Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Enchilada Soup

( #Enchilada )

Since it is a busy week, I was looking for something simple to cook in the crock pot. I came across a version of this recipe over at SkinnyTaste.com but I had to tweak it due to my raging hatred of cilantro.

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups low sodium fat-free chicken broth
8 oz can tomato sauce
1-2 tsp chipotle chili in adobo sauce (or more to taste)
15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes
2 cups frozen corn
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 8 oz skinless chicken breasts (16 oz total)
1/4 cup chopped scallions, for topping
3/4 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until soft, 3-4 minutes.
2. Slowly add the chicken broth, tomato sauce and chipotle adobo sauce and bring to a boil. Pour into crock pot.
3. To the crockpot, add drained beans, diced tomatoes, corn, cumin, oregano and stir. Add the chicken breasts; cover and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours.
4. Remove chicken and shred with two forks.
5. Add chicken back into the soup, adjust salt to taste.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Asian Chicken Salad

I made this salad on Xmas Eve and people really seemed to enjoy it. Here is the official recipe.

INGREDIENTS: Main Dish

2 large handfuls of chicken or turkey
1 large handful of cashew nuts
1 handful of dried cranberries
2 teaspoons ground all-spice
a handful of fresh mint, leaves picked (optional)
a handful of fresh coriander, leaves picked (optional)
4 large handfuls of mixed salad leaves such as chicory, rocket, spinach, watercress
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 fresh red chili, deseeded and finely chopped

INGREDIENTS: Dressing

juice of 2 clementine
juice of 1 lime
1 pomegranate, halved
1/2 red onion, peeled and coarsely grated
extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely grated

DIRECTIONS:

To Make the Dressing:
1. Since Clementines are small I like to use two. Roll it, then cut it in half, and then squeeze into a large bowl.
2. Cut the pomegranate in half (try to pop out a few seeds and set them aside), and squeeze hard to break the seeds and release the juice.
3. Grate the red onion and add that to the bowl
4. Add the fresh lime juice
5. Add the olive oil - the general rule of thumb is add as much oil as there is liquid in the bowl, but I suggest a little less.
6. Add a tablespoon of soy sauce (this is the only salt compound), then the sesame oil.
7. Peel and grate the ginger. Get the shavings and squeeze the juice into the bowl.
8. Whisk like crazy.

Putting It Together
1. In a large frying pan set on medium low heat, add the chicken or turkey (lightly coat the pan with oil or use a non-stick). The great thing about this dish is that it uses leftovers. If you don't have cooked chicken or turkey, prepare it anyway you like, but you want chunks of meat (you can also use a nice fish). 2. Then add whole cashews and cranberries. Toss the ingredients in the pan to mingle the flavors and then add the all-spice. Let it simmer.
3. In another large bowl, get all of the greens (salad leaves, coriander, mint - clean them first!) and mix them together.
4. De-seed the chili pepper and finely dice it. Set it aside.
5. Back to the chicken, add some honey to the pan and mix around to give texture and crust. Take the pan off the heat and allow to cool a bit (so the greens do not wilt).
6. Add the cooked ingredients to the greens, add dressing to taste. Place chili pepper and pomegranate seeds on top as a garnish.