Chicken Satay Soup

I was looking for a way to use up leftover crudite from a party and thought I would try something new. I found recipes online for peanut butter soup and I thought why not take it to a next level and make a satay inspired soup. I tossed in leftover chicken from the night before and leftover white rice from chinese takeout. Why not use up leftovers, right? This experiment turned out great. I hope you give it a try.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked chicken, in bite size pieces
• 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons minched garlic
• 1 large potato, diced into bite size pieces
• 3-5 cups cut up veggies of your choice (in the soup I made I used red & green peppers, celery, baby carrots and zucchini)
• 4-6 cups chicken stock or water and bouillon, enough to cover veggies and extra to make it soup consistency
• 3 tablespoons butter or margerine
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, crushed to release their flavor
• 1 lemon, skin grated and the juice
• 1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:

1. In a soup pot, melt butter/margerine and saute onion, garlic until onion is translucent.
2. Add in remaining ingredients except for peanut butter and red pepper flakes. Let boil until potatoes and all the veggies are tender. (maybe 30 minutes)
3. Add in peanut butter and blend until melted in.
4. Rub red pepper flakes between your hands to release their flavor and stir in.

Soup is on!

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.



 

Saucy Stuffed Steak Rolls (Braciole)

This dish sounded so appetizing to me that I had to try it. Traditional Braciole (pronounced bra- jol) is an italian dish of stuffed tenderized beef, browned and then braised in tomato sauce. I decided to try to make a gluten free version with a veggie stuffing. Seems like a long list of ingredients, but it is only really about 3 steps.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb bottom or top round steak (you can use chicken breast or boneless pork instead)
• 2 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 carrot
• 1 package chopped spinach, thawed
• 1/4 c. raisins or currents
• 3 tbsp shredded or grated parmesan
• teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dry oregano
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• pinch Splenda or Sugar
• tbsp canola oil
• optional: one package thicker rice noodles (like spaghetti or linguini style), to serve as a pasta in the sauce

Prep:

1. In a small bowl, mix garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, nutmeg and oregano. Set aside.
2. Prep onion, carrot, celery, spinach. Thaw and squeeze out the moisture from spinach. Grate carrot. Dice small 1/2 of onion and celery to go in the filling. Chop the remaining onion and celery larger for the chunky tomato sauce. Set aside.
3. Place meat between two sheets of plastic wrap. Pound the meat thin. If the piece of meat will be too large once stuffed, you might want to cut into 2 portions at this point, then prep two rolls.

Cook:

1. Heat up dutch oven and add 1 tbsp oil. Saute small diced veggies, spinach and half of each the raisins and grated carrot til tender but veggies are still intact. Add 1/2 the garlic and large pinch of dry seasoning mix, saute 1 minute more. Do not burn garlic. Turn off heat, remove veggies into a bowl.
2. Add all the parmesan to veggies. Mix together.
3. Lay out the pounded meat flat. Put filling onto half of the meat (towards yourself). Do not worry if you have extra filling, it can be added to the sauce later.
4. Slowly roll up the meat tightly, rolling in the ends a little to keep the filling in. Use butcher string to tie up the roll or use toothpicks to hold together. Season the outside of the roll with another large pinch of dry seasoning mix.
5. Heat up pan, add a little more oil if necessary. Brown beef rolls on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside.
6. Add remaining cut veggies, grated carrot and raisins to pan and saute for a few minutes. Add tomatoes, crushing with your hands the whole tomatoes, leaving them chunky. Add all the liquid too. Also add in any remaining seasonings, splenda/sugar and any leftover stuffing mixture at this time.
7. Put beef rolls into the sauce, push them into the sauce so they are covered. Cover the dutch oven and slow simmer for 30 minutes.
8. At this time, prep noodles til al dente.
9. When sauce is done, turn off heat and remove beef rolls. Let sit for 5 minutes, then slice rolls to about one inch thick.
10. Add pasta to sauce and mix to coat. Let sit a couple minutes for sauce to absorb a bit into noodles.
11. Serve pasta topped with sliced beef roll. Add a little sauce and perhaps a little more parmesan cheese.

Eggplant Parmesan

Italian food is so delicious and easy to make, yet most of it loaded with gluten and salt. Here is a recipe that I made easy ingredient swaps to make it work for us and has the same taste and satisfaction as the original version.

Ingredients:

1 eggplant, large
4 eggs, beaten
3 slices gluten free bread
3 tbsp corn starch
2 cups tomato sauce (recipe for sauce below)
2 cups parmesan cheese, shredded
olive oil
canola oil
1/2 tsp each onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Dice bread up and put in bowl, drizzle a little olive oil on, sprinkle on the garlic powder, onion powder and oregano, then toss. Spread bread out on a cookie sheet, place in oven til brown (about 10 minutes), keep an eye on it, they will burn easily
3. Once cooled, pulse bread in food processor to make crumbs
4. Peel and slice eggplant into 1/2 inch slices
5. Place eggplant in baggie with cornstarch and shake to coat. This will probably have to be done in batches to do it all
6. Prepare casserole dish by spraying with non-stick cooking spray
7. Place 1/2 cup tomato sauce in bottom of casserole dish and spread around to coat the bottom
8. Set up 2 bowls, in one beat your eggs with a tablespoon water. Mix your toasted bread crumbs and 1/4 c parmesan in the other
9. Heat up frying pan (low to medium heat) and add some canola oil when hot. Keep the heat rather low and take your time... the eggplant can easily burn
10. Using a fork or tongs, take eggplant slices and coat with egg, then in bread crumbs..Once coated, place in hot pan. Do no cook all the way through, you only want to brown both sides. Once browned, layer into your prepared casserole dish
11. Add layer sauce and cheese between layers, topping with a layer of cheese and any leftover breadcrumbs
12. Once layers are done and topped with cheese, place casserole dish in oven. Bake for 40 minutes or until top is browned

• This make about 6-8 large servings
• Optional sides: Pasta w/ sauce (for gluten free, use rice noodles/sticks)

Want to make your own sauce?

It is easy to make your own sauce. I like mine chunky, so I saute veggies first, then add the tomatoes. You can add or exclude any of the *extras* in this easy recipe and have it your way


1 onion diced*
1 carrot shredded*
2 stalks celery, sliced thin*
2 can crushed tomato (low sodium)
1 can diced tomato, incl juice (low sodium)
1/2 c red wine*
2 tablespoons garlic*
1 tablespoon dried oregano or basil
1 tablespoon sugar or Splenda
1/4 tsp nutmeg
canola oil
few dashes of balsamic vinegar*

*extras

In sauce pot, saute onion, carrot and celery in about 1 tbsp canola oil until softened and slightly browned (when the oil is gone)
Add in wine, make sure to scrape up the goodies off the bottom
Add in remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes

This will make plenty for the eggplant parm dish with some leftover for your noodles

Easy Stuffed Cabbage Soup

Cooler weather is on the horizon and with my love for soup I thought I would try this out. It is hearty, delicious and is sort of a deconstructed stuffed cabbage. Ingredients:

Meatballs:
1 1/2 lbs ground meat (I used 1/2 each turkey and beef)
1 cup uncooked rice (regular, not instant)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 medium onion, minced

Soup:

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tbsp olive oil
1 minced onion
1 carrot shredded 

6-8 oz tomato paste (1 can)
1/2 cup brown sugar (you can substitute 2 tbsp Splenda for this)
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 28-ounce can diced tomotoes

1 cabbage, sliced thin (or a bag of cole slaw, pre-shredded cabbage)
1 tsp dried oregano or basil (whatever your preference)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup raisins

Directions

For the meatballs:
In a large bowl, combine rice, pepper, cumin and onions. Blend to mix, then add meat, combine, then form into 1-inch balls and set aside while you make the soup.

For the soup:
In a large soup pot, Add oil and onions, saute until translucent. Add garlic, saute for 1 minute. Then add the carrots, tomato paste, brown sugar, crushed tomatoes and diced tomotoes with its liquid. Stir and add water (2 - 3 cups) for desired consistency. Season with pepper and simmer 10 minutes.

Add the cabbage to the soup and stir to blend in. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes more. Add more water if needed to thin the soup if it has gotten thick. Add the meatballs and simmer for 25-30 minutes minutes, until meat is cooked through and rice is tender. Add the lemon juice and raisins 10 minutes before serving.

Serving suggestion: add a dollop of sour cream on top.

Note: This could easily be done in a crock pot, Start by putting all the soup ingredients in and stirring to blend. Add meatballs, and just let it cook on low for 6 hours, or high for 4 hours, until the meatballs are cooked through.

Chicken Cacciatore

Delicious and simple to make, this has lots of flavor without alot of sodium and is gluten free. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
Boneless chicken thighs or breasts, enough for 4 ppl
1/2 c. wine (whatever you like)
3 tablespoons corn starch
onion powder
garlic powder
pepper
minced garlic (to taste... I use about two cloves)
1 large can tomatoes, either stewed or crushed (no added sodium), if using stewed, crush them
sliced mushrooms
one red pepper
one green pepper
one large onion
additional veggies, whatever you have in the fridge will work. I used summer squash in the dish pictured above, but you could use zucchini, celery, eggplant, thinly sliced carrots, squash.....

Optional:
Serve over white rice or pasta(this will have gluten unless you buy one that is marked gluten free)

Directions:
Chop onion, peppers, and any other veggies and set aside.
In a ziploc bag, combine the dry spices with the cornstarch and mix
Put chicken in bag and shake to coat

Warm up your pan and add oil. when the pan is hot, place chicken (skin side down) and cook until it has browned. Turn over and brown the other side. Take chicken out and set aside.

Add veggies and saute until translucent or even browned a little. Add mushrooms and stir for a minute. Add garlic to veggies and stir for 30 seconds. Add wine and deglaze the bottom of the pan. (Lots of flavor there!) Add your canned tomatoes and stir the pot. Place chicken back to the pan (pushing the pieces into the sauce).

Cover and simmer on low for about 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

Note: the sauce can probably accomodate more chicken pieces if you have a slightly larger family.

Serve over pasta(gluten free if you need it) or rice.
Mmmmm!