Curried Chicken Soup (and Variations)

As my Facebook friends will tell you (since I've been whining about it ad nauseum), our family has had a cold for the past 2 weeks. We don't often get sick, but when we do, I'm not courageous. I also crave soup. Lots of soup, usually with chicken. My husband does *NOT* crave soup; in fact, it repels him. So usually my soups are simple blends of chicken broth, chicken breasts, potato, carrots, and onions. I eat it for a few days, I feel better, end of story.

Peanut-Sesame Chicken

Tonight I got stuck with dinner duty. Don't get me wrong, I love cooking. But it's nice to have a husband who usually does the kitchen work (he's all mine!). I lost the scissors/paper/rock battle this time, so I burrowed through the fridge like a good girl.

It's LEFTOVER MADNESS!!!!!

So. . .I wanted to do a posting on uses of tahini that didn't involve hummus. Now I love hummus, but decided I didn't need to showcase it again. Because I've done that. More than once. But the information I found pretty much involved odd recipes that probably tasted great, but didn't sound wonderful (one for Sesame Flapjacks With Tahini-Maple Syrup was intriguing, but didn't sound like me), or using thinned tahini as a sauce for almost anything, which seemed basic to me, and I'm feeling kind of sophisticated today. My husband always laughs when I say that, but you may not know me, so I might get away with it here.

Penne in Tomato Sauce

I've never been able to buy bottled or canned spaghetti sauce--it's over- or under- spiced, too sweet, or so expensive for something that doesn't have to take very long to make with fresh ingredients.  If I'm in a real hurry, all I have to have are some form of cooked tomato, fresh garlic, and basil to make a lovely sauce.  Here's more or less the basic sauce at our house, that we improvise freely:

Tomato Sauce: 
makes 2-4 servings, depending on how much sauce you like on your pasta, and how much pasta makes a serving.  this would be enough for about 4 servings at our house, with a little left to mix into veggies another day.

• 1 can pureed or diced organic tomatoes
• 5 garlic cloves, peeld and diced small or run through a garlic press
• 1 t each dried basil and oregano, or several teaspoons total of any combination of fresh basil, oregano, chives, marjoram, or thyme, chopped
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1/4-1/2 cup wine, preferably red (merlot is usually good, but in a pinch I've even used rice cooking wine and adjusted the salt)
• 4 oz. chopped mushrooms, or a small can of mushrooms, drained
• up to 1 t salt (taste the sauce first to see if it needs any salt at all)
• 1 t sugar, if you taste the sauce and it seems harsh at all
• 3 T good Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated (or just use the grated Parmesan if it's what's in the fridge--the flavor is different, but still works)
• 1 lb meat (usually ground beef or chopped chicken breast in our house.  If you use the ground beef, you can cook it separately to minimize the fat ) - optional
• Extra Virgin olive oil for sauteing and to drizzle over sauce
• Penne pasta, cooked just al dente (reserve the cooking water separated from the pasta in case the sauce is runny), enough for each serving (since a serving can be anything from 1/2 cup cooked pasta in a weight-watching household to a full cup or more per person in a munchie household, it's hard to say how much pasta to have here).

 Pour 1 T olive oil into a saucepan and add the onion and red pepper.  Saute on medium for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic.  Cook an additional 1 minute, then the ground beef or chicken if using, and cook another minute or two.  Add the tomato, red wine and dried spices, if using and simmer about 10 minutes.  Add any vegetables you want (see below) including the mushrooms, the sugar (if needed) and salt, and simmer another 20 minutes, uncovered.  Add the fresh spices if you are using them.  If the sauce seems too thin, add a ladle-full of the starchy pasta cooking water and simmer another 10 minutes.  Mix in the cooked pasta, and cook another 5 minutes. Sprinkle with grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil, and serve.

Optional add-ins: plan on thickening the sauce with the pasta water, or a little extra grated cheese if you use any raw veggies in the recipe. If the sauce just won't thicken (it's happened to me), mix 1 T of rice flour or cornstarch to 1/4 cup water, and add to the sauce to thicken.

Vegetables:

• 1-2 handfuls fresh chopped spinach
• 1 cup cooked greens of any kind, squeezed dry and chopped
• 1 cup chopped broccoli or cauliflower
• 1/2-1 cooked zucchini or yellow squash, cut small if necessary
• 1-2 raw tomatoes, cut small
• a handful of pitted olives, chopped

Other additions:

• Grated mozzerella, crumbled feta or other cheese
•  chopped beef or turkey bacon--cook bacon first, then drain almost all fat and begin recipe as usual

Greek-style Lamb, Rice Pilaf, Green Beans

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), lamb, onion, and garlic are good for building yang; rice and green beans are good for Spleen qi, or digestive energy, and herbs are good for moving qi.  This meal is great for autumn, especially when you have fresh herbs handy! 

Pesto

Pesto can be the base of all kinds of tasty meals.  A few spoonfuls thinned with pasta cooking water makes a simple spaghetti.  Rub some on chicken breasts and bake for a great chicken dish.  Add a few spoonfuls to spaghetti sauce for an instant upgrade in flavor.  Spread some on Italian bread and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese for an impromptu pizza.  Or just put some in a bowl and lay some bread straws or crackers beside it for a quick hors d'oeuvre.  Here's the on-the-fly recipe I used for my pesto, with a few ways to change it in parentheses: