Author: chanie

Asian {Bigger} Bowl Soup


When it comes to food, we’re texture-people in my house. I’ve got no use for a hand blender ‘cuz my husband and kids will not touch those creamy-as-baby-food soups. I’m good with any soup, but if it’s a family affair, I have to scoop out half of the vegetables before I puree, and add them back to the pot. There has got to be a “bite” in there, otherwise it just doesn’t fly. Asian big bowl soup has become a family favorite. I like to call it “Bigger” bowl because I load the soup up on tons of extras for some serious crunch and flavor. We especially love the addition of water chestnuts and bamboo shoots strips. They stay amazingly crunchy, even after sitting or rewarming!

I love making this soup for Shabbos on these late Friday nights. We don’t end up making kiddush until sometime after nine (more like closer to ten), and my husband and I are half-asleep at the table. The soup covers both the 2nd and 3rd course, being chock full of chicken, pasta and vegetables in a yummy broth. I have one big bowl of the stuff and I am ready for bed!

I found the original recipe in Susie Fishbeins’s Kosher by Design Short on Time cookbook (the only one I really use from her collection). I’ve adapted it to include lots of different veggies. Usually, I just go through my vegetable bin to check what’s on its way out. Since the veggies are going into a soup anyway, it doesn’t really matter if they aren’t fresh. Go ahead and use whatever suits your taste. You can also experiment with pasta in this dish. I’ve used linguini, udon noodles, even rice! It’s a “big bowl soup” after all, so go ahead and fill it up!

NOTE: Since we are lightening up this week, I have to mention that you can definitely leave out the ramen noodles. They are fun, and my kids love them, but for DH and I, we skip the extra calories.

Asian Bigger Bowl
adapted from Kosher by Design, Short on Time

10 cups chicken stock
3 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 tbsp mirin rice cooking wine
1 pkg chicken breast (about 4 pieces) cut into thin strips
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 can sliced bamboo shoots
1 can bean sprouts
1/2 head green cabbage, sliced
1/2 bag shredded carrots
1 package mushrooms, cut into thick slices
1 handful snow peas, ends trimmed
3 scallions, cut into 3″ pieces
ramen noodles, or pasta/grain of choice

NOTE: alternatively, you may use one can of mixed chinese vegetables (usually includes chestnuts, bamboo shoots, sprouts and baby corn) if you find that 3 cans is too much.

Method:

Pour chicken stock into a pot. Add soy sauce and mirin and bring to a boil. Add chicken, chestnuts, shoots and sprouts. Simmer for 5 minutes, mixing the chicken so that the pieces don’t stick together. Add the cabbage and simmer for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and add carrots, mushrooms, snow peas, and scallions. Leave the pot uncovered for a few minutes while the vegetables become crisp-tender. Serve immediately, or leave pot uncovered until it cool so that the vegetables remain tender.

I like to cook up the ramen noodles separately, so that they are not left as mush inside the pot (if they sit too long, they get kind of gross). To do this, boil the water and add noodles, discarding the flavoring packet. As soon as the noodles begin to soften and break apart (about 1.5 minutes), remove them from the water and reserve in a plastic container. They will finish cooking when you add them to the hot bowl of soup.

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Spice-Crusted Chicken

There is no one on this earth that cannot make this recipe. It’s that easy. Well maybe not no one – you’ve got to have an oven, chicken, and a few basic spices. If you’ve got that, and you’ve never cooked anything other than eggs in your life, you can do this.

This has to be my #1 go-to recipe for a quick weekday dinner. It’s got tons of flavor with minimal effort, and it pleases even the most discriminating palette. I like to make this recipe when I’m cooking dinner for our local Bikur Cholim because I’m pretty sure anyone who will eat chicken will eat it.

What makes this chicken so good? Well for one, it’s baked in it’s skin, keeping the chicken nice and moist. Baking it on a high temperature (400 degrees), with the help of some olive oil, makes the skin super crispy, and all those spices get toasted to perfection.

Here’s the best part. If you’re on one of those low-carb or no-sugar diets like atkins or south beach, you can make yourself a super flavorful dinner without store-bought BBQ sauce that is so full of carbs. If you are watching your fat intake as well, don’t eat the skin, but feel free to scrape off the yummy spices and spread it on your chicken. If dieting is not on your agenda, go ahead and sop up all the drippings from the bottom of the pan, they are seriously delicious!

Quick & Easy Chicken

1 package chicken, quartered
garlic powder
onion powder
paprika
salt
black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Clean chickens (do not remove the skin) and pat dry. Sprinkle generously with spices (but go light on the pepper). Drizzle with olive oil. Bake, uncovered, for one hour.

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Busy in Brooklyn Lightens Up

At least for this week! :) After all that cheesecake, lasagna and blintzes, I think we all need to lighten up our menu’s just a bit. My husband decided to join the diet bandwagon as well, and I wanted to make him feel good about it. I figured for his first day of dieting, I would treat him to a special dinner. But not just any dinner. A dinner that would show him that you can have your fast food and eat it too!

This was my plan – make his favorite fast food, have it look delicious, taste even better, and keep it lighter than the deep-fried version!

The Steak Santiago sandwich from Subsational is among my husband’s favorites. It includes rib steak with lettuce, tomato, onion and their spicy mayo. To lighten this up, I made an open-face sandwich on a half of a whole wheat baguette with lean sandwich steak, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and sauteed onions. I whipped up some easy garlic mayo with a lowfat canola variety.

Next, onto the fries. Of course fried anything was out of the question. And I had to give the potatoes the boot as well. Instead, I roasted some butternut squash fries with some chili powder and smoked paprika. They came out delicious.

Finally, just for fun I had to throw in a few chicken nuggets. I dipped a few pieces of chicken breasts into light olive oil and flavored corn flake crumbs and baked until crispy (about 15 minutes at 400 degrees – 8 minutes on one side, 5 on the other).

Needless to say, my husband was more than satisfied with this lightened up version of his favorite fast food. Of course I won’t be doing this regularly, but it’s good to know that our favorite comfort foods can still be eaten, albeit on special occasions, and a little on the lighter side!

Marinated Sandwich Steak

Sandwich steaks are quite lean. Marinating them helps to tenderize the meat by holding the moisture in the thin slices.

1 pkg sandwich steak
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon canola oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Mix ingredients for marinade and pour into ziploc bag. Add sandwich steak and refrigerate for a few hours (or less if you don’t have the time). Saute on high heat for about 2 minutes on each side.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Soup


Strawberries and rhubarb are as fresh and delightful as the spring air they herald. They pair wonderfully in recipes and add a burst of color as well as tang. The natural sweetness of the strawberries lends itself well to rhubarb’s tartness for a perfect balance of flavors.

While many people opt for a creamy potato leek soup, or a cheesy french onion soup for their dairy Shavuous meal, I like to take advantage of the fresh seasonal fruits for a cold and refreshing fruit soup. Think about it – you’ve got steaming lasagna coming, and lots of rich and creamy cheesecake for dessert, who needs another heavy plate of soup? This light and refreshing soup makes the perfect starter.

NOTE: the leaves of a rhubarb plant contain oxalic acid and can be toxic. While many stores sell the stalks already trimmed, make sure all the leaves are removed before using.

With minor tweaking, you can also use this recipe as an ice cream sauce or compote, see below for details.

Strawberry Rhubarb Soup

5 stalks rhubarb (1 lb.)
1 container strawberries (1 lb.)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup pomegranate juice (I like Pom)
1 cinnamon stick
pinch of allspice
pinch of nutmeg
mascarpone, creme fraiche, sour cream or plain yogurt
mint leaves, for garnish

Method:

Hull and clean strawberries and cut into quarters. Remove leaves from rhubarb, clean and dice. Add fruit to a pot to which water, juice, sugar and spices have been added. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer for 20-30 minutes, breaking up the fruit with a spoon every few minutes. Leave the soup to cool and blend with an immersion blender, regular blender, or food processor.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve, spoon a dollop of mascarpone, creme fraiche, sour cream, or yogurt over the soup. If you’d like, you can use a knife to swirl in the cream (as pictured), or you can mix it into the soup. Garnish with mint leaves.

TIP: To use this recipe to make ice cream sauce, leave out the 1 cup of water (just use 1 cup of pomegranate juice) and simmer for 15 minutes, breaking up the fruit with a spoon. Do not blend. Cool and serve over ice cream or as compote.

NOTE: If using frozen strawberries and rhubarb, leave out the cup of water (you can adjust the consistency and taste after cooking by adding a bit more water or sugar, if needed).

Yield: approximately 6 cups soup.

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Easy Paper Napkin Roses


Shavuous is one of my favorite holidays. The beautiful spring weather, the creamy cheesecakes for dessert, and of course all the pretty flowers that adorn our yom tov tables. It’s really a treat to be able to go all out and pick out a beautiful bouquet. You can’t go wrong regardless of what you choose – classic roses, bright tulips, elegant orchids, or exotic anthuriums; you are sure to find something to suit your taste and match your table-scape.

If you really want to up the ante, placing flowers at each place setting makes your table feel like an intimate garden. You can do this in a few ways:

1. Place bud vases alongside each cup with a single fresh flower.
2. Make or purchase floral napkin rings.
3. Use dishes, paper plates, napkins or cups with a floral pattern.
4. Incorporate floral themes into your meal (for ex., cut cheesecake brownies with a flower cookie cutter).
5. Make my pretty paper napkin roses, and place in a see-through cup at each place setting!

These napkin roses are extremely easy to make. You don’t have to prepare them in advance, amid all the hustle and bustle of Erev Yom Tov. Because they are so simple, you can give them to your children to do. They’ll feel so special knowing that they played an integral part in the Yom Tov Seudah!

I found this original creation from Martha Stewart. She uses cloth napkins to prepare the roses, and while pretty, I am sure that most of you do not have cloth napkins in both green and pink/red. It is also hard to fit 2 cloth napkins into a glass – believe me, I tried! Instead, I decided to try her idea using paper napkins, and as you can see, it worked wonders! I almost felt as if I was looking at REAL roses, they are that beautiful! Go ahead and make them with whatever colors you fancy – roses bloom in all different colors of the rainbow. You will sit at your Yom Tov Tish and feel as if you are in a magnificent garden.

What you’ll need:

12 7/8 x 12 7/8 2 ply napkins in green for leaves
12 7/8 x 12 7/8 2 ply napkins in the color of your choice (I like classic red) for roses
glass or hard plastic cups

How to:

1. Open green napkin.
2. Fold green napkin in half on the diagonal.
3. Fold in half again, on the diagonal.
4. Open red napkin.
5. Fold in half, on the diagonal.
6. Fold tip of triangle down to the center of the longest side.
7. Fold in half, lengthwise.
REPEAT STEPS 4-7 (with an additional red napkin, so that you have 2 folded napkins)
8. Roll first napkin from either end, not too tight, but not too loose either.
9. Take first rolled napkin and place on second unrolled napkin, and continue rolling the second napkin around the first one (you need to do this because the rose will be too narrow otherwise and won’t look authentic).
To complete your rose, just push up from the center of the bottom of the napkin.
10. Place rose on the short side of the green napkin.
11. Fold the green napkin over on the diagonal, covering the rose.
12. Place in a vase, folding the leaves over the edges.

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