Asian Inspired Curry Soup

Main Soup Ingredients:

Olive Oil

Garlic

Swanson's Thai Ginger Broth

Curry Spices*

Fish Sauce

Firm Tofu or Meat

Coconut Milk

Veggies Of Your Choice

Garnish: 

Lime Juice

Sriracha

Green Onion

Cilantro 

Takes less then 30 minutes, to prep/cook and plate, but feels like a restaurant dish, and so healthy and delicious! Really versetile and simple to prepare, one pot, one cutting board, a knife and a spoon, and you're pretty much set!

Step One:

Heat a medium sized sauce pan over Low-Medium temp. Add a tiny bit of EVOO. Soften one clove chopped garlic in the olive oil for about a minute, not too long, don't want to brown it, just release the juice and delicious flavor.  If you were going to add meat, this is when you'd want to do it. Raw slices of chicken work well. Haven't tried shrimp yet, but I bet it would be awesome!, However, shrimp doesn't take too long to cook, so I'd probably wait on that a little.  

 Add about 1-1.5 cups of the Swanson's Thai Ginger Broth. This broth is semi spicy, so keep tasting it as you add the other ingredients to make sure you get your desired spice level. 

One of the things I love about this soup recipe, is that you can literally prep as you cook. So after you get the broth in, you can let that simmer gently while you peel and chop up some carrots (at this point add any veggies that are hard and need to cook down a bit) I usually use 1 normal sized carrot. Toss that in. 

Then chop up some nice red bell pepper, this is a little less then I usually add, but its what I had left in the house. I make this recipe FAR too much! :) Its soooooooo good!

 At this point you want to season the broth a little more with various things. I love this set of curry's from my local spice shop, and a bit of fish sauce. Gives it a very authentic yummy, flavor. Remember a little of all of this goes a long way, especially the fish sauce, it works as your salt, and so you want to careful not to go too crazy, a good 2 shakes of it should be good, and you can always add more if it seems not quite right. 

 I'm not sure why but I like my squashes in this dish, to be pretty big, I think its because I like them firm, but with time to soak in the flavor.  So I usually add them in next. If you were going to add in Cauliflower, this would be a good time for that. I usually do, but I didn't have any today. 

I love the firm Tofu in this recipe a lot, it absorbs the flavors but holds its shape well.  One trick I will share, is usually when you pop the tofu container, all the juices spill, and you wont need a whole container for the recipe, so grab a tupperware first, and make sure to catch the juices, so it will keep fresh in your fridge.

 I usually slice, about 1/2" slices 2-3 of them work well, then move them to my cutting board. 

Here's probably too many photos to show you how I cut them. Just basically you want nice cubes of tofu, slightly big cubes are good!

  

 Toss those on into the soup. You want them to hang out for a bit, so they warm up and absorb the flavor of the broth. 

I've tried a LOT of coconut milk, and they are all pretty terrible, except this brand, so I'd HIGHLY recommend you use this. Its richer and more flavorful then others. Also doesn't separate as much, and can reincorporate pretty well! Make sure you shake or whisk it well before stirring it into the soup. It can be put into a tupperware and saved for a few days. You wont need more then 1/2 cup, I like this soup more brothy, then coconut milky but it gives it a nice flavor either way, so its really more of a personal taste thing. 

I had about half a can left and just added it all, turns out it was a bit more then I like, became very heavy and rich, so if you like that - add more coconut milk, if you want something lighter and brothier, add less!

 Above is what it looks like BEFORE you stir, and then after you stir is below this line. Mmmm

At this point the soup is basically done, so its a good time to add the items you want to cook the very least. Such as Mushrooms, or Broccoli. No one wants sludgey veggies in their soup. Its all about fresh, crisp yummy veggies! 

Because I added a bit too much coconut milk for my taste this time, I added some more curry powders to help break through that rich milk. 

 Here's another odd trick I picked up making this dish often. Sometimes my ratios get off and I have way more broth then I need, so I like to scoop out all the veggies and tofu/meat and put them in the bowl first.

 Then pour the broth over it so I make sure that its's got a nice ratio. As it turns out today, I made just the right amount and it all fit. (please keep in mind this is a LARGE asian soup bowl) 

 As for garnish, I love some lime juice, about 1/2 a cap full works well. Sriracha if you want even more spice. Then top with chopped green onion and/or cilantro. Or really whatever sounds good to you!

 As I said before, I added a bit more coconut broth in there today then usual, so here's a few pics of what it might look like with less. I highly recommend trying this soup, espcially during the cold/flu season. I swear it cures what ales ya!  

ENJOY!

Simple Baked Chicken Recipe

I started making this a few months ago, and am constantly surprised how frequently people ask me for this super simple recipe. So here it is! All it takes two skinless chicken breasts, panko, eggs, olive oil and some seasonings. THATS IT! A simple delicious recipe that's always a hit with my family. Most importantly my 3 year old!

Step one: Preheat your oven to 350 with an empty glass/ceramic baking dish inside: 

 Take your two chicken breasts, trim off any fat & funky bits you don't want, then starting at the skinny end, slice it lengthwise so you get a nice even thin slice of chicken:

 Then slice them in smaller pieces so they are easy to work with, and portion out to your family. Two chicken breasts is perfect for my husband, daughter and myself. Actually surprises me how much we get out of these two small breasts!

 Pick whichever seasonings you like, I change it up now and again, but my families favorite is this blend of curry, garlic and lemon. Plus salt and pepper of course. But lots of combos work well, you can do italian seasoning, and even some shredded Italian cheese in the bread crumbs, or do it Mexican flavors, its pretty versatile! 

 Generously season your panko bread crumbs and eggs. I don't know if people usually season both, but I find it really helps! *Please note this is one egg, and about a cup of breadcrumbs. I could have used another 1/2 cup of bread crumbs to thoroughly coat the pieces but its what I had, and it worked out fine.  

On Medium heat, heat your large non-stick skillet, with a generous amount of olive oil. 

 It seems like a lot, but it really helps the panko brown up quickly before it goes into the oven, without over cooking your chicken on the inside. Since they are thin pieces, they cook pretty darn fast. 

Next do the typical egg, then breadcrumb dip onto the pieces. If you have fatter pieces (we are not all super great at knife work) then do those first so they can cook the longest. 

 Once you get them all in the pan let them cook til you can see golden brown edges and the chicken is turning white, almost to the halfway point.  

 These are not my best, but they worked well, flip them over, add a tiny bit more olive oil if necessary. You'll know pretty quickly if you need more olive oil, if your panko isn't browning and looks dry, add a tiny bit more. 

 Once they are nice and brown on each side, move them to the baking dish dish in the oven, and finish them in there. (I've also done this recipe in my cast iron) Takes about 5-10 minutes. I actually never time it, just finish the rest of my sidedishes, and when they are done, I take the chicken out.

 They have never been raw or overcooked, there's something magic about this recipe, its nearly fool-proof!

 Plate 3 pieces for the adults

  One for the tiny child, diced up for easy consumption.... 

Voila! Everyone is happy, and it was EASY PEASY! 

Try it tonight, its so simple you'll wish you'd found it before!

ENJOY!

White Sauce Lasagna, with Bacon, Veggies and Chicken

Hey!

Per your requests, here is the my version of the following recipe: http://thecozyapron.com/the-layers-of-six-cheese-lasagna-like-the-layers-of-life/ - Thanks to the author of that blog for such a great recipe, its a wonderful starting point, that you can run with in many different directions. However, with that said - I believe the original recipe would be amazing as well! I just was working with what I had on hand. :)

First thing I did was bake 5 slices of thick-cut bacon, that I seasoned a little prior to baking with a tiny bit of pepper and italian herbs - not sure if it was needed, but it tasted good so its worth trying.
Much more then 5 slices I think would be TOO much, as bacon is very heavy and assertive, if you use a different salted/pork product you may be able to get away with more.

Then I chopped up 1 chicken breast and 1/2 pack of mushrooms into small bites (about 1/4-1/2" chunks) you want them small so you get a little bit of each in every bite. I think I could have used a 2nd breast of chicken in mine, but I was making a VERY large batch in my 11x15" Pyrex. Lasted 3 days (could have lasted longer but my hubby kept having multiple servings each night!) with my 3 person family.

So once you have the chicken and mushrooms chopped up fairly small, saute them together (I used the bacon grease from the baked bacon for the fat to help it from sticking and impart more flavor) with Italian seasoning/herbs and pepper. Until JUST cooked, you don't want them to dry out. In cooking them together though it helps keep the chicken moist and not dry out, as well as impart a lot of flavor in both. Now remove them from the pan, reserving as much liquid as possible for later.

Chop up whatever veggies you intend to use, again keeping the pieces small so it incorporates throughout the lasagna, I used broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots (as well as the mushrooms listed above), as that's just what I had on hand. I used about 2 cups of each, and again I think I needed more in such a big lasagna - but it was tasty!

DON'T FORGET TO GET YOUR NOODLES GOING - I was so focused on the other ingrediants and the sauce that I honestly had everything ready to go before I realized I didn't even have water on the stove to boil! Now you can use the no-boil noodles to eliminate that problem, but I happen to like the texture of original lasagna noodles better... your call.

Gently cook the veggies in the reserved liquid from the meat/mushrooms, helps impart more flavor. (bacon, chicken, mushrooms, herbs.... all cooked into your veggies slightly... mmm).

Now for the sauce - the directions in the recipe link above is pretty much what I used, only I didn't have fresh basil or chicken paste so I just used the Italian seasoning and instead of only milk, I used a bit of chicken stock (low sodium). Because of the salt content in the cheeses used and bacon, you really don't want to add any more salt then needed.  I also added extra cheese, A LITTLE BIT of crumbled goat cheese (little goes a long way, don't go over-bored), mozzarella and parm. The lemon juice/zest is KEY - really helps break up all the heaviness of the cheese and bacon down the road. If you want to cut a little corners - I found adding jarred Alfredo sauce after the cheese sauce is done to help add more flavor and give you a bit more to work with was very effective.

Chop up the cooked/cooled bacon into small bits.

The rest of the assembly is pretty straight forward, just put a little of the sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. then noodles, then more sauce (you don't want dried out noodles, so keep them covered, but don't go crazy - cause you'll need a good deal of sauce at the top.) then chicken/mushroom mixture, veggies, bacon, sliced/grated mozzarella, goat cheese (again keep this part light), and ricotta in small bits. more noodles and repeat. Be sure to reserve a good amount of sauce for the top, you REALLY don't want it to dry out. more cheese, a little parm, pepper, herbs if you want and bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until bubbly & slightly browned! (*Tip from the other recipe is the put a foil lined baking sheet under your pyrex, to catch any spill over - helped a lot)

Like I said before, you could probably put just about anything in here veggie wise, or pork product wise. Other meat isn't really needed, my 2 year old just LOVES chicken and is hesitant on veggies and cheese, so I wanted to give her something she could get into. It was a huge hit for the whole family, and with a bit more veggies in it next time, it would be a great, slightly indulgent way to feed the family a nice semi-healthy dinner.

Hope you enjoy!

382 Calorie Pasta Primavera Dish!

I love me some pasta, but its always "OFF THE MENU" when I'm dieting, until now! Last night I invented a new dish that not only was big on flavor, and had yummy pasta in it, it was also super healthy and low calorie. I had to share! Its filling, and even a pretty big portion for "health food".

Not the best pic, but trust me - it was SOO good. I snapped the pic quickly because I was starving, but it will work for this recipe.

What you need:
Angel hair Pasta (just a little)
Drizzle of Olive Oil
1/3 of an Yellow Onion
1 small carrot
2 cloves garlic
4-5 mushrooms
1 small Zucchini
about 1/2-1 cup Broccoli
Tablespoon of butter (or less)
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice (I like lemon flavor so I used a lot)
Greek Seasoning
Sprinkle of reduced fat Feta Cheese

Boil water, cook a small patch of Angel Hair pasta as directed. I used about the thickness of my finger worth of pasta, really don't need much cause the veggies fill it in, plus its just empty calories (delicious empty calories) anyway.

While that's doing its thing take a TINY drizzle of olive oil and saute up some yellow onions (these do have a kind of high calorie count FYI, so if you aren't into onions - skip them and its still will be good and it will save you about 30 calories. Then add chopped up carrots, then garlic, then mushrooms, then broccoli, then zucchini, saute for about 5-7 minutes total, checking doneness (about as long as it will take for you noodles to cook. Add the butter, and lemon juice and greek seasoning (salt/pepper good too).  Add the done pasta to the skillet and toss it all together.

Put on your plate, sprinkle the bit of feta cheese on top (helps you forget about Parmesan, and its consistent with the Greek seasonings used) You can change this up and use all sorts of veggies, and seasonings. But keep it light, simple and delicious! Just weigh your food and make sure you pay attention to calories.

If you can splurge, meat would be great in this too - especially shrimp! Chicken or whatever you like!

ENJOY!
xoxo

Kela