Chicken and Avocado Soup


Recipe Inspiration from: Skinny Taste
Original Recipe: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/02/chicken-and-avocado-soup.html

Cochran Review: I say inspired and original above because I had to alter the original recipe cooking instructions in several ways to appeal to my boys. I'm sure I'd love the original recipe as is. We're having this for dinner tonight. Stay tuned for what we thought and pictures.

Rather than state my changes in a paragraph format, I thought it may be easier to just rewrite the recipe as I made it. So, here is how I prepared our dinner..

Chicken
- 5 cups of chicken broth
- 10 whole peppercorns
- 1 lime (sliced thinly)
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 raw boneless skinless chicken breasts
- pinch of cumin powder
- pinch of cayenne pepper powder

Place the chicken in the slow cooker. Sprinkle with peppercorns, cumin, cayenne pepper, and bay leaves. Toss lime slices on top. Pour chicken broth over top of everything. Cook on high 4-5 hours (5 if frozen) and low 6-8 hours (8 if frozen). Making the chicken is definitely a step you can do in advance.

Soup
- 1 tomato, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1&1/2 cup of green onions, finely chopped
- 2 ripe avocados, mashed
- 1 cup of cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 lime sliced
- 2 tsp of grape seed oil
- ground sea salt & fresh pepper to taste
- 18 oz of whole wheat three cheese tortellini

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat grape seed oil. Saute tomato, garlic and green onions in pot about 3-5 minutes. Let cool enough to be safe to transfer to food processor. Blend saute mixture well in food processor.

When chicken is done, remove from slow cooker and shred or cut into bite sizes pieces. Strain broth (to remove fatty chicken pieces, peppercorns, bay leaves, and lime slices) into large pot or dutch oven used to saute vegetables. Bring to a boil. This is the base for your soup. Whisk saute mixture into soup base. Whisk mashed avocado into soup. Put tortellini and chicken into soup broth. Simmer, covered on low for 15-20 minutes.

To serve, place cilantro, lime slice(s), additional scallions (if desired) into a bowl, and ladle soup over top.

Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup

Credit: Two Peas & Their Pod
Recipe: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/italian-sausage-tortellini-soup/

Cochran Review: This was really good. You may notice on the labels I have Meatless and Slow Cooker. Meatless is tagged because you can make this meal without the Italian Meatballs... unless you're cooking for me boys. Ha! I had a jam packed day when I made this so I altered the meal to a slow cooker method. However, you do not have to make this in the slow cooker. Just follow original recipe for stove top cooking.

One cautionary word of advice, I found rolling a zillion tiny little meatballs time consuming and tedious. So, if preparing this on a work day or busy day, you may want to do this step in advance. You could put them on wax paper in fridge to keep or even freeze them. Also, I ended up scooping all of the tortellini for our original meal and buying another batch to make for leftovers. My family likes a chunky, hearty soup over mostly broth. I will definitely make this again with doubling the tortellini. Enjoy!

Here are some pics from our dinner:

I made the meatballs about the size of a baby spoon.

I couldn't decide which pic to use, so I offer both. Ha ha! Also, I decided to top the soup with freshly grated Romano cheese I had on hand from another recipe.

Turkey & Barley Soup

Credit: skinnytaste.com
Recipe: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/09/beef-barley-soup.html?m=1

Comments: Making this for dinner tonight. I'm substituting beef with ground turkey. Stay tuned.

Braised Chicken Pumpkin

Credit: Michael Symon, The Chew
Recipe: http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Braised-Chicken-Pumpkin-Michael-Symon

Cochran Review: I was a little nervous my husband would weird out about pumpkin. So I used half pumpkin & half sweet potato. It wasn't weird at all. Very flavorful & yummy! Also, I substituted sweet peas for collard greens. I think next time I'll use kale. Fair warning, this makes a ton! So make for a large group or plan to freeze. Enjoy!

Pic from our meal:



Sausage & Kale Soup



Credit: Taste of Home
Recipe: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Sausage-and-Kale-Soup

Cochran Review: It is simmering on the stove now. Super easy to put together and smells wonderful on this cold, rainy day. We will let you know. -- This was great! I used turkey sausage, but followed the rest. Hearty, tasty, easy to make, and pairs well w/ fresh made bread! Enjoy!

Picture of our meal simmering:



Low-Fat Potato Soup

No picture, sorry. I'll take one next time I make it.

Credit: +50 Friends Group
Recipe: http://www.sangotn.com/cookbook/crockpot/loftpotsp.html

Cochran Review: This recipe is so easy and so flavorful! It makes a lot, but freezes easy. I thought we would be freezing some, but we gobbled it all up! Enjoy!

Slow Cooker BLT (Bacon, Leek, Tomato) Brisket

Credit: Rachael Ray Show
Recipe: http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=4438

12.19.12 Update: RR changed their site. New link attached above, but doesn't include the crouton recipe. Here is her garlic crouton recipe I found that we can just add parmesan to: http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=4895

Cochran Review: OH EM GEE!!!! This dish... AH-mazing!!!! That says a lot coming from me, because I will choose turkey or chicken over red meat 95% of the time. Definitely don't skip making the easy salad and croutons! It was so easy and adds so much! Mom mentioned she loved the different textures: soft falling apart brisket, crisp salad, and crunchy croutons! Mom & Dad loved the stewed cherry tomatoes. My husband & I enjoyed the flavor the tomatoes gave, but didn't eat them. Donnie has an issue with tomato texture and I'm allergic (can only handle small doses). I can really understand why Rachael recommends caramelizing the meat before slow cooking it! It really added flavor!

Our salad was actually made with Boston Lettuce instead of Watercress or Arugula. My husband doesn't care for Arugula. So, I was going to use Watercress. However, Watercress doesn't hold up well and isn't widely sold in our area. So, the groceries only order upon request. If you want Watercress, make sure you check with your grocery or produce stand a few days in advance. That being said, Boston Lettuce was recommended by my grocery produce manager and we enjoyed it very much!

Also, the recipe calls for 2 Tbsps of honey. Our pediatrician recommends not giving our son honey until after he is 2. So, I substituted 2 Tbsps of honey with 1&1/2 Tbsps of maple syrup and 1 Tbsp of white sugar. See my article about Food Substitutions for more detail. I think our son thought it was worth it, because he gobbled this meal up!

This recipe has a few steps. So, I did some of them the night before. I cut the leeks, and put the veggies in a zip lock so I could just dump them into the slow cooker in the morning. Also, I cooked the bacon and caramelized the brisket the night before and put it in a zip lock. I made the croutons before serving, but I certainly think this step could be done the night before, too.

Hope you give this a try and enjoy! We will be making this again!