Spring Fresh Chicken Soup
Ingredients: 2 cups cooked brown rice; 8 cups low sodium chicken stock; 2 low-sodium bouillon cubes; 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts; 2 leeks (white and light green parts only), washed and chopped coarsely; 3 inner stalks celery (leaves included) chopped coarsely; 1 1/2-2 cups bean sprouts; 1 tsp sea salt
Directions: 1. Place stock in soup pot and bring to a boil. Add chicken breasts and bouillon cubes and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat and let simmer while you prepare the vegetables. (Make sure leeks are well washed and rinsed before using)
2. Add chopped leeks and celery to the soup pot. Cook ten minutes.
3. Remove cooked chicken breasts from the pot and let cool while soup simmers. Cut chicken into thin ribbons and return to pot along with cooked rice. Add bean sprouts and cook 3 minutes more.
4. Add sea salt. Stir and serve hot.
Review: This might possibly be my favorite recipe so far! It's much quicker to make than most soups, it's so tasty, and it probably had the biggest thumbs up from my family- I loved it, my husband loved it, the baby loved it, and Lilly really liked it. Even Tommy was willing to eat some of it! The soup also kept fairly well- we had it for leftovers a few days later and it tasted just fine. We are definitely going to have this again in the future.
Eat Clean Fajitas
Ingredients: 2 lbs lean lamb or beef tenderloin or chicken breast; juice of 2 limes; juice of 1 lemon; juice of 1 orange; 4 tbsp pineapple juice; 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 2 large garlic cloves, passed through press; 1 tsp sea salt; 1 tsp chili powder; dash tabasco; 2 purple onions, peeled and chopped; 1 each red and green bell pepper, seeded, deveined, and sliced thinly; pinch of black pepper; 12 large whole grain, corn, or Ezekiel tortillas
Directions: 1. Combine all juices in a medium mixing bowl. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, chili powder, and tabasco. Mix well.
2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Wrap tortillas in foil and place in oven while you prepare the meat and vegetables.
3. Prepare meat by placing it between two layers of parchment paper and beating until meat is 1/2 inch thick. Cut into strips about the length of your little finger.
4. Place meat in half the marinade and let stand for at least 30 minutes. Reserve remaining marinade in separate bowl for vegetables. Add vegetables when they're chopped.
5. Place 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Saute the meat in batches and transfer to serving platter when done. When the meat is done, add the rest of the olive oil and saute the vegetables in batches.
6. Arrange the meat and vegetables with tortillas. Serve with guacamole and pico de gallo.
Review: These were pretty good! I especially liked the taste of the marinade. We did these fajitas with chicken breast but I'd love to try them again sometime with beef tenderloin. Tommy and Lilly weren't quite as excited about them, but Rhett and I enjoyed them a lot.
Persian Beef with Herb Khoresh and Rice
Ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil; 1 onion, peeled and chopped; 1 lb lean beef or bison, cubed; 1 tbsp exotic spice mix; 2 1/2 cups beef stock; 2 tbsp fresh parsley; 2 tbsp chopped scallions; 1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed; 1 tsp turmeric; juice of one lemon; 1 tsp sea salt; black pepper to taste
Directions: 1. In large skillet, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over med-high heat.
2. Add onion and cook until soft. Add beef or bison and cook until browned on all sides. Add exotic spice mix and cook for another minute or so, until you can smell the spices. Add 2 cups of beef stock and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer, lid off, for 45 minutes. Watch that the stew doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
4. Meanwhile, in a small skillet add remaining olive oil. Heat over medium heat. Add parsley and scallions. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes. Set aside.
5. After meat is finished cooking add remaining stock, kidney beans, turmeric and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper. Stir until all ingredients are well combined. Add contents of small skillet.
6. Serve hot over couscous or brown rice.
Review: This is also one of my favorites! It tasted so great over brown rice and it probably would taste even better with couscous. Tommy wasn't a fan, and Lilly tolerated it, but the rest of us liked it a lot.
Eat Clean Sloppy Joes
Ingredients: 1/2 cup chili sauce (substitute ketchup to make less spicy); 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1 tsp each cumin, sea salt, black pepper, chili powder; 1 tbsp white wine vinegar; 1 tbsp oregano; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion; 1/4 cup finely chopped celery; 1 clove minced garlic; 1 lb lean ground turkey or bison; 3/4 cooked brown rice; handful chopped scallions; whole wheat hamburger buns; 1/4 cup hummus
Directions: 1. In a small bowl combine chili sauce (or ketchup), tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, spices, vinegar, and oregano. Mix well and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet. Saute onion, celery, and garlic for 5 minutes. Add meat, let brown for five minutes, then drain oil.
3. Combine browned meat with spice mixture, cooked brown rice and scallions and mix gently.
4. Spread each side of the bun with hummus. Spoon about 1 cup meat mixture onto one side of the bun. Top with the other side. Cut in half.
Review: This was the first recipe geared more toward children so I had high hopes that my kids would like them. Lilly thought they were okay and Joey went nuts over them, but Tommy didn't like them. At all. We think the kids might have liked them better if we reduced the spice amount and added a bit more ketchup than they asked for. Still, we thought they were tasty. Here's a picture of Joey going to town on the meat:
That's all there is to report on recipes from last week! It's quite the adventure so far and we're looking forward to trying new foods next week. I'm thinking that I'll try to pick foods that the kids will enjoy better, since they are the hardest to please. Until next time!
Yum yum!! All sounds good! Joey is getting so big!
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