Mama Says…eat your vegetables – at least seven of them!

To feed friends and family over the long holiday weekend I made a Moroccan seven vegetable soup/stew to serve with couscous.  Friday evening the dish was ideal with an oven roasted turkey.  And tonight with grilled chicken – superb. The leftovers are so flexible; A bowl of soup with some couscous, chicken over a green salad, or a redux of the first meal. Don’t let the amount of chopping stop you from trying this recipe — seven is considered a very lucky number.

Grilled Chicken with Moroccan Spices

1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons ground cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 pounds chicken (your choice – I prefer skinless, boneless breasts sliced in half)
Parsley (optional garnish – minced fresh)

Marinade: Whisk together the first 8 ingredients in a medium glass-measuring cup. Place chicken in a plastic bag; add marinade and turn to coat. Chill 4 to 6 hours.  Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before grilling.

Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Place marinade-coated chicken on barbecue. Grill chicken until just cooked through, occasionally brushing with any remaining marinade, about 4 minutes per side Transfer chicken to platter; sprinkle with parsley and serve with couscous.

Seven-Vegetable Stew

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12 cups water or chicken broth
Salt and pepper
1 pound turnips, peeled and quartered
4 medium onions, in 1/16th lengthwise, root end intact
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1 or 2-inch chunks
1 pound butternut squash or pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1or 2-inch chunks
1 pound zucchini, cut into 1or 2-inch rounds
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cabbage heart, quartered and halved
1 can diced tomatoes, with their juices
½ teaspoon saffron
Fresh parsley and coriander, minced (approx ½ to ¾ cup)

Couscous:

1 box prepared couscous
Optional:  add a dash of cinnamon and garlic powder to the liquid
Harissa (Tunisian hot sauce) or Zhrug

Preparation

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For the stew: Put the turnips, onions, and carrots in a large soup pot with a lid. Add water or broth and bring to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce the heat, and simmer until the vegetables are somewhat soft, about 10 minutes. Add squash, zucchini, chickpeas, cabbage and tomatoes to the pot. Simmer the stew, covered, until it is slightly thick and fragrant, and the vegetables are fork tender but not mushy, about 30 minutes more. (You can test the vegetables a bit sooner, remove them as soon as they are tender, and return them to the pot when you are ready to serve. All the vegetables should be tender enough to cut with the side of a fork, but still hold their shapes.). Stir in the parsley and coriander just before serving.

For the couscous:

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Follow the directions on the package using a mixture of water and stew broth for the liquid. Will take approximately 5 minutes after the liquid comes to a boil. Transfer to a bowl and fluff with a fork.

To serve: Put the couscous and stew in serving separate bowls.  Pass the harissa or hot sauce around for people to adjust the heat, as they desire.

Enjoy. Thank you for joining us in the kitchen.

Make No Bones About It – Chicken Broth Recipe

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It’s been cold, cold, cold in Atlanta – and in many places across the country this week.  With so many sniffles, viruses and bugs in circulation, I decided we needed a dose of medicine that only a mother or grandmother can provide – Thrifty Chicken Broth.

Combine chicken bones for soup – thrifty doesn’t begin to describe the price – with some odds and ends from the fridge to create a homemade medicine for winter colds. Oven-roasting the ingredients intensifies the flavors and adds to the aromas in the house.

Thrifty Chicken Broth
Yield 6 – 8 cups

1.5 pounds of chicken bones for soup
2 carrots
3 celery sticks
1 small onion with skin on (rinse)
2 bay leaves
¼ teaspoon whole black peppers
3 whole garlic cloves
water

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Roughly chop carrots, celery and onion into quarters.  Place chopped vegetables into the bottom of a stockpot, which accommodates the oven and stovetop, along with the spices. Next place the chicken bones on top of the veggie mixture. Add 1 -2 cups of water.  Place in the oven uncovered for 30 – 45 minutes.

2.  Using potholders remove stockpot from the oven and place on the stove on high.  Add 4 – 8 cups of water to cover chicken. Bring to boil and stir to mix.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

3.  Strain through a colander.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately as a clear broth or return to stove top and add any items you like (noodles, sliced carrots, celery, onion) to make a hearty chicken soup.

Mama Says that a little prevention goes a long way.  Stay warm.

Photo credit: DOCTOR HOLDING CARROTS © Ron Chapple Studios |  Dreamstime.com

Rainy Day Barley Soup Recipe

It’s raining, it’s pouring. And we won’t mention if my husband snores or is snoring!

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To avoid another stop in the rain this afternoon – I raided the pantry and fridge to create a hearty one bowl meal – barley soup. Thankfully this recipe calls for the basics but tastes as if you hunted and gathered exquisite foodstuffs from the food emporium. It’s your thrifty secret for dinner…and the leftovers…yum.

Barley, Potato and Carrot Soup

Easy. 15 minute prep/50 minutes simmer/10 minutes attended time.

Serves 6 – 8

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
1 sprig fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried
8 cups vegetable broth r water
1 cup uncooked barley
1 large potato, peeled and diced
2 large carrots, diced
1 bay leaf
Salt and black pepper
1 cup milk (used 1%)
Parsley and Parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)

Preparation

1. In a stockpot, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add garlic, marjoram and rosemary sprig and sauté for another minute to blend.

2. Add the stock, barley, potato, carrots, and bay leaf to the onion mixture. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 50 minutes until the barley is al dente ( slightly chewy). Remove and discard the rosemary sprig and bay leaf. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the milk and allow to heat through, about 5 minutes. Serve warm. Garnish with a sprinkle of parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Mama Says…Enjoy!

Portuguese Fisherman Stew

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I love fall and winter eating. Soups and stews are so easy to make, so versatile, and can also be so great when you need to clean out the fridge!!

I finally did it. I got rid of my old tin soup pot and I bought a wonderful Le Creuset 5 Quart Dutch Oven,and it has become one of my favorite things in the kitchen. It is made of heat-retaining cast iron and has a durable enameled interior that cleans easily. I can roast and braise in it, and of course, can make lots of soups and stews.

Tonight I’m making a family favorite, Portuguese Fisherman Stew. The ingredients sound kind of weird (chorizo and cod) but the taste is beyond belief. Here’s the recipe:

Portuguese Fisherman’s Stew

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, diced
2 ounces chorizo
1 teaspoon thyme
1 pint grape tomatoes halved
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 can canellini beans, drained
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 pounds cod

1. Preheat oven to 425. Coat a 5 quart dutch oven with cooking spray
2. Heat oil in a skillet. Add shallot, chorizo, thyme and cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes and 1/2 of the wine, cook 4 minutes. Add beans and salt, and remove from the heat.
3. Sprinkle the fish with salt &pepper. Put it in the dutch oven, top with the tomato mixture. Pour remaining 1/4 cup wine into pan and cover with foil or with the lid of the dutch oven if it can go in the oven. Bake 20 min.

Enjoy on a cold Sunday night!! (I meant to post a picture, but we ate the stew so fast, all I had left to photograph were the empty bowls!)

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This morning the grand boys, Max (5) and Theo (3), came over for a play date. We set-up the train  track,  walked to the park and did some cooking with the spinach from this week’s CSA box. Both boys are a great help washing and sorting the vegetables.

With the late season spinach from the CSA box, we made a modified version of Debbie Madison & Edward Espe Brown’s Spinach Soup with Indian Spices recipe from their “The Greens Cookbook” to create a delicious soup for dinner.

Spinach Soup with Indian Spices

30 minutes or less (easy and quick)
Feeds 4-6

Ingredients
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 large onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons white rice
½ teaspoon salt
¼ ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
7 cups stock (they suggest homemade vegetable, I use chicken)
4 cups spinach
Grated peel and juice of 1 lemon
Salt and black pepper

Preparation
Warm oil in soup pot; add onion, garlic, rice and salt. Add the cloves cumin and nutmeg to the onion, garlic and rice mixture. Cook everything together over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups of stock and simmer for 10 minutes.

Wash and sort the spinach, discarding any bruised and wilted leaves. Add spinach leaves to the pot, cover to allow leaves to wilt down. Then, and add the remaining stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Cool soup briefly; then puree with an immersion blender or use a blender and return mixture to the soup pot. Stir in the grated lemon peel. Season to taste with the lemon juice, black pepper and salt. If necessary, thin the soup with stock or water.

Note: After pureeing, my soup looked thin, so I heated the soup on low for several minutes and the soup thickened nicely.

Serve with fresh croutons or toasted bread

Equipment
Soup pot
Large knife
Wooden spoon
Immersion blender

Adapted from: “The Greens Cookbook”
Debbie Madison & Edward Espe Brown