Thai Chicken Vegetable Soup

I made this soup a few months ago and it was amazing!  It's incredibly easy and quick to make thanks to using Swanson broth.  It's good when it's first made, but is even better warmed up.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 2" matchstick-thin strips
1 medium red pepper, cut into 2" matchstick-think strips
1 cup sliced mushrooms (shitake, oyster, cremini), optional
1 carton (32 oz) Swanson Thai Ginger Flavor Infused Broth
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 can (about 14 oz) unsweetened coconut milk
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1.  Heat the oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add carrot and pepper, cook for 5 minutes or until tender-crisp.  Stir in mushrooms, if using.

2.  Add broth to saucepan and heat to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low.  Stir in chicken, cook 5 minutes or until chicken is hot.

3.  Stir in coconut milk and cook until mixture is hot and bubbling.  Stir in lime juice and cilantro.

Serves 5 (about 1 1/2 cups per serving)

Chicken Stir Fry

My son and I had this for dinner tonight and we really liked it.  I was super pleased with the way it cooked up.  It is very easy to prepare and quite tasty.  And I'll admit, I was trying to finish up laundry so instead of stir frying the veggies properly, I stirred them long enough to coat them with the sesame oil to give them the proper taste and then threw a small amount of water in the pan and put the lid on and let them steam a bit while I took care of the laundry.  Maybe it's cheating, but when you're the only one doing every bit of the housework for two humans and four animals, shortcuts become a way of life.

2 cups white rice
4 cups water
2/3 cups soy sauce (I used reduced sodium soy sauce, but either works fine.)
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch (If you don’t have cornstarch, 2 tablespoons flour will work.)
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (If you don’t have fresh ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger will work.)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon sesame oil, divided
1 green bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
1 can (8oz) sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 head broccoli, cut into florets (If you don’t have fresh, 3 ½ cups frozen florets will work.)
1 cup sliced carrots
1 onion, cut into large chunks

1. Prepare rice according to package directions. I like to put a bit of sesame oil in the water.

2. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, and cornstarch in a small bowl; stir or whisk until smooth. Mix ginger, garlic, and red pepper into sauce; coat chicken with marinade and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir bell pepper, water chestnuts, broccoli, carrots, and onion until just tender, about 5 minutes. Remove vegetables from skillet and keep warm.

4. Remove chicken from marinade, reserving liquid. Heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir chicken until slightly pink on the inside, about 2 minutes per side; return vegetables and reserved marinade to skillet. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until chicken is no longer pink in the middle and vegetables are tender, 5-7 minutes. Serve over rice.

**Try adding bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, snap peas or any other of your favorite veggies. You can also serve over noodles.**

Serves 6

Tarragon Chicken

This is one of our favorite recipes.  It's very easy and makes a good Sunday dinner too!  I often make this smaller recipe when it's just me and my son.  Of course you can easily double or triple this recipe if you're having a lot of people.

1 whole chicken (2-3 pounds)
2 zucchini
1 carrot
2-3 springs of tarragon
olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425.  Grate zucchini and carrot into large bowl.  Mix in just the leaves from the tarragon sprigs.  I usually chop the leaves, but I've been in a hurry before and put the leaves in whole and it turned out fine.  Stuff the chicken with the zucchini/carrot mixture and then place the chicken into a roasting pan.  Rub outside of chicken with olive oil.  It doesn't take much.  Use just enough to give it a thin coat.  You can also use butter if you don't have olive oil.  I simply prefer olive oil.  In a pinch I've also used my Pam spray olive oil if I was out of regular olive oil.  Salt and pepper the chicken to taste and garnish with more tarragon springs if desired.  Roast chicken at 425 for 45 minutes.  Turn oven down to 350 and roast another 45 minutes or until done.

Brazilian Chicken Curry

My son and I really enjoyed this tonight.  My son does not particularly care for curries of any type, so I was surprised when he went back for seconds and ended up finishing off everything I made.

1 1/2 cups yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups red bell pepper (or any color bell pepper available),
  coarsely chopped
1 cup baking potato, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely grated
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound), cut into bite-size pieces
Cooking spray
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 cup regular rice, uncooked
1/2 cup light (can also use regular) coconut milk*
1 tablespoon tomato paste*
2 teaspoons minced garlic*
     *I doubled this part of the recipe and would recommend doing so when you make this meal.*

1.  Prepare rice according to package directions.  After I had turned my rice to low to cook, I threw the leftover coconut milk into the rice rather than throw it out.  I did not alter the amount of water used, I simply added the coconut milk (approx. 1 cup) to the rice.

2.  Preheat large nonstick saute pan on medium-high 2-3 minutes.  Coat vegetables with cooking spray, then place peppers, onions, and potatoes in pan; cook 3-4 minutes or until browned.  (Instead of spraying my veggies with cooking spray I simply heated up some olive oil in my pan.)

3.  Coat chicken with cooking spray, then season with salt, pepper, and curry powder.  Add chicken to vegetables; cook and stir 3-4 minutes or until chicken has browned on all sides.

4.  Whisk coconut milk, tomato paste, ginger, and garlic until smooth.  Reduce heat to low , add sauce to chicken, and cover; simmer and stir 3-4 minutes or until potatoes are tender and chicken is done. 

5.  Serve over rice and sprinkle with cilantro just before serving.

Serves 4
Calories:  310
Fat:  5 grams
Cholesterol:  65 mg
Sodium:  250 mg
Carbs:  39 grams
Fiber:  4 grams
Protein:  28 grams
Vitamin A:  40%
Vitamin C:  170%
Calcium:  6%
Iron:  10%
*Obviously these values change if you alter the recipe as I did.*

Margarita Chicken

This is such an easy recipe! I came up with this recipe because my son and I enjoy Cuban food. As a test, I made some up and took it to my Cuban friend. She was amazed. She said it was like eating her mother's cooking. I knew I hit the mark when my son's pickiest friend ate TWO servings and asks to come over whenever I make this meal!

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Margarita mix or lime juice
1 family size package yellow rice
2 large cans black beans or 1 lb dried black beans
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic, divided
Cilantro
Olive oil

1. Marinate chicken in margarita mix or lime juice. If you don't have time to marinate, you can simply pour the margarita mix or lime juice over the chicken and then cook. How much you use is up to you.

2. Preheat oven to 350. Cook chicken until done. Depending on the size of the breasts it could be anywhere from a half hour to 45 minutes. This also tastes great if you grill the chicken on a charcoal grill.

3. While chicken is cooking, prepare rice as package directs. If you are using dried beans, you will need to prepare the dried beans as package directs.

4. If you like to prepare food ahead, this step can be done the day before. Chop your tomatoes, 1 green bell pepper and half of the red onion. Combine in large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic (less if you're not a garlic fan), lime juice (I usually use the juice from half a lime), and cilantro to taste. Mix well and store in refrigerator until you serve the meal.

5. Chop the remaining green bell pepper and onion and saute in a large skillet until softened. Add 1 tablespoon minced garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add black beans and heat through, cooking until beans are of desired consistency.

6. To serve: Layer rice first on your plate. Then layer your beans on top of the rice. Next put your chicken on top of the beans. Sometimes I go ahead and slice the chicken, other times I don't. On top of that put the tomato relish created in step 4. Sometimes I sprinkle the dish with cilantro.

Chicken and Pasta Primavera

This is a recipe from the back of a Campbell's soup lable. It isn't fancy or ground breaking, but it's fast and it gets the job done when you need dinner on the table ten minutes ago!

1 can (10.75 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 bag (16 oz) frozen vegetable combination (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots mix is a good one)
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1/2 of a 1-pound package spaghetti, cooked without salt and drained (you can also use whatever other pasta you may have on hand)

1. Heat soup, milk, cheese, garlic powder and vegetables in 3-quart saucepan over medium heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender-crisp.

2. Stir chicken in saucepan and cook until mixture is hot and bubbling. Serve over pasta.

Serves 4

Calories: 473
Total fat: 10 grams
Saturated fat: 3 grams
Cholesterol 72 mg
Sodium: 449 mg
Total Carbs: 59 grams
Dietary Fiber: 6 grams
Protein: 35 grams