chicken

Slow Cooker Chicken with Artichokes and Lemon

cmgift Leave a comment

Sometimes I stumble upon a recipe because I’m trying to use ingredients I have in the house. I had chicken and I wanted something I could just set in the slow cooker and forget about it a while. It turned out really yummy and made a great salad. One of my tips for nourishing yourself is mindful eating and savoring your food by adding fresh ingredients when serving. It makes the meal special and flavorful. My favorite things to add are a squeeze of fresh lemon, drizzle of olive oil or balsamic vinegar, fresh herbs, seeds and nuts.

When this meal was finished, I put it on greens and added olives, a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon. This is not your typical “rabbit food” salad that leaves you hungry soon after eating. This salad is so good and hearty and actually feels like a whole meal. I’m eating less meat these days and when I do have chicken, one of my favorite brands is Bell & Evans. It a local PA brand with humane practices and whenever I find some on sale at the store, I grab it!

Ingredients

1 lb boneless chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs

Dried Italian Herbs

Salt and Peper

Olive Oil

Handful of small new potatoes

Juice and Zest from 1/2 lemon

Small jar or can of artichokes

2 cloves of garlic, minced or smashed

Pat chicken breasts dry and season both sides with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Sear both sides of the chicken in olive oil in a pan and set aside. Place the small potatoes in the slow cooker along with the rest of the ingredients. Put the chicken on top and cook just until done (low for 3-4 hours worked for me). Don’t overcook or the chicken will dry out. Serve with a side of vegetables or on a salad.


Chicken, Brown Rice and Fennel Soup

cmgift Leave a comment

We’ve been experiencing an unseasonably warm winter here in PA…I’m not complaining.  I’m not a huge fan of the cold, but the cold weather does make warm comforting foods even more enjoyable.  This weekend I saw the first snow of the season while visiting up home in Central PA.  It was a dusting really, but a sign of the changing season.  I did find comfort in the tiny bit of snow this weekend…it felt familiar and predicable.  Seasons in life change and they are not always predicable…that’s both the beauty and struggle of our seasons.  But the difficult seasons are often the ones that produce the most beauty in the end.

IMG_8791

We bought a fall CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) this year for the first time.  I LOVE fall vegetables. We got fennel in the CSA and  while some people shy away from fennel because of the strong “licorice” scent, fennel is one of my favorite vegetables.  When it cooks, the licorice scent goes away and cooks similar to celery.  Fennel is oddly shaped.  There is a core in the center of the bulb that can be cut out and the rest of the fennel can be eaten- the bulb, the stalk and fronds.  I love to use fennel in stews, when roasting meats and in soups like this one!

DSC_0721

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

1 fennel bulb, cored and chopped

2 carrots, chopped

olive oil

6 cups of chicken broth

1/2  cup brown rice

2 cups cooked chicken, cubed

juice from one lemon

fennel fronds, chopped (optional)

salt and pepper

I modified this recipe from the book Savor by Shauna Niequist.  In a dutch oven, cook the chopped onion, carrots, fennel ( salt and pepper) in olive oil until translucent.  Add the chicken broth and brown rice and cook until 5 minutes before the rice is cooked through.  Add the chicken, lemon juice and chopped fennel fronds (optional) and cook until the rice is tender.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Enjoy for a light meal this holiday week!

DSC_0727

 

 

 

Chicken Vegetable Soup

cmgift Leave a comment

This weekend was bitterly cold, and I didn’t feel bad at all about staying inside and doing some “chopping therapy” as I like to call it.  The house feels so warm, the kids are playing (kind of), the sun is shining bright through the windows and football is on…this is what January is all about to me.  The first week in January is stressful because we are all getting back to “normal” after the holidays and I feel pressured to make some kind of New Years resolution or list of goals for the year, but honestly I am just not much for New Years resolutions. I make resolutions throughout the year…many times…and break them…many times and sometimes I keep them and make goals and I keep them and I accomplish things.  I just like to do these things as they come up in life and as I am inspired, not just at the start of a new year.  But I do usually get back to eating healthy after holiday indulgence and start training for something (sometimes reluctently)…usually a half marathon. I need this discipline in life to live a healthy lifestyle and stay accountable.

So this weekend, I took some time to go to Central Market.  I got some root vegetables and a fresh roaster chicken and used it to feed us the entire weekend.  I cooked the chicken on Saturday and we ate that for dinner.  I made chicken stock that night and used it and the leftover chicken to make this chicken vegetable soup the next day. I used the rest of the leftover chicken to make curry chicken salad for lunches.  I LOVE going through this process and using the whole chicken for several meals.  I do this a couple of times a month, especially in the winter.   And this soup is the perfect soup for chopping winter root vegetables and taking your time in the kitchen. Let the “chopping therapy” commence!

DSC_0118

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

1 turnip, chopped

1 parsnip, chopped

olive oil

1 tsp ground cumin

4-6 cups of chicken stock

3-4 cups of cooked chicken, chopped in bite sized pieces

1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup of fresh or frozen green beans, chopped in 1 in. pieces

salt and peper

dash of red pepper flakes

In a dutch oven, sauté the onions, carrots and celery for a few minutes.  Add the turnip and parsnip and cumin, salt and pepper and sauté until tender.  Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, more salt and pepper and a dash of red pepper flakes and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add the peas and green beans and simmer until tender.  Serve with some crusty bread and enjoy!!

DSC_0128