Tomato and Meatball Soup with Shells

Tonight I cooked yet another meal from the pantry and frig. I will go to the store tomorrow. I used two soup recipes for inspiration. One to prepare the meatballs and one to develop the soup base. It is very good. The meatballs are nice and soft. The tomato soup has a nice sweetness from the carrots and onions. It tastes more like a marinara than tomato soup. My sister dined with me and she loved it. The only thing missing was the parmesan cheese, did I mention it is time to go to the store. I will definitely make this recipe again.

Tomato and Meatball Soup with Shells

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

1 lb lean ground beef (97%)

2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 cup plain bread crumbs

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup vegetable broth

Soup:

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup carrots, shredded

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3-3/4 cups vegetable broth

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/8 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes

1 cup shell pasta

Parsley and Parmesan for garnish (optional)

Directions:

For the Meatballs: Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Gently mix until combined. Do not over work the meat or the meatballs will be tough. Shape 2 tsp of meat mixture into a meatball, repeat until all of the mixture is used. Place on a plate cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

For the Soup: Heat oil in a large soup pot, add vegetables, and saute until soft. Add in vegetable broth, tomatoes, season with salt & pepper, Italian seasoning and red chili pepper flakes and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender. Return to simmer, add in meatballs and shells. Simmer until pasta is cooked about 15 minutes. Ladle into bowls and top with parsley or parmesan cheese, if desired.

Nutrition Facts per Serving:  Calories 200.6; Total Fat 6.8 g; Saturated Fat 2.2 g; Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g; Monounsaturated Fat 1.1 g; Cholesterol 43.3 mg; Sodium 974.5 mg; Potassium 222.8 mg; Total Carbohydrate 18.0 g; Dietary Fiber 2.8 g; Sugars 3.9 g; Protein 18.4 g.

Linking to:
Carole's Chatter Food on Friday's Pasta and Noodle

Arroz Con Pollo

A couple of days ago I made Arroz Con Pollo. I used two recipes as a guide but cooked with what I had on hand. The chicken was beautifully seasoned,  moist and a lovely color. The flavor was amazing, even better the second day. The rice ... well ... it needs work. All I had was long grain brown rice, and well 90% of it was cooked nice and fluffy but there was the 10% that just did not cook properly. So I plan to try again soon with white rice or converted brown rice. The flavor makes it worthy of some more experiementing.

Arroz Con Pollo

Serves 8

1/4 tsp black pepper

1-1/2 tsp sazón seasoning

1 tsp oregano

2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, each cut into 2 pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 onions, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 oz can diced green chiles

8 Spanish olives stuffed with red peppers

1 teaspoon capers

1 small can tomato sauce

2 cups brown rice

4 cups chicken broth

1 orange bell pepper, cut into strips 

Combine black pepper, sazon and oregano, season chicken on both sides. In a 3-1/2 quart or larger dutch oven, brown the chicken in the oil, 5 minutes each side. Brown in batches if necessary, do not crowd the pot. Remove chicken from the pot and set aside.

To the same pot, add onions, garlic, green chiles, olives, capers and tomato sauce. Mix well and cook this mixture for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the broth to the pot and stir well to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the chicken and rice. Arrange the peppers on top. Lower the heat to low. Cover and continue to cook over low heat for another 50 minutes or until the rice is tender. Stir from bottom to top a couple of turns during this time. Turn the heat off and let sit 15 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve.

Sazón means "seasoning" in Spanish. In Puerto Rico, it also refers to a seasoned salt that is used everywhere in Puerto Rican cooking. The seasonings add not only flavor, but also a subtle orange hue to many dishes. I like using annatto, it has a brighter flavor. Paprika is earthier in flavor.



Sazon shown with
Annatto Seeds 



Sazón

Source: WW pal CrissyBear

Makes 5 Tbsps

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground annatto seeds (or paprika)

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon salt

Mix all of the ingredients together and store the sazón in an airtight container. It will keep fresh for about 3 months.

In recipes, use about 1 1/2 teaspoons for each packet of sazón.

Fire Roasted Tomato Dressing

This salad dressing is the brain child of two different dressings I have discovered. I first heard the idea of a Smokey Tomato Salad Dressing on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Guy visited the Joint in New Orleans, they served a green salad with Smoked Tomato and Onion Dressing. I haven’t made it down there to try it yet but it has been on my mind. If I owned a smoker I would have tried to make it already. They smoke tomatoes and onions, puree them with mayonnaise, salt and pepper.  I vow I will try it one day.

Then the second salad dressing entered the picture when I received the Oct/Nov 2012 volume of Healthy Cooking Magazine in the mail. Inside was a recipe for Low-Fat Tangy Tomato Dressing. All you do is blend a can of tomatoes, Italian dressing mix packet, 1 Tbsp. cider vinegar and 1 Tbsp. olive oil. I have made this three times now. The recipe was wonderful and low fat! I made it with balsamic vinegar it was great! It was then that I decided to make it again with fire roasted tomatoes and 1 Tbsp light mayo instead of oil. It is so smokey and delicious. I am so glad I found this recipe. It has been so much fun changing it up too. I hope you enjoy it.

Fire Roasted Tomato Dressing

Makes 2 cups

1 can (14.5 oz) fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained

1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix

1 Tbsp. cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. light mayonnaise

Place all ingredients in a blender; cover and process until blended.

Nutrition Facts: 2 Tbsp. equals 7 cal., 0.3 g fat, 0.3 chol., 91.4 mg sodium, 1.1 g carb., fiber 0.2 g, protein 0.2 g.

Turkey Picadillo Lettuce Wraps

I discovered Picadillo a couple of years ago. I usually follow a Taste of Home recipe for Easy Cuban Picadillo. It is a beef picadillo served over rice. Today I set out to make lunch with what I had on hand. I wanted lettuce wraps but did not have some key ingredients for my usual recipe. I decided to re-invent picadillo as a lettuce wrap. It is delicious! Savory from the olives, vinegar and adobo. A little sweet from the raisins, onions and garlic. It is fresh, crisp and crunchy too, definitely the best fridge raid I have had in a long time.

Turkey Picadillo Lettuce Wraps

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 tsp olive oil

1 pound lean ground turkey (93% lean)

1 small onion, chopped

1 tsp garlic (2 cloves), minced

1 small yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 can (10 ounces) rotel tomatoes (original)

1 tsp adobo seasoning

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed olives

1/4 cup raisins

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Romaine lettuce leaves (or any lettuce that looks good)

1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

Directions

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet, cook the beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add bell pepper, adobo and cinnamon; cook, stirring until fragrant and pepper begin to soften. Stir in the tomatoes, olives, raisins and vinegar. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until raisins are plumped. Serve in lettuce leaves, garnish with almonds.

Nutrition Facts: Amount Per Serving - 1 cup picadillo with 2 lettuce leaves; 302 calories, 15 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 80 mg cholesterol, 19 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 25 g protein.

Adobo Seasoning is a new seasoning to me. I really like it. It is a basic seasoning in Puerto Rican cooking. It can be used for meats, poultry or seafood. It will add a little Latin flair to your food. This recipe comes from an on-line weight watchers friend. It is lower in sodium than the store bought packages.

Adobo Seasoning

Source: WW pal CrissyBear

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

Mix all of the ingredients until well blended and store in a glass jar.

Use 1/2 to 1 tsp to season 1 pound of meat.

Yield: "4 tablespoons"

Shrimp and Chocolate Tortilla Soup

This is a delicious soup! The cocoa and cumin makes the broth similar to a mole sauce, dark and rich. I really liked the sweetness of the corn too. It is not sweet like a chocolate dessert. It is rich like chili and sweet like the best of the seasons corn. I made it a little healthier by using olive oil instead of butter. I also substituted homemade baked corn chips. The original recipe purees all the veggies into the broth. I reserved some of the veggies to add back in at the end. I like veggies. I think next time I make it I will double the veggies, puree half and add the other half back in with the shrimp and tortillas. I hope you enjoy it! 

Shrimp and Chocolate Tortilla Soup

Adaptation of a Paula Deen recipe

Serves: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil 

1 onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 (32-ounce) box chicken broth
1 (32-ounce) box vegetable broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 cups frozen whole-kernel corn
2 cups baked tortilla chips
1 pound medium fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

In a large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, and pepper; cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, or until tender. Add cocoa, cumin, coriander, red pepper, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, and corn. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove 3/4 cup of vegetables and set aside. Puree the soup using an emersion blender. Add the reserved vegetables, tortilla chips and shrimp. Place the pan on low heat, cover, and simmer the soup about 5 to 10 minutes or until the shrimp are just cooked.

Ladle the soup into serving bowls.

Chili Lime Salt and Baked Corn Chips

Anytime you buy citrus fruit for it's juice, go ahead and zest the fruit before juicing. You can dry the zest on parchment paper or in a low oven and save it to use in recipes. Or make flavored salts.

Chili Lime salt is a great way to use lime zest. Use the Chili Lime Salt on popcorn, corn, and homemade corn chips. Anywhere you use salt. The lime and chili add a great tangy twist. The surprising thing is how great it is on eggs. Give it a try.

 

Chili Lime Salt

1/4 cup kosher salt

1/8 cup lime zest (zest of 2 lg limes)

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or spice grinder. Process until well combined. Store in an airtight container.

 

Today I also made a batch of Baked Tortilla Chips and flavored them with the Chili Lime Salt. So good! I need to do this more often.

Baked Tortilla Chips  

  

Corn tortillas

Olive oil cooking spray

Chili Lime Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut a stack of tortillas into 8 chip sized wedges and arrange the wedges in a single layer on a baking rack on top of a cookie sheet.

Spray each tortilla wedge with cooking spray until slightly moist.

Sprinkle chips with Chili Lime Salt as you would season with salt.

Bake for about 7 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for another 8 minutes or until the chips are crisp, but not too brown. 

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

Mom just had foot surgery, so my sister and I went over to make a gumbo for our parents. Our family gumbo is a compromise. Dad's family made a lighter roux. Mom's family made a darker roux. Ours is in between. Today we made a Chicken and Andouille Gumbo. The andouille capital of the world is in LaPlace, LA. It lies between the two towns where my Mom and Dad were raised. To this day we still bring andouille home from Jacob's in LaPlace(WARNING Link has music) when we travel to south Louisiana. Andouille is a highly smoked sausage that we just have not found here in north Louisiana. My Mom's recipe is a little different from my grandmothers' recipes. She uses chicken breast where my grandmothers used a whole hen. I remember growing up being served a bowl of gumbo with chicken on the bone with the skin still attached on ocassion. My sister and I really did not know what to do with that. Grant it using a whole bird does add a lot of flavor. Often my grandfather would sift through the finished gumbo and de-bone it then serve it. My mother's recipe eliminates that task and is still delicious. Today I used boneless, skinless chicken breast and thighs.

Shown with File



Chicken and Andouille Gumbo
Makes 16 servings, about 8 quarts

1 - 1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 - 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 large onion, chopped fine

1 green bell pepper, chopped fine

9 stalks celery, chopped fine

3 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into 2" pieces 

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, chopped into 2" pieces

2 lb andouille, sliced

10 cups water
salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes and Cajun seasoning to taste

1 bunch of parsley, chopped

1 bunch green onions, sliced

2 pints oysters (optional)

 

Heat flour and oil on medium heat stirring constantly until milk chocolate or dark caramel color.  

Roux

Veggies in the Roux

Add bell pepper, celery, and onion cook stirring often until softened and liquid starts to form.

Season chicken with salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Add seasoned chicken cook until chicken is cooked.  Add andouille. Cook until liquid forms.



Seasoned Chicken

Andouille



Chicken and Andouille
in Roux

Water, Parsley and
Green Onions added

Add hot water until desired thickness is achieved. Simmer and season to taste.  



30 minutes before serving strain oysters, reserving liquid.  Add liquid to Gumbo and oysters one by one to make sure oysters are free of pieces of shell.  Add parsley and green onions.

    

Serve over rice.