and 1 T minced garlic and place it in the bottom of your slow cooker or greased 3-qt pot. Trim excess fat off the pork roast and cut it into 2-3" cubes. Place the pork cubes on top of the onion in the slow cooker. if you don't have a slow cooker--sauté onion/garlic and pork together in the bottom of the pot until onion is limp. You can skip this step if you have a slow-cooker.

Throw half of the frozen OJ concentrate in the slow cooker or pot plus salt and 2-3 smaller chipotle peppers in about 2 t. of adobo sauce. Stir 2 C of warm water until the OJ concentrate is fully dissolved and mix everything together. There should be just enough to cover the pork chunks. Add a bit more water if needed. Add two bay leaves. Secure the lid and cook on High for at least 6 hours--up to 8 is fine. If you are making this in a pot--keep it on a low heat on a burner for at least 2 hours.
Pork should be easy to shred when done.

Prepare the tangy chipotle sauce for the meat: In a small saucepan combine the rest of the frozen orange juice concentrate with one chopped up chipotle pepper--1 t minced garlic...1/4 C cider vinegar and 1.5 t soy sauce. Whisk everything together and simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add the shredded pork and stir to coat.

Build your tacos by filling the tortillas with about a tablespoon of  pork plus thinly sliced red onion, shredded cabbage and some avocado. Top with a spoonful of sour cream and cilantro and you got it! Add Pico de Gallo if you like it hot...