Coconut Curry Chicken Soup

There is nothing that makes me happier when the weather gets cool than a good bowl of soup, and truth is, there is really only one kind of soup that I crave and it’s this one.

This soup is savory, sweet, filling, flavorful, yet somewhat light… too many words, but basically it’s fantastic. There are a lot of ingredients, so when I make this soup, I make a lot of it and enjoy the leftovers for days and freeze some for perfect meals whenever the weather gets cool again.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion chopped
• Olive Oil
• 3 chicken breasts sliced
• 1 -2 TBSP fresh (or frozen) ground ginger
• 2 11oz containers of cooking grade coconutmilk- I use So Delicious brand
• 2 – 3TBSP of your favorite curry powder
• 2 TBSP date sugar (or brown sugar)
• 2 delicata squash (or 1 butternut squash peeled) and cut up
• 1 cauliflower (checked for bugs)
• 2 carrots peeled and cut
• 2 pieces of fresh lemon grass cut in half lengthwise
• 1 bunch of fresh cilantro washed and checked for bugs
• 2 32oz boxes of vegetable or chicken stock
• Salt to taste
• 1 bundle of green onions
• 3 Limes

 

Directions:

In a big soup pot sautee the onions in your favorite cooking oil (I used olive) and almost immediately add the sliced chicken breast and one carton of coconut milk, curry powder, ginger, and sweetner of your choice. As the chicken cooks, finish preparing the other vegetables and add them to the pot: Wash, cut, and de-seed the delicata squash (the great thing about this squash is you can eat the peel!), check and cut the cauliflower, wash, peel, and cut the carrots, wash, check and rip the cilantro, and cut the two pieces of lemongrass.

Add the 2 boxes of soup stock (Tabachnick is generally easy to find at your local grocery). Heat over medium heat until the squash and carrots are fork tender. To finish the soup off, add some fresh green onions, the juice of 3 limes, and the second carton of coconut milk. Add any additional salt, curry powder, or sweeter to balance out any flavors. Enjoy!

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Apple Kale Salad

This creamy, sweety, tangy, and filling salad is one of my favorites. Once you’ve made the dressing, it’s easy to assemble and makes a great lunch, appetizer, snack… whatever! The recipe is adapted from one I found at: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013732-kale-salad-with-apples-and-cheddar

Since I was short on kosher sensitive ingredients like parmesan I had to make some changes, and while I have not tasted this salad as the NY Times intended, I do think mine is pretty tasty! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 Lemons
• 3 Cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1-2 TBSP Blanched almonds
• Dash of Nutritional Yeast (the great cheese substitute)
• Pinch of salt to taste
• Splash of Water if needed
• Baby Kale
• Apple
• Shredded Cheese ( I prefer munster, but cheddar, or chef’s blend will work well)

Tools:

• Blender/food processor/nutri-bullet

Directions:

For the dressing, Squeeze the two lemons in to the food processor along with he garlic and oil. Process until smooth. Add 1-2 TBSP of the blanched almonds, nutritional yeast, and salt then process again. The mixture should become a creamy white color and be slightly thicker, but still thin enough to pour over a salad. If it is too thick, and looks more like mayo thin it with a splash of water. This dressing will keep in a sealed container the fridge for about a week (if you don’t eat it all before then)! I highly recommend investing in some mason jars as they are durable, easy to clean and cheap. They are also super in style with all the hipsters right now and you know you always wanted to be a hipster, right?

When you are ready to enjoy your salad, slice up some apple with some baby kale (Trader Joe’s sells a bagged baby kale that is pretty great), sprinkle with a handful of shredded cheese on top then drizzle with the dressing!*

*Sometimes my dressing turns out more white, while other times its more oily/yellow. Either is fine and tastes great,  it generally depends on the type of food processor I am using. Either way, the dressing does tend to separate a bit so be sure to shake well before using 🙂

Butternut Squash “Ricotta”

I live in a suburb in Maryland where our grocery stores have lots of basic kosher products, but you have to get to a kosher grocery to get some of the ‘frills’ like ricotta. Being the foodie that I am, I decided to play around with tofu and feta and see what happened. Kosher feta is in most of our local groceries and Trader Joes even has a Cholov Yisroel feta from Israel! Then I thought… what if I add roasted butternut squash… Now this is a staple I use in lots of recipes including super decadent quesadillas, and homemade ravioli! Those recipes will be posted soon, but let’s start with one of my favorite bases…

Ingredients:

• Butternut Squash- Harris Teeter sells one that is cut up and kosher certified!
• 1 Container of Tofu
• 7 oz Feta
• Oil – I used canola
• Salt

Directions:

Roast the butternut squash with some oil and a dash of salt at 400*F for 30 minutes- until soft. Let cool then transfer to a bowl. Drain both the feta and tofu then crumble over the roasted butternut squash. Use an immersion blender or mash with your hands until fully mixed.

Eat as is, or stay tuned for my foodie quesadilla recipe or homemade ravioli!

Semi-Authentic Pozole!

Thanks to my dear Mexican friend, I bring you Pozole! If you are like me and have never heard of this incredible dish it’s a cross between a soup and a salad and it’s just about the most filling and flavor-filled dish around! It’s also very colorful and easy to make 🙂

Ingredients for the soup:

• 1-2 spicy finger peppers
• 1 white onion
• 2 boneless chicken breasts or thighs
• 2 cans of sweet corn
• Quart of vegetarian broth
• 4 cups of water
• Salt to taste

Soup toppings:

• 1/2 of white onion- diced
• 4 radishes- thinly sliced
• 2 Avocados- diced
• Cilantro- fresh
• Romain lettuce- cut for salad
• Tortilla chips
• 3 limes- halved

Directions:

In a food processor combine the spicy peppers and onion (remove or include the seeds of the pepper if to take the heat down or up a notch) and pour in to a soup pot. Add the chicken and cans of corn to the pot. Add the broth and water to the pot and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat for at least an hour until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Add salt to taste, however the soup should taste fairly bland as most of the flavor comes from the toppings. When the chicken is cooked thoroughly, remove from the pot, discard any bones, shred and return to the pot.

Prepare the toppings on serving plates. Dish the soup into bowls and add a spoon or two of the diced onions, sliced radishes, diced avocado, cilantro, romaine lettuce, and tortilla chips. Finish with a good squeeze of fresh lime juice and enjoy!