Stuffed Pepper Soup

I was in the mood for stuffed peppers today, but decided this was easier to get the same flavors in a soup. Also, I was able to include extra veggies, always a good thing. This came out absolutely yummy, I hope you will enjoy it.

 Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef or turkey
• 3 red peppers, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, sliced
• 3-4 cups chicken stock (or one large container)
• 1 large can crushed tomato
• 1 large can diced tomato
• 3/4 cup white long grain rice (or whatever rice you prefer)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:
In large soup pot, brown ground beef/turkey.
Drain, set aside the meat, reserve a little fat in the pot.
Add onions, celery and red peppers and saute until onions are translucent. (if you are using ground turkey, you may need to add a tablespoon of oil.)
Add chicken stock, crushed tomatoes and undrained diced tomatoes, browned meat, carrots and seasonings.
Cover and cook on medium until carrots are tender.
Add rice and cook for 10 minutes more.
Turn off heat but let the soup sit until the rice has cooked through, maybe 15 minutes.
Ready to serve.

This makes a large pot and will keep for 3 or 4 days in the fridge. I also like to freeze leftovers in individual serving containers to have for lunches.



 

Crock Pot Morrocan Chicken

The Ultimate Crock-Pot Crock-Star(tm) 1st Prize Winning Recipe.
Savory with a touch of sweetness, this dish has international flair while using ingredients found at your local grocery store. It is crock pot easy to boot. Set it up in the morning and let it cook all day, then come home to the heavenly smell and a warm dinner ready to serve.  


Ingredients:

4 medium carrots, sliced
1 large onion, halved and sliced
8 chicken thighs, skin removed
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup raisins
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 cups white wine or chicken broth
6-8oz tomato paste (1 can)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Place carrots and onions in slow cooker first. Add chicken to slow cooker. Top with apricots and raisins. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch, spices, garlic, lemon juice, tomato paste and wine. Whisk to combine. Pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or until chicken is tender. Serve with rice.

Optional: chopped dates or figs would work well with or instead of the raisins and dried apricot.

Seafood Pot Pie - with potato crust

Rich with Omega-3s (that is the good fat), gluten free and low sodium, this healthy recipe will make your family happy.

The original recipe for this also contained shrimp and lobster, but we have some shellfish allergies in the family, so I replaced those items with scallops and salmon. (For some reason the shellfish allergy does not kick in with scallops.)

I wrote the recipe the way I made it, but you can certainly use the seafood of your liking. I would choose items that will stay relatively intact in a sauce.

This will make a large family sized casserole.

**tip - use the wrapper from your butter/Promise to butter your casserole
**note - fennil sometimes is called anise at the market.

Ingredients:

• 12 - 16 oz Scallops
• 12 - 16 oz Salmon
• 12 - 16 oz Halibut
• 1 stick butter (Promise)
• fresh fennil fronds (use the main part of the fennil to make salad as a side)
• 1 large or 2 small shallot, minced
• 2 c. chicken stock 
• 2 heaping tbsp corn starch
• 2 carrots, sliced about 1/2 inch
• 1 celery stalk, slice about 1/2 inch
• 1 small package frozon petite peas
• 2-3 potatoes, sliced thinly, then halved (very thin, like on a mandolin)
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 1/2 tsp celery seed/coriander

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cut fish into bite size chunks, set aside
3. Make sure scallops are dry by dabbing with paper towel
4. On stovetop, heat up a frying pan. Add oil, then 1 tbsp Promise.
5. Sear scallops. Pan needs to be very hot before the scallops go in. Do not crowd them, this will steam them instead of sear. Cook in batches if necessary. Place them in frypan and let them cook, do not move them around. At first they will seem to stick, but they will loosen up once they are seared. Turn them over at this point and cook the other side. These are quick cooking, you will need to remove once cooked through or you risk overcooking them. Set aside when done.
6. In a sauce pot, bring to a simmer chicken stock and one tsp each of dry seasonings. Poach fish in the chicken stock. This also should not take a long time. This will not only cook the fish, but flavor the stock. Remove fish with a slotted spoon and set aside. Retain the stock.
7. In the stock, add carrots and peas. Bring to low boil and let cook until carrots are tender. Turn down heat to a slow simmer.
8. In frypan, melt half remaining butter. Add celery and shallots, cook til translucent.
9. Add cornstarch to frypan, stir and let it cook through. About 5 minutes.
10. Add cornstarch mixture to chicken stock. Bring up heat on the chicken stock, stirring occasionally until it comes to a boil. At this point, it should begin to thicken. Once thickened, turn off heat.
11. Halve scallops, then add them and the fish into the sauce pot.
12. Stir gently to mix, try not break up fish or scallop. Add fennil fronds.
13. Pour contents of saucepot into your buttered casserole dish.
14. Arrange sliced potatoes on top. In the picture above I left the thin slices whole, but it was a little difficult to cut into. I would cut these slices in half or thirds before placing them on top of the casserole, to make it easier to serve later.
15. Melt remaining butter in microwave. Add remaining dry seasoning and mix in. Brush top of potatoes with butter mixture.
16. Cook in oven. Inside the pot pie is already cooked, so you only need to cook the potatoes. Keep an eye on the casserole, the potatoes are very thin so about 20 - 30 minutes should do it.

Ready to serve. Makes about 8 large servings. Goes well with a salad or corn on the cob as a side.

Beef Stew

This takes some time to make, but really delivers some warm hearty satisfaction on a cold winters day.

Ingredients:

1 lb top or bottom round beef, about 1 inch thick, diced into bite size pieces
2 medium carrots
2 stalks celery
2 potatoes
1 onion
1 c. red wine, merlot works very well for this
beef stock (to cover.. 1 to 1 1/2 c.)
1 small can tomato paste
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp oil (canola or veg)
2 tbsp corn starch
2 tsp each garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, celery seed
optional: small whole button mushrooms, diced turnip, halved brussel sprouts, snap peas, zucchini, summer squash, etc. Mix & match whatever veggies you prefer.



Preparation:

Tip: Use a pot that can be used stove top and is oven proof. Use a wooden spoon to stir and deglaze the pan.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cut up all veggies into bite size pieces, keeping onions and celery separate, and set aside.
• In a baggie, combine corn starch and dry seasonings. Shake to blend the ingredients.
• Coat beef chunks by placing in baggie with corn starch mixture and shaking. You will have to do this in batches to coat well, and depending on how well it coats, you may have to add a little more cornstarch. Reserve remaining corn starch mixture.
• In a large pot, heat oil enough so that when you add coated beef it will sizzle. Add the beef and brown. Do not cook through. Remove the beef from the pan and set aside.
• Add onions and celery to pan and saute until translucent. Add garlic and remaining cornstarch (from baggie) and allow to cook out for a few minutes, stirring continuously.
• Add wine. At this time you want to use your spoon to gently scrape any goodies off the bottom. Your mixture will start to thicken as the mixture starts to warm through again.
• Add tomato paste, beef broth and mix so everything is blended.
• Add remaining veggies, stir into broth.
• Top with beef.
• Cover and place in oven.
• Cook until vegetables are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Makes about 6 servings.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

This dish is yummy and simple to make. It is gluten free, lactose free and low sodium.

Ingredients:

• tsp Garlic Powder
• tsp Onion Powder
• tsp Ground Pepper
• 1 stick Promise Margarine (or butter)
• 1 cup Chicken Stock (I use no salt added Kitchen Basics)
• 1 cup plain coffee creamer (lactose and fat free)**
• 2 large cans crushed tomatoes (watch the sodium content here.... somewhere near 100mg per serving is good)
• 1 tbsp Splenda (or sugar)
• bunch fresh basil, roll up leaves into one and sliced thinly

**if lactose is not an issue for you, you can replace the coffee creamer with heavy cream, light cream or milk

Directions:
In a soup pot, warm the dry seasonings (bloom them) til you start to smell them.
Add Promise stick and melt.
Once melted, stir in chicken stock, crushed tomatoes and Splenda.
Bring to low boil, turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add in creamer, stir gently and return to simmer.
Remove from heat and stir in all basil, reserving a little for garnish.
Serve, topping with reserved basil.