During the time of my adventures with the little chicken, I managed to catch up on some posts from my fellow bloggers, and found that I had been given some new blog love in the form of 7 awards! Oh, my goodness, that is some grand love indeed, and from two of my favorite bloggers besides. 🙂 Continue reading
Sometimes a bowl of warm, green soup is just what the doctor ordered. This beautiful soup is a lean, mean and green antioxidant machine...and it makes me happy!
It was the end of a very long, and emotionally exhausting week, and the thought of just staying home and making dinner was a pleasure. But what to make?
I didn’t feel like going to the store. It was getting cold outside. I knew my supplies were getting low, just some bits of things here and there. Here’s how the dialog goes in my head at these moments. Sound familiar? Continue reading
Dark roasted chicken stock + caramelized onions + balsamic drizzle = delectable risotto, but perhaps not the prettiest or most colorful you've ever seen!
There’s been a roasted chicken, and then chicken pot pies, and now the time has come to wind up this tale of The Little Chicken That Could with his final bequest: Chicken Essence, AKA the roasted chicken stock, and what to do with it!
Now of course, soup is a wonderful thing, and having homemade stock on hand in your freezer is like having a warm security blanket….at least once you warm it, it is. Rest assured, there will be soup in the future. But the little chicken had another idea for the home cook as well… Continue reading
Chicken Pot Pies with Lemon-Thyme Sweet Potato Biscuit. Ready to eat? Yes indeed.
And now for the second chapter of our little tale…
So it came to pass that the little chicken grew up to become a fabulous roasted chicken with lovely moist meat and savory pan juices. The home cook and her husband were very satisfied at dinner that night, and the little chicken was very…well…appreciated.
But this was just the beginning of the tale for this happy little chicken, oh yes! For you see, he had some special secrets he’d shared with the home cook, secrets that would honor a fine chicken and feed a family of two or more for several days. He foretold of many ways the home cook could enjoy him beyond an initial roasting, as well as have fun making new dishes in her kitchen. Continue reading
Once upon a time, there was a sale on whole organic chickens at Whole Foods. These were beautiful little chickens, certified organic stage 3, and individually wrapped…and it was a GOOD sale.
The day had dawned bright and sunny, the weekend was upon us, and the home cook went to the market on her lunch hour to purchase some milk and fruit to round out her grocery supply. She had no need of animal proteins on this beautiful, crisp day, being well endowed with veggies from her local CSA box.
She briskly strolled her cart down the aisles…easily ignoring the pitfalls of the cheese department and the bakery(!). And then suddenly, just as she rounded the paper goods aisle, harps started playing and angels started singing…it was Friday you see, the big one day sale! And there they were, all those little chickens…lined up side by side in the refridgerator case, waiting patiently to pounce on unsuspecting shoppers. Continue reading
It tastes as good as it looks, and is yet another dish you can't feel guilty about eating and enjoying!
Our CSA boxes have been pretty repetitive of late, but they happen to be featuring some of my favorite ingredients to work with and in particular, broccoli and kale. I made some of my Penne with Fresh Broccoli and Garlic last week—always a quick and tasty dish—but wanted to figure out something different to do with the kale other than my usual sauteed side dish or a main pasta dish. After casting about for a while looking for ideas from other recipes, I decided on calzones, and this dish was born: Kale Calzones with Spicy Marinara. Continue reading
Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful…and meatless.
I’m a sucker for most kinds of chili, especially when the weather is cold and I’m craving that comforting bowl of rich goodness. Generally, I like meat of some sort in my chili, and in addition to my signature Holy Mole Turkey Chili, I make and enjoy all kinds of and meat and bean chilis. In the last couple of weeks we’ve been taking a more healthy road around here as you may have noticed, and the other day I remembered a recipe I used to make long ago for a rather delicious, and quite frugal, black bean chili. This chili is completely vegetarian (I think it might actually qualify as vegan (!), even), and the toppings for it can be customized to your desires. I like to stick with the veggie and cheese variety of toppings to let the beans shine through. Continue reading
Butternut Squash, Kale and Parmesan Bread Pudding. Very tasty, very satisfying and very vegetarian!
Bread Pudding. The mere mention makes me want some. I love it sweet…the traditional way with whisky sauce (no raisins or pineapple in that please), or chocolatey—I had a chocolate banana bread pudding once that almost made me swoon—or cinnamon caramel-y with pecans and bourbon whipped cream will do nicely, too. I love it savory…that Ham, Fontina and Spinach bread pudding could yet be my downfall. They are all fantastic, and all, alas, rather caloric. In my mind, the words “Healthy” and “Bread Pudding” just don’t go together.
Until now. Continue reading
Salmon, orange, chipotle...and some potatoes to soak up the juices...lovely!
Cayenne and dark chocolate. Thai chilies and coconut milk. Almonds glazed with red pepper flakes, fennel and sugar. I really enjoy the taste of spicy and sweet together and I particularly love the combination of smoky hot chipotle peppers and the citrusy sweetness of orange.
My local market had a special on salmon fillets the other day, and I was just dying to try my hand at a glaze made from a spicy and sweet duo. I had some chipotles in the fridge left over from making chili and I seem to have a plethora of oranges on hand at all times lately, so using these two for my glaze was a no-brainer. The result was a flavorful salmon dish with a little heat and just the right touch of sweet to temper it, bringing out the sweetness of the salmon itself. Continue reading
It's hard to get out of the door with these before one mysteriously disappears off the plate!
It’s been said around these parts that if you ever bring deviled eggs to a party, you can rest assured you’ll take home an empty plate! And it’s so true.
Just what is it about deviled eggs that everyone loves so much? Is it the fact that one feels kind of guilty, perhaps even…dare I say…devilish, eating them? Or is it because they’re so easy to pop into your mouth that you can’t eat just one? Maybe it’s all of the above, but it’s interesting to watch the response to a plate of deviled eggs at a party. Everyone will just have one, thank you very much. Then, when no one is looking a bit later on, “I’ll just have one more,” and a bit later…”oh, my, we can’t let those last two or three go to waste!” And the next thing you know, there’s a wistful-looking and empty egg plate. Continue reading
bits and breadcrumbs 