Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Oh yummy... This soup was soooo good!  Tonight's dinner recipe came from an old Food Network magazine (Nov 2010).  I was browsing it while waiting to pick up my son from school and found this recipe, so I went to the store after fetched my son and bought the stuff to make it straight away!  It looks a little strange in the photo because I used glass noodles (or bean threads) and it was dark out by the time I took the photo, so I had to use my flash.  Not great photography, but great flavor!

The recipe used rice noodles, which are good too and I know this because I had a few rice noodles and used them in my son's soup (which I made less spicy). 

This was so easy and fast that it made a perfect weeknight meal. 

Thai Chicken Soup
30 minutes:  Serves 4

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp green curry paste
6 c low-sodium chicken broth (I used Better Than Bouillon, not low-sodium)
1 15-oz can coconut milk (I used low-fat)
1 Tbsp fish sauce, plus more to taste (because I used a full-sodium broth, I used just 1 Tbsp)
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
4 ounces thin rice noodles, broken into pieces (I used bean threads)
2 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 lb), very thinly sliced crosswise
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice, plus more to taste
1 c roughly chopped fresh cilantro
my additions:  2 c fresh green beans cut into bite-sized pieces
                        1 dried Thai chili (more or less depending on how hot you like it)

1.  Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-hight heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, about 8 minutes.  Add the garlic and curry paste and cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the chicken broth, coconut milk and fish sauce; cover and bring to a boil.

2.  Add the bell peppers and noodles and simmer, uncovered, until the noodles are al dente, about 3 minutes.  Add the chicken and simmer until just cooked through, about 3 more minutes.  Stir in the lime juice and cilantro.  Add more fish sauce and lime juice if desired.

Per serving:  Calories 561, Fat 30g, Sat Fat 22g, Cholesterol 103 mg, Sodium 821 mg, Carbohydrates 36g, Fiber 4g; Protein 38 g

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Super Healthy Pesto

Finally!  I am able to blog again!  My computer hard drive crapped out and I was without a computer for a while.  I had my tablet, but I cannot update my blogs on there.  It wouldn't let me upload pictures.

So, for my come-back, I thought I'd post about a delicious, nutritious pesto I made today.  It was so easy and quick and delicious that I had to share.  I served it as a spread on a chicken, cheese and pesto panini.  Sooo yummy!   I have been trying to add extra nutrition into everything I make lately, so this pesto includes chia seeds, flax seeds and hemp seed!  These additives add a few calories, but are worth it in the end.  You really can't taste them because the garlic and basil are so strong.

Spinach, Basil Pesto PLUS

6 cups Spinach, washed
1 bunch hydroponic basil (or two if you want more basily flavor!)
3-5 cloves of garlic
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup olive oil (more if needed)
1 juice of one lemon
1/8 tsp pink sea salt (or any sea salt you have
1 tbsp. chia seed
1 tbsp. ground flax seed
1 tbsp. ground hemp seed

Pile all ingredients into your food processor or blender.  BLEND!  If your ingredients won't blend in the blender, add more olive oil and about 1/4 cup of water.  You can add water to the food processor too because chia seed absorbs liquid and will soak up any liquid in the recipe.  I added 1/3 cup of water and the texture turned out perfectly.

Enjoy!

How To Make Thai Spring Rolls

When I lived in San Diego, I found the tastiest treat EVER at Saffron on India Street.  I fell in love with this low-cal, low-carb treat.... really, a hand-held salad.  It was heaven.  I had my husband pick them up about once a week on his way home from work. 

Eventually, I moved to Upstate NY and could no longer get these yummy lunches/dinners, so I learned to make them myself.  It really is easy if you can find the spring roll wrappers at your grocery store.  I've found these at Wegman's in NY and hopefully you can find them at yours too.

These are the ingredients you need:

Spring Roll Wrappers

Roast Chicken breast sliced - Great from leftover roast chicken or you can buy a roast chicken at the grocery; Large leaf lettuce (mine is red leaf), cucumber sliced the long way, cilantro, peanuts (chopped or not)... I also sometimes add thin carrot sticks to the mix. Some people like fresh mint leaves in theirs too, but I'm not a fan.  I have also seen them made with cooked shrimp instead of the chicken.

Optional... but oh so good... a peanut sauce and a Thai Sweet Chili Sauce.  These are my favorite brands...

You can actually find them at our Walmart, but not sure about yours.

To assemble:

Take one of the Spring roll wrappers from the package.  They are hard and feel a little like plastic.

In a large frying pan, heat about a cup of water to simmering.  Turn off the heat.

Have a pair of tongs ready.

Put the wrapper into the water.  It will roll a bit, but use your tongs to keep it down

a bit.  Just after you get it wet, flip it over carefully.

Get the entire other side wet.  You don't want to keep it in too long or it will get too soggy and rip

easily.

Remove from the pan to your work surface.  Try to keep it from doing this!

In order to do so, while you pick it up with the tongs, grab the other side with

your fingers.  It will be hot, so be careful.   If it does turn out like this, throw it

out and start over.  I guarantee one will do this.

This is what it should look like. 

 Add one leaf of lettuce in the top middle.

 Cilantro on top of that....

 Cucumbers on top of that...

Chicken pieces on top of that...

 Peanuts on top of that.  I like mine whole, but you can chop them if you like them less chunky...

I add the peanut and chili sauces right inside so I don't have to dirty a dish to dip in, but you can dip them if you like!

Next, fold the bottom half of the wrapper up over the filling....

Fold the left side over the fillings and roll it all up to the right side.

 In the end it will look like this...

I generally eat 4 of them for a meal.  Hope you enjoy this tutorial and love these as much as I do!

If you can't find the wrappers at your store, you can order them online at Amazon... Same goes for the sauces... but they only hvae a 6 pack of peanut sauce on there.  I'm sure you can find the single bottle online somewhere....

 Spring roll wrappers (rice paper)- 12 oz
  House of Tsang Bangkok Peanut Sauce, 11.5-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6)

 Sweet Chili Sauce - 25 oz

Recipes to Share - Barbacoa

I will add these as I get them done! I'm supposed to be sharing 3-5 recipes. So here's the plan.


Barbacoa Tacos
Tortilla Soup
Strawberry & Goat Cheese Salad

Here is the first one. We LOVE Mexican food in our house and we LOVE soup! So many of our recipes are just that. This one has many ingredients, but the planner should help with that! Other than that, it is one you can throw into the crockpot and let it go! It is also best on day 2, but I dare you to try to keep your fingers out of there by the time it is cooked on day 1!

We have leftovers for days with this and everyone loves it.

Pizza on the Grill or Grilled Pizza!

One of my favorite things about summer is making pizza on the grill. It is so simple and the flavor is so wonderfully smoky and yummy that it is undeniably something you are missing out on if you've never done it.

It really IS simple! Here's how to do it.

What you'll need...

-Pizza dough (my recipe is at the end, but the grocery store pizza crusts that are

made fresh are pretty good too. Don't get the pre-formed ones)

-Spray oil (PAM)

-Your favorite pizza sauce (this isn't my fav, but the best we had)

-Mozzarella cheese (fresh is best, but this one my hubby bought will do in a pinch)

-Corn Meal (optional. Just makes it crunchier on the bottom and stick less to the peel)

-Your favorite pizza toppings

Step 1:

Heat your grill to about 300 degrees F. You need to keep it somewhat low. Make sure the flames are low and that you have a hot side of the grill and a cooler side of the grill as you will move the pizza over to the cooler side to continue to bake & to melt the cheese after the bottom is browned.

Step 2:

Flatten your dough into a disk. Keep it somewhat small because it is easier to flip on the grill. Think Personal Pan Pizza size.

Create a bottom and a top to your pizza by adding corn meal to the bottom. IF you skip this step, you can cook either side first.

Step 3:

Spray both sides of the pizza with PAM. Don't skip this because this keeps it from sticking to the grill.

Step 4:

Cook the TOP of the pizza first. This seems illogical, but this is the way you need to do it. You'll see why in a minute.

See? Cornmeal-side UP first!

Check the cooking side often. You want it to look like this. This can be done with the grill open.

See how yummy it looks? Okay, so don't cook the other side at this point.

Step 5:

Take the pizza crust off of the grill and place it UNCOOKED-SIDE DOWN on the plate.

Step 6:

Give it to your friend/child/spouse/significant other and let them have fun putting their choice of toppings on it. Kids love this part! {Note that we only used boring cheese and sauce. Our pizza-making choice was last minute}

Step 7:

Now take the pizza and put the uncooked side down. Notice I didn't capitalize this because I'm assuming this part should be pretty obvious!

Step 8:

Allow the pizza to cook for a few minutes, making sure to check often for browness. It should look like that crust above. If the bottom is browned nicely and the cheese isn't yet melted enough, move the pizza to the part of the grill which is less hot. Close the top and allow it to bake for a few minutes. This will melt the cheese and make sure your inside isn't doughy. {I've never actually had a doughy inside with pizza on the grill, so I guess that works itself out!} Here's my white pizza I made. I put garlic, olive oil, mozzarella and white pepper on mine. YUM!
Here's hubby's...
And here are the boys enjoying their first yummy bites!

Enjoy!!! Summer is coming!

Now for the recipe for Pizza Dough:

1 package of dry rapid-rise yeast
1- 1/3 cup of warm water {test water temp by putting your finger in. Should be able to keep
it in there for 5 seconds}
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cups (approximately) of all purpose flour

Mix the yeast and honey into the warm water. Proof the yeast by allowing it to sit for about 10 minutes. Add salt, olive oil. Add the flour using the dough hook of your mixer, a cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the side of the mixer bowl. Remove the dough from the bowl and put it on a floured surface. Allow to rest 5 minutes. Knead dough until smooth and elastic. Allow to rest again 5 minutes. Now cut the dough into 4 pieces and flatten into a disk. Flatten as much as possible and then allow to rest for about 5 minutes again. Flatten some more so that it is about 1/4 inch thick. Sit the dough on top of some cornmeal sprinkled on your flat surface.