turkey-barley soup

Posted on October 24, 2007 by chloe elizabeth

So, this is a picture taken before it was totally done. I completely forgot to take one after the carrots were completely cooked (and floated to the top), the barley was done and the turkey was added. The soup was a hit and is a great way to use up the Thanksgiving left-overs (assuming you’re turkey eaters), not to mention that it is a great twist on the old classic, chicken noodle. It looks a lot more complicated than it is, I promise.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
2 carrots, scraped and sliced
2 celery ribs, sliced
4 cups sliced button mushrooms
1 teaspoon dried thyme
6-8 cups turkey broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup barley
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped cooked turkey meat (make sure all bones are removed)

Instructions

In a large skillet, heat oil and saute onions, carrots, celery and mushrooms; sprinkle thyme on veggies and continue to saute until softened, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Pour turkey stock into a large pot (if you have less than 8 cups of stock, add water to make up difference) and whisk in the tomato paste; stir in sauteed veggies; turn heat to high.
Stir in barley, vinegar, salt and pepper.
When soup comes to a boil, turn heat down to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 1 hour, or until barley is tender.
Stir in turkey meat and continue to simmer just until soup is heated through.

A few changes…rather than make this in a large soup pot, I did it in a crock pot. I sauteed in a saute pan, but the rest: crock pot. And, rather than boil it for an hour, I just left the crock pot on overnight (I started cooking at about midnight, so that gave it a good 8 hours of cook time) on low and then added the turkey in the morning. Because it was for a lunch thing, I had to transport the crock pot to work (lots of plastic wrap = no spills) and I turned it back on warm once I arrived. It was perfect!

asian salad

Posted on October 24, 2007 by chloe elizabeth

Here is the original recipe. I, however, read the reviews and followed a tip given by a reviewer, which make the recipe much, much lower in fat and calories. I recommend following those instructions.

INGREDIENTS

2 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodles, crushed
1 cup blanched slivered almonds
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 head napa cabbage, shredded (I just used the prepackaged and chopped cole slaw mix…so you add a few carrots to the mix, no big deal)
1 bunch green onions, chopped
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce

DIRECTIONS

In a medium skillet over low heat brown ramen noodles, almonds, and sesame seeds with melted butter or margarine. Once browned, take off heat and cool.
In a small saucepan bring vegetable oil, sugar, and vinegar to boil for 1 minute. Cool. Add soy sauce.
In a large bowl , combine shredded napa cabbage and chopped green onions.
Add the noodle and soy sauce mixture. Toss to coat. Serve.

Changes provided by Micke.

“Way too fat for our tastes…changed to 1/4 cup oil, 3 tbsp vinegar, 3 tbsp sugar. Didn’t use butter at all, but toasted sesame seeds and almonds in oven at 350 for 7 minutes. Every one raves over this recipe, and it’s a lot healthier, with less juice in bottom of bowl. I also added the flavor pack from the ramen noodles to the dressing and it was to die for. Thanks for the great start though.”

random thoughts at 3 am

Posted on October 21, 2007 by chloe elizabeth

Really, I have 25 posts floating in my head…but I don’t have time to fully develop any of them, so here are some random thoughts.

I am pretty direct and sometimes I don’t think people know how to deal with it. I don’t believe in agreeing with someone just to be agreeable. I don’t believe in telling someone that something is “fine” if it isn’t. I don’t believe that I “have” to be friends with anyone. And I think if people are going to ask how I’m doing, they should actually want to know because I am actually going to tell them. What it boils down to is sincerity. I try to be sincere. And sometimes, I sincerely offend people.
Writing essays for grad school makes me feel totally inadequate and relatively stupid…not something I’m used to. Yes, the truth is, I generally think I’m not just adequate, but quite accomplished, and I rarely feel stupid. Oh, back to number 1, I don’t believe in false modesty.
I love meeting new people…in small groups. I love getting to know them. I love learning about them. And I love when I get to do this while eating delicious food at a restaurant I’ve never been to. That was my evening tonight. I went to The Dodo with Laralee, Dana, and Denise. The company and food were fantastic.
I don’t love most things about snow, but there is one thing I do love. I love how, at night, the world is so quiet. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the chance to stand outside at night in the snow, but I love it. I could stand for hours just listening to the silence.
While I understand the economics of a dollar movie, I cannot understand the disgustingness (yes, it’s not a word) of the dollar theater. So gross. The thing is, being economical (or poor enough that you can’t afford normal movies…which is about where I am these days) is no excuse for throwing your popcorn on the ground, or letting your children run around barefoot, or not flushing a toilet. And do they pay their employees way less, so they don’t expect them to wipe off counters, clean bathrooms, and sweep the theater. I just don’t understand.
Sarah and I met Dan Keys last night. If you have no idea who that is, he is the lead singer of Young Love. I love YL and I love Dan Keys. Young Love was the opener for the opener for Say Anything. We pretty much just went to hear Young Love. We left right after they played, but not before heading to the merch table to say hi (and swoon just a little). I’m sorry, but he is just super sexy. And tall. And his voice makes me melt. Here are my two favorite songs (in acoustic form) off of their self-titled album.
I talk a lot. Sometimes I feel like I totally monopolize conversations. And sometimes I know I’m doing it and just can’t seem to stop myself. Why is that? Why can’t I shut up?
Sarah and I will be singing at Big Shot Karaoke on Thursday. This should be a good time.
Sometimes, I worry about things over which I have no control. Well, maybe not worry, but I definitely think about them. A lot. And often. I wish I could stop doing that.
I have really, really weird dreams when I take naps. I think that’s part of the reason I don’t really like taking naps. And often, those weird dreams involve scenarios that allow me to act out my deep seeded, almost subconscious, desires to tell someone off. They make me feel like a bad person.
Even though, colloquially, it’s common to end a sentence with a preposition, I have a really hard time doing it, even when not doing it means that I sound super formal and kind of geeky.
I should really go to bed because I really am tired. I just don’t want to. And do you know why I don’t want to? Because I don’t want to wash and moisturize my face or brush and floss my teeth or brush my retainer and put it in my mouth. (Yes, I still wear a retainer at 29…my dad paid good money for my teeth, I’m not about to let them move.) I hate getting ready for bed. Hate it. But I can’t sleep if I don’t do the full routine…except the retainer part. This is a struggle every night. How dumb is that?
On Wednesday, I was supposed to take my French midterm. I didn’t feel ready, so I asked for extra time. Ask me how much I’ve studied? I bet you can guess.
I love Christmas music. My favorite to listen to is David Lanz’s album, Christmas Eve. However, I also love singing Christmas music. I know it’s only October, but in preparation for the season, here’s my favorite David Lanz song, Angels We Have Heard on High, and here I am singing (along with 350 other people) The First Noel and Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.
Just about the only thing I miss about my undergrad experience…singing. There is nothing like singing in a huge choir, especially a capella . And it’s something that you can’t just throw together, you know, huge numbers of people who can sing in tune. I still sing, but it is not the same. I wish I could explain it. But, since I can’t, I’ll just share one more song with you. Since it’s Sunday, here’s one of my most favorite hymns, Where Can I Turn for Peace?
Tomorrow (well, today) we are having a little friends’ dinner. Soup in bread bowls, salad and miniature pumpkin cheesecakes with cinnamon crusts. I’m so excited. ETA – in case anyone thinks I never mess up cooking, I totally over baked both the crust and the cheesecake. I’ll take some pictures so you can see what happens if you over bake cheesecake. It’s ugly. The good news is, neither event has ruined the taste (perhaps the texture is a little off, but not horrible).
Okay…it’s time to get ready for bed. Oh the pain! It’s funny how easy it is to whine about getting ready for bed when there are so many people who don’t have the luxury of a) getting ready for bed or b) having a bed to sleep in. I hate that my mind works this way. I can never just feel sorry for myself and sometimes, I really want to.

chicken salad

Posted on October 11, 2007 by chloe elizabeth

Ingredients

3/4 c fat-free sour cream
3 scallions (green onions), minced
1 Tbsp finely chopped parsley (I really don’t like the flavor of parsley, so I substituted with cilantro)
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 c grapes
1/2 c cashews
Salt
Ground black pepper
3 c shredded chicken
8 large lettuce leaves

Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine the sour cream, scallions, parsley (cilantro), lemon zest, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well to blend. Add the grapes, cashews, chicken and toss to coat. Serve on a bed of lettuce leaves.

Weight Watchers Nutritional Information

Makes four servings
6 points each

*This recipe is from the South Beach Diet Cookbook. It would be phase 1, except that I added grapes and cashews because it needed a little something more…since we are not doing South Beach. However, if you are a South Beach Dieter, it is definitely a great phase 1 recipe.

black bean and corn stew

Posted on October 4, 2007 by chloe elizabeth

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 4 oz. can chopped green chiles
2 15 oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 teaspoons salt
10 oz package frozen corn

Instructions

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion; cook until softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and cumin; cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes more.
To the pan, add chiles, beans, tomatoes and their juice, 2 cups water, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.
In a blender or food processor, puree 2 cups of the stew. Return the puree to the pan (I used a stick blender and just pulsed a little here and there), and add frozen corn; simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

I got this recipe from Jessica at Small Time Cooks. It’s a great blog. Check it out. She recommends serving the stew with cornbread or tortilla chips…I think it would also be great with a little cheese and/or sour cream. It’s also a great alternative to chili for baked potatoes and chili boats. Hopefully, my group likes it as much as I do.