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!

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 Curried Chicken & Cauliflower

Happy Monday & Happy November!

This is a big week with so much in flux. The East Coast still grappling with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. A huge election tomorrow. The holiday season approaching.

When the weather turns colder and everything gets hectic (though it seems to be ninety degrees in LA), I turn to my slow-cooker to provide healthy, homemade comfort food. I love throwing my ingredients in there first thing in the morning and smelling them cooking all day long. I also love feeling like somebody else cooked me dinner, even though I did the work.

This is an easy, healthy slow-cooker dish I threw together last week. The main ingredients are chicken thighs and cauliflower, but I also threw in curry spices, green peas, and red bell pepper. I served the dish over brown rice for a warm, tender meal.

Slow-Cooker Curried Chicken & Cauliflower

Serves 6-8 people
Prep time: 20 minutes; Cooking time: 4-6 hours on high (6-8 hours on low)
Dairy-free; gluten-free

Ingredients

1 pound organic chicken thighs
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup tomato paste
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons curry powder (any curry blend will work)
salt and freshly ground pepper
chopped cilantro for garnishing (optional)
brown rice for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Whisk the tomato paste and curry powder into the chicken broth. Place all of the ingredients into the slow-cooker, stirring to combine.

2. Cook for 4-6 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low, until the chicken is cooked through and very tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. To serve, ladle the Chicken & Cauliflower Curried Stew over brown rice and garnish with a little chopped cilantro. 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!

Snap Pea, Bell Pepper And Sesame Salad

It's June, summer is here, the temperatures are creeping up the mercury.  Every year, when I feel the weather shift, I shift my diet, too.  I stop braising and start grilling.  I trade in roasted vegetables for all manner of salads.  Here's a great one I made the other night as a side dish.  It's simple--filled with raw snap peas and yellow bell peppers--and tossed with lemon juice, sesame oil and sesame seeds.  The combination is stunningly scrumptious and refreshing.

It's also super healthy.  For starters, snap peas are bursting with health benefits.  They're loaded with 8 vitamins, 7 minerals, dietary fiber and protein.  Brightly colored bell peppers, like the yellow ones used in this recipe, are health superstars, full of Vitamin C and A, as well as a host of other nutrients.  Meanwhile, sesame seeds are no slackers in the health department.  Not only are they "a very good source of manganese and copper, but they are also a good source of calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc and dietary fiber." 

Snap Pea, Bell Pepper And Sesame Salad
Serves 4 people
Prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients
2 cups raw snap peas, larger ones halved
2 yellow, orange or red bell peppers, julienned
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
salt and pepper

Directions
Toss the snap peas and bell peppers with the sesame seeds, lemon juice and sesame oil.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Enjoy!

Source For Ingredients
snap peas, organic yellow bell peppers and organic lemons from Trader Joe's

black sesame seeds (Gomasio) and toasted sesame oil from Whole Foods

Music On Tap

The National - High Violet

"High Violet, the new full-length record by the National, is a nervy, melodic, explosive and beautiful set of songs that find the band at the height of their collaborative powers. The music is wide-ranging in its moods, by turns intimate and rough, expansive and spare, full of stark angles and atmosphere."
--From Amazon

Meatless Monday: Slow-Cooker Cauliflower And Potatoes With Indian Spices (Aloo Gobi)

Here we go for Meatless Monday!

Not only am I always looking for fast, healthy meals, but I'm also a fiend for Indian food.  I simply can't get enough of the tumeric, cumin, corriander, ginger and garlic.  Oh, the flavor!  It's like a party on my tongue.  And oh, the health benefits!  I could write a thesis on just about every one of these glorious spices.  Ginger is great for digestion, reduces inflammation, may help lower cholesterol and even fight cancer.  Tumeric is considered to be a powerful anti-inflammatory that may protect against arthritis, heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's disease.  So put that in your pipe and smoke it!  Err... I mean, eat it!

This recipe is my take on Aloo Gobi, a traditional dish made with cauliflower, potatoes and Indian spices. I also added green peas to the mix. To make this a complete meal, I tossed in garbanzo beans (high in protein) and served the whole kit and caboodle over a long grain brown rice (whole grains people!).

Oh yeah, and this dish is a snap to make!  Just throw all the ingredients into your slow-cooker (click here to view) and let it go.  That's it.  No cooking actually involved - just chopping.  How's that for a fool proof meal?

As I settled into my first bite, I was in heaven - Indian food heaven!  Now this is my idea of comfort food.  Forget the burgers and pizza and fries, this was warm and soothing, flavorful and filling, so good in fact, that I was scraping my bowl and quickly downing seconds.  I even caught Kuzak, a self-proclaimed dissenter when it comes to all things Indian food, sneaking into the kitchen for more!  This recipe is so tasty - and so easy - I promise, you'll want seconds, too.

Slow-Cooker Cauliflower and Potatoes with Indian Spices (Aloo Gobi)
Serves 6-8 people
Cooking time: 4-6 hours in a slow-cooker

Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
2 cups potatoes, chopped
1 14 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
salt and pepper

optional
2 cups long grain brown rice, cooked
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions
Place all of the ingredients except the salt, pepper and rice into the slower cooker.  Stir to combine.  Cook on high for 4-6 hours, or on low for 6-8 hours, or until the vegetables are tender.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To plate, scoop some brown rice in the bottom of a bowl or plate.  Top with a generous portion of the Aloo Gobi.  Sprinkle with the cilantro.  Enjoy!

Source for Ingredients
organic cauliflower, organic purple potatoes, ginger and organic onion from The Hollywood Farmers Market

organic elephant garlic, organic canned garbanzo beans, curry powder, tomato paste, organic vegetable broth and organic long grain brown rice from Whole Foods

Music on Tap

Muse - The Resistance

Not only does Muse have a reputation of being one of the best live bands around (and they better be considering they've been touring for the better part of the last seven years), but on this album they finally show their full potential!  Part pro-rock, part-Radiohead, part-Depeche Mode, part-electronica, part-Queen, this album defies categorization.  However, it will rock your socks off!  If you ask me, it's worth buying for hit single "Uprising" alone. 'Nough said.

Click here to check out this album!

Local Amberjack with Pea Tendrils & Roasted Butternut Squash Mash!

Divas, hope you're all feeling fabulous today!

This morning, I'm bringing you a recipe for a great dinner I made on Monday night.  The inspiration were ingredients I bought at the Farmers Market on Sunday, including a lovely fillet of local amberjack, a few big handfuls of organic pea tendrils, a rare and delicate ingredient, and the butternut squash that's so plentiful right now.  Because my ingredients were so fresh, I handled them minimally, wanting to make a clean-tasting, flavorful dinner.  I simply broiled the yellowtail and finished it with a little lemon juice, sauteed the pea tendrils with garlic, and roasted and mashed the butternut squash.

Wow, it was so delicious, it had Kuzak all but licking his plate, wishing there was more butternut squash mash!  The pea tendrils also tasted tender and sweet, with a hint of the peas they produce, and the amberjack pulled the whole dish together with its bright, clean flavor and texture!

While I'm writing up the entire dish I prepared with all the components, the Roasted Butternut Squash Mash is a versatile dish that could be prepared to go with almost any type of fish or meat.  It's a fantastic holiday side dish, or puree it with a garlic clove and some vegetable stock for a tremendous soup!

Note: If you can't find fresh amberjack, almost any fish would work, including halibut, salmon or red snapper!  Also, spinach would be a delicious substitution for the often elusive pea tendrils.

Local Amberjack with Pea Tendrils & Roasted Butternut Squash Mash
Serves 2 people

2 amberjack fillets
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
3 cups pea tendrils, chopped with twisty parts removed
1 garlic clove, chopped
salt & pepper

butternut squash mash:
1 large or 2 smaller butternut squashes,  halved and seeded
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp thyme
1 tbsp butter
salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

To roast the butternut squash, rub the inside with the cardamom, thyme, chili flakes, olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place the squash face down in an oven proof dish and poke holes in the tops.  Fill the pan with 1/2 inch of water.  Place in the oven and roast for 50 minutes, or until the squash is tender.

Once it's cooked, remove from the squash from the oven and allow to cool.  Then, scoop out the flesh into a bowl, add the butter and mash it with a fork.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, rub the fillets with 1 tbsp of the olive oil and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.  Then either broil or grill the fish until just barely cooked through (about 5 minutes depending on thickness).  Remove from oven, sprinkle with the lemon juice and allow to rest for a few minutes.

Finally, make the pea tendrils, heat a pan over medium high heat.  Add the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil and allow to warm.  Then, add the garlic and saute for 1 minute.  Add the pea tendrils and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted (only a few minutes).  Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To plate, place a good heaping of the butternut squash mash on a plate and top with the pea tendrils.  Place a piece of fish on top and enjoy!

Source for Ingredients:

local amberjack from J&P West Coast Seafood (Hollywood Farmers Market)

organic pea tendrils, organic butternut squash, organic garlic, organic lemon and organic thyme from the Hollywood Farmers Market

ground cardamom and organic butter from Whole Foods

chili flakes and organic olive oil from Trader Joe's

Pasta Salad with Yellowtail Tuna, Fresh Peas & Tarragon

I've had a divalicious week, full of great cooking, dining and wine! I'm here to share a great, simple pasta salad recipe I made for lunch the other day. I served it as part of a larger spread that included steamed organic artichokes served with a lemon-olive oil sauce, leftover braised white bean & chicken sausage cassoulet & brownies fresh from The Farm. For the pasta salad, I combined some canned yellowtail tuna that I always keep in my cupboard and organic peas that I blanched until tender but not mushy. I added tarragon to bring out the flavor of the peas and served it with pasta in a balsalmic vinagerette. The result was a fresh healthy dish, packed with protein, light and delicious.


Domestic Diva's Pasta Salad with Yellowtail Tuna, Fresh Peas & Tarragon

1 cup fresh peas, blanched (frozen will work also)
1 can yellowfin or other high quality tuna packed in olive oil
1 tbsp tarragon
1 shallot, diced
3 cups penne or other pasta, cooked al dente
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp good olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine the peas, tarragon, tuna, shallots and pasta. Drizzle with the balsamic and olive oil and toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Halibut with Rosemary Peas & Baby Carrot Puree

Hey Divas, so my dinner last night turned out positively divalicious, so I thought I'd share it with you lucky readers. Halibut season is just beginning, so expect to see much more of this lovely fish on my blog. I love it's clean, steaky texture. To give this dinner a fun twist, I decided to do a twist on peas and carrots. I had some great organic peas and organic baby carrots to play with. The dish turned out great - especially the baby carrot puree. It was so light and rich that you'd think there was something unhealthy lurking in it even though there's not. Even the Adorable Monster got to munch on a baby carrot and a stray pea that escaped during the shelling process!

Rosemary & Garlic in Olive Oil (waiting for peas!)

Domestic Diva's Halibut with Rosemary Peas & Baby Carrot Puree

2 small halibut steaks
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

2 cups baby carrots
3 cups chicken broth
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

1 cup peas, shelled
1 sprig rosemary
1 garlic clove, peeled
salt and pepper

Directions:

Begin by giving the halibut a quick marinade. Top it with the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Let it rest while you prepare the vegetables.

To make the carrot puree, add the chicken stock to a small pan and bring to a boil. Then add the baby garlics and garlic clove, reduce heat and cover, simmering for ten minutes, or until the carrots are cooked. Then, add the carrots, garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 cup of the broth to a blender. Puree until smooth, adding more chicken stock as needed to achieve good consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.

To make the peas, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the peas and a pinch of salt, blanching for thirty seconds. Remove the peas from the water and rinse with cold water. In a saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the rosemary sprig and garlic clove. Then, add the blanched peas, giving them a quick saute for a few minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.


To make the halibut, I chose to broil it, but you can also cook it in a saute pan if you prefer. To broil, turn on your broiler and preheat your cast iron pan under the broiler until smoking hot. Add the halibut pieces (they should sizzle) and then broil for 8-10 minutes, or until the fish is almost cooked. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for a minute (it will continue to cook) or until cooked through. Be careful not to overcook.


To plate, spread some of the carrot puree at the bottom of a plate. Then top with the peas. Add a piece of halibut, placing the rosemary spring on top. Squeeze a little lemon juice on top. Enjoy!

Fresh Pea Soup with Caramelized Onions and Bacon

The Diva coming to you with a brand spankin' new recipe! By Thursday night, who isn't tired from a long week and ready to throw in the towel and surrender to take out? If my boyfriend, Kuzak, was in charge, we'd be eating out of a greasy brown bag every night. Fortunately for us, and our arteries, he's not! But even I'm feeling a little fatigued by the end of the week, so one of my favorite staples to make for a warm, soothing dinner is soup. When it's paired with either a small panini sandwich or a great salad, soup transforms magically into a complete meal.

After surveying my fridge and cupboard, I decided to create a modern take on the old staple, Split Pea Soup with Ham. Instead of dried peas, I had a fridge full of two kinds of fresh peas: English Peas and Sugar Snap Peas. Instead of cooking soup the traditional way beginning with sauteing onions and cooking the peas with ham, I decided to deconstruct the soup. I blanched the peas and pureed them in a homemade veggie stock with garlic and olive oil, and served the soup with a heap of caramelized onions and a piece of crispy bacon. The resulting dish was lovely - a shocking bright green - and full of flavor, but also incredibly light. After whipping up some turkey and goat cheese panini's, we settled into my kitchen "Bistro" for a lovely dinner.

Nobody's helping The Diva!

Domestic Diva's Fresh Pea Soup with Caramelized Onions and Bacon

3 cups fresh peas (I used a combo of English Peas and Sugar Snap Peas)
3 cups homemade vegetable stock (simmer onion, carrot, celery, garlic and a bay leaf in filtered water for at least an hour)
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup olive plus 1 tbsp for drizzling
2 pieces of bacon
1 yellow onion
salt and pepper

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to boil. Quickly, blanch the peas in the water for a few minutes until tender. Remove from the water and rinse with cold water.


In a blender, puree the peas, stock, garlic and 1/4 cup olive oil until smooth. Adjust the amount of stock to achieve desired thickness. Return the soup to the stove top and simmer for 8 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.


Meanwhile, over medium high heat, fry the bacon slices until crispy. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.


Drain most of the bacon fat from the pan, reserving a small amount. Add the onions to the pan, cooking over medium heat, until caramelized (about 10 minutes). Salt and pepper to taste.


To plate, ladle some soup into a bowl.


Add a good heap of the onions to the center of the bowl and top with a piece of crispy bacon. Drizzle with olive oil and serve!