Chicken Tortellini Cream Soup: a Simple Post-holiday Meal

Well, the holidays are ending and the normal routines of work and home are just around the corner. Looking back on the last week or two, I think I hit a record high with regard to the post-holiday exhaustion. So in the last few days, I have been thinking about how I can make next Christmas just as special for my family without almost killing myself. Yeah well... we shall see how that goes next year.

In the meantime, I am detoxing from the holidays by keeping it simple, and that includes food. A great, simple meal I have now made twice is a chicken torellini soup that is put together with just a few prepared foods but tastes like it is completely from scratch. In actuality, it was a turkey tortellini soup the first time around, with leftover Thanksgiving turkey. But this recent version was made with rotisserie chicken from the grocery store which makes it easy to do any time of the year. I truly believe that some of the best recipes are made with the fewest ingredients, and this is no exception. Ingredient list: rotisserie chicken, olive oil, garlic, leeks, tortellini, chicken broth and cream. So easy and delicious! Wegmans (the best grocery store on the planet) sells a fresh whole wheat three cheese torellini that is to die for, but you can use any tortellini or mini ravioli in this recipe. You can also lighten this recipe up by using fat free half and half instead of the heavy cream, but the cream makes this soup so rich... to me, it's worth the extra fat.

You can whip this soup up quickly on a busy work night and it will seem like you have slaved for hours. And the best thing for the three of us, is that it makes plenty to have again the next day.

Chicken Tortellini Cream Soup
2 T olive oil
1 cup chopped leeks
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups chicken stock
1 rotisserie chicken, meat cut into cubes
1 pkg. fresh tortellini (if using dried, pre-cook and add last)
1/2 to 2/3 cup heavy cream
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
parmesan or pecorino Romano cheese (topping)

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven and saute leeks and garlic until soft. Add chicken stock, chicken and tortellini and cook without boiling until totellini is al dente. Stir in desired amount of cream and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Top each individual bowl with grated cheese.

The Feta Issue

I have had a recipe for Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta taped to my recipe book for the longest time. Every time I spot it as my fingers flip through the pages of the food-stained gingham spiral notebook, my mouth starts to water. It's one of Food Network's Ellie Krieger's recipes, so I know it is certain to be healthy and delicious. So why had I not tried in in the four years it had graced the pages of my book? It's the feta.

Tim and I have very compatible tastes, but there are a few foods he doesn't really care for. Feta, that wonderful crumbly, "bitey" cheese is one of them. He finds it dry and tasteless. So there the recipe sat, until I came up with an idea to modify it. Why not change the feta to fresh mozzarella and have an Italian baked shrimp and tomatoes? We both fell in love with it. Delicious, quick and easy! I will definitely be making this again. The original recipe calls for fresh dill but I would recommend substituting basil in the Italian version. Both variations will be posted here. Since there is quite a bit of sauce, I would also recommend serving it over some type of grain. As you see in the picture above, I threw in some whole wheat Israeli couscous which was perfect.

And now my mouth is watering remembering the taste of it, not just the title of the recipe. I guess we'll have to have it again this week!

Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta (Ellie Krieger)
1 T olie oil
1 medium onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14.oz) cans no-salt diced tomatoes with their juices (I use San Marzano tomatoes and cut them up myself)
1/4 cup finely minced fresh flat leaf parsley
1 T finely minced fresh dill
1 1/4 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in oven proof skillet over med-high heat. Add the onion and cook stirring until softened about 3 min. Add garlic and cook 1 min. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med-low and let simmer for about 5 min. until the tomato juices thicken.
Remove from heat. Stir in parley, dill and shrimp and season with salt and peoper. Sprinkle feta over top. Bake until shrimp are cooked through and cheese melts about 12 minutes.

Italian Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes
Follow directions above substituting basil for the dill and fresh mozzarella cheese for the feta.

The Boy Likes Cookies

My son Connor, like most teenagers, would probably eat a lot of unhealthy foods if he were able. But as we remind him on a daily basis, until he is self-supporting, there are some decisions that are made for him, for instance the kinds of foods that are available to him at home. There is no junk food in the house except on special occasions, and when he wants a snack there are healthy choices. At the same time, when he is outside of the home, at a friend's house, at a restaurant, etc. he is free to eat whatever he chooses. That's when he gets the occasional soda, french fries, and well... junk. To tell him he can never have these foods is in my opinion, unrealistic, and I feel comfortable with the fact that since his regular diet is healthy, junk food every once in a while is not going to kill him.

All of this does not mean there are no treats around. If you have been following this blog, you know that I've developed a passion for making delicious healthier desserts. And Connor has loved every minute of it because he has become my tester. Recently, he tested my dark chocolate almond cookies, and as you can see by his goofy grin above, he loved them. In fact, I had to hide a few for myself because he and his father were eating them fast and furiously.

To invent this recipe, I started with my honey roasted peanut cookie recipe (from a previous blog post) and made some substitutions. The original recipe is listed here and the substitutions follow. The almond cookie recipe calls for almond flour, but if you can't get it, just get blanched almonds and grind them up very finely in a food processor. And if you prefer another nut, just substitute. Delicious treats for my (mostly) healthy kid!

Healthy Honey Roasted Peanut Cookies
½ cup peanut oil
½ cup natural peanut butter
½ cup honey
½ cup natural brown sugar (Turbinado)
1 egg
1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts plus more for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat peanut oil, ½ cup peanut butter, honey, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in egg. On a piece of parchment or wax paper, wisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Mix dry ingredients into the honey mixture in thirds. Stir in ½ cup peanuts. Drop by tablespoons onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until cookies lightly brown.

Honey Peanut Butter Frosting- Wisk 2/3 cup natural peanut butter with ½ cup honey until smooth. Add hot water a tablespoon at a time if necessary until frosting is spreadable. Spread each cookie with frosting and top with peanuts.

Makes 25-30 cookies

Almond Agave Dark Chocolate Cookies
Follow the recipe above with the following substitutions:
• Use almond butter in place of peanut butter
• Use agave nectar in place of honey
• Use coconut crystals in place of brown sugar (if desired)
• Add ½ tsp. almond extract with the egg
• Add 1/3 cup almond flour with dry ingredients on parchment
• Use sliced almonds in place of peanuts
• Add 1 cup 60% cocao chocolate chips with almonds
• Omit frosting

Italian Stuffing: Farro Out!

Far Out- FARRO out... get it? Ok, bad joke aside, if you haven't tried farro, do it! Grown in Italy, farro has very similar characteristics to spelt and barley and is an ancient grain with a nutty flavor. It is often used in soups, but can also be used in pilafs or substituted for other grains.

During a recent visit to the Rochester Public Market with my daughters Carly and Gillian, and Gillian's boyfriend Matt, we met Matt's uncle who sells healthy food items, and a bag of farro caught my eye. I bought it, leaving it in my pantry for quite some time as I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with it.

And then it occurred to me that I could make a stuffing out of it, with the farro as a substitute for the bread. To keep true to its origins, I decided that it needed to be full of Italian flavors: garlic, lemon, basil, rosemary, pancetta, pecorino Romano cheese.... Is your mouth watering?

And what to stuff? I decided on a pork tenderloin, but this would be a great stuffing for chicken, turkey, and even for a beef braciola. The recipe makes enough to stuff two pork tenderloins and still have some leftover to bake in a small casserole dish in the oven. With this stuffing, you will want to have leftovers!

I'll definitely be using farro again. Another delicious, healthy grain to add to my growing list!

Pork Tenderloin with Farro Stuffing
1 cup farro
3 cups chicken stock
1 medium onion
2 oz. diced pancetta
Sea salt, pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh spinach
3 cloves garlic
1 sprig rosemary, chopped
1 T chopped basil
½ cup golden raisins soaked in 1/2 cup white wine
Rind of 1 lemon
¼ grated pecorino Romano cheese
2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
4 T unsalted butter, softened
2 pork tenderloins
2 T extra virgin olive oil


For stuffing:
Place farro and stock in a pot and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 50 minutes.
Soak raisins in white wine. In large frying pan over medium heat, brown onions in a little extra virgin olive oil. Add pancetta and cook until crisp. Season with salt and pepper. Add spinach, garlic, rosemary, and basil and cook an additional 1-2 minutes. Drain raisins, reserving wine for sauce. Add raisins, lemon rind, cheese, breadcrumbs, and pine nuts. Stir together and remove from heat. Cool slightly.

For tenderloins:
Cut each tenderloin to open up, leaving flat pieces. Pound out to about ½ inch thickness. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Spread a generous amount of stuffing onto each piece of pork. Roll sides or pork toward each other, tucking in stuffing as you go. Tie each roll in several places with cooking twine. Refrigerate until ready to cook.

Heat an oven safe nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil and place rolled tenderloins in pan when oil is hot. Sear on all sides. Finish in 325 degree over or until internal temperature is 140-145 degrees. Remove tenderloins from pan and let rest for 5 minutes while making the sauce.

Place pan on stove over medium-high heat. Deglaze pan with the reserved white wine. Reduce by 1/4. Whisk in butter. Whisk until thickened.

Slice pork tenderloin rolls. Serve with pan sauce.

A Quick Weeknight Supper Worth Blogging About!

My family loves Thai flavors. So when I spotted this Thai chicken soup recipe in Food Network Magazine, I decided to give it a try. I found it in the "Weeknight Cooking" section of the magazine, where quick recipes abound, perfect for working families. This one boasts a 30 minute start to finish promise. One would think that a soup made in this amount of time might be lacking in flavor. On the contrary, this one is full of it. The creaminess of the coconut milk with the bite of curry and the freshness of lime? A wonderful combination. And believe it or not, I made it a second time with absolutely no substitutions. That's right, the substitution queen has no recommedations for improvement!

So here is the recipe. It's quick, full of wonderful Thai flavors and satisfying. And with only three of us at home, a whole pot of this soup means another meal later in the week.

Thai Chicken Soup
from Food Network Magazine, November 2010

1 T vegetable oil (ok, so I did substitute canola oil...)
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T green curry paste
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 15-oz. can coconut milk
1 T fish sauce
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
4 oz. thin rice noodles, broken into pieces (I used Soba noodles. Ok, so I lied.)
2 small skinless boneless chicken breasts(about 1 lb.) very thinly sliced, crosswise
1 T fresh lime juice
1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro (I used less- 1 cup seemed like A LOT!)

1. Heat the oil in large pot over med-high 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 1-2 minutes. Add the 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 minutes more. Stir in the lime juice and cilantro. Add more fish sauce and lime juice if desired.

A New Natural Sweetener- Coconut Crystals!

Well, it's new to me anyway. And what a find! As you know, I often use agave nectar to sweeten all kinds of things- from Greek yogurt to baked desserts. But since agave nectar is a liquid, using it as a substitute for white or brown sugar can sometimes be tricky.

So when I noticed this little can of goodness on the shelf in the Nature's Market section of Wegmans, I was intrigued. It's made of 100% pure coconut tree sap, unrefined, organic, and a low glycemic sweetener. Now don't be fooled by the name. This stuff doesn't taste a thing like coconut. It has more of a brown sugar-molasses type of taste and can be substituted for sugar evenly in a recipe.

I decided to try making brownies with it first and since the product came from a coconut tree, and I adore coconut, I decided they needed to be macaroon brownies. Fudgy and delicious, and worth the small amount of sugar in the dark chocolate chips. These were so satisfying that I continued with the brownie theme and invented an espresso brownie with Tia Maria ganache. To die for. The recipes are below, but overall I would highly recommend substituting coconut crytals for sugar in any recipe! If you try it, let me know how it turns out!






Whole Wheat Chocolate Macaroon Brownies
1 pkg 60% chocolate chips
1 stick (4 oz) butter
4 eggs, room temperature
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup coconut crystals
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup chopped almonds, if desired
3 cups unsweetened natural coconut
1 tsp. almond extract
1 cup agave nectar

Melt chocolate chips and butter together in a double boiler. Beat eggs, salt, coconut crystals, and vanilla in an electric mixer. Gradually beat in melted chocolate. Fold in flour and nuts. Pour into buttered and floured square pan (I line with parchment and butter again). In medium bowl, mix together conconut, almond extract and agave nectar. Sprinkle coconut mixture evenly over brownie mixture in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.




Whole Wheat Espresso Brownies with Tia Maria Ganache
Follow recipe above with the following changes:
(You will need TWO bags of 60% chocolate chips!)

Add 2 Tablespoons instant espresso powder to egg mixture. Omit almonds and coconut layer. Fold in an additional 3/4 cup 60% chips with the flour. In a glass measureing cup, heat 2/3 cup heavy cream in a glass measureing cup in microwave until simmering, but not boiling. Whisk in 1 cup 60 % chips (the rest of the bag)until smooth. Stir in 2 Tablespoons of Tia Maria or other coffee liquer. Refrigerate until thick, stirring occasionally. Spread cooled brownies with ganache.

Julia's Stir-Fry

I love cooking with kids. They can be so enthusiastic and creative in the kitchen when given a chance. For my niece Julia's thirteenth birthday, we shopped for ingredients and cooked dinner together before sleeping overnight and going to the water park the next day. I gave her the choice of a pasta and vegetable dish or a stir-fry, and as she tends to make pasta at home, she chose a stir-fry. In the grocery store Julia was encouraged to make all the choices: the meat, the vegetables, the flavors for the sauce, and the grain.

In addition to my love of cooking and baking, I also appreciate the opportunity of sharing my philosophy on food and healthy eating. I told Julia that people often say to me that they could never do what I do, that they hate dieting. I explained that I don't think of what I do as a diet at all. I simply enjoy the tastes and flavors of whole foods, and knowing that what I am putting in my body not only tastes good but helps to fuel it. It's all about making choices that are both healthy and delicious.

Julia was already on board with this as she made some wonderful choices! Meat- Chicken. Vegetables- orange and yellow peppers, onions, baby corn and sugar snap peas. Grain? Well, she decided that my black rice looked really interesting, and wanted to try it. We picked up some tamari- a special soy sauce, and mixed it with some garlic chili sauce, chicken broth, and sesame oil that I had at home. Her last choice was to top it with roasted cashews and green onions. What great instincts! It was delicious, and pretty spicy too. We served it to Tim and Connor as well as ourselves with high raves. Great job, Julia! Let's cook together again sometime soon.

Julia's Spicy Chicken Stir-Fry
1 1/2 cups black rice
2 1/2 cups water or chicken broth
2 T canola oil
1 lb. chicken breats, cut into chunks
1 T minced fresh ginger
1 T minced fresh garlic
1 med. red onion, chopped
1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
4 oz. sugar snap peas
4 oz. baby corn
1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce
1/4 cup garlic chili sauce
2 T sesame oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
Sea salt, fresh ground pepper
1 T cornstarch
1/2 cup whole roasted unsalted cashews
2 sliced green onions

Cook rice according to package directions.
Heat oil in wok or large non-stick fry pan over moderately high heat. Cook ginger and garlic until soft. Add onion, stir-fry 1 minute. Add chicken, cooking until no longer pink. Push chicken to the sides of pan and add rest of vegetables, stir-frying a few minutes. In small bowl, whisk tamari, chili sauce, sesame oil, broth, salt, pepper, and cornstarch together. Taste sauce and adjust ingredients if necessary. (We added more chili sauce to make it spicier!) Pour sauce in pan and stir until thickened. Top with cashews and green onions and toss just before serving. Serve over cooked black rice.
Enjoy!