Minestrone

This is what I used to make my first ever pot of minestrone soup.  Next time I will not use 1 1/2 cups of pasta.  By the time the pasta had fully cooked and the soup sat in the pot, it had absorbed too much of the liquid.  I like the broth on soups so I added an additional 2 cups of water plus 2 tsp. of chicken bouillon granules.

This makes 4 quarts.

MINESTRONE

1/2 medium onion, diced

2 small carrots, diced

2 ribs celery, sliced

1 can kidney beans

1 can great northern beans

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can green beans

4 T. tomato puree

¾ cup frozen peas

2 cups fresh baby spinach

Dried parsley

Garlic powder

½ tsp. fennel seeds

1 ½ cups penne regate pasta

2 cups water

3 tsp. chicken bouillon powder

Sweat onion, celery, and carrots until almost done.  Add undrained beans and remaining ingredients except pasta.  Simmer until spinach and peas are tender.

Add pasta and cook until pasta is desired consistency.

***Pasta can be cooked separately and added to soup.  You can store the soup and add pasta as you need to use.  That way the broth won't be totally absorbed into the pasta.

Green Chili Chicken

Mexican food is just about my favorite.  I prepared this last night to have for lunch today.  I wanted it to sit overnight so that the tortillas would soften up and absorb some of the liquid from the green salsa.

You don't need much sour cream in the layers.  It does add a nice compliment to the tartness of the salsa and the sweetness of the corn tortillas.  You could substitute plain yogurt or Greek yogurt for the sour cream.  I had sour cream on hand so that's what I used.

Williams chili seasoning is my favorite blend but regular chili powder would work.

This would make good filling for tacos if you used chicken breasts or thighs and shredded the meat once it was done. 

The fastest way to shred cooked chicken is to use your mixer.

I'm also going to try this as filling for chicken enchiladas with sour cream sauce.  The recipe made quite a bit so I have plenty left over to have a couple more meals.

GREEN CHILI CHICKEN

1 lb. chicken – I used ground Smart Chicken

1 jar Herdez green salsa

½ c. chopped onion

1 tsp. Williams chili seasoning

Salt and pepper

Sour cream

Corn tortillas

Put chicken, salsa, onion, chili seasoning and salt and pepper into crock pot.

Mix well.

Cook on high until chicken is done.

In a casserole dish layer:

1. some of the liquid

2. tortillas

3. chicken mixture

4. sour cream

Repeat layers.

Since I cook for just myself, I used two tortillas and less than half the chicken mixture.  That made a really large serving for one!

Homemade Cauliflower Fried Rice

I've made this using Green Giant riced cauliflower when I'm in a hurry.  Today I had a huge head of cauliflower that I needed to use so I riced the cauliflower myself.  It's much less expensive if you have time and a food chopper to just make it yourself.

You can beat and egg and stir it in once the vegetables are almost done,  Adding minced ginger is good too.

Cauliflower Fried Rice

Cauliflower

I carrot, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

½ medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Frozen peas

Canned chicken breast, drained, reserve liquid

Sesame oil

Soy sauce

I egg, beaten (optional)

minced ginger (optional)

Separate cauliflower into florets and process in food

chopper until desired consistency. I used about 3 cups.

Heat oil in medium skillet.

Add carrot, celery, onion, frozen peas and garlic.

Stir fry until almost tender.

Add processed cauliflower, mix well.

Stir in liquid reserved from chicken.

Add soy sauce to taste.

Cook, stirring until vegetables are tender.

You can also beat an egg and add to mixture along with some

minced ginger root.