 Did you know that the CDC recommends that adults eat 5 servings of vegetables every single day? I don't know about you, but I struggle with trying to eat that many. Especially during this time of year when fresh vegetables are harder to find. 🌽🥒🫑 During the winter months, I rely on lettuce, carrots, celery and broccoli for the majority of my veggie intake - mostly because they're the freshest looking vegetables in the grocery store right now. 🥦🥕
 Hector makes our walks around the neighborhood, a whole lot more fun and feeding him a carrot never fails to bring a smile to my face - and his.🤣 The only problem with sharing our favorite winter vegetable with this grateful donkey is that sometimes, when I want carrots for our meal, I realize that we've fed them all to Hector. 😂 So even though I had to make an extra trip to the grocery store for more carrots before I made this Turkey Barley Soup, it was totally worth it. I love the combination of hearty, chewy barley, lean turkey, warm spices and of course, carrots! This is one of the most filling and satisfying soups that I've made in a long time.  Turkey Barley Soup 1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped celery 3 carrots, thinly sliced 6 cups chicken stock 2 cups diced cooked turkey 1/2 cup pearl barley 1 bay leaf 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram 1/4 teaspoon pepper 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley Kosher salt, to taste  Heat oil in skillet. Add onions, carrots and celery and cook until softened.  Add to slow cooker along with chicken stock, turkey, barley, bay leaf, thyme, marjoram and pepper.  Cover and cook on low 6 hours. Add salt to taste.  Turkey Barley Soup is one of the most delicious ways that I can think of to get a couple more servings of vegetables into my diet. 😋 I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
Ciao!
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 Although the unusually warm, and rainy, December weather in Atlanta may have scared Frosty away… the holidays are here!☃️ And I even though I'm not shoveling snow off my driveway every morning, I'm still craving warm, satisfying comfort food. Delicious casseroles, homemade pastas and steaming, hot bowls of hearty, vegetable based soups. (I'm pretty sure my food cravings have more to do with the calendar than they do with outside temperatures.😅)  Warm, delicious soup is not only what I'm craving now, it's also exactly what I need. Easy, one pot meals that I can prep ahead of time - that's my kind of meal - even if it is 70 degrees outside. 🥣 And just to be clear - I'm not above turning on the air conditioner so I can eat my soup in comfort. 😅  Making one basic soup recipe with lots of different topping options is my way of making a simple recipe look fancy. I'm not sure why, but putting out bowls of cilantro, avocado, tortilla strips and cheese alongside a pot of soup make it seem like I spent way more time on this dinner, than I actually did. 🤣 And I love the fact that everyone can customize their meal.  Chicken Tortilla Soup 4 Tablespoons olive oil 4 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless 1 small white onion, chopped 2 Tablespoon garlic, minced 4 medium tomatoes, chopped 1 jalapeno, finely diced, seeds removed 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 small can chopped green chiles 2 stalks green onion, chopped 1 10 oz bag sweet corn, frozen 1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained ½ cup + 2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped 2 teaspoons chili powder 2 teaspoons cumin 1 teaspoon oregano 6 cups chicken broth 1 lime salt & pepper shredded cheese 3 corn tortillas, sliced into strips avocado
 Return shredded chicken to pot along with remaining cilantro and lime. Serve with fried or baked tortilla strips, avocado and cheese.
I made this delicious soup on the stove, but you could easily convert it to a slow cooker recipe. And if you make it in the morning, you get the added bonus of filling your house with the amazing aroma of this soup for the whole day. Ciao!  It's been so long since I've done a theme week on the blog - even I couldn't remember my last recipe theme. (In case you're curious, it was the great blueberry-palooza in June of 2022.🫐🤣) So since absolutely no one is requesting that I do another recipe theme week -- I'm doing it again. Ladies and gentlemen... welcome to SOUP WEEK 2022!!! 🥣 😆 Please, try and contain your excitement over the epic My Story in Recipes theme week. 🤣 But, in all seriousness, soup is the theme for the week because it's my life line right now. It's December and things are busy - and not just for me - for everyone. My calendar is full, just like yours, and I have no extra time for fussy meal prep. This is the reason that soup is my go-to meal this month. It's easy to fix, I can make enough for several meals at once and it's warm and comforting on cold days.  Slow cooker soups and chilis are the ultimate in make ahead meals. This white chicken chili is creamy, delicious and hearty - all the things you need in a satisfying December meal. It's also something that I can put together at 8:00 in the morning, before of the day gets ahead of me. Hypothetically, anyway. 😅 I love creamy soups but I don't love the fat and calories that usually come along with it. This chicken chili gets it's creaminess from a combination of blended beans, creamed corn and light cream cheese instead of hefty doses of heavy cream. It's the perfect combination of rich flavor and velvety texture. Spice it up with more jalapeno or take it out completely to make it more mild.  Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts 3 14.5 oz. cans Great Northern Beans rinsed and drained 2 cups chicken broth 1 large yellow onion, chopped 2 4 oz. cans mild diced green chilies 1 15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes drained 1 15 oz. can cream style corn 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 Tablespoon chicken bouillon 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 tsp each chili powder, ancho chili powder and salt 1/2 tsp each smoked paprika, dried oregano 2 Tablespoons cornstarch 4 oz. light cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup cilantro
 Cook on high for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.  Add cheese, avocado, tortilla chips, sour cream, cilantro or hot sauce.
If you end up with extra Chicken Chili - transfer the leftovers to Tupperware containers or Ziploc bags and freeze it for another day. Trust me - you'll be glad you did. Ciao!  I consider it a blessing to grow up with Italian grandparents.🇮🇹 If you were lucky enough to have Italian grandparents, you know that going to their house always meant spending a whole lot of time in the kitchen. Sometimes, when I went to visit them we played cards at the kitchen table while nibbling on Italian cookies but most of the time, I would sit in a wooden chair and watch my grandmother masterfully prepare her signature dishes without recipes or cookbooks. My grandmothers food was legendary. She made the best homemade raviolis and sauce that I've ever tasted. 🍝 I would spend hours sitting across from her at the kitchen table, playing with the dough scraps while watching her roll out pasta dough until it was so thin, you could see through it! When I got older, I became the apprentice she never asked for.👩🏻🍳 She would put handfuls of flour onto the wooden pastry board and I would immediately scrape it into a measuring cup so I could record exactly how much she had used.😅 When I asked her to describe what she was doing, she would give me tips like, "knead it until it feels right". 🤷🏻♀️🤣  I used to love watching her work her magic in the kitchen. She was a master of all things food. Her Palm Sunday meals and Christmas Eve dinners were epic. It was at my Italian grandparents house that I first experienced braciole. I don't remember my grandmother making it often - just on special occasions. So during the Christmas season, when I'm missing my grandparents just a little bit more, I decided to pay tribute to my Italian grandmother by making my own version of braciole. I honestly don't know how my grandmother made her braciole so I decided to turn to Cook's Illustrated for inspiration. As usual, they did not disappoint. This thin steak, stuffed with cheese and herbs, rolled with prosciutto and roasted in a spicy tomato sauce is pure deliciousness. You will have to devote some extra time and care to putting this recipe together but after all, isn't that the essence of Italian cooking?  Braciole 7 Tablespoons olive oil 10 cloves garlic, minced 2 teaspoons lemon zest 2 teaspoons anchovy paste 1/3 cup + 2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped 1/3 cup fresh parsley 1/3 cup Pecorino Romano cheese 1/3 cup bread crumbs 3/4 cup fontina cheese, shredded 2 pound skirt steak 8 thin slices prosciutto 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 onion, chopped 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1/4 cup tomato paste 3/4 cup red wine 28 ounces crushed tomatoes 2 cups beef broth
 Return rolls to pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Turn rolls halfway through braising.  Transfer to a platter.  Remove twine.  Stir 2 T. basil into remaining sauce. Pour sauce over braciole.
Ciao! |
