Mexican Chicken Soup

From Barefoot Contessa via a friend who served this at a playgroup.


Ingredients

4 split (2 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on

Good olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cups chopped onions (2 onions)

1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)

2 cups chopped carrots (4 carrots)

4 large cloves garlic, chopped

2 1/2 quarts chicken stock, preferably homemade

1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes in puree, crushed

2 to 4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander seed

1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, optional

6 (6-inch) fresh white corn tortillas

Directions

For serving: sliced avocado, sour cream, grated Cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.


Place the chicken breasts skin side up on a sheet pan. Rub with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until done. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones, and shred the meat. Cover and set aside.


Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the onions, celery, and carrots and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until the onions start to brown. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes with their puree, jalapenos, cumin, coriander, 1 tablespoon salt (depending on the saltiness of the chicken stock), 1 teaspoon pepper, and the cilantro, if using. Cut the tortillas in 1/2, then cut them crosswise into 1/2-inch strips and add to the soup. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and season to taste. Serve the soup hot topped with sliced avocado, a dollop of sour cream, grated Cheddar cheese, and broken tortilla chips.


Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/mexican-chicken-soup-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Vegan Double Chocolate Cookies

From:  http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=321393

Ingredients

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
1/2 cup soy milk (almond milk)
1 and 1/2 cups all purp flour
3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips (vegan)

Directions

In a large bowl ,sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a separate large bowl cream together oil and sugar. Add the flax seeds and soy milk. Mix well. Add the vanilla.

Fold in the dry ingredients in small batches. When it starts to get too stiff to mix with a spatula, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms. Alternatively, a dough hook on a stand mixer can be used for this process. Add the chocolate chips.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet (you could also use parchment paper here) about an inch apart. The cookies will not spread out that much.

Bake for 10 minutes at 350 F. Do not overbake! Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Colored Frosting without Artificial Colors

1/2 c. jelly (I used huckleberry to make purple)
1 egg white
2 T. sugar
dash salt

Cook, beating constantly, for a while until it gets thick.  Remove from heat and beat as it continues to thicken, then spread.  This was REALLY Sticky when dry and only frosted about a dozen cookies.  But looked very pretty and shiny.

Non-dairy Cream Of Mushroom Soup

copypasta from: http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-cream-of-mushroom-soup/
Or make more to freeze (not sure how it'll turn out frozen)
(Makes 6 servings)
Ingredients:
1 pound mushrooms, sliced (or similar amount canned, drained)
4 cups chicken broth (no sugar added, low sodium is good. Home made is best)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (K used red wine vinegar)
2 cups non-fat milk or unsweetened organic non-milk (you can certainly use 1%, 2% or full fat milk if you so choose)
Optional: saute some onions w/ mushrooms, spices.
Directions:
Saute the mushrooms in the oil. This is a very small amount of oil for one pound of mushrooms. But if you keep the heat low, the mushrooms will release their own moisture and before you know it you’ll have a bunch of water in the pan that won’t allow them to burn. Just get the pan hot over high heat and then immediately turn to low heat. Stir frequently.
When the liquid comes out of the mushrooms, add the balsamic vinegar. Then, the flour, which will soak up all the liquid pretty quickly.
Put the chicken broth into your soup pot. Transfer the mushrooms to the same pot and combine with the broth.
Add milk.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 10 minutes.
Allow to cool in the pot. If you will be eating this, season to taste with salt and pepper. If you will be using this soup for other recipes, do not add salt at this time.

Veggie Brown Rice Wraps

Adapted from Taste of Home big cookbook.

Cook brown rice.
Cook kidney beans.

Then saute:  1 pepper (any color), 1 container of mushrooms, 1 c. frozen corn, some cumin and pepper.

Serve all above with shredded cheese and salsa.

Crustless Vegan Pumpkin pie

Crustless Pumpkin Pie
from Chocolate Covered Katie
(can be gluten-free)

• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup flour (Almost any will work, but not coconut flour) (42g)
• 1/3 cup xylitol or brown sugar (You can use a liquid sweetener. It’ll just be a bit gummy) (53g)
• 2 nunaturals stevia packs, or 2 extra tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 (15-oz) can pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp milk of choice (210g)
• 2 tbsp oil, or omit and increase milk to 1 cup
• 1 tsp ener-g powder or 1 tablespoon ground flax (a commenter said cornstarch works, but I haven’t personally tried it.)
• 2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 F, and grease a 10-inch round pan. In a large mixing bowl, combine first 7 ingredients, and stir very well. In a separate bowl, combine all liquid ingredients with the energ or flax, and whisk. Pour wet into dry, stir to combine, then pour into the pan and bake 35 minutes. (It’ll still be gooey after baking, but that’s ok.) Allow to cool completely before transferring uncovered to the fridge to “set” for at least 6 hours before trying to slice.

Mel:  I added crushed graham crackers to the top for crunch.

South American Steak Sauce

From:  http://low-cholesterol.food.com/recipe/south-american-steak-sauce-20615  A family friend made this for my parents and it was yummy.

15 ounces reduced sodium soy sauce
6 ounces tomato paste
6 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
3 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon sage

Directions:

1
Mix all the above ingredients together.
2
Quantity of vinegar may be adjusted to attain desired consistency.
3
Let stand in refrigerator overnight so flavors can blend.
4
Stir before use, and refrigerate when not in use.
5
Especially good marinade for steaks and pork chops.