This recipe comes courtesy of my two weeks spent on a candida elimination diet. With my diet limited to twigs, bark, and leaves meat, veggies and nuts, I didn’t expect to create a new and tasty recipe. But several days in, I needed to add something new to my basic recipe or risk ending the diet early.
So, I took the carcass of the chicken the Man of Steel had smoked on the grill and boiled it down into some very tasty broth. (My original plan was to use canned broth, but one of the ingredients listed on the label was “yeast extract,” a big no-no when eliminating candida.) The broth, combined with some of the leftover chicken and what seemed like the entire contents of the vegetable crisper, created a very healthy and tasty soup. One I plan to make now and then even after the diet ends.
Chicken and Vegetable Soup
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups cooked,, cubed chicken
4 Roma tomatoes, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, mashed
2 teaspoons salt
1 large onion, chopped
1 red, yellow or orange sweet bell pepper, diced
2 cups kale, ribbed and coarsely chopped
2 cups baby spinach, coarsely chopped
salt and coarse ground pepper to taste
Bring chicken broth to a boil. Add cooked chicken, salt, crushed garlic, onion, and roma tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1/2 hour. Add bell pepper and simmer at least 15 minutes longer. 5 minutes before serving, add kale and spinach. Stir well so the greens put their bodies under water for a few minutes. Serve hot with salt and coarse ground pepper to taste. This recipe freezes well and heats up well, too.
Today’s recipe comes from my daughter. She’s the ultimate DYI cook who makes almost everything from scratch. During our last visit, she whipped up a batch of whole wheat tortillas that were absolutely scrumptious. So yesterday, when I gave the crockpot chicken fajita recipe another whirl. Since I had proactively scribbled the recipe on the back of a sales receipt and stuffed it in my purse during our visit, I didn’t even have to call and ask her for advice.
Whole Wheat Tortillas
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
Mix salt and flour together in a bowl. Add oil and work it in. Mix in water until the dough holds together (add a little more water if needed).
Sprinkle a little corn meal on the counter and turn out dough. Knead a few times. Divide the dough into 12 balls. One at a time, press each ball into a pancake shape.
Roll out into a very thin circle. (Getting the hang of rolling them into a circle takes practice. I nailed it by the 12th tortilla!)
Place a little olive oil in skillet. Heat skillet on stove (medium to medium high heat). Put tortillas in skillet one by one. Cook for a minute or two, until the tortilla gets a bit bumpy.
Then flip and cook for a minute longer.
These are best served fresh and warm with fajitas, tacos, or anything else that uses tortillas. They can also be stored in a Ziplock bag in the fridge for several days.
This recipe for Italian wedding soup comes from my sister and brother-in-law. They served it during our Thanksgiving stay with them. The Man of Steel raved about it and couldn’t get enough of it. So our hosts graciously pointed me to the recipe which they found at allrecipes.com.
They made in dairy free by not adding Parmeson cheese to the meatballs. Instead, they put the cheese on the table so diners could sprinkle some on top of each bowlful. Even with that alteration, this soup immediately received Hiram’s coveted seal of approval. And it received a second ringing endorsement when I served it recently at our house, too.
Soup ingredients:2 1/2 quartschicken broth 2 cupsspinach – packed, rinsed and thinly sliced 1 cupseashell pasta
3/4 cup diced carrots
Directions
In a medium bowl, combine the beef, egg, bread crumbs, basil and onion. Shape mixture into 3/4-inch balls and set aside.
In a large stockpot heat chicken broth to boiling; stir in the spinach, pasta, carrot and meatballs. Return to boil; reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring frequently, at a slow boil for 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente, and meatballs are no longer pink inside. Serve hot with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
For most of December and January, I made double batches of slow cooker meals for supper a couple times a week. The Man of Steel and I ate half the food and the other half went into the freezer for later transport to my son and daughter-in-law, who have a new baby this winter.
This recipe comes from Loving My Nest, which features all sorts of freezer meals/slow cooker meals. My version, found below, received the coveted Hiram seal of approval. He liked it so much, there was barely enough left of the double batch to freeze for the new parents!
Slow Cooker Pork and Veggies
1 pound pork roast, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, sliced
4 medium carrots, sliced
½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Combine ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on low for 6–8 hours. Serve over rice or with French bread or baguette. Feeds 6–8.
Today’s featured recipe is my version of the Asian layered salad that’s been making the rounds on Facebook. The original bigger and flashier recipe came from a website called A Spicy Perspective. My version, adjusted so the two of us wouldn’t get tired of salad before finishing it and without a tall glass bowl to show off the layers, was a hit. With baguette on the side and fresh peaches for dessert, it was the centerpiece of a perfect summer meal.
It didn’t quite win the coveted Hiram seal of approval, a fact I blame on the radishes. They gave the salad a slightly bitter taste that didn’t mesh with the other Asian flavors. So next time, I’ll replace them with sweet peppers and sprinkle some cilantro on top for good measure. Yum!
Crunchy Asian Salad
Salad ingredients:
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup miniature sweet peppers, sliced in rings
1 pound grilled chicken, chopped
3/4 cup snow peas, chopped
1/2 cup sliced onion (red if you’re going for pretty)
1/2 cup green onions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup toasted sliced or blanched almonds
3/4 cup crispy Chinese noodles
Chop and slice all the ingredients for the salad. Layer the ingredients in a large glass bowl in this order: romaine, carrots, sweet peppers, grilled chicken, snow peas, red onion, green onion, cilantro.
Place all the dressing ingredients in a small jar or gravy shaker. Cover the jar and shake to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Serve the salad. Diners can dress their own portions and sprinkle crispy noodles and almonds on top.
