Add water to the bottom of a pot with a steamer basket (about an inch deep, or not touching the bottom of the basket). Add carrots to the steamer basket. Cook until tender, about 15-20 minutes or so.
I love soup! I could probably eat soup every day. Summer weather is no excuse for no soup, in our home. We just can’t get enough.
Thankfully, it’s finally feeling like fall (jump, cheer, squeak of joy). So we will eat soup, will eat soup, will eat SOUP!
We are kinda crazy about anything taco. We love Tacos tacos, we adore Taco Salad, and we could eat endless bowls of Taco Soup.
This soup is all kinds of hearty. It’s full of veggies (corn, tomatoes, zucchini, radishes, and onions), it has a bit of a kick, but not so much that it will make you sweat (but if you want it to, add another serrano or two, and keep the ribs and seeds), and you get to top it with cheese, corn chips, yogurt, salsa, and cilantro.
We liked it so much that I made it for one of my ifood.tv episodes and will probably make it again and again this fall and winter. We also thought it was good enough to bring to some friends who just had the most adorable baby girl. They agreed (even one of them who claims to dislike vegetables liked it)…
Here’s to a cold fall night, hot Taco Soup, and lots of time with the ones you love.
1 medium (about 1 1/2 C) zucchini (or other summer squash), chopped
3 small radishes, chopped
1 serrano chili pepper, ribs and seeds removed, diced
to taste, salt
to taste, pepper
1 t chili powder
1/4 t cumin
pinch all spice
pinch ginger
1 C corn (frozen or fresh)
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 tomatoes (about 1 1/2 C), chopped
1 T red wine vinegar
2 T lemon juice, divided
6-7 C stock (vegetable, chicken, or beef), or water
salsa, for topping
corn chips, for topping
Greek yogurt (or sour cream), for topping
cheddar cheese, grated, for topping
fresh cilantro, chopped, for topping
Instructions
Place beef in a soup pot. Cook over medium heat until it's partially cooked. Add olive oil and next 10 ingredients (thru ginger). Cook over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes, or until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally.
Add corn and garlic, cook 1 minute.
Add tomato paste, tomatoes, vinegar, and 1 T lemon juice; cook 1-2 minutes.
Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, or until veggies are tender.
Add remaining lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Serve topped with cheese, yogurt, salsa, chips, and cilantro.
It’s 10am as I type this, and I can not wait for dinner… It may be a long day. 😉
Here’s what inspired this dish: yumminess and ease. It’s gonna look like you slaved away. Seriously. But, the reality is that this meal takes minimal preparation, and most of the cooking time is inactive. Winner winner chicken dinner. Oh and then bonus, it taste amazing. How can it not with all those amazing herbs, roasted tomatoes and peppers, and juicy chicken thighs.
Sigh. Have I mentioned that I’m really hungry?
I am going to serve this with a green salad, and some hearty bread to use to soak up the sauce and wipe the plate clean.
And when I’m done eating, I may just come back here and stare at the photos and imagine that I could eat this at every meal… Ok, maybe that’s exaggerating a little bit. I’ll leave breakfast alone.
Although, with any leftovers, you could make some hot grits to go along with slices of cold chicken, and serve it with a fruit salad. If you’d rather leave chicken for lunch and dinner (totally cool), you might enjoy a chicken salad sandwich. Toss chopped chicken with some mayo, the tomatoes, and peppers, and a bit of the pan drippings, maybe a bit of dijon mustard.
Or maybe there won’t be any leftovers. I could see that happening.
Happy Eating!
Herbed Roasted Chicken Thighs with Cherry Tomatoes
Quick and easy and so delicious. Chicken is browned on the stove in savory infused butter and olive oil, then roasted with veggies. Winner.
Ingredients
2 T olive oil, divided
1 T unsalted butter
1 sprig fresh savory
pinch salt
pinch pepper
2-3 chicken thighs, bone-in
1 C (heaping) cherry tomatoes (about 24-26)
2 sweet peppers, sliced (bell peppers would work too, use 1-2)
1/4 t dried thyme
1 T fresh savory, chopped
1/4 t dried oregano
1/4 t dried parsley
1/4 t dried rosemary
to taste, salt
to taste, pepper
1/4 C red wine vinegar
1/4 C balsamic vinegar
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 425F.
Heat ovenproof skillet over medium heat. When hot, add butter and 1 T olive oil. When hot, add sprig of savory and swirl around (infusing the butter and oil) for 2 minutes. Discard savory.
Add a tiny bit of salt and pepper to oil. Add chicken, skin side down, and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes, flip, and cook 3-5 minutes more.
Remove from heat. Add tomatoes and peppers. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and sprinkle with herbs, salt, and pepper. Pour vinegars into the bottom of the pan. Cook for 20-25 minutes, or until a meat thermometer registers 180F.
Serve with tomatoes and peppers, topped with pan drippings and a slice of crusty bread for mopping up the sauce.
I love to make something fancy-ish for dinner. It’s fun for me. Buuut, there are some days when I need something simple.
Those are the nothing’s working, I’ve been up since 5am, woe to me days.
Thank goodness for Mac and Cheese… with tuna… and peas.
Husband and I are both big fans of this meal. Yet, it’s another one that I didn’t think I liked. What’s wrong with Shepherd’s Pie and Tuna Mac, younger self? I think we need to have a talk (and yes, then we can have a conversation about time travel and whether or not it’s possible… I’m of the school that it’s not, although I don’t mind shows and movies where they think it is… Tuna Mac to time travel… cool).
This dish is also affectionately known as Tuna Casserole. I’ve been avoiding those words. They have negative connotations. Right?
Heat pot. Add 1/2 T oil. Add onion, zucchini, and salt. Cook over medium-low for 5-7 minutes, or until veggies are soft.
Add peas. Cook 2-3 minutes.
Add 2 T olive oil and flour to pot. Whisk together and cook for 30 seconds. Slowly add milk, a little bit at a time, whisking and letting it thicken between additions. Add pasta water and tuna. Heat until steam rises from the pot, but do not boil.
Remove from heat. Stir in cheese, a bit at a time.
I really love to menu plan. But that doesn’t mean that things always go the way I have intended. Sometimes it means grilled cheese or some sort of re-heated leftovers from the freezer. But, occasionally inspiration hits and a new meal is concocted.
This is such a meal.
We tried this Argentine sausage a while ago. I absolutely love it. It may be my new favorite. I don’t know why I had never tried it before. I didn’t know what I was missing. Now I do. We had a lot of zucchini in the fridge. It needed to be eaten. Perfect, because I wanted to eat it. And then we had bulgur wheat in the pantry. I bought it aaaaaages ago, thinking I would do something with it and never did. I was going to use rice in this meal, but why not switch it up?!
It comes together in a snap. Yeah, the bulgur wheat takes a while to cook, just like rice. But it’s not really that long. Pop it on the stove and then work on the rest. They’ll probably be done closer to the same time than you may have expected.
If you have other veggies that you want to use, I think that’s a good idea. If you have Italian sausage instead of Argentine, please use it! The basics of this dish are that it’s a grain, with some veggies, nuts, a bit of cheese, some fresh herbs, and some excellent olive oil.
If you don’t have something in this recipe on hand – here are some other ideas that could work well:
Italian sausage, red pepper flakes, chopped rosemary, lemon zest, broccoli, and bulgur wheat or rice.
German sausage, onions, dijon mustard, parsley, dill, and bulgur wheat or rice.
Italian sausage, kale, onions, bell peppers, red pepper flakes, thyme, bulgur wheat or rice, with a drizzle of cream when you serve.
So many ways you could transform this simple dish.
Argentine Sausage with Zucchini and Bulgur Wheat
Recipe Type: Main, Easy, Dinner, Meat, Vegetables
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
1 C bulgur wheat
2 C vegetable stock (water or chicken stock are fine too)
2 T olive oil
2 Argentine sausages, cut into rounds
1 medium zucchini, cut into chunks
3 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 t red pepper flakes
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1 T lemon juice
1 T fresh parsley, chopped
1 T fresh basil, chopped
1 tomato, chopped, for topping
parmesan cheese, grated, for topping
1/4 C walnuts, chopped, for topping
olive oil, for drizzling
Instructions
Cook wheat (similar to cooking rice): Add stock and wheat to a medium pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 30-45 minutes.
Heat skillet, add oil. When oil is hot, add sausage and zucchini (if using fully cooked sausage – if not, cook sausage until it’s almost done and then add zucchini). Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Add seasonings, lemon juice, and garlic to skillet. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add wheat and herbs. Stir and cook 1-2 minutes.
Serve topped with tomato, walnuts, parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of excellent olive oil.