Cream of Broccoli Soup

Recipe from A Treasury of Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur

The name of this soup may not sound appealing, but for some reason it was appealing enough for me to try it. Even looking at the ingredient list, I wasn't too optimistic, but I must say I LOVED this soup. My picky husband and 3-year old devoured it too! We will definitely be making it again.

4 c. chicken broth
3 c. broccoli, chopped (1 large bunch)
1/2 c. diced onion
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. salt
Dash ground pepper
1/4 c. flour
1/3 c. diced ham
1/2 c. heavy cream

Combine broth, broccoli, onion, bay leaf, salt, and pepper in saucepan over high heat. Bring to boil, turn down heat and simmer, covered for 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf, transfer half of mixture to a blender and blend until nearly a puree. Pour back into saucepan over medium low heat. Add flour and whisk until lumps are dissolved. Add diced ham and cream. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until soup reaches desired thickness.

Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as an entree.

Vietnamese Chicken Sandwiches

Recipe from bhg.com.

We don't have a grill, so I make this on the stove top and it is still amazing!

Ingredients

4 medium skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound total)
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 clove garlic, minced
4 French-style rolls, split
1/4 cup sprouts
cucumber sticks

Directions

1. Rinse chicken; pat dry. Combine sesame oil and crushed red pepper; brush over chicken.

2. Grill chicken on the lightly greased rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes or until tender and no longer pink, turning once.

3. Meanwhile, for sauce, in a small saucepan, stir together sugar, peanut butter, soy sauce, oil, garlic, and 2 tablespoons water. Heat on grill rack until sugar is dissolved, stirring frequently. For the last 1 minute of grilling, place split rolls on the grill rack to toast.

4. To serve, place cooked chicken breasts on bottom halves of rolls; spoon on sauce and top with sprouts, cucumbers, and roll tops. Makes 4 servings.

Confetti Rice Salad

This twist on salad is so yummy and healthy too!

2 c. cooked brown rice (white is fine too)
1 - 8 oz. can corn, rinsed and drained
2-3 green onions, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 carrot, grated or finely chopped
1/3 c. dried cranberries
3 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 c. roasted sunflower seeds
1/4 c. roasted pine nuts or slivered almonds

In large bowl combine above ingredients.

1 clove garlic, minced
4 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/4 c. olive oil

In a separate bowl blend dressing ingredients.

Toss dressing evenly over rice salad mixture. Refrigerate until served.

Recipe from Carrie Chiles.

Potato Salad with Asparagus

This is a "grown-up" potato salad, and I make it every year for Easter so I figured this would be good timing to post this recipe now.

3 lbs small red new potatoes
1/4 c + 2T olive oil, divided
2 lb fresh asparagus
1 c chicken stock
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 c pine nuts
1/2 c chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub potatoes with 2T olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast them in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until cooked through but still firm (this is important; if you cook them too long and they get soft, you run the risk of having a potato mush as the end result). Let them sit until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, blanch your asparagus. Any time I make asparagus, I have people asking me how to prepare it. The bottom of the stalk can be really tough, chewy, or stringy, and I think it's a very underused vegetable that a lot of people don't know how to prepare. To make sure you have tender asparagus without the chewy ends, just gently bend the stalk. It will snap where it is tender, and you just discard the bottom. Some may snap over the halfway mark, and some may snap really close to the base so there's no formula, just let the asparagus snap itself!

But I digress....on to blanching the asparagus. While you're preparing your stalks, bring about 2-3 inches of salted water to a boil. Drop the asparagus in the boiling water and boil it JUST till it gets really green, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from the boiling water and immediately plunge the asparagus into some ice-water. Again, you cook these too long or fail to use the ice bath and you'll risk having mushy asparagus as the end result.

Drain the asparagus and pat it dry. Cut it into 2 inch segments (I think it looks prettiest cut on the bias). Cut the potatoes into quarters. Heat the 1/4 c olive oil in a large saucepan - add the potatoes. Heat them through. Add the asparagus, stock, and garlic. Simmer 3-5 minutes, until everything is thoroughly heated. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and stir in pine nuts and basil.

This is best if it's served immediately, but it also makes really great leftovers. It's also much, MUCH simpler than it sounds.

Hummus

I love to dip pita bread in this hummus for a healthy and delicious lunch (no tahini paste required)!

1 15 oz. can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
2 Tbs. peanut butter
1 tsp. sesame oil
2 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. warm water
4 Tbs. lemon juice
4 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. tumeric (optional)
1/2 tsp. ground pepper

Blend in food processor until smooth. Serve with pita bread.

Butternut squash soup

There are a lot of fall soups out there, and a lot of butternut squash variations. I know that many of them are a sweet and sour type, with apples or other fruit. If that's what you like, you may not like this one. I enjoy the more savory soups, so this has leeks and bacon. Just so you know what you're getting before you try to make it.

1 butternut squash
1 onion or leek (whichever you prefer) chopped
1T fresh grated ginger
3T butter
3c broth
1-2 c apple cider
salt and pepper
heavy cream
sour cream
cooked bacon, crumbled

Quarter and bake your squash for 40-45 minutes. Once cool, scoop out the pulp.
Cook onion and ginger in butter in a saucepan over low heat for about 5 minutes. Add broth and simmer for 10 minutes, covered. Remove form heat and add the squash pulp and puree till smooth. Add cider to desired consistency, and salt and pepper to taste. Return to the stove and cook till hot. When ready to serve, add a splash (or 5) of cream. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and crumbled bacon.

Macaroni Grill Bread

1 Tbs. Dry Yeast
1 Tbs. Sugar
1 c. warm water (105 - 115 degrees)
2 1/2 c. white flour
1 t. salt
2 Tbs. fresh rosemary, chopped
1 Tbs. canola oil, peanut oil or olive oil
nonstick cooking spray
2 T. butter

Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl and allow mixture to become bubbly. Mix in 2 cups of flour and the salt. Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add flour if necessary.

Put dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled.

Punch down dough and divide in half. Let dough rest about 5 – 10 minutes. Spray baking pan with cooking spray. Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves. Melt margarine or butter. Brush over the top of the loaves. Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface. Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly sprinkle course salt over the loaves. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until lightly browned.

I received this recipe from my dear friend, Tiffany (with whom I've eaten many, many loaves of MG bread), but it is originally from Recipe Circus.

Of course this bread is incredible on its own, but I also like to use it to make Italian-herbed chicken avocado sandwiches. A-mazing!

Instead of making two loaves, make four, as shown below.

Then slice two raw chicken breasts depth wise, to make four flat chicken breasts. A bread knife works well for this. Place them in a deep plate filled with milk.

In another deep plate, make a breading by mixing flour, grated Parmesan (you can use fresh and the Kraft powder stuff--it's best with both, but if I don't have fresh, I'll just use the powder), thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and pretty much any other Italian seasoning you like. Sorry I don't have measurements; I just put a bunch of everything in, but more of what I like best (basil, thyme, and garlic).

Heat a frying pan on low with some olive oil. Dip, and thoroughly coat, chicken breasts with breading mixture. Place in frying pan in heated oil. Cook on both sides, only once each side, for a few minutes until done all the way through.

Place on bread with mayonnaise, lettuce, avocado, and anything else you like on your chicken sandwich. Enjoy!