Last minute Chicken Noodle Soup

I orignally got this recipe from allrecipes.com when I got sick some time last year. Since then I've made this a couple of more times when I'm looking for a filling yet simple and quick meal. What I have below is what I've done to make this more of my own. If you'd like to see the original recipe, just follow the link above.

This is a very quick recipe 30 minutes from start to finish, which you can make even quicker if you buy ready-cut veggies.

What you need

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 4 boxes of Kirkland Signature (KS) chicken broth
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can vegetable broth
• 1 can of KS chopped cooked chicken breast
• 1 1/2 cups egg noodles
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

What to do

In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Cook onion and celery in butter until just tender, 5 minutes. Pour in chicken and vegetable broths and stir in chicken, noodles, carrots, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes before serving.               

Scallops with Cherry-Tarragon Sauce

I got this recipe from Whole Food's website. The first time I made this was about a year ago, and it was just so good. However, I had to wait until cherries were back in season.

Serves 4 to 6

The combination of rich sea scallops with sweet and tangy cherries is exceptionally satisfying. Scallops are at their best and most tender with short cooking at very high heat; make sure to have the scallops as dry as possible and your pan so hot that the oil is shimmering--but not smoking--before you add the scallops.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds wild-caught sea scallops 
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 
2 shallots, chopped 
2 tablespoons rice vinegar 
1/2 pound cherries (about 2 cups), pitted and quartered 
1 tablespoon chopped tarragon

Method

Pat scallops dry with paper towels. Sprinkle on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large, heavy skillet over high heat until very hot. Add oil and heat until very hot. Add half the scallops and sear, turning once, until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer scallops to a platter and cook remaining scallops; cover and keep warm. 

Lower heat to medium and add shallots to the skillet. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add vinegar and cherries. Cover skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until cherries are softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in tarragon, then pour cherry sauce over scallops.

A quick salad

So the other night I went running with a friend. Afterwards we were hungry. She wanted to go out, but I had food at home. So I told her I'd make us a salad. This us my creation.

What you need
Romaine lettuce
Goat cheese
Plums
Grape tomatoes


Dressing
One lemon
EVOO
salt &pepper

Chop the romaine and crumble the goat cheese. plums are pitted and sliced. Add the sliced plums and grape tomatoes to the mix.

For the dressing, take the juice of one lemon, add salt and pepper and evoo to a container that can be tightly sealed. Shake and pour over salad. Serve and enjoy.

Chicken Salad w/Garlic Lemon Dressing

So the other day I was home and decided to make something for dinner. I had some Roman Lettuce, and some chicken breast and said to myself, "Let's make a chicken Salad. I made a quick marinade for the chicken, chopped some lettuce, and made a quick dressing. It turned out great.

What you need:
2-3 heads - Roman Lettuce


For the Chicken
2 - Whole Chicken Breast
3 Tbsp - Agave
1/3 cup - Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 cup - EVOO

For the Dressing
1 - Lemon
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Minced Garlic (I love garlic, so I use a lot!)
EVOO

So place the chicken breast in a small dish that can be placed in the oven. Add the Agave, Balsamic, and EVOO in the same dish. Mix it around a bit, and then place in the over at 350. You're going to cook this for about 20-40 minutes, depends on how thick your breast is.

While that is cooking, take out the Roman Lettuce and chop.

Now it's time for the Dressing. Using a container that you can cap and shake, place the following into the container in the order listed above. Place the cap on and shake vigorously.

Once the chicken in cooked all the way through, take it out of the oven and cut it into strips or large chunks. Place in the same bowl as the roman. If you'd like, you can take the drippings and add it to the salad dressing (giving it another good shake) and then toss it with the chicken and roman.

Plate and serve. This is a quick and easy meal...hope you enjoy.

Honey Baked Chicken

This is something I've been trying for years to get from a good friend of mine, his famous Honey Baked Chicken. I always thought it was something that was hard to make, but it turns out, not so much.
Men, this is an easy recipe that you can make that will really impress the ladies (or fellas, whatever floats your boat).


What you need

• 2 lbs of Chicken Thighs or cut up fryer
• 1 stick of butter
• ¼ cup prepared mustard
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 tablespoon of Indian Curry

Combine the butter, mustard, Salt, honey and curry in a saucepan. Cook on low heat until are ingredients are combined into a creamy sauce. Arrange chicken in a baking dish and pour sauce covering all the chicken. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour and a half. Serve with mash potatoes and steamed carrots. Use juice and drippings from chicken to pour over your potatoes and carrots.

Caprese

Homemade Caprese

A simple to make salad that will just knock the socks off of just about anyone. If you plan on having some Italian themed meal, try this starter out. Its made very easily with some mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and salt.


Needs:
1 lb Mozzarella
3-4 vine ripen Tomatoes
10-20 fresh Basil leaves
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Balsamic Vinegar (optional)


Directions:

1. Slice the Mozzarella and Tomatoes into 1/4" slices.
2. Place the Mozzarella and Tomatoes down alternating between the two with a basil leaf in between them.
3. Add some Salt and pepper to taste and drizzle some Extra Virgin Olive Oil on top and serve. If you like, you can also add the Balsamic Vinegar on top as well.

Easy to make, and you'll look like a pro in the kitchen...

Pesto for Two

One of my favorite things is Pesto. You can always by it in the markets, but I find that making it fresh always tastes best. Now I'm going to share a couple of recipes here, but they all fit in the same theme, Pesto.


If you search the web for pesto recipe, you're going to get a bunch of hits, but the basic recipe is generally the same, with a few changes here and there.


Basic Pesto Sauce

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
3 cloves garlic
2 cups fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1 dash salt and pepper


Food Processor
Add the garlic to the food processor and mince. Next, add the basil leaves, pine nuts, and a dash of salt and pepper to the bowl of the processor. While the processor is running, slowly drizzle in olive oil through the feed tube until all the ingredients are pureed.


You may need to stop the processor at this point and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula to get every mixed together. Now add Parmesan cheese and mix it into the rest of the mixture. If the pesto is too thick, add a tablespoon of water.

Blender
Add all the ingredients (except salt and pepper) into a blender in the order above. Start the blender off at a slower setting then increase to the second to the fastest speed. Blend for about a minute.


You should have enough sauce to cover about 1 pound of pasta. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to use it. This should keep for 2 - 3 days in the fridge but freezes well if you want to keep it longer.


Now that you have the pesto, you can make the meal, which consists of two three parts, the Pasta, the Veggies, and the Salmon.


Pasta is the simplest part...just cook it according to the directions on the package. Veggies as simple as well. I recommend a squash medley of some sort.


The salmon is what would/could take the most time to prep.


Pesto Salmon


1 Salmon Filet
1/4 cup of Pesto Sauce (just made)
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1 stick of butter

1 Lemon (or Lime)
Fresh Dill
salt and pepper


Pesto Butter
Take the butter and pesto and put it into a mixer. Mix until pesto and butter is thoroughly mixed. Set aside in the refrigerator.


Once you have made the Pesto Butter you can finish this dish. Take your salmon filet and place in a bake safe dish. For those that don't bake on a regular basis, the disposable trays. Pre-heat the over to 350º. While the oven is heating, sprinkle the salmon with the parsley flakes, salt and pepper. Place a lemon slice on the the filet along with the dill.


Cook covered with foil for about 20 minutes (or until cooked to desired).


Sever the salmon with the pasta and veggies on the side. Enjoy.