Paleo-licous Chicken & Veggie Soup

Chicken vegetable soup that will fill your belly with nutritious love. Make your own chicken stock for out of this world flavor, or sub 3-4 boxes store bought stock for a pretty darn good eats. Roast your own chicken or buy the cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Do what feels right depending on how much time you have! Get crazy and customize the vegetables you use, but don't forget the ginger, its the secret ingredient! Shhhhhh...

INGREDIENTS (double batch)

• 2 whole chickens, 4 lbs. each 
• salt, pepper, seasoning optional
• 3-5 inch ginger root, fresh
• 8 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped
• 1/3 cup olive oil 
• 1 small bag whole carrots
• 2 medium onions, sweet or red
• 1 lbs. green beans, fresh
• 1 bag pre-shredded cabbage
• 2 tbsp kosher salt
• 5 cups homemade chicken stock
• juice of 1/2 lemon

TOOLS

• two roasting pans (or any baking pan with raised sides)
• parchment paper
• foil
• poultry forks and/or tongs
• crockpot (for making stock)
• stock pot
• wire mesh strainer
• cheese grater

PREP and ROAST the CHICKEN

1. Preheat oven to 425 and wrap the roasting pans in foil.
2. Rip two pieces of parchment paper the length of the roasting pan, make sure its slightly longer than the pan so that the sides of the paper are turned up. This will hold in juices and make clean up easier... score. 
3. Rinse chickens and discard the gizzards, pat dry.
4. Position chickens breast side down on the parchment paper (on the counter).
5. Using a sharp knife, start at the tail end and cut along side the spine of each chicken. Flip over and flatten out chicken breast side up, this is called Spatchcock cooking which will cook evenly and quickly with super crispy skin. 
6. Loosen skin rubbing salt and seasoning of choice under skin directly onto the chicken meat for flavor. 
7. Place into roasting pans, make sure the parchment paper makes a sort of bowl shape, raised on the sides. This will minimize clean up by holding all the juices. You can also add these juices to make stock later, but its easier and less fattening to just toss it. 
8. Roast the chickens for 1.5 hours, rotate the chicken on the top rack to the bottom half way through cooking if using one oven. 
9. Cook until internal temp is 180 degrees, then remove from oven.

MAKE the CHICKEN STOCK

1. Using tongs and poultry forks, remove all the good meat from the chickens, set aside to cool and refrigerate. By now you might be hungry, make some easy chicken salad (chicken, walnuts, apple, mayo) for a snack!
2. Place all the leftover chicken pieces (bone, skin, etc) into the crock pot.
3. Add water until all chicken pieces are submerged.
4. Cook on LOW for up to 48 hours, no less than 12 hours ideally. 
5. Once finished, use tongs to remove chicken pieces and discard. Strain the remaining stock through a wire mesh strainer into a large bowl or container.
6. Place bowl of chicken stock in refrigerator overnight to firm up fats and skim off top to remove. If you are in a hurry you can use the stock RIGHT NOW!  Because we cooked the chickens Spatchcock style, most of the fat has already been removed.
7. Store half your chicken stock in freezer bags for another day, you won't need all that for this recipe! 

PREP the VEGGIES

1. Chop all ingredients (onion, carrots, chicken, beans) into 1/2 to 1/4 inch lengths. 
2. Trim ginger skins and use cheese grater to extract the yummy ginger and discard the fibrous ginger. 
3. Smash garlic, remove skins and rough chop.

COOK the SOUP

1. Place a large stock pot over medium high heat, add olive oil. 
2. Saute garlic, ginger for one minute before adding onions, cook until soft. 
3. When ready, 5 cups chicken stock and 6 cups water to the stock pot and bring to a boil.
4. Add salt, carrots and green beans to boiling water and reduce to a simmer for 10-15 minutes.
5. Add cabbage to pot half way through cooking.
6. Add chopped chicken to pot and cook an additional 2-5 minutes.
7. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the pot and ENJOY!
8. Put leftovers into tupperware and freeze for awesome lunches or dinner on the fly. I make this a double batch so I can be sure to freeze a bunch for later!

Broccoli Cheese Soup Sans Guilt

Super simple broccoli and cheese soup with NO CREAM, NO BUTTER, NO FLOUR because you simply don't need it!  Delicious.  Somewhat time consuming to make but most of the time you are waiting so you can do other things. You could also sub some cauliflower into this recipe to mellow the broccoli flavor...

INGREDIENTS

• 1 bunch of broccoli (about three stalks)
• 1 medium onion, sweet or red
• 1-4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
• 1 box or 2 cups chicken or veggie stock
• 1/2 block of sharp cheddar (add to taste)
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• olive oil to coat and saute

TOOLS

• knife and cutting board
• gallon zip lock bag (optional)
• foil
• baking pan / roll pan
• stock pot
• immersion blender (or regular blender)
• cheese grater

PREP the GOODIES

1. Preheat oven to 400 and rough chop the broccoli into small (1 inch) size pieces
2. Pour some (1 Tbsp) olive oil into a gallon ziplock bag, add broccoli pieces and shake to coat with the oil, you don't need much!
3. Cover a baking pan with foil and place the broccoli pieces on top
4. Cover broccoli with foil and place in the oven for 15 minutes
5. After 15 minutes remove the foil and cook for another 10-15 minutes until broccoli starts to brown
6. Meanwhile, heat stock pot with enough olive oil to coat the bottom adding the onions and sautéing until soft
7. Add garlic and cook for one minute before adding the roasted broccoli and stock
8. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10-15 minutes until broccoli is fork tender
9. Remove from heat and use immersion blender to puree soup
10. Add shredded cheese to taste, I recommend tasting the soup before adding any cheese so you know where you are starting. One or two handfuls should be plenty, sharp cheddar has a lot of flavor so you don't need much!
11. Serve and enjoy, store leftovers in fridge for up to a week. 
12. Freeze in small tupperware portions if you like, thaw in fridge for two days before reheating.

1 Sheet Paper = 1 Gift Bag

Brilliant. How did I not know about this?! Sorry to the Korean chick I stole this from, I couldn't Pin your page for some reason.  http://blog.naver.com/lovesilvey/40165720502

Salty Sweet Clusters

Makes two batches so you can package and give as gifts, but this is so flexible you can go smaller for a quick movie night treat. Experiment with flavors and add-ins, I'd love to hear of your concoctions!! 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 - 16oz bag mini twist pretzels, divided, slightly crushed
• 1 - 16oz jar honey roasted peanuts, divided, slightly crushed
• 1 - 10oz bag mini marshmallows, divided
• 2 - 11oz bags milk chocolate chips, 3 bags for chocoholics
• 2 - 1/3 cup unpopped popcorn, or 2 microwave popcorn bags
• Salt, good corse salt or kosher salt
• pumpkin pie spice, or other aromatic spice like cinnamon 

TOOLS

• large ziplock bags
• scraper spatula
• 6 quart metal mixing bowl
• oven (or stove)
• freezer
• cute containers if giving as gifts; use empty peanut jars, pringles cans, condiment jars or other containers that seem a shame to throw away. Craft stores have cute little bags and boxes. Get creative!

PREP the GOODIES

1. Get the popcorn popping, salt and sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice once finished, divide into two batches.
2. Dump half the bag of pretzels into a large ziplock bag and crush slightly with a mallet, rolling pin, or can. Keep some bigger pieces for texture. 
3. Dump pretzels into big mixing bowl and repeat with 1/2 the jar of peanuts. Again don't crush them all, leave some whole peanuts.
4. Add half the bag of marshmallows to the large mixing bowl and combine all the ingredients. Stir gently using spatula or your hand, try not to crush the popcorn up too much.
5. Sprinkle pumpkin pie spice and add 1 bag of chocolate chips (chocoholics add another 1/2 bag), stir gently using spatula or your hand.

MELT the CHOCOLATE

1.  Place entire mixing bowl into an oven at 350, but don't go far this won't take long to bake!  -- or use double boiler on stovetop to melt the chocolate and stir--
2. Wait 7 minutes, remove the bowl from the oven and stir gently with the oven mit and spatula, scraping down the sides and up through middle to get chocolate on bottom of bowl to the top. You will see some chocolate melting and making everything brown. Repeat at least once more.
3. Depending on how much chocolate you use, it may seem like you don't have enough to cover everything at first. Just keep stirring and repeat the process until the you feel all the chocolate has melted and evenly distributed. Some white popcorn and marshmallow will still be peaking through the chocolate.
4. Add final salt and pumpkin pie spice (to taste) to evenly incorporate sprinkle sparingly and mix gently, again scraping down side and up through middle to toss. I seem to do this three times for my taste, but I could go saltier :)

FREEZE into CLUSTERS

1. Divide mixture into two large ziplock bags, flattening out the mixture and pressing gently to stick it together in a thick sheet. Place in the freezer.
2. Freeze for at least 20 or 30 minutes, longer if you want but don't recommend too long. You don't want it to actually freeze. Just harden the chocolate and marshmallowy goodness.
3. Remove from freezer and open bags slightly so moisture is not trapped. Break up the chunks of mix into small-ish clusters. Place into whatever container you desire to give as gifts or serve at a party... or just devour yourself. 

Light & Simple Crab Cakes

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh lump crabmeat, (2 cups), picked over and patted dry
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 scallion, trimmed and finely chopped
1/3 cup finely diced red or green bell pepper
1 teaspoon Old Bay or Cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4-1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon canola oil
Lemon wedges, for garnish

Quick Sauce:
2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
2 teaspoons Cajun or other seasoning
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (optional)
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

PREPARATION

1. Stir crabmeat, fresh breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, egg white, lemon juice, scallion, bell pepper, parsley, Old Bay seasoning, pepper and hot sauce to taste in a large bowl.
2. Place dry breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. Form the crab mixture into six 1/2-inch-thick patties. (The mixture will be very soft.) Dredge the patties in the dry breadcrumbs, reshaping as necessary.
3. Brush oil evenly over the bottom of a non-stick skillet. Heat the pan over medium-high heat. Add the crab cakes and cook until the undersides are golden, about 4 minutes on each side.
4. Stir the sauce ingredients together, adjusting to taste, and serve with green salad. 

Healthy-ish Chicken Potpie 

Cook the chicken head of time in the crockpot for an easy, fresh and low guilt comfort food.

INGREDIENTS

• extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 whole chicken cooked in crockpot, shredded (approx 2 cups)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1 cup pearl onions, chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup peas
• 1/4 teaspoon dried herbs (optional)
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1-2 reduced fat crescent (pillsbury)
• 4 personal size baking dishes

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 375° or whatever temp the crescent rolls suggests.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onions and garlic, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and optional herbs, cook stirring often until browned and liquid has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Return the onions and carrots to the pan. Add 2 cups broth and and bring to a boil; reduce heat to a simmer.
5. Mix cornstarch with the remaining 1/2 cup broth; add to the pan and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens.
6. Stir in chicken (or turkey), peas, sour cream, salt and pepper. Divide the mixture among four 12-ounce ovenproof baking dishes.
7. cover each dish with the crescent roll dough, one tube is enough but use two for extra crust, tuck or remove any dough hanging over the edge of the dish.
8. Bake for 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.
9. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Hund Katz Maus | Zurich, Switzerland | 2011

$10 water to wash down a $30 plate of noodles - priceless.