I thought this looked good and reasonably clean

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Added by Ree on January 8, 2011 in Main Courses, Poultry

Prep Time 10 Minutes Cook Time 1 Hour30 Minutes

Servings 8

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

• 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1-½ teaspoon Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
• ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 cup Diced Onion
• ¼ cups Diced Green Bell Pepper
• ¼ cups Red Bell Pepper
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 can Rotel Tomatoes And Green Chilies
• 32 ounces, fluid Low Sodium Chicken Stock
• 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 4 cups Hot Water
• 2 cans Black Beans, Drained
• 3 Tablespoons Cornmeal Or Masa
• 5 whole Corn Tortillas, Cut Into Uniform Strips Around 2 To 3 Inches
• Garnishes:
• Sour Cream
• Diced Avocado
• Diced Red Onion
• Salsa Or Pico De Gallo
• Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
• Cilantro

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cumin, chili pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on chicken breasts, then sprinkle a small amount of spice mix on both sides. Set aside the rest of the spice mix.
Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Use two forks to shred chicken. Set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add onions, red pepper, green pepper, and minced garlic. Stir and begin cooking, then add the rest of the spice mix. Stir to combine, then add shredded chicken and stir.
Pour in Rotel, chicken stock, tomato paste, water, and black beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered.
Mix cornmeal with a small amount of water. Pour into the soup, then simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Check seasonings, adding more if needed—add more chili powder if it needs more spice, and be sure not to undersalt. Turn off heat and allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Five minutes before serving, gently stir in tortilla strips.
Ladle into bowls, then top with sour cream, diced red onion, diced avocado, pico de gallo, and grated cheese, if you have it! (The garnishes really make the soup delicious.)

Recipe by the Pioneer Woman

Chicken Curry

 

I made this one with baked brown rice and it was really yummy. Not as strong as I thought it would be 

(I know curry is an acquired taste). I loved it.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

   
Big hit with Marcus and the girls!

Lasagna Rolls

I found this recipe for lasagna rolls on a "clean eating" website. Easy but a little time consuming, especially if you keep having to run next door to the neighbors house to "borrow" ingredients!

• 1 tsp evoo
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1lb lean ground turkey
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes in juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 8 sheets whole-wheat lasagna (you can use rice lasagna if your going gluten free)
• 10 oz frozen spinach
• 15 oz low-fat or non-fat ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup shredded low-fat mozerella

1) So first I heated the evoo (Which I had to send my son to borrow from the neigbor, because I went to my cupboard and lo and behold, I was out!) and then added the onion, cooking until soft. This is about 5 minutes according to the recipe. I just cooked it until I thought "hmm, that looks soft". Then I added the minced garlic, which the recipe prompts you to then cook another minute.
2) Next I added the extra lean ground turkey, cooking it until browned. Then came the cinnamon and the nutmeg, which I mixed all up in the meat and onion mixture. After that came the tomatoes and salt. Cover and let this simmer for 20 minutes (I actually put on a timer for this part), stirring occasionally.
3) While this was simmering I boiled the lasagna "sheets". The recipe calls for 8 so I did 10 on account of the fact that at least a couple of mine always break.

4) In a bowl, I mixed the ricotta, thawed organic chopped spinach, egg (this time I had to run to the neighbor's house myself and beg for an egg, since my husband apparently used ALL the eggs yesterday for french toast and didnt tell me) and 1/4 cup of organic mozerella cheese. It was about here that I noticed that my sauce was starting to smell really nutmeggy and good (but not quite like normal sauce that you would use for lasagna). 

5) Once everything was all finished, I began taking the pasta "sheets" and slopping them up with the cheese and spinach mixture and rolling them up.A word of warning: I got a little crazy with the amount of the mixture on the first few rolls, so the last couple werent quite as cheesy as they could have been.

6) I coated the bottom of my 8.5 x 11 baking dish with some of the sauce mixture and then placed the 8 rolls on top of that.

7) When the 8 rolls were in place, I dumped the rest of the sauce mix on top and then coated with more mozerella.

8) Cover with foil and place in your oven that you have pre-heated to 400. (Oops, guess I shoulda mentioned this before, but hey, I never claimed to be a food blogger!) Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and broil for 5 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

Here is where I would LOVE to share a picture of the finished product, but unfortunately, my computer has decided that I am not allowed to upload any more pictures of this meal for you to see it. (I swear theres nothing wrong with it and that it doesnt look horrendous, really, I cant upload for some reason!)

Homemade Granola

This recipe was a combination of Ellie Krieger's, Martha Stewart and my own little twist...

1/2 Cup pure maple syrup

1/4 Cup packed light-brown sugar

1/2 Cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon

3 Cups Old-Fashioned Oats

1 1/2 Cups pecan chopped ( or any combination of nuts)

1 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Combine wet ingredients first and then add dry ingredients, mix well. Spread granola on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring every 15 minutes, until golden brown, about 45 to 50 minutes.

Let cool completely on sheet.

Stores at room temperature for 1 week or in the fridge for possibly 2....

Snack on this mix by the handful or you can use it in a parfait with plain or greek yogurt, raspberries (or any other yummy fruit) and a drizzle of honey.

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup Almond Butter
3/4 cup Sucanat  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucanat
1 large egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 oz DARK chocolate (70% cocoa or greater), broken into small pieces



Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, stir first five ingredients until blended. Stir in chocolate.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then for 15 minutes on wire rack

Salmon Florentine and Quinoa Pilaf with Pine Nuts

Salmon Florentine

Makes 4 Servings

2 10-ounce packages frozen spinach, thawed

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup minced shallots

2 teaspoons minced garlic

5 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper,

plus more for taste

1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

4 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets,

rinsed and patted dry

1 recipe Quinoa Pilaf with Pine Nuts*

(recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using your hands, squeeze all excess liquid from the spinach.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for approximately 15 minutes. Add the ricotta and stir to combine. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Using your hands, pack approximately 1/2 cup of the spinach mixture on top of each salmon fillet, forming the mixture to the shape of the fillet. Place the fillets on a rimmed baking sheet or in a glass baking dish and bake for 15 minutes, until the salmon is cooked through.

Serve alongside the pilaf.

*Quinoa Pilaf with Pine Nuts

Makes 4 Servings

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup quinoa

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 large onion, chopped

1/3 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put the broth and quinoa in a medium-size saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer, then cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the grain is tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a large dry skillet over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove the nuts from the pan and set aside. Heat the oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are softened and beginning to brown, about 6 minutes.

When the quinoa is done, fluff with a fork and transfer to a large serving bowl. Stir in the pine nuts, onions, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and serve.