Chicken Provencal

My cousin Steve made a great dinner (with great appetizers from Dave) for the entire family at our family gathering at Pajaro this year. After having a great conversation with his wife about the families that she consults because they have Type 2 diabetes, I am working on healthy, quick, affordable meals that ANY and EVERY family should be able to eat.

This week I bought groceries at Whole Foods to see how inexpensively we could do this using organic ingredients. If you make something similar let me know how much it costs for you to make shopping somewhere else. Where is the best deal for those that are less fortunate than us but deserve to eat just as well as we do?

Chicken Provencal:

1-2  lbs organic chicken thighs ($3.60 - on sale for $1.99 lb)

1 28 oz can Muir Glen crushed organic tomatoes with basil (on sale for $2.50)

1 16 0z jar roasted bell peppers, rinsed to remove excess salt (4.99)

1 4.8 oz jar pitted kalamata olives, rinsed ($3.50)

1 Tsp herbs de provence (25 cents) estimated but probably less since I buy in bulk at Whole Foods

1 tsp dried shallots (15 cents)

1/2 tsp dried garlic (10 cents)

2 cups dried brown rice ($1? was on sale for $1.50/lb this week in the bulk section)

6 cups water

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook for 6 hours on low. add rice for last hour

 OR brown chicken in pot add other ingredients and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes

serve over cooked brown rice

Prep Time:

5 minutes or less

Cooking Time:

6-8 hours on low in the slow cooker

30 minutes on the stove

Cost: $16.10

Feeds Four: for one to two nights (On the second night add chicken broth and turn it into soup)

Make it a Meal: with a side salad or throw spinach/kale onto the top for one pot cooking (it was great with kale this week.)

Split Pea Soup

One of my favorite soups when I was a little girl (and also when I was pregnant with my little girls!) was split pea soup. We'll find out tonight if it is also Gracie's favorite. It is such a simple slow cooker recipe.

Split Pea Soup

2 Tsp olive oil

8 small carrots - diced

1 onion - diced

8-12 oz cured ham - chopped - 

    I found Niman Ranch Smoked Ham at TJ's!!! saving half in the freezer for next time

4 cups split peas

12 cups water

cook on high until peas are soft

cook on low until dinner time

Meatless Monday :: Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

For part of my new year's list of resolutions, we are going to have Meatless Mondays here in the Coffee Cottage. Not that it will be too hard as we were vegetarian for a long time and still have many meatless meals but I have noticed that we are eating meat more often than I would like. I want to be more mindful of our choices for food, for our health and for the health of the planet. HERE is the link to the Meatless Monday campaign if you would like to read more about the benefits and would like to join us. Leave a comment and maybe a link to one of your favorite meatless dishes below. 

Homemade Meatless Spaghetti Sauce (using the LAST of our summer tomatoes in the freezer)

Saute:

evoo

one package TJ's mirepoix (onions, carrots, celery)

one package TJ's sliced crimini mushrooms

garlic

herbs de provence

one can tomato paste

one can water

1/2 gallon bag frozen tomatoes from the garden

s+p

Bring to a boil. Crush tomatoes and try to remove tomato skins. Simmer until ready to eat. 

I may puree it a bit with an immersion blender so it is smoother over the w/w angel hair and so Gracie gets more of it in her stomach than on her face. 

We met a sweet family (Shannon, Michael, Catalina and Sydney) at Refugio and they commented that Catalina (age 5) who doesn't care much for veggies and won't eat spaghetti sauce if it "has stuff in it" so HERE is another favorite pasta sauce without "stuff." I hope our paths cross again!

Tomato Garlic Soup

My favorite restaurant growing up was the Restaurant On The Corner, known to locals as ROTC). I LOVED their tomato soup and salad with sprouts. That is probably why a good bowl of soup and a crisp salad is hands down, still my favorite meal. So for Christmas 1999, my mom gave me my favorite cookbook, Moosewood's Daily Specials with the following inspirational inscription inside:

Brook, May you always find joy and caring in the meals you cook and share.

It is a blessing to honor those you love with a fine meal. Love, Mom

Everyday in Ithaca, New York, the restaurant offers a daily special of a soup and salad. While Ryan and I were living in Connecticut we were seriously considering driving to Ithaca just for the lunch special. Then we saw that it would be a very long drive. Too long for a day trip and we never made it there for a vacation. So now that we are on the west coast, I cook out of the cookbook very often to get a feel of the restaurant. Delicious recipes and literally, every recipe I have tried is spot on perfection. 

Today we made their tomato soup for the first time. Why, oh why did it take me 11 years to make this recipe? They have been perfecting it for over thirty five years! And again, it is perfect.

Classic Tomato Garlic Soup

adapted from Moosewood's Daily Special Cookbook

Saute:

1 Tsp evoo

4 cloves garlic until slightly browned

add 

1 Tsp paprika

**chef's tip** measure your spice caps so you know how much they hold and can skip the measuring spoons. mine held a little under a tablespoon so I will just fill the lid next time.

2 cans of tomatoes in tomato juice (I used TJ's organic diced)

1 cup water or vegetable broth

1/4 cup applesauce (the recipe calls for sherry but we are out)

cook for 10-15 minutes and then blend until smooth with an immersion blender

For herbed croutons:

preheat oven to 350 degrees

dice four slices of bread

toast in oven for 15 minutes

 combine in a small saucepan

1 Tsp evoo

1 Tsp butter

pinch of thyme

pinch of marjoram

toss croutons in butter mix and let cool

serve soup with croutons and parmesan cheese on top

Alterations:

Sopa de Tortilla: omit paprika and sherry, use cumin, coriander, onion, bell pepper and tortillas

Tuscan: Add pesto and garbanzos and top with feta

Simple Supper :: Baked Chicken

She ate it. She ate ALL of it! A clear plate. Dressing is the key I guess.

preheat oven to 400 degrees

toss chicken breast tenders in olive oil or marinade (we used island teriyaki tonight)
place in baking dish

toss veggies in olive oil (quartered zucchini and squash tonight)
place in separate baking dish

bake for 30 minutes

place baby spinach leaves, tomato and feta on plates
dress lightly with olive oil and balsamic

I made a seperate ramekin with extra evoo and vinegar for Gracie to dip veggies and chicken in.
"Mama, I really love this dressing!"