Tag Archive | tomatoes

Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Nov11

platedsoupChicken Tortilla Soup is about as good is it gets on a cold winter night. It’s creamy, spicy, zingy, and cheesy, with every spoonful. In my opinion, The Cheesecake Factory makes the absolute best Chicken Tortilla Soup so they were my inspiration for this homemade version and I think this recipe hits the nail on the head. What’s more, it’s a perfect recipe for your crock pot or slow cooker. There are a ton of chopped veggies in this recipe so I strongly recommend busting out your food processor.

Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Serves 8

  • 1 1/2 pounds skinless chicken thighs (The flavor of bone-in meat is always so much better but if you prefer boneless then go with 1 pound)
  • 3 ribs of celery, finely diced
  • 2 large carrots, finely diced
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chilis
  • 1 (10-ounce) package frozen or canned corn
  • 1 fresh poblano pepper, seeded and minced
  • 1 fresh jalapeño, seeded and minced
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 lime, zested and juiced
  • 1 (10.5 ounce) can chicken broth
  • 1 pint fat-free half and half (If you really want the real thing, go for it, but fat-free tastes just as good in this recipe and that means you can go back for seconds!)
  • 12 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (Plus extra for garnish!)
  • 6 corn tortillas, cut into strips
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions: 

1. Lay the chicken thighs on the bottom of the crock pot. Layer celery, carrots, onion, garlic, tomatoes, corn, peppers, spices and seasonings on top.

veggies

Pour chicken broth, lemon juice, and zest on top and stir well.

mixed raw veggies

2. Cook for 6-8 hours on LOW or 3-4 hours on HIGH. About 30 minutes prior to serving, switch the crock pot to warm and remove chicken and set aside to cool so you can shred it.

chickencooked

Add the half and half and cheese to the crock pot and stir.

soupwithcream

3. Heat a large skillet to medium high and add the vegetable oil. Add the tortilla strips and fry until nice and crispy. Remove from oil onto a plate lined with paper towels. Set aside.

slicedtortillas
sautetortillas
crispytortilla

 

4. Remove chicken from the bones and shred. Add back to the pot and stir.

5. Ladle up bowls of soup and garnish cheese and tortilla strips. I also like to add more chopped cilantro, sour cream, or avocado to my bowl. When serving for a group, I’ll fill up bowls with all of these ingredients and let people customize their soup. Lots of fun and so good! Enjoy!

platedsoup

Crock Pot Copycat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup

Nov2
Pasta_e_Fagioli

Olive Garden’s Pasta e Fagioli

I love having lunch at Olive Garden with friends to enjoy their delicious soups and salad. Their Pasta e Fagioli soup (similar to minestrone) is one of my favorites so it was a fun challenge to recreate at home. I found some great copycat recipes online which I adapted a bit but the twist on the challenge was to recreate it for the crock pot. The result is truly phenomenal and is an exact flavor copy of Olive Garden’s version! I recently had a large group of friends over and served this recipe and they all agreed it was identical to Olive Garden’s soup. There also weren’t any leftovers…Boo!

Quick note: If you want to make a true copycat you’ll need to use the ditali pasta. However, it can be a little harder to find and is also more expensive so I usually swap it out for fusilli or another small pasta.

Crock Pot Copycat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup
Serves 6-8

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 2 carrots, julienned or shredded
  • 4 stalks of celery, finely diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 (15 oz.) can red kidney beans
  • 1 (15 oz.) can great Northern beans
  • 2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
  • 1 (28 oz.) can tomato sauce
  • 1 (12 oz.) can V8 juice
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
  • 2 teaspoons parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

At the end:

  • 1/2 pound ditali pasta (you can also substitute with fusilli, macaroni, or any small pasta you like)
  • Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions: 

1. In a large skillet, brown the meat. Drain off the fat and transfer the cooked hamburger to the bottom of the crock pot.

photo

2. Pour the remaining items, except for the pasta and Parmesan cheese, over the hamburger.

Ingredients in crockpot

Stir everything together.

Stirred Together

Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.

Cooked Soup

3. During the last 30 minutes of cooking, add the dry pasta to the crock pot and stir to incorporate. Stir every ten minutes or so to make sure the pasta doesn’t stick and that it can absorb enough liquid.

Soup with pasta

4. Pour soup into bowls and garnish with Parmesan cheese and serve along garlic bread. Enjoy!

plated soup

Coconut Chicken Curry

Sep1

Plated curry.I love Indian cuisine with it’s complexities of flavors and perfect harmony of ingredients. That’s why I was ecstatic when a friend gave me this amazing recipe a few years back, which I consider a phenomenal chicken curry which hits all of the right notes. It also happens to be ridiculously simple and quick recipe to whip up so I frequently make it for busy weekday dinners. This is also a versatile dish so I like to mix it up sometimes by adding in veggies like carrots, potatoes, eggplant, peas, etc.

Coconut Chicken Curry
Makes 6 servings

  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon curry
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 (12.5 ounce) can coconut milk *You can use light coconut milk but I don’t recommend unsweetened coconut milk
  • 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into small bite-size pieces *I think the thighs have better flavor but you can certainly use breasts if you prefer.
  • 1 (14 ounce) can of diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped *I love cilantro so usually add more but you can adjust the amount to suit your taste.
  • Cooked basmati or jasmine rice to serve with the coconut chicken curry

Directions:

1. In a large skillet or medium soup pot, over medium heat, melt the butter and sauté garlic.

sautéd garlic

Add the spices and salt and sauté for a few minutes, stirring constantly.

sautéd spices

Add the sugar and onions and sauté for several minutes.

2. Add the coconut milk and chicken and bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium.

Raw chicken in pot

Simmer until chicken is cooked all the way through, approximately 10-15 minutes.

Chicken cooked

3. Once chicken is cooked all the way through, add the tomatoes and chopped cilantro.

Added tomatoes and cilantro

Serve in bowls over rice and enjoy.

Plated curry.

 

Kitchen Sink Salad

May3

I’m not a salad person. At all. Sure, it’s fine when a little salad comes with my steak or spaghetti and meatballs but you’ll never catch me ordering a salad as my main. Unless it came with a side of fries. 🙂
So I’m not sure what happened but I’ve turned a new (wait for the pun) leaf. Maybe it’s spring in the air but I had this craving for the ultimate salad for dinner and I think I’ve got it in the bag. I gobbled it down as if it were a plate of spaghetti & meatballs though I wouldn’t have turned down the garlic breadsticks. Too delicious not to share!

Image

Here’s what went into my Kitchen Sink Salad (makes 2 large salads):

  • 1 bag of mixed greens
  • 1/2 a cucumber, cut into rings
  • 2 roma tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup of corn
  • 1/2 cup of sliced olives
  • 1 cup of garlic & cheese croutons
  • 1/2 cup of shredded ghouda
  • 8 ounces of cubed ham
  • 8 ounces of sliced turkey

I made my own dressing but you can use any bottled variety as well:

  • 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 t. balsamic vinegar
  • 1 t. red wine vinegar
  • 1 T. sugar
  • 1 t. fresh or dried parsley
  • 1 t. dill
  • 1 t. garlic salt

Mix together in separate bowl.

Toss the mixed greens in a large bowl with dressing. Plate the greens on two dinner plates then add all the toppings.