Ah, another Thanksgiving has come and gone. By now you’re all probably completely and utterly over turkey. I wouldn’t blame you. With the size of turkeys nowadays there’s enough meat on there to feed a whole African village! We began our gorging with the actual turkey which lead into turkey sandwiches the next day and the next. Finally taking off whatever meat is left in order to make stock with the bones, the next obvious step is to make a delicious easy soup with the stock (and if you have turkey still left over–good luck!!)
Here’s how it’s done:
Gobble Gobble (as the actress said to the bishop). It’s Turkey time! If you saw my turkey post recently you’ll now know what type of turkey you should be getting as we know there’s going to be lots eaten over the next month or so. There will be soups, sandwiches, stews, stocks, casseroles and God knows what else we can think to make with Mr. Turkey. Salting, roasting, brining–each American family has their own style to cook the bird. But what if your family is small and you’d rather not cook an entire turkey? I’ve got you covered!
I’ve made stuffed turkey breasts before (here and here) but for this recipe I wanted to give you the idea of stuffing the breast with something a bit more out of the ordinary yet still in keeping with Thanksgiving flavours. Guess you could say it’s a modern twist on the classic turkey & stuffing. I came across Persimmons in my CSA box and though I don’t have much experience with them after one bite I knew I had to use them. In November and December persimmons are at their peak. I kept expecting the fruit to soften like a peach but as it turns out this type of persimmon, the Fuyu, is eaten like an apple. The taste of the flesh inside reminded me of a sweeter cantaloupe with the texture of a firm pear. The persimmon’s delightful flavour and texture turned out to be lovely addition to this dish.
Now I know it’s coming up to turkey season with Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner (where’d the year go?) but I get asked a lot of how to spice up boring old chicken.
Previously I made a pecan crusted turkey dish and had some great feedback from that so I decided to do something with it’s step-cousin, chicken. I know you can’t beat a perfectly roasted chicken but here’s a great alternative if you fancy some nuts ‘n’ spice (as the actress said to the bishop).
I love almonds and I snack on them quite a bit so I figured why not try them as a breading. I added some gluten-free breadcrumbs and toasted cumin seeds to the mixture and it turned out quite tasty.
I served the chicken with grilled veg which I tossed with fresh tomatoes then quickly sauteed with freshly chopped oregano, thyme and olive oil–the business!
I’m really diggin’ our CSA box delivery service. So far the produce has been great and in order to use it all we’ve had to use our noggins and think outside the box a bit, so to speak! Who said you can’t have looks and brains?
This week our box contained organic Fuji apples, spinach, leeks, rainbow chard, broccoli, Valencia oranges & mixed peppers. I turned to old faithfuls for some of these—I used the oranges for Jerk sauce and the mixed peppers went into a pot o’chili.
Each week when our box arrives there’s a newsletter inside from the farm talking about what’s in season and giving tips and such about the fruit n’ veg. They also give a recipe highlighting one of the veggies. I was intrigued by this particular chard recipe not only because I really like leafy greens but also because it used the entire bunch of chard, stems & all. Usually one would remove the stems and either put them in the stock pot as I do or into the compost heap. Either way they’re getting used but I’d much prefer to eat them. They have a lovely peppery flavour and they add brilliant colour to the sauteed chard. I can’t take any credit for this but it did turn out great and I combined it with a rice recipe which uses up some of the apples. Usin’ my noggin!
The first time I had Miso was in soup at a sushi bar, which I’m sure is the case for a bunch of you guys. Then a few months later I ordered the miso-marinated cod, which is usually an appetizer at most sushi restaurants and I was blown away by how good it tasted. I knew I wanted to recreate the dish but in more healthy way because typically this marinade is made with sugar and several ounces of mirin, which has a high sugar content. So I hit up the kitchen to make a better alternative without using Mirin or granulated sugar. I’m delighted with the outcome.
Thursday I wrote about our experience with the CSA box delivery service, which I am defo enjoying. In box 2 we received more delicious grapes, apples, sweet peppers (I just made more hummus with these because the first batch was so good!), red chard, lettuce, yellow onions and some beautiful end-of-season tomatoes. The chard went straight into two soups: black eyed pea & squash (I decided to sub chard for the spinach) and a new lentil soup (soon to be posted). For the tomatoes, I decided to make a big batch of Provençal sauce. Considering I eat pasta for lunch most days it made sense, but I also wanted to take this batch and make it last throughout the week in three different recipes. It’s a simple yet great way to use up your excess tomatoes that may be losing their summer sweet flavor. Slow cooking these bad boys allows the natural sugar in the fruit (yes, they are considered a fruit) to come out and you end up with a delicious tomato sauce.
I used the sauce in a variety of ways to show just how versatile it is–with fish, steak and as a vegetarian meal with pasta, which could also be a side dish. Who can’t use a little fresh homemade tomato sauce tucked away?
Tomatoes taste best in the peak of summer. Did you know in-season tomatoes pack nearly twice as much vitamin C as off-season varieties? I know it’s technically Autumn/Fall but the weather over here is still summer-ish so we have plenty of fresh tomatoes still around. This soup makes great use of these end-of-season tomatoes and is a perfect easy lunch idea.
Peas are one of my favorite vegetables. Probably because I grew up on mushy peas (an Irish delicacy). When in season fresh peas are a delight but in winter months dried split peas come in handy. They’re not only convenient since they don’t require soaking, but they’re also high in nutrients and low in fat and calories.
If you are concerned about coconut milk, turns out it’s gotten a bad rap over the years. The saturated fat content in coconut milk has been shown in independent studies to be an easily metabolized good saturated fat, which means it does not transform into bad cholesterol, clogging up arteries. Using light coconut milk cuts the calories and fat by more than half, paving the way to a delicious healthy meal.
