Home Made Chicken Escarole Soup

Most grocery stores have a prepackaged bag of soup veggies you can buy that should have celery, turnip, leeks, parsnips and carrots. If the veggies look fresh it’s a really good way to buy them if you’re unsure what to buy or have never cooked with them before because they are already prepared (leeks cut down, ect)

Ingredients

• 2 lbs chicken quarters (or thighs) you get a lot of the flavor for this stock from the bones and skins so I don’t recommend you use breasts.
• 1 leek chopped
• 1 parsnip chopped (thin)
• 1 small turnip chopped (thin)
• 3 stalks celery chopped
• 2 large carrots chopped
• 1 tsp dill
• 1 tbsp fresh ground pepper
• 1-2 heads washed chopped escarole
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 clove garlic pressed or diced
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• water about 10-15 cups (I’ve never really measured it)

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1. In large stew pot cook leeks, onion, turnip, garlic & parsnip in oil till soft and browned.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients except the escarole and carrots and add water to 2-3 inches above the chicken ( the pot should be about 2/3 of the way full).
3. Let boil covered on medium heat for about an hour or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked stirring occasionally.
4. Remove the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon and allow the broth to continue to simmer covered.
5. Add the carrots.
6. When chicken is cool enough to touch (about 20 minutes) remove the skins and the meat from the bones (it should just fall right off) and return the meat to the pot.
7. Add the escarole, you may need to add it in batches if it wont all fit, it cooks down very quickly. cook for another 30 minutes remove bay leaves and serve!

This soup is excellent served over tortellini or orzo pasta.

This recipe freezes well so don’t worry if it looks like a lot of soup! if you want to reserve some fresh broth for other recipes simply set some aside before you re-add the chicken. Let it cool in the fridge, spoon the fat off the top & freeze or use.

If this recipe doesn’t produce a strong enough flavor for you then you have been eating way to much salt and have probably killed your taste buds! that’s a bummer! but you can kick up the flavor by adding chicken bouillon cubes at the end until you reach the flavor you desire, remember to let them dissolve and then taste it before adding more.

Sweet Potato Pumpkin Soup

This is a very hearty and savory soup. It is the perfect autumn evening dinner.

I can’t stress how delicious it is, seriously.

Ingredients

• 2 leeks, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 carrot shredded or chopped (your preference)
• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 can pumpkin
• 1 clove garlic chopped or pressed
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup cream
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp sage ( a small handful of leaves)
• a pinch of ground clove, nutmeg & cinnamon
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

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1. Peel and cube the sweet potatoes make them kind of small so that they cook quickly.
2. In a large pot cook onions, garlic, carrots, leeks, potatoes and sage in 2 tbsp of olive oil until soft, throw a cup or two of water in if they start to burn.
3. Add the chicken stock, pumpkin, sage, celery, bay leaf, cayenne, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt & pepper.
4. Bring to a boil and let simmer covered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
5. Add cream and simmer for another 30 minutes.
6. Remove bay leaf
7. ENJOY!

Serve this soup with blue corn tortilla chips and cayenne pepper sprinkled on top!

This recipe is also delicious with chopped chicken and a bit of fresh cilantro added in.

Tomato Sauce

This is a simple and delicious basic tomato sauce recipe from scratch.

Ingredients

• about a dozen medium-large RIPE tomatoes
• 1 medium yellow onion chopped fine
• 2 gloves of garlic chopped or pressed
• a splash of olive oil (about 2-3 tablespoons)
• Fresh Basil
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 3 stalks celery chopped fine
• 1 table spoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• Meat of choice (optional) my favorite is 1/2 lb Italian sausage, skins removed and 1lb ground turkey

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1. Core the tops of the tomatoes and cut an x in the bottom (to just pierce the skins)
2. Bring a large pot 1/2 full of water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Carefully drop the tomatoes into the boiling water until the skins start to come off, you may need to do this in small batches. Remove with a slotted spoon and place into the ice water until cool.
3. Remove the skins from the tomatoes, chop up and set aside.
4. In a large pot cook your meat with the onions and garlic and olive oil (if meatless cool onions and garlic in oil)
5. Add the tomatoes to the pan and squish them down with a potato masher (it’s a lot of fun) when that’s a nice saucy consistency add the rest of your spices and veggies.
6. Bring to a boil then put heat to a simmer and let cook stirring occasionally for about 1 hour. If your sauce is too watery then you can simmer uncovered for another hour stirring occasionally. Remove the bay leaves when done cooking and serve!

I use this basic recipe for most of my tomato based soup stocks and chili’s also. Go ahead and add all of your favorite vegetables to this,  I have yet to find one that doesn’t taste great! for chili I simply add beans, more cayenne and a teaspoon of cumin.

I hate boiling the skins off of tomatoes, but not as much as I hate having skins in my sauce. To save myself the trouble of doing this very often I make a lot of tomatoes at once and instead of cooking them all I put some in a blender and then freeze manageable sized batches in Ziploc bags for use later.

Easy Oatmeal Chicken

Use this recipe instead of plain old breadcrumbs on all sorts of meats and veggies.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of quick oats
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• your favorite plain non-milk milk
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• dash of celery salt
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2-3 lbs chicken thighs (I leave the skin on but you could take it off for a healthier alternative)

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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

1. Spray a light coating of oil onto a glass baking dish large enough to hold all of the chicken pieces (touching is fine). Set to the side.
2. In a large resealable plastic bag or mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients.
3. Dip the chicken in your milk, coat in the oat mixture, and place in prepared baking tray.
4. Bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes or until juices run clear and meat is no longer pink. (I would start checking on it after 35 minutes)
5. Enjoy!
   

Veggie burgers

These are a delicious make-ahead meal, they freeze and reheat very well, and taste A LOT better than the pre-made veggie burgers (especially those crazy expensive morning star garbage patties). This recipe can also be made into DELICIOUS “meat” balls and topped with tomato sauce for pasta or grinder wraps.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 2 tablespoons rye or chickpea flour
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons quick oats (dry)
• 1/4 cup grated carrots
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 clove fresh garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
• salt and pepper to taste

Feel free to get creative and throw in any other veggies that you love, roasted red peppers,  zucchini, artichoke, spinach, celery the list goes on.

Supplies

• freezer paper
• blender

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Put the chickpeas and black beans in the blender and turn that sucker on! When all of the beans are blended to your liking (I like it real mushy) add the rice, oil and flour and pulse again until the ingredients are mixed, about 10 seconds.

Pour your lovely concoction into a large mixing bowl and stir in the rest of the ingredients. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to 24 hours before shaping.

For burgers- grab a handful of your delicious cold burger goo and shape it into something as closely resembling a patty as you can muster, don’t worry no matter how weird it looks it will still taste amazing! You should try to make them all a fairly uniform shape and thickness so that they cook evenly.

For “meat” balls- put a small amount of burger goo in your hands and roll it into the shape of a ball as best as you can.

To cook them you can either fry them in a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan on the stove or you can place them on a lightly greased baking tray and set them in an oven at 350 for 25-35 minutes, they are done when they are slightly brown on top and /or you can pick them up off the tray easily with a spatula.

To freeze you should place the patties uncooked in between layers of freezer paper (shiny side towards the food) and place them gently in a ziploc bag with most of the air removed.

To re-heat throw them still frozen & paper removed in a skillet with a teaspoon of oil. Cover the pan and let the burger sit undisturbed for about 6 minutes, gently flip and remove when both sides are a nice golden brown. These also reheat okay on the grill, (I’ve never frozen the meat balls but I imagine it’s about the same deal.)

This recipe may take a bit of time to make but you get a LOT of meals out of it so it’s really worth the trouble once a month or so.

** If your burgers are too wet it is likely because you didn’t drain the beans well enough, thats okay though! just add some extra quick oats or flour a little bit at a time until you get a workable consistency. Similarly, if your burger batter is too dry just add a little water.

Hummus

I have found that Hummus is a very personal thing, I know that sounds silly, but I have seen my fair share of fist fights started over favorite flavors and brands (kids these days). Here is a simple and easily customizable guide to creating your own delicious chickpea spread.  It is very inexpensive to make and always turns out delicious.

This recipe is for the Artichoke & Kalamata Olive flavor and it makes a LOT of hummus, which is great for parties but you may want to half the recipe if it’s just for you.

Ingredients

• 2 cans drained chickpeas (garbanzo beans) or 3 cups dried chickpeas (after rehydrated )
• 1 can drained quartered artichoke hearts (in water)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 tsp Tahini (or you can substitute 1 tsp sesame seeds)
• 1/4 cup Kalamata olives (omit for yeast free)
• 1 clove garlic chopped or pressed
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (omit for yeast free)
• salt and pepper to taste

Supplies

• Blender or food processor
• garlic press (optional)

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1. Put Tahini or sesame seeds, garlic, artichoke hearts, olives & 1/2 of the chickpeas in the blender.
2. Pulse for about a minute or until the mixture is well blended and creamy.
3. Add all of the spices, the olive oil, lemon juice and the rest of the chick peas.
4. Pulse until the ingredients are creamy and well blended.
5. Pour the mixture into a bowl or container with a lid and refrigerate for 1-2 hours to let the flavors blend.
6. ENJOY!

What’s really great about this simple and delicious recipe is that you can make it however you like! If you prefer chunkier hummus then you can add 1/2 of the artichokes and olives in small batches at the end and pulse until you get the desired consistency. Similarly if you like it creamy you just pulse for longer.

Another of my favorite flavors is Cucumber Dill, it’s the same recipe but with no cayenne and instead of artichokes and olives add 1 chopped cucumber (seeds removed) and fresh dill to taste (I always keep a mountain of it in the freezer) be sure to add the dill a pinch at a time, it has a very strong flavor and it is really easy to over do it. If you’re using dried dill remember that the flavor will get stronger as it rehydrates in the fridge.

Best Pork Tenderloin Roast

This is the most delicious pork roast recipe that I have tried so far, and it is REALLY easy to prepare! (it only takes about 5 minutes of prep) As with most dishes I got the original idea from allrecipes and altered it to fit my tastes.

Ingredients

• 2lb pork tenderloin
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1 small can sliced black olives (omit for yeast free)
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• a splash of lemon juice (omit for yeast-free)

Supplies

• Glass baking pan or ceramic oven safe casserole dish that will comfortably fit meat
• garlic press (or you could slice the clove)

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1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place meat in casserole dish
3. Press the garlic over the meat so that the juice falls on top rub the remainder into the meat.
4. Sprinkle the remaining seasonings on top of the pork.
5. Pour the chicken broth into the bottom of the baking dish NOT over the meat.
6. Sprinkle the meat with the olive slices & put the remainder into the broth.
7. Splash the lemon juice on top of the roast.
8. Top with the sliced almonds.
9. Bake uncovered for 90 minutes at 350. Turn up the temperature to 400 degrees for an additional 20-30 minutes (or until the meat has an internal temperature of 170 degrees Fahrenheit) so that the almonds brown nicely.

**The cooking time may vary as all ovens are different, I recommend that you check your roast about every 20-30 minutes to make sure everything is going well. **

The juice that you have left over from this is AMAZING spoon some on the meat, and/or over whatever side dish you might choose to prepare (try couscous!). To use up leftovers you can pull the pork and make a delicious wrap sandwich with your favorite veggies! Mine had fresh spinach, hummus (artichoke and olive) and cucumbers!