“chicken” noodle soup

Posted on February 17, 2015 by andrea

Nothing warms my bones during the cold winter months quite like a big bowl of soup. I discovered the 100 Days of Real Food website last November, and while looking into the “pledge” I found that the creator, Lisa Leake, published a cookbook. One of the easiest meals to make (with very simple ingredients) is the recipe for Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. The recipe calls for celery, but says you can substitute a green pepper in its place (which I do); I also add red onions to the soup to incorporate a third vegetable, and use imitation chicken as my husband and I like the taste and ease of using of Beyond Meat…you can certainly use real chicken like the original recipe calls for. Enjoy!

chicken noodle soup

Ingredients:

chicken noodle soup – ingredients

48 oz Chicken Broth
2 cups Pasta Noodles
5 Carrots
1 Medium Green Bell Pepper
1 Medium Red Onion
3 oz Beyond Meat Lightly Seasoned Chicken-Free Strips

Instructions:

Peel the carrots and chop into small pieces.

chicken noodle soup – cutting the carrots

Cut the green pepper and onion into chunks.

chicken noodle soup – cutting the green-pepper and red onion

Measure the pasta noodles.

chicken noodle soup – measuring the pasta noodles

Cut the “chicken” into cube-like pieces.

chicken noodle soup – cutting the “chicken”

Pour broth into a large pot and bring to a boil.
NOTE: As I use a coated cast iron dutch oven for my soup, I cook the soup using medium heat; if using a steel saucepan, you can cook the soup over high heat.

chicken noodle soup – boiling the broth

Add pasta noodles and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in “chicken” and vegetables and cook an additional 6 minutes (or until vegetables are soft and tender, and noodles are al dente).
NOTE: If using real chicken, be sure it is fully cooked before adding it to the soup.

chicken noodle soup – cooking the noodles and veggies

Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Yields 4 Bowls of Soup

Weight Watchers: 1 bowl soup = 5 points plus

alton brown’s cheesy herbalicious biscuits

Posted on January 25, 2015 by andrea

Although I’m not sure when, where, or how my love for bread (and almost all bread products) arose, it is undeniable. In October of 2014, my husband and I visited our good friends Matt & Kelly in Ohio, and while dining at Third & Hollywood in Grandview Heights, we ordered the Iron Skillet of Cheddar Herb Biscuits…they we’re definitely the highlight of dinner that night!! Besides their soft, fluffy interior and slightly crunchy exterior I love opening a hot, fresh-out-of-the-oven biscuit and watching the steam dissipate. I searched for a cheddar biscuit recipe for a while, but it wasn’t until I stumbled across Alton Brown’s Chicken Biscuit Pot Pie recipe from his Good Eats 3: The Later Years cookbook that I knew I found something tasty. To clarify, I will never eat chicken pot pie; I use this recipe strictly for the biscuits!!! When making the biscuits, I used fresh rosemary in lieu of sage and added garlic salt for some additional flavor. Enjoy!

cheesy biscuit

Ingredients:

cheesy biscuit – ingredients

12 ounces Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Kosher Salt
¼ tsp Thyme, dried
1 tsp Rosemary, fresh
¼ tsp Ground Cayenne Red Pepper
½ tsp Garlic Salt
1 Stick Butter, Frozen
4 oz White Cheddar Cheese
7 oz Buttermilk

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place dry ingredients in a large bowl, and mix to combine.

cheesy biscuits – combining the dry ingredients

Using the large holes of a box grater, grate frozen butter and cheese. Add to dry ingredients and mix well.

cheesy biscuits – grating the cheese and butter

Make a well in the center of the biscuit mixture and add buttermilk, stirring just to combine.

cheesy biscuits – adding the buttermilk

Empty the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and lightly kneed until dough is soft and smooth. Press the dough out to ½ inch thick. Cut out biscuits using a biscuit cutter or the rim of a glass. Repeat the process of pressing out the dough and cutting the biscuits until all dough has been used. NOTE: The last biscuit is generally a conglomerate of the all the remaining dough pressed together.

cheesy biscuits – kneading the dough

Place biscuits on a baking sheet or in a round cake pan and bake for about 16 minutes, or until lightly browned.

cheesy biscuits – baking the biscuits

If you do not want to bake all the biscuits today, you can freeze them in a container and bake as needed. NOTE: No need to defrost the biscuits before you bake them, however the cooking time may increase to 18 – 20 minutes depending upon the oven.

cheesy biscuits – freezing the biscuits for later use

Yields 10 Biscuits

Weight Watchers: 1 biscuit = 7 points plus

roasted red pepper bisque

Posted on January 7, 2015 by andrea

My husband and I currently reside in a small town with access to a few larger cities within a one to one and a half hour drive. Over the weekends, we enjoy traveling to “civilization” as this also allows us to shop at Whole Foods Market. The weekend before Christmas, we headed up the mountain to visit Whole Foods Asheville and on our way we stopped at West First Wood-Fired Pizza in Hendersonville. The special that day was a roasted red pepper and garlic bisque – it was so creamy, flavorful and all around delightful…and I couldn’t stop thinking about it over the next week, so I proceeded to look up recipes for roasted red pepper bisque because I desperately wanted to recreate it!!! I had a hard time finding a recipe that embodied the flavors I remembered (especially because most recipes called for red peppers, not roasted red peppers), so I created my own – I hope you find it as satisfying as we did. Enjoy!

roasted red pepper bisque

Ingredients:

roasted red pepper bisque – ingredients

3 TBSP Butter
7 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 Medium Red Onion, Diced
7 Roasted Red Peppers, Cut into Sizable Chucks
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1/2 TSP Ground Thyme
1 TSP Fresh Rosemary
1/2 TSP Salt
1 Cup Half & Half

Instructions:

Prepare vegetables for cooking by dicing the onion, cutting the rosemary, and chopping the roasted red peppers.

roasted red pepper bisque – cutting the onion

roasted red pepper bisque – cutting the rosemary and peppers

Heat butter, onion, and garlic in large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent (about 5 minutes).

roasted red pepper bisque – cooking the onion garlic and butter

Stir in roasted red peppers, chicken broth, thyme, rosemary and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat until vegetables are tender, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

roasted red pepper bisque – cooking the peppers broth and spices

Use an immersion blender to puree the red pepper mixture in the saucepan, until smooth. Add half & half to pureed mixture and use the immersion blender once again to thoroughly combine. Return bisque to stovetop and cook, stirring occasionally, until warm (about 5 minutes). Be careful not to let the soup boil.
Note: If you do not have an immersion blender, transfer mixture to the pitcher of a blender or bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth, then return mixture to saucepan and whisk in the half & half.

roasted red pepper bisque – pureeing the soup

Divide evenly into 3 bowls and serve immediately.

Yields 3 Servings
Weight Watchers: 1 bowl bisque = 8 points plus

finicky foodie

where picky eaters can be foodies too!

“chicken” noodle soup

alton brown’s cheesy herbalicious biscuits

roasted red pepper bisque