Taco Soup

So much for my promise to be a better food blogger... I am still adjusting to working and being a mom. Dinners were easy to make when you had time in the middle of the day or late in the afternoon, but when you get home from work at 6:30 or 7:00 and your feet hurt and your eyes are heavy and your kids need and want 100% of your attention dinner sometimes is sacrificed. Soups, from a can -- gasp! with a loaf of bread or crackers, sandwiches or salads become commonplace. I love to cook and I miss it terribly. But I am just too tired. I love to write and I miss it tired. But I am too tired. So blogging about my recipes has once again taken a back seat. While the snow days have thrown a wrench in my day and in my plans... I can not run my errands and do the work that I need to that has been building up due to loud children with extreme cases of Cabin Fever. But, I can cook! And somehow, yesterday, I managed to take a nap!

When I woke up it was practically dinnertime. I needed to create something warm, hearty, healthy and nutritious. I decided on Taco Soup. I use ground turkey instead of ground beef... I use salsa, low sodium chicken broth, taco seasonings, black beans and corn. For an added treat I found some Baked Tostitos Scoops. I wondered whether they would hold up. They did and they were delicious! So a hearty and healthy meal indeed. And a crowd-pleaser for sure!

Ingredients:

1 medium jar of good quality chunky salsa
1 carton of College Inn lower sodium chicken broth
1 lb ground turkey
2 tbs olive oil
Taco seasonings (I used a pre-measured package by McCormick)
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of corn kernels, drained and rinsed
1 package shredded cheese, optional
1 tortilla chips (Baked Scoops) optional
2 cups of cooked rice

In a large pot add chicken stock and salsa and heat over medium high heat
Add beans and corn
When soup base starts to simmer lower heat
In a skillet add a tbs or two of olive oil and heat.
Add the ground turkey and the taco seasonings and brown the turkey.
As the turkey starts to cook and brown, begin crumbling it with a fork, spoon or spatula
When the turkey is cooked add it to the soup.
If there is a good bit of meat in your pan you can deglaze it with some of the soup and add it back into the soup pan.
Keep soup warm on low heat.
In a small pan cook rice so that rice yields 2 cups when cooked, (I use Uncle Ben's and follow the directions on their box.)

When the rice is done I scoop out a generous helping of soup with a ladle and add a big spoonful of the rice into the bowl and mix well.

We garnish with shredded cheese.

Paella Mexican Style! (One Pan Meal)

Paella (pronounce pie-aye-ah) is a Spanish dish, originally of the Valencia region. Typically it consists of several types of meat such as chicken and sausage (chorizo) and various types of seafood such as clams, mussels, lobster and shrimp. A soufrite is a tomato based sauce that serves as the flavor and essence of the dish. A good soufrite can often take hours to make. Rice is then cooked in the soufrite and then the seafood and meats are added. It's a wonderful dish. My husband has a fabulous recipe which I will share at some other time.

I had some chicken and some sausage to use the other night and thought I might make a much easier, faster version of paella that promised to be equally as tasty. I gave my dish a Mexican flare and instead of slaving over a soufrite I used salsa! What a wonderful burst of flavor it added... instead of the saffron, I added cilantro. And black beans and corn. And shrimp. Our quick and easy shortcut was nothing less than spectacular and was devoured by the entire family.

From start to finish the dish took no longer than 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, trimmed and cubed

4 sausages (preferably chorizo) sliced into 1/2 inch slices

1 can of black beans, drained
1 can of corn, drained (or 1 cup of frozen corn)

1 container of fresh chunky of salsa
Long grain rice, enough for 6 servings

Olive oil

2 cups of water

Sea Salt, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
25 medium/small shrimp, cooked and deveined

In a large saute pan add about 1 tbs of olive oil. Turn pan to high to heat the oil, then as soon as it starts to sizzle turn the heat to medium and add the chicken. Coat each piece with a little sea salt and a good shake of garlic powder and cook until it browns. When browned sufficiently remove from pan onto a plate lined with a paper towel. Set aside.

Add sausage to saute pan and cook well, until sausage also browns. Place on a paper towel lined plate. Set aside.

Add a drop more of olive oil and add the rice. Cook until the rice browns slightly, then add the fresh salsa and water. Cook per directions on the box, until the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked. If needed add more water.

When rice is cooked, turn heat to low and add chicken, sausage, shrimp, beans, and corn. Keep on low heat. Chop cilantro, about a handful, and sprinkle over the rice mixture prior to serving.

This dish is so simple and yet so easy to make!

Summer BBQ With Friends

We had our close friends over for a BBQ lunch yesterday. Our friends Beth and Chris were celebrating their 13th Anniversary and our friends John and Kara had just returned home after 2 years in Japan. Mutual friends Mike and Laurie joined us. All donned their children. Great time and great food was had by all!

The Menu

Grilled Vegetables
Corn Salad
Lemon Parmesan Pasta Salad
Tomatoes with Basil and Feta
Cherry Tomatoes Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Basil

Grilled London Broil
BBQ Chicken
Lemon Garlic Chicken

(For the children:
Corn on the Cob
Grilled Hot Dogs)

Dessert

Warm Brownie Ice Cream Sundae
Watermelon

Grilled Vegetables

4 Summer squash

3 zucchini

3 red peppers

1 orange pepper

1 green pepper

1 container white mushrooms
1 package Italian Dressing Marinade (Good Seasons)

I washed and cut all vegetables into chunks

And made the low oil version of the dressing (recipe on the back of package)
I put all the veggies in two large Tupperware containers and poured the dressing equally over both batches and left the veggies to marinate overnight.

You can either grill the veggies prior to serving or grill ahead of time and serve at room temperature. If you want to grill the night before just remember to take the vegetables out of the fridge at least an hour before serving to bring them back to room temperature. I'm all for getting as much done ahead of time as possible.

You can use any salad dressing (use a low oil for less flare up on the grill) you desire. These vegetables are wonderful in balsamic dressing as well.

Corn Salad

The corn salad is The Barefoot Contessa's Recipe. It's a summer staple. I've posted it before. Click here for the recipe.

Lemon Parmesan Pasta

The lemon Parmesan pasta salad is another summer staple. I adapted it from Giada de Laurentis' recipe. This time I added some fresh parsley from the garden. It was a nice touch! To see the recipe click here.

London Broil

My husband has a dry rub recipe that we adore and therefore he seldom alters. Because he never writes down amounts certain elements vary from time to time, though the flavor is very consistent.

Ingredients:

1 or 2 Top Round or Shoulder London Broil
Garlic Powder
Charcoal Seasoning
Meat Tenderizer (Adolph's)
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne Pepper

Trim steak of all fat

Rub generous amounts of charcoal seasoning, tenderizer and garlic powder onto both sides of the steak. Massage well.

Add a little salt, pepper and as much of the cayenne pepper as you can handle!

Wrap steak in Saran Wrap for at least an hour so that the meat can absorb the flavors.
Grill to taste for rare, medium rare, or well done

BBQ Chicken

We totally cheated and used our favorite jarred recipe. I trim the breasts of all fat and "goop."I then cut each chicken breast into quarters that I let the chicken sit in the marinade overnight and thinly sliced some garlic for additional flavor. I use a fork to poke holes in the chicken so that the flavors can penetrate deep inside. I used 6-8 breasts and 2/3 jar of the sauce. The remaining sauce was poured over the chicken as it was grilling. (The chicken cooked about 5 minutes per side because the pieces were fairly small. You will want to check for done-ness as you do not want undercooked chicken!)

Lemon Garlic Chicken

For the marinade:

1/2 Cup of olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
Lawry's Seasoned Salt

Trim and cut the chicken as in the above recipe and place in a large marinating dish. In a small bowl mix together lemon and olive oil, pour over chicken. Lightly sprinkle each piece of chicken with the seasoned salt (both sides) and use a fork to poke holes in the meat so that the flavors can really penetrate. Sprinkle garlic over the marinating chicken. Flip container from time to time to help enhance flavors -- so that each piece is completely covered in the olive oil mixture.

(Pictured below, BBQ and Lemon Garlic Chicken)

Cherry Tomatoes Stuffed With Feta and Basil

My friend Laurie brought this with her and it was out of this world. She got the recipe from the Williams-Sonoma website. I will be making this for sure!

Sliced Tomatoes with Feta and Basil

Had I know Laurie was bringing the other I would have made something different. But nary a tomato was left over so people must have enjoyed!

5 tomatoes
1/4 cup crumbled feta
2 Tbs. chopped basil
Olive oil
Sea Salt

Wash and slice tomatoes. As you pile them in the plate be sure to sprinkle each slice with feta and basil and lightly sprinkle with salt. Repeat so that each slice is covered. Drizzle olive oil over the top.

Brownie Sundae

Whether you opt to make yours from a box or from scratch, this recipe will delight everyone!

You will need, brownies pre-cut into square
2 flavors of ice cream, more if you dare!
Hot fudge sauce
Caramel Sauce

I arranged everything on the table and left it as a make your own Brownie Sundae bar! Couldn't be easier!

Sliced Watermelon
Simple and perfect for summer. Need I say more?

Fabulously Simple Grilled Chicken, Asparagus with Shallots, Corn on the Cob

Our last "summer dinner" was a simple and delicious one. There is always so much to be taken care of the night before school starts. I wanted a family dinner as they don't happen as often during our busy school year, and I needed a dinner that was quick to prepare and quick to clean!

For the chicken I bought breasts and trimmed them neatly, and cut them into pieces about the size of the palm of my hand. In a large Tupperware or marinating dish I placed the chicken breasts neatly alongside each other. I covered each piece ever so lightly with a little olive oil and then used this:

It is a dry rub of various spices including salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, etc... It is so flavorful! For more information, including her Black Magic (which we use on steak all the time) check out her website.

I let the chicken absorb the spices for a couple of hours, in the fridge and then, when it was ready to be grilled (I let Don handle that part) grill each piece for 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of each piece. I always make too much so that we have leftovers!

For the asparagus, I must admit I was influenced by Katie over at Good Things Catered who had a wonderful looking recipe with green beans and shallots. I adore shallots and decided that I would add them to my asparagus.

I trimmed my asparagus so that the tough, woodsy bits would end up in the garbage, not my mouth! Then I parboiled the asparagus for a couple of minutes so they turned that lovely spring green. I removed them from the water, drained them and set aside. In a non-stick saute pan I sauteed up 3 thinly sliced shallots. When the shallots were translucent, and just a little brown I added the asparagus to the shallots and cooked for another 2 minutes.

Lastly the corn on the cob. I prefer it boiled. On the stove. I have tried the fancier methods with herbed butters and grilled and whatnot, but when corn is in season it needs nothing. Maybe just a little butter and salt. Just a little. I placed my corn in boiling water and removed it after 4 minutes. I tested a couple of kernels with a fork tyne. When it popped I knew it would also pop in my mouth! I can not stand overcooked corn!

I'm craving Barefoot Contessa's Corn Salad!

FRESH CORN SALAD
5 ears corn, shucked

1/2 cup small-diced red onion (1 small onion)

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

3 tablespoons good olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup chiffonade fresh basil leaves (directions follow)

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the corn for 3 minutes until the starchiness is just gone. Drain and immerse it in ice water to stop the cooking and to set the color. When the corn is cool, cut the kernels off the cob, cutting close to the cob. (Yes, you can use leftover, cooked and cooled corn.)

Toss the kernels in a large bowl with the red onions, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Just before serving, toss in the fresh basil. Taste for seasonings and serve cold or at room temperature. Makes about 4 or 5 servings.
To make chiffonade: Stack basil leaves, then cut across the stack to make small "ribbons."

Cornmeal Crusted Chicken with Southwestern Salsa Salad

Sorry I have been MIA... life has been crazy and while I have been cooking (on occasion) for the kids I haven't taken pictures or had time to document the recipes. Here's a salad I made on Thursday that was particularly delicious. The salsa was great as a leftover and I would serve it alone as a side course to a summer meal.

Ingredients:

1/2 cucumber, diced

1 box frozen corn, or large can
1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

3 scallions, cut into thin slices

1 lg. bunch of cilantro, shredded

1 head of Romaine lettuce, (or 2 heads from 1 package)

1 lb. chicken strips

1 jar lowfat Ranch dressing such as Hidden Valley

1/2 cup of skim or lowfat milk

2 tbs Cider vinegar

Olive oil

1 cup of corn meal

1 cup of Italian bread crumbs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tbs. Italian seasoning

In a large mixing bowl add 1/2 cup of Ranch dressing with 1/2 cup of milk, whisk together well and let chicken soak for at least 10 minutes

In another mixing bowl combine cornmeal, bread crumbs, Italian seasonings, salt and garlic powder and mix well

Set asside a large fot he salsa and add beans, corn (cook if using frozen), diced cucumber, diced pepper, cilantro and 3 tbs of dressing, juice of 1 lemon, 2 tbs of cider vinegar and mix well. If desired add more of the ranch dressing. Let marinate

In a large saute pan add a couple of Tbs of Olive oil and heat pan. Dip the chicken in to the breading mixture and cook approx 6 minutes on each side, (over med. high heat) or longer to achieve desired browness. As oil gets absorbed into the chicken you may want to add more to your pan. If some peices are particularly thick you may want to cut into the center to check for doneness. As each piece is done place on a paper towel to drain.

Cut or shred Romaine lettuce and place a handful in a bowl or plate. Place a large spoonful of salsa on top the the lettuce and some chicken on top of the salsa. Add one more layer of salsa on top of the chicken be sure to get a good bit of the dressing too.