Cooking Light: Coconut-Curry Chicken Soup & Acceptance

Someone might have asked me yesterday "so... are you cooking this week?" and the answer is "yes, BUT..." Today, for instance, I made oatmeal, then a bowl of cereal. For lunch I picked up some chicken salad from Brown Bag Deli to eat with Sliced Apples. I also picked up a couple of chocolate chip cookies.... Later I made a pot of Annie's Organic Mac & Cheese for myself Landon and cooked a filet of salmon for her to eat tomorrow and Friday. Then I stopped cooking. Dinner... the meal that "morning" sickness is made of. Lucky for me, S got home and made chicken thighs with sauteed kale. I'm about to probably eat some over an hour later. Feeling sick during dinner cooking time is really putting a damper on the healthy cooking portion of this blog. Then when I do attempt to cook, I'm not doing the best documenting job. Here is a great example... while making one of my all time favorite cooking light recipes (and definitely the one that I have made the most) I look back to find.... 3 pictures of the entire cooking session. This post is about accepting the things I cannot change. I've just got to use what I have at the moment. Please enjoy.

Stock photo from recipes.com

I first spotted this recipe in 2008 and was a little hesitant. The ingredient list was long, which for me can equal dollar signs. At certain times in the month this is not a good thing. Since then I have built up a killer spice collection so it's a cinch to throw this one together. 

Coconut-Curry Chicken Soup

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups water
3 cups fresh spinach leaves
1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed and cut in half crosswise
1 (5 3/4-ounce) package pad thai noodles (wide rice stick noodles)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 1 pound) $
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 small hot red chiles, seeded and chopped, or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
7 lime wedges 

PREPARATION:
1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add spinach and peas to pan; cook for 30 seconds. Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl. Add noodles to pan; cook 3 minutes. Drain; add noodles to spinach mixture in bowl.

2. Heat canola oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and the next 5 ingredients (through garlic) to pan; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth to pan, and bring to a boil. Add coconut milk to pan; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken, onions, sugar, and fish sauce to pan; cook for 2 minutes. Pour chicken mixture over noodle mixture in bowl. Stir in cilantro and chiles. Serve with lime wedges.

Recipe by: Tina Washburn, San Diego, California, Cooking Light
DECEMBER 2008

Side note: not all of these ingredients are available at your neighborhood store. HEB is pretty reliable with most of them (if you are in TX) and if you have a Central Market, I would head there instead. Whole foods will definitely have everything on hand for maybe a little more $$. I can't compare Trader Joe's since I think ours is a mini version. 

In the picture below I have completed step 1 and you can see the snow pea, spinach, and noodle mixture in the bowl on the left. I had just added the coconut milk and was doing the 5 minute simmer. 

This cook top is the bane of my cooking life.

 Here is where I veer off of the recipe path... usually (as in the photo above) I am cooking the second half in a larger pot. At some point instead of pouring the larger pot over the spinach, snow peas and noodles, I put the noodle mix back into the larger pot with step two ingredients in it and then complete with the cilantro and chiles. This is what my finished product looks like:

Oh, and hey S's legs in the background.... I'm really losing my edge here... acceptance.

 And finally, presented to you atop L's placemat and a 99cent special plastic target cutting board... the final portion to be served with lime wedges.

I really never dreamed I would be a person who cooks Thai at home. Whatever that means. But this soup is just TO DIE FOR. It has so much flavor and is only 315 calories per serving. I'll include the nutritional info a the bottom. Getting the ingredients together and all the steps right the very first time can be a little daunting, but once you get the hang of it this is so easy to make (especially compared to soups and stews that take HOURS) and again, I just want to stress the flavor is OUT OF THIS WORLD. The lime juice also helps this soup transition to warmer temps so you can eat it longer than just a couple months of the year (for anyone else living along the southern Gulf Coast). 

While I am accepting the lackluster performance above, and overjoyed by the circumstances that have caused it, I am striving to get better. I happened to do some amazing documenting of Christmas sweets cooking, but I'm saving that one for another edition of fattening Friday. Until then, let's accept one another and get cooking in the kitchen no matter how you have to do it. Sitting on a stool stirring soup anyone? yes please. 

-RT

Nutritional Info:

Amount per serving

• Calories: 315
• Calories from fat: 22%
• Fat: 7.8g
• Saturated fat: 3.7g
• Monounsaturated fat: 2.2g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 1.3g
• Protein: 29.3g
• Carbohydrate: 30.9g
• Fiber: 2.4g
• Cholesterol: 62mg
• Iron: 3.2mg
• Sodium: 841mg
• Calcium: 78mg 

Texas Red Beans Gone Wrong

Here's a red beans story gone wrong. While S ate these red beans all last week, I couldn't get through my first (and only) bowl. The problem is, in order to figure out what went wrong, I would need to make them again. It was likely one of three things. Let's explore this bad cooking experience in photos.

The quick soak process. No problems here. Brought the beans to a boil, let them set for a while, and came back in the afternoon to work on them. 

Additional ingredients, though I only used one jalapeno, because I didn't want it to be too spicy. That ended up backfiring. 

Chef's assistant works with the homemade popsicle maker in her sweats. It's never too early to introduce a nice, comfy pair of sweatpants.

Taking extra steps to reduce extra heat, I slice my jalapenos to remove the seeds and the membrane. This is where the majority of heat lies in a jalapeno. So mistake option 1 is that this jalapeno was freakishly hot. Like way beyond the realm of normal jalapeno hotness. 

Sliced andouille sausage. Option 2 is that this brand of andouille (I've never used it before) was incredibly spicy. While I don't think this was the reason, it is in the realm of possibilities. 

I put in some of the more rough chops of onion first, then added a finely chopped mixture of onion and jalapeno.

After removing the beans and giving them one last rinse, I put a little EV Olive Oil in the bottom of the heated pot and tossed in the onions, jalapeno, and garlic. After about five minutes I added the sausage. I cooked all of this over medium for about five - ten more minutes. Then poured in 4-6 cups of chicken stock. 

Here is where the last thing could have gone wrong. I use this fab cajun spice mix. It has always served me well and I rarely measure the amounts I use. It has black pepper AND cayenne pepper AND crushed red pepper. So over use of this (the likely culprit) is what could have made this hard for me to handle. I can't find this mix anymore, but if you have a good spice mix at the store, just read through the ingredients. And for the sake of all that is holy, measure it.

After I added the spices and the red beans (and made sure there was enough broth covering them to give everything room to cook down) I let everything cook for a couple of hours. I kept it on a low boil. Then I took a spoonful out to test.

And I was like "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Is this too spicy?" But I like to see what I want to see so I told myself no. Besides, everything spicy can be fixed with bread. We keep this and other frozen bread selections in the freezer (frozen in the freezer... stickler for details). They come in handy a lot. Like when your red beans are too spicy for life. 

White rice in the still disappointing rice cooker and we were ready to go. And I was so sad. I wanted this. I wanted it bad. It wasn't happening for me.

I got about 1/3 of the way through my bowl and I just couldn't finish. It made me feel better that S did. And that he kept on eating it. It was really just too spicy for me to enjoy. We've got a few months of cold weather coming our way, so I'm sure after I get over the hurt to my cooking pride, I'll do red beans again. Then I'll come back to brag about it and tell you all how to do it the right way. With measuring spoons and things. Ugh. Following the rules. What a boring way to cook. 

-RT

Recipe Review: Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallot Soup

My finger is on the mend, but don't think S has heard his share of complaints on that subject yet. I almost lost a finger. Almost is a very vague word. 

Today I have a great Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallot Soup recipe from Cooking Light for you. This soup was quick (in a sense), cost effective, full of fresh flavor, and really easy. Secret best friends club promise. 

Once upon a time we had a butternut squash. I can't remember what it's original purpose was, but there it was on my counter. So S thought, "let's probably cook it before it goes bad." He is the CFO of the family. He took an inventory of the ingredients we had around the house and I got an email the next day that said "please buy four shallots and some ginger." Done. 

Cooking Light professional photo for your viewing pleasure.

 First things first. Preheat the oven to 375. Then we peeled, chopped, and deseeded the butternut squash. 

Slices

Chunks

 Next we peeled a section of the ginger and cut it into think slices.

Then we peeled the shallots and cut them in halves.

 Finally we combined everything in a baking dish with salt, pepper, and EV Olive Oil. Did I already say this was easy? It is. Put them in the oven for 45 minutes, then allow them to cool for ten minutes. Now this recipe seemed fast to me because the actual active cooking time is minimal. Baking in the oven time is more "watch Revenge on the DVR for the third time" time.

The final magical ingredients include: Chicken Stock, Sour Cream, & Pepper. The Sour Cream is a personal touch. We skipped the chives in the original recipe. Mainly because no one told me we needed chives... hmmmmm. That no one sure is funny about ingredients. If anyone ever asks you why you should buy an entire bundle of chives (or green onions, or saffron threads, etc) for just a few bowls of soup, just tell them: because it's a recipe and that's how you follow it. And also because I said so.

The roast pan came out of the oven looking full of deliciousness. 

Our blender kind of started creating chemical smoke last time I was trying to make a big vat of green jalapeno cilantro dip. I don't like things that make smoke and smell like chemicals. So instead of following the recipe's original technique, we simply put the broth and the veggies straight into a stock pot and mixed it with a hand blender. HAND BLENDER LOVERS UNITE. If I can find a way to use my hand blender, it is going to be used. 

Step 1 old friend

After blending the ingredients you put them on the stove over medium heat for 5 minutes to warm everything evenly. Then you are good to go. 

We were kind of concerned that this soup would be missing the creaminess that we were craving, but it was completely creamy and very velvety. See what I did there?

I felt like it would be a nice compliment to add a dolup of sour cream (or creme fraiche if you have that) on top with the cracked pepper. I was right. It was a wonderful compliment to the flavor of the soup. We ate it with some crusty whole grain baguettes.

While my photo is less impressive, it was more delicious. According to me.

This was a nice light soup that had all of the make ups of a soup laced with cream and fat and cream. The flavor of the ginger really comes through and give you a wonderful experience with the soft texture and the aromas. I'm getting serious about this. The bread helped to make it a little more hearty for dinner, but it would be a wonderful soup to have around for any meal, first or second course, or snack. It would also make a great early baby food or in our case a late one. Landon really loved it.

If anyone makes it with chives, let me know how that goes. For now I'll stick with the sour cream or greek yogurt. 

-RT

Roasted Butternut Squash and Shallot Soup
from Cooking Light Magazine


Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2/3 cup soup and 1 teaspoon chives)

Ingredients:
4 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large shallots, peeled and halved
1 (1/2-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced
2 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons (1-inch) slices fresh chives
Cracked black pepper (optional)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a roasting pan or jelly-roll pan; toss well. Bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Cool 10 minutes.

3. Place half of squash mixture and half of broth in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large saucepan. Repeat procedure with remaining squash mixture and broth. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Top with chives and pepper, if desired.

Bean There, Done That

One of my most favorite things to cook is a pot of beans when the weather is cool. 1. It's easy. 2. You can make it healthy. 3. It's tasty. Please hold any 4th grade "magical fruit"/"good for your heart" jokes until the end of this blog post. 

Last week I put up a pot of black beans and they were fantastic. Someone asked me once what it means to "put up a pot" of something. I was kind of perplexed. I've always used that expression. I'm fairly certain it's southern if not Texan. I never really questioned its exact meaning and always use it to talk about cooking beans, peas, or other things you would cook for a long period of time in a pot on the stove. If someone has a proper history for this expression please fill me in... any linguist expert type people? No? Shocking.

The sorted life of black beans....

SO, I made black beans. I used dried beans, so they required some soaking. Step one in bean management involves sorting and picking through the dried beans to make sure there aren't any rocks or other non bean type items in there. Some people skip this step. I used to. Then I bit into a rock. Lesson learned. 

Bean Rinse aka Clean yo Bean

After you finish sorting, you want to give the beans a rinse in a colander. Then you have a few options.  All options start with you putting the beans in a pot (or large bowl) and covering them with LOTS of water. Specific amounts will likely be on your bean bag - mine said six cups. If you did the large bowl, make sure it is very large and cover it with a dishtowel to keep random mishmash from getting in there. Then leave the beans on the counter overnight or for at least 6-8 hours. You can do this same thing in a pot. I personally prefer the quick boil method. Mostly because I get tired at night and forget to soak the beans. For a quick soak, the beans need to be in a pot. Bring the water to a full, rolling boil, turn the heat of, cover them, and leave them to sit for 2-3 hours. 

 

Water Covered Beans

Boiling Beans

I did this first thing in the morning since I was making the beans for dinner that night. My plan was to have everything in the pot simmering by 4pm. When L went down for her nap I got to chopping. 

Back to the Grid Method.

Finished Product

I chopped one VERY large onion, sliced about six cloves of garlic (If you don't like garlic you should leave now before one of us gets hurt), and took the beans out of the pot to do one last rinse. I make this one a quick rinse so that I don't lose a lot of the goodness that is naturally in the beans. Next I got out my cast iron pot and turned the stove to medium to heat it up. Once it was nice and hot I added about a tablespoon of EV Olive Oil and tossed in the onions and garlic. 

My Garlic Friends

My lovely garlic press that has a slicing mechanism. Thanks wedding registry! 

Once in the pot, I stirred the onions and garlic until my house smelled amazing and the onions were soft and becoming "clear" in appearance. 

Clear Onions, Full Heart, Can't Lose...... it's late. shut up. 

I put a smoked ham hock in the pot and gave it a little browning on the sides before adding in about 4 cups of chicken stock. You can always add in water, but I prefer to use stock if I have it.  

Stock

Stock and Hock

 After bringing that up to a boil, I added the beans back in along with two more cups of water and two Goya Ham seasoning packets. It's like Ham bouillon. It's magical. 

Ham Flavah.

Full pot.

 I wanted the broth to cook off of the beans so they would be less like soup, so while I boiled them I left the top off and checked in on the broth level. I cooked them over a low boil for about 2.5 hours. You'll want to check the beans after two hours to check the consistency and see if they are getting to what you prefer. I like mine to still be firm, so 2.5 hour timing works well. 

Low boil, badly captured.

 After a couple of hours my beans looked like this. I took out a spoonful to sample.

Taste Test

 This is the point where I see if my beans need added salt. Because I am cooking with broth and a ham hock, and ham seasoning, I like to see how much natural flavor and saltiness I can get out before adding more in. I also (just to remind you again) don't really salt things that can be easily salted to taste after they are cooked. 

I love chopped tomatoes in my black beans. BUT tomatoes and cast iron are not friends. Also, if you put the tomatoes in too early, they wilt into nothing. I took about four roma tomatoes, gave them a rough chop, and put them in to cook for about 15 minutes with the beans. 

Tomato Party

Now  I want this again.

 The last thing I do, right before serving, is take an entire bushel of washed cilantro and tear it into pieces over the pot, dropping it all in but the stems. You have a couple of options with the ham hock. I usually leave it in and then add it to the leftovers, keeping it until all of the beans are gone. You can also pick all of the meat off of the hock and add it in with the beans and throw the non meat rest of the hock away. Do as you please. 

Up close and personal.

Finished product.

 We are usually a brown rice family. I like brown rice and if it's better for me, then bonus. I happened to have the brown and wild rice I used with the chicken soup that is fantastic, so I decided to try that out with the beans. WINNER. Here is a photo op in case any of you want to seek it out and try it. 

You know it's good because it says "Arroz"

Cooked to perfection, even though I need a new rice cooker. Suggestions appreciated. 

Things that are great to serve with this meal include: sliced avocado, Mexican cotija cheese, sour cream (or non fat plain greek yogurt), salsa, or pico de gallo. We did avocados and Cotija cheese. 

The final product. Perfection in a bowl! 

Because I was making this for us AND Landy, I didn't add jalapenos, which I usually do and love. If you want to do that, I like to add in one jalapeno (deseeded then chopped) with the onions and garlic, and then take a second jalapeno, chop the top off of it to expose the seeds and insides, and drop it into the water to boil with the beans. I remove the remaining whole jalapeno before serving. 

Cooking in pots is the best thing about cool weather. And if you happen to be home with the kids or on a Saturday or Sunday, you can work on it little by little throughout the day and still have plenty of time with your kiddos. This is also something you might be able to adapt to a slow cooker if you work during the day. I'm not great at slow cooking, but it's one of my goals to figure that out this cool weather season. Here's a quick recap of my ingredients:

1 16oz package of dried black beans

1 T EV Olive Oil

1 very large white or yellow onion

6 cloves of garlic

1 smoked ham hock

4-6 cups of chicken broth or water

1-3 packets of goya ham seasoning (to taste)

4 large roma tomatoes

1 bunch of cilantro

rice

Optional:

Jalapeno

Avocado

Cotija Cheese

Sour Cream (not really optional)

pico de gallo

This is one of my absolute favorites. I think I make it twice a month during the fall and winter. It is another warm, filling dish that is actually pretty healthy and simple. It is also EXTREMELY cost effective. On the health front, just remember, you are in charge of your own sour cream intake. I love sour cream, so I try to sub it out for plain, non fat greek yogurt. Can't even tell. Share your beans with someone you love. They are magical, after all. 

-RT