Showing posts with label Taste of Tuesday. Show all posts

Easy Pumpkin Soup



Soup season is upon us and one of my favorites since childhood has been pumpkin or butternut squash soup. I randomly bought a whole pumpkin so I was able to a make a few recipes with it including the Turkey and Pumpkin Chili recipe I posted a couple weeks ago. Pumpkin soup is really easy to whip together and only requires a few basic and inexpensive ingredients.


Ingredients

4 cups chicken stock
1/2 Medium white onion
2 tbsp minced garlic
4 cups fresh cubed pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Ground black pepper, to taste
2 tsp curry powder (optional)
1 tsp ground nutmeg
Bacon crumbles, optional


What To Do:

Bring chicken stock, 1/2 inch cubed pumpkin, chopped onion, and garlic to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered or until pumpkin is cooked through fully. Use a blender or food processor to puree the soup carefully. Return puree soup to pot on medium heat and add whipping cream, black pepper, curry powder, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Garnish with bacon crumbles, peppercorns or fresh parsley.


Enjoy!

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Havarti & Ham Stuffed Chicken


 This recipe is very similar to Chicken Cordon Bleu but instead I made use of ingredients I had at home which happened to be black forest ham (lunch meat) and sliced Havarti cheese.

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 slices of black forest ham
2 slices of havarti cheese
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
black pepper to taste
cooking spray
 

What To Do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap and beat into 3/4" thickness.
3. Lay chicken flat (smooth side down) on one sheet of plastic wrap.
4. Add two slices of ham and one slice of cheese.
5. Roll chicken using the plastic wrap to keep together.
6. Unwrap the chicken and use toothpicks to keep chicken rolled. Sprinkle the seasonings and black pepper over chicken.
7. Bake on greased baking sheet for 35-40 minutes or until fully cooked.

Enjoy!

Fall Ground Turkey and Pumpkin Chili


Chili is not the prettiest food but it was very tasty and a great warm meal for Fall that also goes a long way. This recipe was adapted from Trader Joe's Turkey Chili with Pumpkin recipe. The original recipe calls for 2 cans of Pumpkin but I had some fresh pumpkin at home that I wanted to incorporate it into the recipe so I used only 1 can of pumpkin.


Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Optional Toppings:


What To Do:
If you are using fresh pumpkin, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and bake the cubed pumpkin on a greased baking sheet for 25 minutes. Heat olive oil in a skillet and saute diced bell pepper and onion for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add in garlic and cook for only 1-2 minutes before adding the ground turkey. Cook turkey mixture until browned, approximately 8 minutes.

Transfer turkey mixture to a large pot and stir in pumpkin, kidney beans, corn, diced tomatoes along with black pepper and cayenne to taste. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. I added 1/2 cup water since the consistency seemed thick. Cook for 20 minutes on low stirring occasionally.

Garnish with toppings of your choice. I used light sour cream.


Enjoy!

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Chicken & Broccoli Rice Casserole


This is one of the more complicated recipes I've made recently only because it requires several different moving parts and pans to cook the chicken, broccoli and rice separately before assembling the casserole but it's worth the few extra dishes. Chicken & Broccoli Rice casserole it a great recipe for the Fall and can feed 8 to 10 people.



Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, cooked & chopped
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 head of broccoli
1.5 cups cooked rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup of milk
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
2 eggs, beaten
1.5 cups shredded cheese
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper, to taste


What To Do:
1. Boil chicken breasts with poultry seasoning for 15 minutes or until cooked fully. Once chicken has cooled, cut into small bite-size pieces.
2. Cook rice according to directions on the package. I used instant brown rice to speed up the process a bit.
3. Cut broccoli florets off the stem and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Pour 1/2 cup water evenly over the broccoli and cook in microwave for 4 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 9x13 backing dish with nonstick spray.


5.  In a medium skillet, melt butter and add chopped onion and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add cream of chicken soup and whisk in the milk, flour, and eggs. Finally add 3/4 cup of shredded cheese along with salt and pepper and whisk together until smooth. Cook for another 5 minutes or until thickened.
6. In a large mixing bowl, combine cooked chicken, rice, broccoli and soup mixture and mix well with a spoon.
7. Pour mixture into baking dish, top with remainder of shredded cheese and then sprinkle panko breadcrumbs over cheese.
 8. Bake on 350 for 35 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.


Enjoy!

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Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sliders


I finally got around to making this Slow Cooker Shredded Buffalo Chicken Sliders recently for Sunday dinner. I've mentioned them before in this post about healthier game day recipes. This recipe also goes a long way making about 20 sliders (we had tons of leftovers for lunch during the week) so it's also perfect to make for football parties or any party/event. I also used pre-made coleslaw as a topping. Mine look a little sloppy but nevertheless the recipe was a winner in my books!


Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 (12 oz.) bottle buffalo wing sauce, divided
1/2 (1 oz.) package dry ranch salad dressing mix
2 tbsp. butter
2 packs of Hawaiian sweet rolls
 Cooking spray


What To Do:
Spray crockpot with cooking spray and place chicken breasts in crockpot. Sprinkle ranch dressing evenly over chicken along with 3/4 of the bottle of wing sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Once the chicken has cooked (drain any excessive liquid but keep some) use two forks to shred the chicken. Add butter and the remainder of the wing sauce to shredded chicken and mix well.



Enjoy!

Easy Fried Rice


We ordered Chinese food the other day while my parents were visiting and had tons of white steamed rice leftover. I usually end up throwing away the white rice but this time I wanted to find a way to create a new dish with it instead of wasting food.

If you've eaten at a Japanese restaurant where they cook on the hibachi grill in front of you, you can see exactly how they make fried rice and all the ingredients that go into it so I wanted to try to recreate that although I switched it up a bit like using coconut oil instead of butter. 

Total cook time: 15 minutes


Ingredients: 
3 cups cooked white rice
1 tbsp. coconut oil (or butter)
1 tbsp. sesame oil
4 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp. water
3 carrots, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 eggs (optional)

I had all intentions of adding eggs in this recipe but just forgot to do it.


What To Do:
Heat skillet over medium heat and melt coconut oil with minced garlic. Add chopped carrots and cook covered for approximately 5 minutes stirring occasionally.  Beat the eggs in a small bowl and add to the skillet along with frozen peas, stirring the eggs quickly to scramble. Cook covered for 3 minutes or until peas have thawed fully. Add white rice to the skillet and mix well with carrots and peas mixture. Pour soy sauce, water and sesame oil over rice and mix well (if the rice is still slightly dry you can add more water or soy sauce to moisten). Cover skillet and cook rice on medium-low until fully heated for approx 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.


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Healthier Football Sunday Recipes


One of my favorite things about football season is the food that comes along with it although it can typically be high in grease and fat content. I wanted to find some slightly healthier (not deep fried) recipes to try this year for football Sundays and save the indulging for Super Bowl Sunday.















I made this recipe in the crockpot a couple Sundays ago and it was a hit! We also had lots of leftovers to take to work for lunch during the week.



What's your favorite appetizer or dish for football Sunday?

Cheesy Artichoke Dip


I made this for a friend's housewarming party recently and loved how it turned out. 

Ingredients:
1 14 oz. can artichoke hearts
1 cup grated Romano cheese
1 block of cream cheese
1/2 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups light mayo
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 tbsp minced garlic
Black pepper to taste



What To Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop artichoke hearts.
In a large bowl, use hand mixer to blend cream cheese until softened. Add mayonnaise and mix for 30 seconds. Add remainder of ingredients and mix well. Spoon into a baking dish and bake for 40 minutes.
Serve with crackers, tortilla chips, warm bread or pita chips.

 
Enjoy!


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Crockpot Chicken Low Mein


I wrote about making this dish a few months ago but I'm only now getting around to sharing the recipe. Low Mein is one of my favorite dishes to get when we order Chinese takeout so I decided to try my hand at it and it came out amazing! I went to the Oriental market to get a few of the ingredients such as the Low Mein noodles and the baby bok choy. I found the original recipe here from Life Made Sweeter and adapted it to my liking. As the original recipe states, you can use pasta noodles if you can't find Low Mein noodles. I seriously can't wait to make this recipe again.


Ingredients:
2 uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts
14 oz. package steamed Lo Mein noodles
2 cups baby bok choy, chopped
1 cup snow peas
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
4 sprigs of green onion, chopped


Chicken Marinade
2 tsps low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp corn starch

Sauce 
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce 
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp hoisin sauce

What To Do:
1. Marinate chicken with marinade sauce in the fridge for 30 minutes or more.
2. Spray inside of crockpot with cooking spray and add chicken breasts. Cook on low for 2 hours.
3. Remove chicken from crockpot and cut into small cubes. Place carrots, garlic, snow peas, green onions, ginger and bok choy in slow cooker. Add chopped chicken back to crockpot on tops of the vegetables.

4. Mix together sauce ingredients in a bowl and pour over ingredients in crockpot. 
5. Cook on low for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
6. Add fresh Low Mein noodles and cook for an additional 30 minutes on high or until noddles are fully cooked.


Enjoy!