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Turkey Wing and Red Lentil Soup

January 16, 2013 - Written by Diana

Did you know that Turkey Wings have just enough meat for a soup or stew ?  I buy whole turkeys portion the meat out into separate labeled containers or bags and use them for separate meals. The turkey wings were set aside together and tonight used in a really quick and delicious soup.  I am a beef and lamb lover – I also love turkey and chicken, but I forget sometimes that poultry is my husband’s preference over red meat.  He likes red meat a lot, but every so often he’ll whisper in my ear and let me know we haven’t had turkey or chicken lately.  That happened this week, so I today I dug through the freezer found a couple of turkey wings and threw together a delicious stew.  A little bit of meat, a bunch of veggies and red lentils that melt into a thick creamy broth.

Ever since my husband has been on a low sodium diet, we’ve given up the curry powder.  We try to stay away from …

Baked Oaxacan Chicken

September 27, 2012 - Written by Diana

This recipe for Oaxacan Chicken was originally for the barbecue, but it’s been a rainy dreary day today, so I baked it in the oven.  The Oaxacan sauce for the chicken is ketchup based (though it was my home made ketchup that I used), with tequila and a little bit of heat.  It’s kind of a spicy sweet sauce, but has a lot of flavor.  There’s plenty of time left to do grilling and I look forward to trying it again barbecue style, but baked in the oven it was perfect for our dinner tonight.  Tomorrow I’m using the leftovers to make some chicken tacos. This recipe is not my own it is by Chef Javier Plascencia, the tequila was provided by Don Julio.  I thought it would have a much stronger flavor with the tequila in it, but really it was very mild.  If you want more heat or less – work with the hot sauce to set the heat level you like.  If you want a lot more heat, try upping the hot sauce and leave it out …

Swiss Chard, Spaghetti Squash, Chicken and Mushrooms in a Maple Basalmic Vinaigrette

March 14, 2012 - Written by Diana

Yeah, Yeah, I know, the name is too darn long, but what should I leave out?  Look at the photo, the whole thing is pretty and leaving anyone of those things out would make a not so interesting meal – visually and tastefully (flavorfully?).  I still have spaghetti squash in my cold basement, but I fear it won’t last long since it’s been so warm and we need to work it in to our recipes since winter is quickly coming to an end.  Chard has been regularly showing up in our Weekly Market Bag along with mushrooms less frequently.  I thought this meal, stacked  and then drizzled with a maple basalmic vinaigrette would be really delicious, and it was.  The maple sweetness took the bite off the vinaigrette and the vinegar cut the sweetness a little.

I had plenty of spaghetti squash leftover, as well as chicken and chard (that I hadn’t covered in vinaigrette).  My second meal of the week I added pasta and pesto  and my third meal of the week I took the pasta dish and …

Chicken, Kale and Potatoes

February 25, 2012 - Written by Diana

Cooking from what you have on hand can sometimes feel like a chore because we can’t always make what we have a taste for and instead have to make our tastes fit our refridgerator and pantry. Lots of greens in the fridge right now – which means I need to make sure to get them into our dinners and lunches.  We receive a bag of groceries each week that have local, and non-local seasonal produce and artisan goods that are also mostly organic.  I wondered if I would be able to keep up with the produce – and the greens have started to pile up because my husband and son don’t throw it in as often as I do.  So while I was on a trip to Vermont, the greens weren’t used – except for arugula, my son loves that on his sandwiches.  Today I used my dutch oven to use some of the produce I received in my Weekly Fresh Market Bag.

Kale, shallot and potatoes along with chicken and some white beans are not only delicious, but packed full of good stuff; just what I …

Chicken, Penne and Broccolini – Leftover Remix

January 11, 2012 - Written by Diana

Sometimes I am at odds with my son about dinner.  If it takes too long, he won’t bother.  If he has to read directions, he won’t bother.  If it takes too many pots and pans, he won’t bother. This isn’t to say he’s hopeless or can’t cook.  Slowly we are building up his repetoire and the meals he does cook are very delicious.  My method with him is to encourage him to try to experiment by adding different vegetables and herbs to a basic recipe.

This time we took some chicken from our roast chicken the other night and added pasta, some broccolini, a few herbs, smash some galic and voila – dinner is served.  This is a good college kid meal, you can change up the pasta, the veggies, substitute the oil with broth to make it a little lighter.  Swap the lemon with white or red wine vinegar for a little different.  We stood side by side at the stove cooking this dish.  When we were done, I asked my son if he thought he could do it all over again, …

Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken

January 8, 2012 - Written by Diana

 

Tonight’s chicken was lemony goodness and very easy to prepare.  I’m a fan of just a few steps to great food, the oven does most of the work here, slowly roasting to perfection.  My husband is a big poultry fan.  When we go to restaurants, often I will order a steak and my husband some chicken or turkey.  It never fails that the server will swap our plates and give my husband the steak and me the chicken. We taste off of each other’s plates though, so in the end it doesn’t matter.  He won’t swap this though.  I had to let him chew the bones a little before I put them in the freezer so that he could pick off every morsel of chicken left behind.

Today’s chicken we bought fresh from the market yesterday.  You tell them what you want and they will bag it and even skin, bone and cut it up for you all in a few minutes.  They’re really fast.  I bought two whole chickens and a couple of whole breasts split along with some sausage.  The chicken was free range, from a …

Chicken & Fall Vegetable Soup

November 2, 2011 - Written by Diana

Staying with my mom while she recovers from her surgery, I made Chicken & Fall Vegetable soup for dinner.  Soup makes you feel good when you are sluggish and don’t want something heavy, especially if your throat is a little sore too. My mom is a fan of almost all vegetables, and since the fall vegetables are in season, this is the perfect time to make this soup.  It is easy to prepare but will take longer than 30 minutes because it takes  a while for the carrots and butternut squash to soften.  The soup was served in a bowl over warmed wild rice.  The rice would absorb the stock from the soup so we precooked the rice separately and then put a couple of tablespoons in the bowl and ladle the soup over top.  The leftovers were stored as single servings in the freezer for meals on busy evenings after I left to go back to my family and home.

Mom can’t eat onions or tomatoes; acidic vegetables and fruit upset her tummy.  If you feel it could use a few more vegetables, feel free …

Almost Salsa Chicken in a Crockpot

October 13, 2011 - Written by Diana

I put out a request for quick dinner ideas -something that wouldn’t take that much work, but would be healthy and delicious and maybe my son could do it.  Crockpot suggestions came in, but I knew my son couldn’t be trusted to stop and think that far in advance. Crockpot was out for him, but on my day to cook, it’s always a welcome suggestion.  Jenn Fowler suggested Salsa Chicken – and knowing the way my family feels about salsa, I was ready to try it out.

Unfortunately, the cupboards were not fully stocked, so a few substitutions were made.  The dish came out a little less mexican, and a little more health nutty, but it was delicious. Instead of black beans, garbanzos aka-chick peas were used.  Then instead of rice, some wheat berries were made in the rice cooker (brown rice setting) and gave the dish a nuttier flavor. The wheat berries and salsa chicken was served on top of some butter lettuce and arugula.  A little white cheddar (from a local …

Jennie-O Turkey Burgers – Will You Make the Switch? Coupon Giveaway.

September 7, 2011 - Written by Diana

Jennie-O Switch to Turkey Promotion

This Contest has been closed.

Jennie-O has a new Switch To Turkey Burgers Promotion.  Jennie-O sent a food truck to NY to show people how tasty turkey burgers could be and to convince them to make the switch to turkey over other burgers. For dinner, we tried out Jennie-O Turkey Burgers and let me tell you, they get an A+ from my family.  No, they don’t taste like beef hamburgers, they don’t taste like vegetarian Luna Burgers, they don’t taste like bison burgers, they taste like Jennie-O Burgers, delicious in their own right.

NYC Inspired Turkey Burgers

Chicken, Chard, Bean and Butternut Squash Soup

February 10, 2011 - Written by Diana

I told you I was going healthy for the Superbowl.  We brought this soup, plus some berries and greek yogurt with honey – plus vegan chocolate avocado cupcakes.  We did splurge though because my sister in law made some awesome queso with sausage that was great with chips and they also had some Buffalo Wild Wings.  It was a small gathering, but there was plenty of food and even though our favorite team disappointed, we had a good time (well most of us).

I bought my butternut squash last fall at the farmer’s market.  We put them into baskets and stored them on shelves in the unheated basement.  The food doesn’t freeze down there, but it does get rather nippy downstairs. Last year I tried storing them in a warmer spot, but some of my squash went bad.  This year, they are in perfect condition and not even drying out.  I’m thrilled that we put up a nice shelving unit to use for winter storage.

Anyway, I also have been trying to work with beans more, but not canned beans, dry beans, and so that was the start of this soup. I …

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