Chicken Soup for the Soul (or the Mild Cold)

Jen's Special Bone Broth Chicken Soup

Divas, I'm back!

Sort of ...

I've had a whirlwind year with my two books publishing—The 13th Continuum & Return of the Continuums. I won my first book award (pinch me!). Did tons of readings and signings. Started teaching creative writing class for The Writing Pad. Needless to say, that's taken a lot of time and energy away from my cooking pursuits.

Slowly, but surely, I've been coming back to food. How can I stay away? I love it too much. I hope to start posting my recipes again, maybe once a month. I'll see how it all goes!

I made this chicken soup at the height of cold and flu season (doing lots of public events = lots of germs). I got requests for the recipe, so here you go! Keep in mind that you can throw in whatever veggies you happen to have on hand. You can also add beans (I love putting white beans in soups). You could add quinoa or rice. Really, it's whatever floats your boat.

For this iteration, I did use my homemade chicken bone broth that I make in the slow cooker overnight. First, I make a whole chicken, one of my fave slow cooker recipes. Then I save the meat we don't eat for soup and return the carcass to the slow cooker, cover it with filtered water and a tablespoon or two of raw apple cider vinegar and cook it on low overnight. The next day, I strain it and BOOM—amazing homemade bone broth. My recipe has some fancier things you can throw in with the chicken bones, but it's fine with the extras.

Okay, so the next day I have 1) chicken meat and 2) chicken bone broth. Now we make soup! Yes, you can use store bought broth BUT it won't taste nearly as good. I buy my chickens primarily from a vendor at my farmers market that specializes in grassfed/pastured meat. I'll buy three or four at a time and keep them in my freezer. Yes, they're more expensive. But you can actually taste the difference.

Of course, store bought will work. Trader Joe's sells organic whole chickens at a very reasonable price point. A whole chicken can stretch to two or more meals easily.

Chicken Soup for the Soul (or Mild Cold)
Serves 4 to 8 people
Cooking time: about 25 minutes

Ingredients
2 cups chicken meat (cooked & pulled into pieces for soup)
2 cups red potatoes, halved or quartered
1 cup frozen peas
3 cups raw spinach
1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
about 4 to 6 cups of chicken stock
fresh herbs: thyme, rosemary & chopped Italian parsley
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
optional garnish: ground turmeric

Directions
1) In a large heavy-bottomed stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and carrots and saute until beginning to soften (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Add the potatoes and cover with the chicken stock (about 4 to 6 cups depending on how much broth you like in your soup). Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

2) Add the frozen peas, spinach, chicken pieces and herbs and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, recover, and cook for another 5 minutes or until the greens are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3) Serve with a dash of ground turmeric and chopped parsley. Enjoy!

Cauliflower Carrot Mash (Healthy Alternative to Mashed Potatoes)

I'm (hopefully) traveling to Italy this week!

Hopefully... because our airline just went on strike and cancelled our outbound flights. We are rebooking as I write this post. The reason for the sojourn to Italy?

I was accepted to the Sirenland Writers Conference held in Positano, Italy. I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be working with Meg Wolitzer, one of my favorite writers. Her latest book, The Interestings, is just out on paperback and it's fantastic. I highly recommend picking up a copy.

That is... assuming we actually can get there!

I should have lots to report back on in terms of food, wine and travels. I've even managed to find some gluten free restaurants that offer pasta and pizza selections.

If I post on the trip while I'm away, I'll post on my writing blog:

www.jenniferdawnbrody.com

In the meantime, I wanted to share this recipe before I left. It's for Cauliflower Carrot Mash. It's super delicious. It's a healthier alternative to mashed potatoes. It's also much more interesting, though it still has that great mashed texture. There is butter in it. Copious amounts of butter.

Grassfed butter.

I'm not apologizing.

Butter is back.

Cauliflower Carrot Mash
Serves 4 to 6 people
Cooking time: about 30 minutes
Gluten-free; vegetarian (if using vegetable broth)

Ingredients
1 large head of cauliflower, chopped
1 bunch of carrots, peeled and chopped
1 or 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons butter, plus more for mashing if desired
salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions
1. Place the cauliflower, carrots, stock and 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pot. Bring the broth to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and cover. Simmer the vegetables until tender (about 20 minutes).

2. Once the vegetables are tender, remove then from the heat. Add more butter into the pot if desired, or even a good dash of olive oil. Using an immersion blender or masher, mash the vegetables together with the cooking liquid until they achieve the desired texture. More stock may be added as needed. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Beef & Vegetable Stew

So... I've been making this recipe a ton lately.

It's the perfect comfort food, yet still plenty healthy. I buy organic or pasture-raised stew beef whenever I can find it. In fact, I just bought some at my local farmers market today.

I love a few things about this recipe. For starters, it's a slow cooker recipe, so I throw it in early and then smell it simmering away all day, and by the time dinner rolls around I feel like somebody has cooked for me (even though it was little ole me all along). I also love that it's foolproof. That's the great thing about slow cookers. You just can't mess it up.

Though the recipe specifies certain vegetables, you can play around with it and add or subtract what you want.

Sometimes, when I'm feeling extra fancy, I make cornbread, such as this:

Gluten Free Blackberry Cornbread

Slow Cooker Beef & Vegetable Stew
Serves 4 to 6 people
Cooking time
Gluten-free; dairy-free

Ingredients

2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into bite-sized cubes

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

6 ounce can tomato paste

32 ounces beef broth

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 cups baby carrots

4-5 small red potatoes, cut into cubes (about 3 cups)

2 cups green beans, chopped

3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary)

1 cup frozen peas

2-4 tablespoons gluten free flour

salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Combine beef, celery, carrots, onion, potatoes, green beans, garlic, parsley, rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth, and tomato paste in the slow cooker. Stir to combine the ingredients and mix in the tomato paste. Cook on high for 5 hours or low for 8-10 hours. 

2. About 30 minutes before serving, mix the flour into the slow cooker to achieve desired thickness. Mix until well combined. This will add a nice thickness to the stew. Continue cooking covered for 30 minutes.

3. Before serving, pick out the rosemary sprigs and season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Organic Whole Chicken with Carrots & Potatoes

I'll put it this way...

I'm obsessed with my slow cooker. It's an oval crock pot. It was quite inexpensive. And it's one of my favorite kitchen essentials. I've been using it a lot recently. One of my staple recipes is my Slow Cooker Whole Chicken. There's no easier way to make a chicken.

Cooking a whole chicken—instead of chicken breasts, for example—has many benefits. One is flavor, which comes from skin and bones and fat (all lacking in the straight chicken breast). Another is that you can use the carcass to make chicken stock in your slow cooker overnight. Then the fun starts. You can use your homemade stock and leftover chicken to make chicken soup in the crock pot the next day. Just add any variety of beans, quinoa, and vegetables. Also, homemade chicken stock has a huge array of health benefits that store bought doesn't have.

To make homemade stock, just return the chicken carcass to the slow cooker (along with any drippings from cooking it). You may add onion, carrots, celery, peppercorns, ginger if you want, but this is in no way required. What is required—raw unpasteurized apple cider vinegar or another acid. I throw in about one or two tablespoons. This helps leach the important minerals out of the bones. Cover the carcass with filtered water and cook on low for ten hours or so (overnight).

When you get up the next morning, strain the broth. I usually then place it in the fridge at this point to allow the fat on top to congeal. The fat can then be easily removed from the stock. You can cook with it, for example making chicken chili or soup in the slow cooker, or freeze it for later use. It keeps for about six months in the freezer. Always great to have on hand for soups and risottos.

In case you're wondering, I buy my chickens from either Whole Foods (pastured if available) or Trader Joe's. I'm a fan of their Brined Organic Whole Chickens. And I make a whole chicken about once a week or every other week. It's an absolute staple in my household.

This recipe for Slow Cooker Whole Chicken with Carrots & Potatoes is a whole meal in one pot. That's what I love about it. Put everything in the slow cooker in the morning and then by dinnertime your house smells amazing and you have a full meal. If you want to get some extra greens, you can serve the chicken and carrots and potatoes with a nice salad.

My favorite salad to make lately is organic mixed greens with dried cherries, crumbled goat cheese, candied pecans, tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette (recipe forthcoming).

Now I'm hungry!

Slow Cooker Organic Whole Chicken with Carrots & Potatoes
Serves about 4 people
Cooking time 6 hours on high
Dairy-free; gluten-free

Ingredients
1 organic whole chicken
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into one-inch chunks
4 medium red potatoes, cut into one-inch chunks
1/2 cup dry white wine
bunch of thyme or other herbs to stuff in side the chicken (optional)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and freshly ground pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Note: You may season the chicken with any dried herbs or seasoning mixtures you desire (lemon pepper, smoked paprika, thyme, etc.). I was just keeping this recipe simple.

Directions
1. Layer the onions in the bottom of the slow cooker. Rinse the chicken with cool water and pat dry. Season the inside of the cavity with salt and pepper and stuff with the fresh herbs if desired. Place the chicken on top of the onions in the slow cooker. You may truss the bird if you wish, but it's not necessary in the slow cooker. Pour the white wine into the slow cooker. Place the carrots and potatoes around the chicken.

2. Drizzle the chicken and vegetables with olive oil and season them liberally with the garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high for about six hours. Enjoy!

Honey Rosemary Baby Carrots

Happy September... though it doesn't feel like fall here at all. It still feels like the peak of summer in Southern California. Even so, I've been wanting to eat more fall flavors.

What's more fall-like than root vegetables?

I roasted baby carrots with olive oil and sprigs of rosemary, and then tossed them with a smidgeon of honey. The resulting dish, though simple, was quite wonderful. The sweet honey and herbaceous rosemary flavors really compliment the tender carrots. This little side dish is sure to impress, perfect for the fall season and for the upcoming winter holidays.

Honey Rosemary Roasted Baby Carrots
Serves 4 people
Cooking time: about 20 minutes
Vegetarian; gluten-free

Ingredients
1 pound baby carrots (1 bag)
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon honey

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Toss the carrots with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet with rosemary sprigs. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, until tender and browned.

3. Remove from the oven and pick out the rosemary sprigs (you may use them for garnishing if desired). Toss the carrots with honey. Check seasoning (salt and pepper). Enjoy!

Healthy Turkey Shepherd's Pie

Everybody loves comfort food—not everybody loves what it can do to their waistline.

I must confess here that Shepherd's Pie, a dish that dates back to the 1700's, is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. There's something about the thick layer of mashed potatoes atop the comforting mixture of meat, vegetables, and gravy that makes it irresistible.

It's winter. I was craving it. Enough was enough.

Last night, I had to take matters into my own hands.

And here's the result—a healthy take on this classic dish that is so delicious, you won't notice what's missing (hint: butter, cream, and red meat). And my additions, like smoked paprika and tons of veggies, actually improve upon the original (if you ask me).

For my protein, I chose lean, ninety-nine percent fat free ground turkey. This also makes this dish very friendly to your wallet (in addition to your waistline).

Without further ado, here's the dish that I made last night. I hope that you love it as much as I do.

Healthy Turkey Shepherd's Pie
Serves 8-10 people
Cooking time: about one hour

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
• 1 bunch of carrots, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme 
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup low sodium chicken stock
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 1 tablespoon flour
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 recipe Healthy Mashed Potatoes

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. To make the filling, heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Brown the turkey until cooked through (about five minutes).
3. Add the onion, carrots, and zucchini and cook until beginning to soften (about 5 minutes). Then, add the garlic, paprika, and thyme and cook for one more minute. 
4. Add the red wine and cook for a few minutes, until it's mostly reduced and absorbed. 
5. Stir in the flour.
6. Add the the peas, corn, and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for about five to seven minutes, until the stock reduces and thickens slightly.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
8. To assemble the Shepherd's Pie, transfer the filling into an oven proof dish. Spread the mashed potatoes over the top. Sprinkle with a little paprika if desired.
9. Bake for about 20 minutes until the dish is burbling and the potatoes have set. Remove from the oven. Serve family style or spoon into bowls. Enjoy!

Meatless Monday: Carrot Cake Muffins

Carrot Cake Muffins

I have a new food obsession to report--Carrot Cake Muffins.

And they're healthy, packed with carrots, walnuts, whole grains, golden raisins, and natural sweetener. It sounds too good to be true doesn't it?

I've always loved carrot cake for the rich combination of spices and fresh carrots, which somehow balance out the cake part. And now I have a way to enjoy it guilt free, thanks to Martha Rose Shulman. The recipe appeared in her Recipes For Health column in the New York Times last week.

Roasted Baby Carrots

It's all about the vegetables today.

Those critical, often less flashy components of our diets, defined by Wikipedia (my bible) as "an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed."  If you've noticed these last few weeks, I've been writing up a lot of my very best vegetable recipes for your viewing and eating pleasure (scroll to the bottom of article for a list of recent vegetable recipes).  No, I'm not being paid off by the veggie lobby - in fact, I'm not even sure one exists.  Though we'd better off if it did, given that right now we have the Big Food lobby.

Rather vegetables are often neglected, often prepared poorly, or worse often forgotten all together.  But I believe these treasures should be celebrated.  Of course, a beautiful piece of milk-fed Heritage pork makes my heart go pitter-pat, but preparing meat and starches is more an exercise in replicating the proper technique.  I tend to treat proteins as if they were the side dish, and the vegetables the main course.

You see, in my cooking, the real creativity comes when I approach the vegetable and fruit components in my food.  They're the colors that shade my painting, the flavors that deepen my palate, and if you've ever seen me at a farmers market, then you know I go crazy for kale, loopy for leeks and batty for baby beets.

So in the service of our health (and in turn, our waistlines), I have vowed to arm you, my lovely divas, with an arsenal of fabulous vegetable recipes.  Today, I'm sharing a great way to prepare baby carrots.  These puppies are loaded with health benefits (rich in beta carotene, antioxidants, dietary fiber and minerals).  They're also available literally year round and inexpensive to procure.

For this recipe, I used organic heirloom varieties of baby carrots (yes, they come in a fabulous array of colors from blonde to orange to deep purple).  Heirloom connotes vegetables that were farmed during early human history, but were not adapted to large scale agriculture.  They're often higher in nutrients than the regular carrots that populate supermarkets.  I bought them at my farmers market with the greens still attached, so I had to trim them down.

At most grocery stores, baby carrots can be purchased already peeled and cleaned in neat, little bags, and those may be used in this recipe, too.  Just toss them into the roasting pan whole. Finally, you may use adult carrots, too.  They just may need a little longer cooking time.  Note that for this recipe, the carrots need not be peeled as their skins are tender.  Why discard a nice part of the veggie and create more work for yourself at the same time? 

Roasted Baby Carrots make a fabulous side dish to almost any meal or puree them with one garlic clove and vegetable stock to make a fabulous Roasted Carrot Soup.  Season with salt and pepper, heat over the stove top for ten minutes, drizzle with olive or walnut oil and serve.  This is also a great way to make use of leftover roasted carrots the next day.

Also, don't forget to click click click away on my blog Domestic Divas!  In conjunction with Blog Away Hunger, I'm donating 100% of my January ad revenue to the World Food Program's disaster relief efforts in Haiti.  So browse through my archives - the more you view, the more money gets donated.

Recent Vegetable Recipes
Baby Beets with Balsamic and Thyme
Broccoli with Garlic and Parmesan Reggiano
Delicata Squash with Basil, Pepitos & Goat Cheese
Kale with Currants and Pine Nuts

Roasted Baby Carrots
Serves 4 people
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
3 cups baby carrots (about 1 bag)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

If not already cleaned and bag, remove the carrot tops.  Cut them diagonally into about 1 inch slices. The goal is that all the baby carrots should be of similar size for even roasting.  If already cleaned and bagged, simply use them whole.  Note to keep the slices large as the carrots will shrink while cooking.

Place the carrots in a bowl and toss them with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place them on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Once tender, remove them from the oven.  Correct seasoning (salt and pepper) if needed.  Sprinkle with the chopped parsley.  Enjoy!

Source for Ingredients
organic heirloom baby carrots from Sage Mountain Farm (Hollywood Farmers Market)

Simple Suppers: Carrot-Ginger Soup!

Happy Almost-Thanksgiving!

When we think of T-Day, I know our minds instantly conjure up images of Turkeys, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes and Pumpkin Pie, but one of my favorite ways to kick off any epic meal is with soup!  It's like the perfect pre-party before the big game - a warm, cozy bowl of sumptuous flavor that warms up your palate and gets your ready for the main course.

For that reason, instead of a traditional Thanksgiving recipe, I'm bringing you my take on the classic Carrot-Ginger Soup, a perfect holiday dish that has all the flavors you want this time of year, from sweet to savory and from sweet to spicy.  As mentioned, this soup would be great served as a first course to a holiday dinner, or simply paired with a salad for a simple supper!

For an extra kick of deliciousness, I drizzled roasted walnut oil over the soup right before serving it,  If you've never tasted roasted walnut oil, then your life simply isn't complete!  I'm obsessed with the stuff and will be giving it out as a holiday gift this year, that's how much I love it. 

Carrot-Ginger Soup
Serves 4 people

1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 cups carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large or 3 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 tsp chili flakes
1 bay leaf
4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
salt & pepper

optional: roasted walnut oil for drizzling

Directions: 

In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions, reduce heat to medium and saute until softened and slightly translucent, but not browned (about 5 minutes).  Once the onions have softened, add the garlic, chili flakes and ginger and cook for one minute. Add the carrots, potatoes, bay leaf and stock.  Bring to a simmer and then cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes, or until all the vegetables have softened.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.  Once it's cool enough to handle, take out the bay leaf and discard, transfer the mixture to a blender and puree the soup, in two batches if necessary.  Return to the pot and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Note: if the soup is too thick, you can thin it with additional stock or water to your desired consistency.

To serve, ladle the soup into a bowl.  Drizzle with roasted walnut oil or good olive oil and top with fresh ground pepper.  Enjoy!

Source for Ingredients:

organic heirloom carrots, organic onion, ginger, organic potatoes & organic roasted walnut oil from Hollywood Farmers Market

organic low sodium vegetable stock and chili flakes from Trader Joe's

organic bay leaf and organic olive oil from Whole Foods

Nutrition Facts:

Carrot-Ginger Soup

4 Servings

Amount Per Serving: 

Calories 172.3  

Total Fat 3.8 g
          Saturated Fat 0.5 g
          Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
          Monounsaturated Fat 2.5 g

Cholesterol 0.0 mg

Sodium 794.6 mg

Potassium 765.4 mg

Total Carbohydrate 32.2 g
          Dietary Fiber 6.5 g
          Sugars 7.1 g

Protein 3.3 g