Indian-Spiced Yellow Split Pea Soup

Well, it's not a great picture but it's not a great soup, so I guess it's fitting.  None of the boys liked it.  #2 ate the most consuming a massive three bites.  #3 spit his first bite out but then proceeded to eat another.  As I type this #1 is still sitting here staring ate his bowl not having taken his one required bite.  #4 tried hers but then quickly began playing with it and adding raisins.  I'm pretty certain that didn't help with the taste.

The soup itself is sorely lacking in flavor.  I know it's meant to be vegetarian but if I were to ever make this again, I would use chicken stock in place of most of the water (if not all.)  I made my bowl a bit more palatable by adding more cayenne pepper.  Rather than serve ours over rice, I opted to give the kids pitas for them to dip thinking it might encourage them to eat more.  I was mistaken about them but I did like the pita.  

Here's the recipe I used:

http://www.familycircle.com/recipe/soups/indian-spiced-yellow-split-pea-soup/

Curried Apple Bisque

Once again, I haven't been doing very well at posting our new foods.  This week I decided to move our new food to Wednesday nights for the foreseeable future.  I think it will work a bit better with our current schedule but I sure don't like calling it New Food Wednesday...doesn't quite have the same ring to it.  I forgot to take a picture last night so will take one when I eat the leftovers and post it then.

I thought the soup was delicious and went really well with some simple boneless pork chops.  In fact, I started dipping mine in the soup.  #1 and 3 were not at all thrilled with the soup, #4 took a bite and then smeared it all over her tray, and #2 ate his WHOLE bowl.  Yay!! 

Here's the recipe I used:

2 tbs butter
1 onion chopped (I used a Vidalia)
1 celery stalk chopped
2 Fuji apples peeled, cored, and finely chopped (I actually had Fujis so used those but you could probably substitute)
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp turmeric
4 cups chicken stock (I used low sodium)
1/4 cup uncooked white rice
salt and freshly ground pepper (I used white pepper)
1/2 cup half and half (I used some of #4's whole milk but you could probably substitute lower fat milk)
fresh cilantro sprigs for garnish (not a fan of cilantro so I skipped this)

Melt the butter in a stockpot over medium heat.  Add onion and celery and saute until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add apples, curry, coriander, sugar, and turmeric.  Turn up heat, stir well, and cook 5 minutes.  Pour in chicken stock and rice.  Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.  Cover and cook 15 minutes until rice is done and apples are tender.  Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth.*  Return to the pot, season to taste, and bring nearly to a boil.  Stir in half and half, cook briefly to heat through, and serve.  Garnish with cilantro if desired.

* The editors of this cookbook forgot to mention a very important step.  You MUST let the soup cool some before trying to puree in the blender or your kitchen will soon be covered in Curried Apple Bisque.  You could use an immersion blender and save some time and mess.  Sadly, I speak from experience.

Chicken Sauteed with Apples

Since I still have so many apples in my garage, I thought I'd try something a little different for us and use them in a savory dish.  I thought it was delicious.  #3 finished his chicken but was not a fan of the apples since he didn't like the "little green things."  #2 ate his required bites so he wouldn't miss Cub Scouts but the frown on his face the entire time left me with the impression that it was not something he would ever want to eat again.  #4 has been toddler picky lately so she mostly ate rice.  As for #1, well, he is currently enjoying some quiet time in his room...I won't elaborate since I'm still a little grumpy.

Here is the recipe that I used:
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/chicken-sauteed-apples-10000001116466/index.html

Although I currently have seven types of apples, I do not have any Braeburn so I substituted with what I'm pretty sure was a Fuji.  I also opted to use a couple of shallots versus a large onion.  My grocery was out of Vidalias and I thought the family would appreciate a milder onion flavor.  The chicken was a little dry (probably because I pounded the chicken breasts a little thinner than the recipe called for so they overcooked.)  The sauce with the dijon was yummy and really helped.

Going Vegetarian

So, it's been quite awhile since I've posted any new recipes.  Even though life has been very busy lately, I have still been squeezing in our New Food Mondays almost every week. Tonight I actually had my camera handy and a couple of minutes of spare time after dinner so I decided it was time to get back in the groove.  

#2 has been tossing around the idea of becoming a vegetarian lately so I decided to dust off my copy of Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons and try something without meat (gasp!!).  I prepared the Thai Tofu with Red Curry Sauce over Coconut-Scallion Rice.  It was spicy and delicious!  I even ate the broccoli!  #1 and #4 ate the rice minus the scallions and a couple of pieces of plain fried tofu since neither is a big fan of spicy food.  #3 gobbled up some plain tofu with rice and tried some of the broccoli in the sauce but quickly requested a glass of milk.  #2 almost cleaned his plate but I think the heat started to get to him too (even though he would never admit it.)   Hubby gobbled his serving up (after picking out all the broccoli.)

Here's the recipe:

http://www.food.com/recipe/thai-tofu-w-red-curry-sauce-over-coconut-scallion-rice-245589

This version uses only one tbsp of chili sauce where the original calls for three...hmm..maybe I should have used this one.  The author of this recipe halved the amount of broccoli but doubled the amount of oil.  I did not buy fish sauce or kaffir lime leaves since I was fairly certain I wouldn't use them again.  I am not a huge cilantro fan so I only used maybe 1/3 cup.

Wegmans Fest

We were in a time crunch once again due to #2's baseball game so I tried something simple and almost new.  The Wegmans theme popped into my head since I already had several Wegmans products on hand.  #1 normally loves anything pork chop related so I wasn't worried about him.  #2 could probably go his whole life without ever eating another pork chop so he ate his one bite and was done.  #3 probably would have cleaned his plate if he had had more time.  I thought the chops might be a bit much for #4 so she ate something else.  The brussels sprouts were another issue entirely.  I am not a huge fan of them in general but have found that I can eat them if they are roasted in the oven.  These, however, were not.  All three of the boys ate their one bite and asked to be done.  I don't blame them as they were a bit on the mushy side.  I opted for some good old instant mashed potatoes on the side, but, unfortunately, misread the directions and only made two servings.  Everybody got just a wee taste.

Here is the recipe for the pork chops:

http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=348514

Chipotle Lime Chicken

Well, we once again had a very full Monday in store so I decided to dust off my Crockpot and try some Chipotle Lime Chicken with Jamaican Rice.  I was pleasantly surprised that #1 was the first to taste the chicken!  He said something along the lines of, "Well, that wasn't too bad."   Pretty sweet praise coming from him!  Neither #2 or #3 was thrilled with the chicken but they did eat what was required.  The rice, however, disappeared from #2's plate before I had even finished serving myself!  I think the rice was definitely my favorite as well.  Not at all lowfat, but so delicious.  #2 has a Little League game this Monday, so I'm thinking about something simple....maybe an all Wegmans meal.

Here's the recipe that I used:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robin-miller/slow-cooker-chipotle-lime-chicken-thighs-jamaican-rice-and-peas-recipe/index.html

I substituted chicken breasts and found the meat a bit dry.  Since the recipe was intended to make extra for another meal, I also cut the amount of meat in half.  I think I would add more of the chipotles to kick up the heat a bit too.  You might notice from the picture that I did not add the beans to the Jamaican Rice.  You can reference my last post if you are wondering why. :-)  It still turned out super yummy!!

Aloha Chicken

Well, with the beginning of Little League and a busy Easter week, I decided to take it easy on everyone again this week.  I thought I was anyway until #2 said, "Ugh, chicken...I don't like chicken."  The chicken was very similar to a sweet and sour without the sour.  Lots of sweet pineapple-y goodness!  I would have served it over the rice but, again, my children have a 'thing' with mixed foods...one thing at a time.  My sweet hubby did add his usual hot sauce so maybe it could have used a bit more flavor.  I think their favorite part was all the pineapple.  I snuck (is that a word?) a second new food in with the yellow/wax beans.  I offered them the choice of steamed or raw.  I tried both and much prefer the raw (as did everyone else) though I am still not a fan.  I would probably be perfectly content never to eat another bean again with the exception of chickpeas and possibly baked beans.   I think next week I'll be dusting off my crockpot, but what to make...

Here's the recipe for the chicken:
http://www.parents.com/recipe/chicken/aloha-chicken-with-pineapple-dip/

I used two large chicken breasts and it fed all of us with a little leftover.  I also increased the amount of the pineapple sauce since the recipe said it only served two...they must have used a very small chicken.