Mushroom, Chicken, Rice & Peas soup

Made another variation on chicken soup today- the mushrooms, peas and rice really came out nice! This is a good spring time soup because of the peas and the mushrooms.

It was packed full of goodies- don't worry if it doesn't look like a ton of broth. If you get really stuck trying to add more chunks, use a little hot water if needed.


Method:
Bring 1 quart good quality chicken broth to a boil in a large covered pan.

Add:
2 diced carrots
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 diced yellow onion
1/3 C white basmati rice (or other quick cooking rice)

Cook, covered on medium for 15 minutes, or until veggies and rice are cooked through.

Add 2 C thin sliced mushrooms and cook for 2-4 minutes or until mushrooms shrink a bit.

Add and bring up to temperature:
1 cup or more of cooked chicken pieces
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C frozen green peas
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
up to 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
salt to taste

Serve hot.  Optional serve with crackers, whole wheat toast, or cheddar cheese. 

Zucchini noodles with pesto sauteed mushrooms

I'm a big fan of zucchini noodles- much healthier, more filling and fewer calories than wheat pasta! This is gluten free, can be vegan (if you choose oil and not butter) and is a great way to use up extra summer zucchini.Zucchini noodles are especially good with a fattier topping, so use your olive oil (or butter).  I also like this version with tomato and bacon.


Method:
Serves 2

Cut zucchini into fine strands to look like pasta. I use a cheap gadget from japan that julienne slices the zucchini. You could also use a spiralizer or veggie peeler.  Make 2-3 cups of zucchini strands.

Meanwhile, wash and thin slice 1-2 cups of mushrooms (I used cremini but just about any type would be good). 

Heat up a large/wide/shallow pan, sautee the mushrooms with a little bit of olive oil. Let the mushrooms release their water.  Season with salt, pepper and pesto (I keep some pesto frozen from the summer).

Get a pot of water up to boiling. Boil the zucchini pieces for 2 minutes, then drain promptly.

Toast some pine nuts in a little bit of olive oil (or sub in good grass-fed butter if not going vegan), with salt, red pepper flakes.  Just toast until you can smell the pine nuts, 60 seconds or less.

Assembly: in serving bowls, layer cooked and drained zucchini "noodles", then mushrooms, then top with toasted pine nuts. Serve hot!

Easy Thai Noodles and Broccoli: Pad See Ew

I love Thai food at restaurants and have been working towards proficiency in my favorite dishes, namely yellow curry, stir fries and noodle dishes. 

This recipe was surprisingly simple yet delicious- will definitely be making again and again! Made a couple adjustments.

Method
Serves 2

Mix:
2 TB dark thick soy sauce
2 TB oyster sauce
2 tsp regular soy sauce
2 tsp white vinegar (rice vinegar/komezu or apple cider ok)
2 tsp sugar

Soak half a package of rice noodles (wide or narrow) in hot water, separate if they are stuck together. Drain.


In a hot pan (suggest cast iron), add less than 1 TB peanut oil. Saute 2 minced cloves garlic for 30 seconds, then crack 2 eggs into the pan, cook into thin pieces.

Add the presoaked and drained noodles and the sauce. Mix. Stir fry until liquid evaporates.

Add steamed broccoli, and optional thinly shredded red or green cabbage. Cook until warmed through. Serve hot.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Beer and Buttermilk

Saw this in a cookbook and couldn't resist a dark gingery cake! Adapted it quite a bit to use buttermilk in place of some of the oil and dramatically reduced the sugar (had to add some flour to compensate). Turned out nice, and definitely not too sweet! Will be perfect to go with tea.


Method:
Bring to a boil in a tall sided sauce pan:
1/2 C + 2 TB Guinness beer/stout
3/4 C molasses

Once it is boiling, quickly add 1/2 tsp baking soda, whisk (it will foam) then take off heat. Let cool, set aside.

Whisk together:
1.5 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 TB + 2 tsp powdered ginger
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp kosher salt

In another bowl, beat togehter:
2 eggs
1/4 C brown sugar
1/8 C white sugar

Now add 1/3 C buttermilk and 2 to 3 TB olive oil, beat to conbine.

Now add the cooled beer and molasses mixture, stir to combine.

Fold in the flour mixture.

Pour batter into muffin cups. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Cast iron pan makes professional looking crepes

I've made different variations of crepes, one with coconut flour even. Found the best is when made on a hot cast iron pan. These came out incredibly thin and perfect textured- looked like the ones professional crepe stands make. And they cooked a lot faster and easier in the cast iron pan than my normal heavy bottom stainless steel pan







Method:
Lightened the batter recipe up a little-- combine:

1.5 C milk or non dairy milk (whole milk is nice)
1 C whole wheat white flour
2 eggs
1 TB coconut/palm sugar
1/8 tea salt (like a pinch)

Preheat cast iron pan over high heat for 5 minutes.

Swirl butter in the pan.

Pour some crepe batter into the hot pan and immediately swirl pan to spread evenly. Let sit for 30-60 seconds- should no longer be jiggly.

Use a flexible spatula as well as a hard one (like a hamburger turner) to carefully flip.

Cook on the second side for 15-30 seconds, then turn out on a pan. Keep that warm with foil or a lid while you cook the rest.


Serve as is, or with a tad bit of maple syrup, or a pile of berries.  One of these days I want to make a crepe cake with pastry cream filing...

Slow Cooker Pork Quinoa cabbage bowl

I've used pork rib tips before and I love them because they are cheap and delicious. You may have to ask for the rib tips. Make sure they are from pastured animals (better nutrition).

Since you use a slow cooker this is an easy and hearty meal to prepare. Old slow cookers (1980s or early 1990s) will cook slower than mine, so allow yourself plenty of time (up to 8 hours?) for older slow cookers to finish cooking the meat.


Method:
Cut pork rib tips if needed to fit a couple slabs in the slow cooker. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Don't add any liquid- the pork liquids will be fine.  Cover and cook for 5-6 hours on low until the meat falls off the bone. (I use a newer model slow cooker, older slow cookers may take longer)

Using a couple forks, separate the meat from cartilage/bone. Set meat aside, discard cartilage/bone.

Cook up some quinoa in a rice cooker.

Finely shred green cabbage on a mandolin slicer.

Assemble bowls: quinoa, bed of shredded cabbage, cooked shredded pork and season with salt and tomatillo salsa.

Jambalaya

I sampled Andouille sausage for the first time at the meat counter and it was so good I had to buy one! They are like bacon meets sausage with spice. Or summer sausage with heat? Make sure to buy nitrate free. 

So what was I going to do with this Andouille? It's been making the rounds in all the cookbooks and recipe blogs- and I remembered it was often featured in jambalaya, which I've never made before. So I started with this recipe and adapted it to what I had in the pantry and fridge. 

Method:

First, mix the spices- this makes about enough for this dish but you could make extra by scaling up the proportions: 

1.25 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp thyme

Mix the above spices with shelled shrimp (as much or little shrimp as you like).  Use either bite-sized shrimp, or cut large shrimp into pieces. Or use lobster or langostino. Set aside. 

In  1-2 TB oil or fat (chicken or bacon fat), saute until softened:

1/2 C diced yellow onion

1/2 C diced celery

1/2 bell pepper, diced

pinch of salt

Then add 4 minced cloves garlic, 3 bay leaves and 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce. Let cook for 60 seconds until garlic is fragrant. 

Add 3/4 C long grain rice (like basmati) and toast it in the veggies and oil for 30-60 seconds. 

Now add and stir:

3 C chicken broth

2-3 TB tomato paste (or use a can of diced tomatoes)

Cover and cook on medium until rice is done- 15 minutes for white basmati but longer for other types of rice. Add more water if it needs it. 

Meanwhile, slice Andouille or other spicy sausage into pieces. 

Add the sliced sausage and the raw spice-coated shrimp to the pan. Cover and cook on med/low until the shrimp is cooked all the way through. 

Serve hot!

Raw Coconut Chia Pudding

I had some frozen young coconut to use up and surprisigly couldn't really find a simple raw vegan pudding recipe for it. So I took ideas from all over and decided to simply blend the two together. The result was creamy and rich- and perfect when topped with mango. I could actually see this being a birthday/celebration dessert.

If you want the pudding to be sweet itself, then add a medjool date when blending.  You could also add a vanilla bean, but the specs wouldn't be noticed b/c of the chia seed specs.

I used frozen young coconut meat (see photo). Thaw it, then drain off the liquid.

Method:

Blend until smooth
1 C young coconut meat
1 TB chia seeds
enough water to blend


Pour into pretty single serving cups/teacups. It will start to set up quickly.

When ready to serve, top with chopped mango, berries or a fruity sauce.

Soba Tofu Veggie Bowl

Somehow tofu and soba were meant to be together- it's a great flavor/texture combo.  This was a last minute assembly dinner but was surprisingly delicious and definitely crave-able.

Many soba noodles these days are mostly wheat with a tiny bit of buckwheat.  100% buckwheat noodles are often too expensive ($7 a package!!). So either try making buckwheat noodles yourself (that's a project for someday) or buy soba noodles where the first ingredient is buckwheat-- at least that means they are more buckwheat than wheat.


Method:

First see this link for the freezing method of improving tofu texture.

Roast the tofu using this recipe.

While that's roasting in the oven, make the dressing by combining:
1/4 C rice vinegar  (komezu)
2 TB sesame oil
2 TB soy sauce
1 TB brown sugar
2 tea grated ginger
garlic (grated fresh or garlic powder)

Steam broccoli.

Shred cabbage thinly (mandolin slicing helps!)

Steam or roast mushrooms (you can add to the tofu pan near the end of cooking).

Boil soba (cooks in 2-3 minutes so check it frequently). Then drain and keep warm.

Once the tofu is done, you can assemble. First soba, then cabbage, broccoli, tofu, mushrooms and drizzle the dressing over the top.  Optional garnish with sesame seeds.

Serve immediately while still warm.

While it hasn't lasted long enough to become leftovers, I might try a summer version for picnic/packed lunch that is cold...

Daikon, Sugar Snap Peas & Miso Ginger Salad

I swear this miso ginger dressing is so good it would make anything taste good.  I've been putting it on vegetables left and right.

Here I shaved thin slices of daikon, then cut pieces of sugar snap peas.

Topped with miso ginger dressing.

Viola!