Showing posts with label Soups and Salads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soups and Salads. Show all posts

11.04.2012

Lemon Chicken Noodle Soup for #SundaySupper

This week's #SundaySupper is focused on foods that warm your soul. What better dish for this than Chicken Noodle Soup?

Typically, I only think to eat chicken noodle soup when I'm sick or when it's cold outside. When I first made this soup, I was experiencing neither. But, I really felt like eating chicken noodle soup so I threw some items together (from other soup recipes I've read) and do you know what happened? I came up with some of the best chicken noodle soup I've ever had.



Lemon Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup Ditalini pasta

2 tbsp of olive oil

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1/2 medium onion, chopped

3 cans of low-sodium chicken broth

2 tbsp chicken soup base- I used Vigo brand

Juice from 2 lemons*

A couple of pinches of parsley

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 2-inch piece of Pecorino Romano, ungrated (can be found in the Deli of most grocery stores)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 dried Bay Leaf

Salt

Directions:

Boil the chicken breasts until cooked. After cooked, shred chicken using two forks, set aside. Saute the onion, carrots and celery in the olive oil until slightly tender. 

Bring the chicken broth, chicken soup base, lemon juice*, bay leaf, and piece of Pecorino Romano to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the vegetables and simmer about 15 minutes.

Add the pasta and cook until the pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken and cook another 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and chunk of Pecorino Romano and discard.  Stir in the Parmesan cheese and parsley. Season with salt, to taste. Serve with grated Pecorino on top.

*The best way to obtain juice from the lemon is to roll the lemon under your palm first. Then, cut the lemon in half and squeeze. 

*****

I have to say that I am so pleased with how my chicken soup turned out. The lemon really makes the soup taste bright!

Be sure to check out the other #SundaySupper participants!

Main Entrees: 
Chili/Stews:
Soups:
Desserts/Beverages:





10.14.2012

Ditalini Italian Soup for #SundaySupper

Comfort food: the theme of this week's #SundaySupper and a favorite kind of food for me to make. People gravitate towards chili, mac-n-cheese and soups and I get all kinds of giddy. This week I decided to make Ditalini Italian Soup. The classic Italian flavors of oregano, basil and garlic really lend themselves to making this dish great.


Comfort food to me means a dish that brings you joy and reminds you of the place and time in which youfirst ate it. More often than not, I see comfort food as a dish you want me to make time and time again, that's easy and a joy to cook, and also a pleasure to serve to others. I created this soup a long while ago and cook it on a regular basis for our household of two. 


I like to make my own meatballs for the dish when I have the time, but the reason it's such a go-to meal for me is because it can be made with no fuss and almost no clean up. This is where the frozen meatballs come into play and, more often than not, this is how I make the soup, so frozen meatballs is the ingredient that made it into the recipe. After all, I have to leave my fabulous meatball recipe for another time, right?



Ingredients:

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can diced tomatoes with juice (I use the ones seasoned with basil and oregano)

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 cans reduced sodium chicken broth

1 tbsp Italian Seasoning

A couple of dashes of Texas Pete hot sauce

A pinch of red pepper flakes

Meatballs (I am a really big fan of the frozen Armour Italian-style meatballs, for a quick meal)

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cup Ditalini pasta

Couple pinches of salt

Pinch of dried oregano 

Pinch of dried basil

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes, adding a little bit of salt.

Add the garlic to the pan and saute together with the onions for 1 minute. Then add the meatballs, can of diced tomatoes, chicken broth, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and dashes of hot sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes.

While still simmering, add the Parmesan cheese and Ditalini pasta and continue to simmer another 15 minutes.

Remove pan from stove top, add dried oregano and basil. I like to also add some freshly grated Pecorino Romano, but that's just preference.

*****

Now, below you'll find all the links to the fabulous dishes that other #SundaySupper participants have cooked up. Be sure to visit because the yum-yums are endless! :)


Comfort Food |Soups
Comfort Food  | Main Dish
Comfort Food | Desserts
Pairing Wine with Sunday Supper Comfort Food Favorites! by ENOFYLZ Wine Blog 



10.06.2011

Basic Salad

I love a good salad. I can go for oil & vinegar, balsamic, ranch, italian, greek, chef, fruit...the possibilities for a great salad are endless. When I'm making a salad at home, I tend to make the same salad over and over again. It's so basic, but it's also so delicious.

For my basic salad, I just throw some romaine lettuce, tomato, croutons, shredded cheese (any kind), and cucumbers into a bowl. I also add some salt, pepper, and oregano. Next, I make my favorite part of the salad.


Sauteed mushrooms and onions make this salad, in my opinion. After they have sauteed for a couple of minutes, I add some balsamic vinegar. I like the mushrooms and onions sit in the vinegar for another couple of minutes. Both mushrooms and onions really tend to absorb spices and whatever they are being cooked in. 

After everything is mixed together, I drizzle olive oil, honey, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and a little bit of apple cider vinegar (plus, the balsamic vinegar from the mushrooms and onions) over it. I don't measure these items and I suggest you don't either. It's all personal taste and preference. Sometimes, I'll use less vinegar and sometimes, I'll use more. What I can say is that the possibilities to create different tastes for your dressing are endless.


Mmm.

Do you made homemade dressing?