Sante Fe Chicken Soup

1 can red beans with juice

1 can vegetarian beans with juice

1 can black beans – drained and rinsed

1 can corn with juice

1 can Rotel tomatoes diced

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch (powder)

2 -3 chicken breats boiled and shredded

 (save 3 cups broth) or use bullion cubes

simmer all or cook in a crock pot.

Toppings:  Cheese, and toasted corn strips or just corn chips

Gnocchi with Shrimp, Asparagus, and Pesto

Ingredients

1. 2 quarts plus 1 tablespoon water, divided
2. 1 (16-ounce) package vacuum-packed gnocchi (such as Vigo)
3. 4 cups (1-inch) slices asparagus (about 1 pound)
4. 1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp, coarsely chopped
5. 1 cup basil leaves
6. 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
7. 2 tablespoons preshredded Parmesan cheese 
8. 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
9. 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
10. 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

1. 1. Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a Dutch oven. Add gnocchi to pan; cook 4 minutes or until done (gnocchi will rise to surface). Remove with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl. Add asparagus and shrimp to pan; cook 5 minutes or until shrimp are done. Drain. Add shrimp mixture to gnocchi.
2. 2. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon water, basil, and next 4 ingredients (through garlic) in a food processor; process until smooth, scraping sides. Drizzle oil through food chute with food processor on; process until well blended. Add basil mixture to shrimp mixture; toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Spicy Chicken Shawarma

Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
2. 1/2 teaspoon salt
3. 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4. 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
5. 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
6. 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
7. 5 tablespoons plain low-fat Greek-style yogurt, divided 
8. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
9. 3 garlic cloves, minced and divided
10. 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, thinly sliced 
11. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12. 1 tablespoon tahini
13. 4 (6-inch) pitas, halved
14. 1/2 cup chopped cucumber
15. 1/2 cup chopped plum tomato 
16. 1/4 cup prechopped red onion

Preparation

1. 1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in 1 tablespoon yogurt, 1 tablespoon juice, and 2 garlic cloves. Add chicken; toss to coat. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken mixture to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until browned and done, stirring frequently.
2. 2. While chicken cooks, combine remaining 1/4 cup yogurt, remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice, remaining 1 garlic clove, and tahini, stirring well. Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons tahini mixture inside each pita half; divide chicken evenly among pita halves. Fill each pita half with 1 tablespoon cucumber, 1 tablespoon tomato, and 1 1/2 teaspoons onion.

Tortellini Soup

1 lb beef ( I used chicken)

1 tsp Basil

1 pkg Knorr French soup mix

9 oz. frozen tortellini (cheese)

1 28 oz. can tomatoes

10 oz. sliced fresh zucchini

Direction:

Cook meat and drain.  Add tomatoes, soup mix, tortellini, basil and 4 ½ cups water.  Heat to boiling, reduce to medium, cover and cook for a few minutes until the tortillinis are done. Add the zucchini and cook for 10 minutes or until zucchini are tender.  Serves 12

Found this one in the Better Homes and Garden magazine. Enjoy!!

"One-Pan Chicken Flatbread"
12oz skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I used two chicken breasts)
4 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
1 tbsp olive oil
4  7in flatbread rounds (I could not find this so I used Pita bread)
1/2 cup prepared roasted garlic hummus
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes
1/2 cup English cucumber (I used a normal one, I guess there is a difference?)
1/2 cup chopped onion (This was forgotton when I made it but it would be great with                                                 it in there. I will make sure it goes in next time!)
1/4 cup feta cheese

1. Place chicken breast halves between pieces of pastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, pound each to 1/4 inch thickness. Sprinkle with lemon-pepper seasoning

2. In a very large skillet heat oil over medium high heat. Add chicken in batches; cook 2-3 minutes per side or until no longer pink. Transfer to cutting board; let stand for 2 minutes. Cut into strips. Carefully wipe skillet dry.

3. Add flat bread to skillet; toast over medui-high heat 1-2 minutes on each side. (Be careful, I burnned the first one!! Next time I might try toasting them in the oven intsead of on the pan.

4. In a small bowl combing humus and yogurt. Spread on flatbreads. Top with chicken, tomatos, cucumber, onion, and feta. Sprinkle with parsley of desired.

Makes 4 servings.

Gnocchi with Shrimp, Asparagus, and Pesto

Ingredients

1. 2 quarts plus 1 tablespoon water, divided
2. 1 (16-ounce) package vacuum-packed gnocchi (such as Vigo)
3. 4 cups (1-inch) slices asparagus (about 1 pound)
4. 1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp, coarsely chopped
5. 1 cup basil leaves
6. 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
7. 2 tablespoons preshredded Parmesan cheese $
8. 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
9. 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
10. 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

1. 1. Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a Dutch oven. Add gnocchi to pan; cook 4 minutes or until done (gnocchi will rise to surface). Remove with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl. Add asparagus and shrimp to pan; cook 5 minutes or until shrimp are done. Drain. Add shrimp mixture to gnocchi.
2. 2. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon water, basil, and next 4 ingredients (through garlic) in a food processor; process until smooth, scraping sides. Drizzle oil through food chute with food processor on; process until well blended. Add basil mixture to shrimp mixture; toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Ricotta Cheese

For those not taking the edx Science of Cooking class, one of the labs has been making homemade ricotta cheese, which was pretty easy and yummy.  I'm going to add some spices and take some to our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

When prepared with salt, this recipe makes a delicious homemade ricotta cheese. When prepared without salt, it is instead a traditional Catalan cheese called mató, that is usually eaten with honey. You can choose which of these cheeses you want to make by adapting the recipe below.

Materials:

1 stove or hot plate

1 pot

1 strainer

1 whisk

1 thermometer

measuring spoons

cheese cloth

1 large bowl (for water bath)

1 medium bowl (for straining)

Ingredients:

1 liter whole milk

2 Tbsp white vinegar (30 ml)

½ tsp salt (2.5 ml) or honey

Crackers 

Procedure:

1. Prepare a big bowl with ice+water to put the pot in later.
2. Arrange the cheese cloth into four single layers, place it over a strainer, and put the strainer over a bowl as shown in the picture below.

3. Heat the milk while stirring (with salt if you chose to make ricotta, without salt if you chose to make mató). When the milk reaches 198˚F/92˚C, remove the pot from the stove or hot plate, quickly mix in vinegar (no more than a few seconds), and then, let sit and do NOT stir. **This step is critical. If you continue mixing the milk+vinegar mixture, you will prevent the coagulation from happening and will end up with no cheese.**
4. Place the pot in the bowl of ice+water to cool down.
5. When the temperature reaches 97˚F/36˚C, pour the contents of the pot onto the strainer covered with cheesecloth. This allows the whey to pass through, while the curds remain in the strainer. You may occasionally have to stir the curds gently to help the whey drain.
6. Fold the edges of the cheesecloth over the curds, and put everything (strainer+bowl) in the fridge to chill for 20 min or longer.
7. Eat with crackers. Add honey for the traditional version of Catalan mató.