Broccoli Cheese Soup

This soup may have reformed my husband from a no-soup-for-dinner kind of guy, and it didn't even have meat in it! We both love the broccoli cheese soup at Panera Bread, so we were excited to try this knock off recipe I found on the internet. It's not healthy in the slightest which could be why it was so freaking delicious. It was also really easy to make, so win win! The original recipe is here, but after reading the comments I did make a few changes (there is no half and half in Ireland) and of course I didn't puree mine. Anyone who knows me knows I hate pureed soup.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 tbsp butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 c butter
1/4 c flour
2 c whole milk
2 c chicken stock or bouillon
1/2 lb fresh broccoli, chopped very small
1 c carrots, julienned (I used a cheese grater)
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 tsp dijon mustard
3-4 shakes of Tabasco or hot sauce

Melt the tbsp of butter and saute the onions. Set aside. Melt the 1/4 c of butter and add the flour and whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, until it starts to bubble and brown slightly. Slowly add the milk while whisking constantly. Continue whisking and add the chicken stock. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the broccoli, carrots, and onions. Cook over low heat until the veggies are tender, about 25-30 minutes. Add the salt and pepper. The soup should be thickened by now. Over low heat, add the cheese, stirring until it's melted. Stir through the mustard and hot sauce and serve.

This recipe serves 4, but if you go to the website you can increase the serving size which will increase the quantities for the recipe. Some of the reviews say it doesn't reheat well, but we thought it was just as delicious leftover.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Cashew Stir-Fry

Chinese food in America is delicious. Chinese food in the UK is disgusting. When I was in England a couple of years ago Ching-He Huang did a show on BBC2 that corresponded with her cookbook called, Chinese Food Made Easy. The stuff she cooked looked delicious and fresh!

Last year when I moved to Ireland I discovered that Chinese food here is delicious! Hooray! One of my favorite places to eat in Dublin is a Chinese restaurant on Capel Street. However, it's expensive and I'm trying to be healthy, so this weekend I decided to make something out of my book. Since I had most of the ingredients for it, I went with the chicken and cashew stir-fry. It is really easy to make and much healthier than what you get in the restaurants. Wes liked it so much we had it again a few days later. Everything goes so fast once you start cooking, so I strongly recommend that you have everything sliced and ready to go before you start to actually cook.

The online recipe is slightly different from the one in the cookbook, plus I added a few things. So, I'm just going to post my version. However, you can find the original recipe on the BBC Food website.

Chicken and Cashew Stir-Fry

For the chicken
1 egg white
1 tbsp cornflour
Dash of salt
500g (1lb 2oz) boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced thinly
3-4 tbsp stir-fry oil (mixture of sunflower and sesame oils)

For the stir-fry
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced into thin strips
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced into thin strips
3 tbsp chicken stock
2-3 tbsp light soy sauce
2 spring onions, sliced
4 tbsp raw or roasted cashew nuts*
1 tsp Chinese 5 Spice
Salt and ground white pepper
150g Chinese-style medium egg noodles (dry, not straight to wok), to serve**

*If using raw nuts, you may choose to toast them before using them. I just toasted mine in the frying pan over low heat until they started to get slightly brown. I did this while I was chopping up all the veg and chicken. Keep an eye on them, shaking them around a bit, so they don't burn. 

**Follow the package directions to cook the noodles so they finish at the same time as the stir-fry. Mine only take two minutes, so that's how I have accounted for them in this dish. You can also use rice if you prefer.


1. For the chicken, whisk together the egg white, cornflour and salt. Make sure the cornflour is fully incorporated. Add the sliced chicken and stir around to completely coat it. 

2. Start the water boiling for the noodles. Heat wok (or large frying pan) on high heat. Add the oil. Fry the chicken until it's completely brown and crispy on all sides, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain.

3. Heat the oil remaining in the pan over high heat. Add the onion and stir-fry about 30 seconds. Add the peppers and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, or until they start to soften. Add the chicken and stir-fry 1-2 minutes. Drop the noodles into the boiling water.

4. Add the stock, soy sauce and Chinese 5 Spice to the chicken stir-fry and allow it to simmer for a minute or two, ensuring the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the green onions, cashews, and cooked (and drained!) noodles. Season with the salt and ground white pepper. Stir everything together until the noodles are incorporated. Serve immediately.

Makes 3 servings or 2 if you're hungry!

Enjoy!

Garlic shrimp in coconut milk, tomatoes and cilantro

Another successful recipe from Gina's WW's Recipes! For me, the biggest success of this recipe is that I actually peeled and deveined the shrimp all on my own! The peeling bit was easy (even though pulling the heads off was disgusting), but it was the deveining that I was most uncertain about. I believe they even make specific tools to do this and all I had was my $1 Pampered Chef Quikut Paring Knife. Fortunately I have watched enough cooking shows and eaten enough shrimp that I could handle it without the special tool! It took me a little while, but the whole process was actually quite cathartic.

Preparing the shrimp was the most difficult thing about this recipe, so if you find already prepared shrimp this is a quick and easy meal. The recipe says to saute the red peppers over low heat until they're soft (about 4 minutes). If you can manage to get something to saute on low heat, then well done to you! I couldn't. So after about 10 minutes of looking at raw peppers in the pan, I jacked up the heat to get some action. I turned it back down before adding the tomatoes and coconut milk. Wes doesn't like things too spicy, so I only used about 1/4 tsp red pepper flake. It wasn't spicy at all, so next time I'll use the full amount. Also, don't be put off by the amount of garlic in this dish. It wasn't overly garlic tasting at all.

Sorry about the quality of my picture. I had forgotten to take one and Wes reminded me when I had already put the leftovers in the container for him to take to work!

Here is the direct link to the recipe and I've also typed it out for you below:

Garlic shrimp in coconut milk, tomatoes, and cilantro (coriander if you're not in the US!)

1 1/4 lb jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
4 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
1/2 c cilantro
4 cloves garlic, minced
Salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flake (to taste)
14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
14 oz can of light coconut milk
Juice from 1/2 of lime
Steamed or boiled rice

In a medium pot, heat oil on low (again, you might want to jack this up). Add the red peppers and saute until soft (about 4 minutes). If you have turned up the heat on the skillet, turn it back down to low, let it cool off a minute, then add the whites of the scallions, 1/4 c of the cilantro, and the garlic. Cook for about 1 minute.

Add the tomatoes, coconut milk and salt to taste, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. The sauce should start to thicken up a bit.

Add the shrimp and cook for 5 minutes. Add the lime juice.

Serve over rice, sprinkled with cilantro and the green onions.

Serves 4 and the WW points is 5.5 (not including the rice)

Enjoy!

Baked chicken with dijon and lime

I'm not sure how I found this food blog, but it's my new favorite! There are sooo many recipes on it that look delicious! I made my first recipe from the site tonight and it didn't disappoint. We both thought it was delicious. The only change I made was that I used wholegrain mustard instead of dijon because that's what I had on hand. I imagine any mustard would work except that disgusting yellow kind. Also, I didn't want leftovers which is why I cooked 5 thighs instead of the 8 the recipe calls for. I served this with sauteed courgettes (zucchini) and boiled rice.

Here is the direct link to the chicken recipe and I've typed out the recipe below:

Baked chicken with dijon and lime

8 small chicken thighs, skins removed
3 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp light mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, crushed
3/4 tsp black pepper
Juice and zest from one lime
Salt
Dried Parsley

Preheat oven to 400 F (204 C). Rinse the chicken, remove the skin and fat, then pat dry. Place in a large bowl and season generously with salt. In a small bowl combine the mustard, mayo, garlic, black pepper, lime juice and zest. Mix well, then pour over chicken, tossing it to coat.

Spray a large baking pan with cooking spray. Place chicken to fit in a single layer. Sprinkle the chicken with dried parsley. Bake until cooked through, about 30-35 minutes. If you want the chicken to look more brown, place under the broiler for a few minutes (I didn't do this). Serve chicken with pan juices drizzled over the top.

Serves 4
If you're counting WW points, it's 4.25 per serving.

Enjoy!