In The Mood For Caldo Verde

Caldo Verde is a Portuguese soup that is TO DIE FOR. It's Portugal in a bowl. The ingredients are so simple and the end result so satisfying.

• 3-4 medium sized sweet potatoes (the white ones),or 6 to 8 medium sized potatoes, peeled and sliced thin (like potato au gratin style)
• One big sweet onion (spanish or yellow), minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 TB olive oil
• 1 TB butter
• 10 ounces chourico, chorizo, or pepperoni if you can't find those, sliced thin (I used pork chourico that wasn't in a casing and it worked great, found at Sprouts)
  
• 3 Liters cold Water
• 1 lb Kale (this is what I used) or Collard Greens, washed, middle vein removed, and julienned (use a basil chiffonade technique)
  

Put 3 TB olive oil and 1 TB butter in the bottom of a big heavy saucepan and on med-high heat, cook the onions and garlic for about 2-3 minutes until onion becomes translucent being careful not to brown the onion.
Once onion is translucent, add potatoes and saute until they start to get some color, about 3-4 minutes.
Once the potatoes are getting some color, add the water, cover the pot, bring to a boil and cook for about 20-25 minutes.
While the potatoes are cooking, julienne the greens (there will be a lot of it, don't worry, it's supposed to be that way)
and cook the chourico in a skillet until most the fat is cooked out. (If you are using a sausage with casing, remove the casing before you cook it)
Drain fat from sausage and set aside until the potatoes are ready.
Once the potatoes are soft, take a potato masher and mash the potatoes in the pot.
Next, add the sausage and lastly add the greens to the pot. Let cook for another 5 minutes until the greens incorporate into the soup. Taste for salt and pepper and pour the last Tablespoon of Olive Oil over top. serve with bread.

Here is a link to a website with some good visuals and a little more traditional recipe.

Mashed Cauliflower

I've tricked at least a dozen people with this recipe thinking it's potatoes, most of them admitting they don't like cauliflower. This is one of my husband's favorites. If you are carb sensitive like me, then this is the perfect substitute for starchy side dishes like potatoes and pasta. Hey, I never said it was low fat, just low carb okay?!

1 head cauliflower, cut up into small pieces
4-5 Tablespoons butter
2-3 Tablespoons sour cream
1 Tablespoons cream cheese
Kosher Salt and Fresh cracked pepper to taste

Steam or boil cauliflower florets until very soft (when touched with a fork, it falls apart). If boiling, salt the water. Strain if boiled. Remove saucepan from heat and return cauliflower to warm saucepan. Put butter, sour cream, cream cheese, and about 1-2 tsp kosher salt into saucepan with cauliflower and mash with a potato masher until well mixed and smooth (start out with smaller quantities of the ingredients first) Taste puree, make any adjustments needed. I usually end up adding a little more butter, a little more salt and just a tad more sour cream. That's what my tastebuds fancy. It seems to work well for the general population...

Saganaki, Greek Turkey Meatballs and Zucchini with Tzatziki Sauce

I love Greek food and I decided I would do a Greek themed meal that started with Saganaki, which is delicious cheese that is traditionally set to flame and drizzled with fresh squeezed lemon juice right before it is served, and if you go to a Greek restaurant and order this appetizer, they light it up right at your table.

Saganaki:
Kasseri Cheese (about 1/2 inch thick, you might have to cut the block down)
2 TB butter per lb of cheese, melted
1/2 of a lemon

Turn on the Broiler. Place the cheese into a pie dish or Corningware and pour melted butter ontop. Put into broiler until the cheese gets toasted and bubbly ontop. Take cheese out of broiler, squeeze lemon ontop and yell Opa! Serve immediately with bread or with no bread. It's good however you have it!

When we were first married, I started experimenting and these meatballs are one of he products of my experimentation. The meatballs are really simple and healthy and you can add different things to have them take on a different theme. I make these all the time and I will put in parentheses the things I added to make them more Greek. (They will feed about 4 people).

For the Meatballs:
2 lbs ground turkey
1 Tb Montreal Steak Seasoning ( or half Tb Montreal and half Tb Greek Seasoning)
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
4 small shallots, minced
1 Tb fresh herbs ( I used Dill for Greek, but I have used Cilantro, Parsley, Tarragon, Thyme,etc)
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese or Bread Crumbs
1 egg
2 tsp Worstershire Sauce or Soy Sauce
Splash of Balsamic Vinegar (or Lemon Juice)
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands until all the ingredients are incorporated thoughout the meat. Roll into small balls. Heat a large frying pan with a small amount of olive oil. Add meatballs to hot oil and cook until the meatball browns, turn and brown on all sides. Make sure they are cooked through.

Tzatziki Sauce
(adapted from Georgette's recipe here)

2 cucumbers,peeled, seeded and diced
2 garlic cloves
2 1/2-3 cups Greek Yogurt (you can find this in any Trader Joe's type health store)
1-2 Tb Fresh Dill, chopped
Juice of one lemon (3 Tb)
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

Cut up the cucumbers and put them in a strainer and add 1 Tb Kosher salt to the cucumbers. Let the cucumbers rest for 20 minutes (this process draws out the moisture from the cucumbers, this is a crucial step and sets this recipe apart and makes it super good). When the cucumbers are done resting, add cucumbers, garlic, lemon juice, dill, and pepper to a food processor and mix until all the ingredients are well blended. Add cucumber mixture to yogurt and mix. Rest mixture in fridge for 2 hours so the flavors can mix (another crucial step).

For the Greek Zucchini and Squash:

Turn on Broiler
Cut up Zucchini and Squash and coat in olive oil. Add Kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and Greek Seasoning. Broil in oven until transparent. About 5 minutes. Splash some fresh lemon juice ontop when done.

Goat Cheese and Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Stuffed Chicken

I have never made a stuffed chicken before and when I saw this recipe along with this recipe I was inspired to make a few adjustments and make it mine. In this picture you can see the melted goat cheese and pesto oozing out of the side. Yum!! It was easy but it looks elegant and difficult. The fun thing about it is experimenting with a ton of different fillings. Once you have the technique down, the possibilities are endless (and the technique is not that hard to get down). The filling that sounded good to me this time around was a Sun Dried Tomato Pesto and Goat Cheese combination (if these ingredients sound too exotic for you or your children, my 8 year old sister who can be picky LOVED it.) For the best results, I highly recommend making your own pesto. The store bought options for Sun Dried Tomato Pesto just aren't that good (in my opinion) unless they are super expensive.

Ready, Set, Pesto!

1 (8.5 ounces) jar Sun Dried Tomatoes packed in Olive Oil
2 garlic cloves
Salt and fresh cracked pepper
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, packed in
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, packed in
Splash of Lemon Juice
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Blend all ingredients together except the Parmesan Cheese in a food processor until tomatoes are finely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in Parmesan.

Now for the dish:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
6-8 ounces goat cheese (Chevre is the brand I used and I used about 7 oz)
1 Tb dried basil
6 ounces sun dried tomato pesto
1 egg
Parmesan cheese for breading (or bread crumbs if you like) about 3/4 cups
Fresh Basil for Garnish
8 toothpicks
Baking dish, greased

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the chicken breasts one by one inbetween wax paper or a freezer ziplock bag and pound with a meat mallet until 1/4 inch thick.

Combine pesto, goat cheese and dried basil in a food processor just until the cheese is more evenly distributed throughout mixture, but not completely incorporated.

Lay out one of the chicken breasts and fill with 1/4 Pesto mixture and roll up starting with the smallest side to the largest side, tucking in any parts of the chicken that you need to. Secure with 2 toothpicks.

Crack an egg into a large bowl, pour 3/4 cup parmesan cheese into large plate. Dip the chicken into egg mixture to coat outside, then dip the chicken into Parmesan to coat. Place chicken into baking dish. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.

Make sure the chicken is spaced out in baking dish (not touching the other chicken) and bake for 40-60 minutes (mine took 55). Watch for the chicken to brown on the outside and be firm to the touch. Remove chicken from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with some fresh basil. The chicken is actually quite filling so you want to keep your side dish light, like some grilled veggies. Enjoy!

Here is a hint for printing the recipes since we don't have one of those fancy options for printing the recipe only. Copy (right click on the mouse to find it) the whole recipe and open up a new document in Word (or whatever software you have) and Paste it onto the page and then print.

Lemon and Basil Marinated Cod

Anything marinated in these things has to be good right?! In Portugal, they eat Cod like it's nobody's business. They call it Bacalhau. After spending a year and a half there, I learned that there are literally thousands of ways to prepare it and it is a main staple of their healthy Mediterranean diet. Cod has a meatiness to it that most fish don't, which makes it an ideal fish for a winter meal. When Grant tasted this dish, he was surprised it was cod and said, "I would have told you not to buy cod, but I'm impressed." Another upside to buying cod is it is usually caught in the wild, therefore it is not farmed and does not have any added hormones or coloring, and if you get it at a reputable store, it usually hasn't been frozen. It's delicious.

For the Marinade:
4 cod fillets
A handful of fresh basil leaves (about 8), minced
the juice from 2 lemons
Leaves from one stem of rosemary, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger,
1 handful of fresh chives, minced
1/3 cup soy sauce
Kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper

Stir all ingredients together (or use a food processor or Magic Bullet) and put the cod fillets in the marinade and let sit for 30 minutes in the fridge.

While they are marinating, Saute in large skillet
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks (white part only), minced
3 shallots, minced
1 yellow onion, minced
8 cloves of garlic minced
kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper

Until onions are transluscent. Add cod to pan. Turn the heat up and brown the fillets, then turn down the heat and let them simmer until cooked through. (up to 20 minutes, it will vary depending on the thickness of your fillets)

Spoon the Cod and the Sauce over Mashed Potatoes or Mashed Cauliflower (what we used) or Rice. Pour parmesan cheese over top and a dollop of sour cream. Garnish with a parsley sprig or whatever you have on hand. A half of a lemon would be nice to drizzle on top.

So healthy and so good, you'll think you're in the Mediterranean.

Toasted Pistachio and Manchego Cheese Salad with Chile Lime Vinaigrette

Grant and I were in Scottsdale, Arizona where we ate at True Food (if you are ever in the area, you NEED to eat here). We ordered this salad for an appetizer and it was amazing. I wanted to try and recreate it at home. Luckily the best parts of the salad were no brainers. Toasted pistachios and Manchego cheese. The combination of the two is heavenly. You will want to keep the other ingredients of the salad to a minimum so as to bring out the great flavor of the star ingredients. Start with some shelled pistachios. So good, you will want to snack while you go!

To toast them, add two teaspoons butter to a saute pan and 1 cup of shelled pistachios and cook until the pistachios start to turn a darker color and look toasted. Dry them on a paper towel and sprinkle with just a little kosher salt. ( I use kosher because it has a great salt flavor, but rarely can you "oversalt" whereas with cracked rock salt, it because overwhelming fast.)

Next, you get yourself some Manchego cheese. A little pricey but WELL worth it.

Throw in an heirloom tomato and an avocado.

For the actual greens, I used a mix of spinach and romaine, you can use field greens which I would've used if I had some. I also like to throw in some fresh herbs with the greens. It seems to add freshness to the salad and isn't as overpowering as you might think. Fresh herbs are my secret ingredient to making a great salad. Here, I have flat leaf parsley, but I have added cilantro also. It just depends on the other ingredients you're using. Just about a handful of the leaves and mix them in well with the rest of the greens.

Mix them all together and pour Chile Lime Vinaigrette over them. The dressing is easy.
1/2 jalepeno seeded (and minced if you're making the dressing by hand)
juice of two limes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
Combine ingredients in a food processor (or magic bullet) or by hand until mixed well.

This salad is very light and delicious in flavor. It's perfect as an appetizer or accompaniment to a heavier meal. I threw in some edible flowers for presentation. It's good enough to eat!

Rosemary Chicken with Brussel Sprouts and Chestnuts

This chicken is delicious. It goes well with the Brussels Sprout and Chestnut dish that I made as a side. Of course you don't have to make the same side dish but it's good together.

The first thing you do is marinate the chicken.
Marinade:
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
2 tablespoons agave nectar (or honey)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Mix all ingredients together ( I used a magic bullet). Reserve 1 tablespoon of marinade to put on chicken when it's done cooking. Put chicken (I used boneless skinless free range chicken thighs about 1 and 2/3 lb) in a ziplock bag and pour marinade in and coat chicken. Put in fridge for 1 hour (up to 24 hours). You will also need half of an orange or lemon to add to the chicken when it's done cooking.

For the side dish you will need:
2 cups roasted chestnuts
2 lbs boiled brussel sprouts, halved
1 stick of butter
1 cup of thinly sliced shallots
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper

While the chicken is marinating, roast the chestnuts. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Cut an "x" into the flat part of the chestnut shell (with a very sharp paring knife). Now, the recipe calls for 2 cups, but you might want to make more since they are so fun to eat and are so good. They have a sweet meat inside and you can eat them right out of their shell with a little salt.

Next, spread the chestnuts out on a baking sheet and cook for about 15 minutes.

When you get them out of the oven, pour them into an old towel and squeeze the towel so that you hear the shells crackling. This will make them easier to peel. Let them sit about 10 minutes or until they are cool enough to handle. Peel the shell off and sprinkle them with salt. They should look like this. Cut them in half if they are whole.

Next, make the Brussels sprouts by boiling 4 cups of salted water and add 2 lbs of halved Brussels sprouts to the water. Cook for 10 minutes (this is vital to the sweet flavor you want them to have). After they have cooked for 10 minutes, strain them and rinse thoroughly with cold water to stop them from continuing to cook. They will still be bright green.

Then, after the chicken has marinated an hour, take the chicken out of the fridge. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the chicken on a baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes, then flip over and cook another 10-15 minutes. This will vary on the thickness of meat you have. Just make sure it IS NOT pink in the middle. After they have cooked, remove them from the baking sheet and place them onto some foil. Squeeze half of an orange (or lemon) onto the meat and close the foil and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

While the chicken is resting, make the shallot butter for the Brussels Sprout dish. Melt 1 stick of butter in a sauce pan and add 1 cup of thinly sliced shallots. Cook over medium heat until the shallots are limp and the butter turns a little brown. Then, add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt.

Combine Brussels sprouts and chestnuts into a large bowl and pour butter mixture over it and mix to coat. You can even add Parmesan cheese if you want.

After the side dish is complete, spoon whatever portion you want onto the middle of the plate. Take the chicken out of the foil and place it on the side dish so that it is draping down. Add a fresh rosemary twig and there you have it!