Thai Chicken Tacos

1 lime
1 lb chicken
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 large shallot, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 to 1 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 to 1 tsp sriracha
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
16 corn tortillas, heated
1 recipe cabbage slaw


1.  Juice one lime half; cut remaining half into wedges.  In bowl stir together chicken, cilantro, shallot, garlic, the 1 Tbsp lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, pepper, and siriracha.  Cover; refrigerate 1 hour.  In large skillet cook chicken mixture in hot oil over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked, stirring occasionally.

2.  To serve, layer two tortillas.  Top with chicken and cabbage slaw*.  Serve with remaining slaw and lime wedges.  Makes 4 (2 taco) servings.

*Cabbage slaw- buy ready cabbage slaw mix then add 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, and 1/4 cup coarsely chopped peanuts, add 1/4 cup rice vinegar; toss.

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

1 cup yellow split peas  (I used green because it was what I had at the time)
1 cup red lentils
7 cups water 
1 medium carrot, cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 Tbls fresh peeled and minced ginger
2 Tbls curry powder
2 Tbls butter
8 green onions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup tomato paste
1-14oz can coconut milk
2 tsp fine grain sea salt
one small handful cilantro, chopped

Give the split peas and lentils a good rinse.  Place them in an extra-large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and add the carrot and 1/4 of the ginger.  Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft.

In the meantime, in a small dry skillet or saucepan over low heat,  toast the curry powder until it is quit  fragrant.  Be careful though, you don't want to burn the curry powder, just toast it.  Set aside.  Place the butter in a pan over medium heat, add half of the green onions, the remaining ginger, and raisins.  Saute for 2 minutes stirring constantly, then add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two more.

Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato paste mixture, mix well, and then add this to the simmering soup along with the coconut milk and salt.  Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so.  The texture should thicken up.

Lettuce Chicken Wraps

3-4 chicken breast
1 large carrot
1/2 lb mushrooms
3 green onions
1 red bell pepper
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 head iceberg or butter lettuce, leaves washed and separated


sauce:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbls rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Cook chicken in large pan with a little bit of water until cooked thoroughly.

While the chicken is cooking dice up your veggies. 

Remove the chicken from the pan and cut into cubes.

Saute veggies in 1 Tbls oil and 2 cloves garlic and 1/2 tsp sesame oil.

Mix together sauce ingredients and whisk to combine.

When veggies are soft, add diced chicken and sauce and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

Serve with rice and lettuce.  

Crockpot-Red Lentil Sweet Potato Curry Coconut Milk Yummy Soup

1 Tbls olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tsp crushed ginger
2 tsp garlic
1 Tbls curry powder
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 1/2 red letils
6 cups chicken broth
1 can light coconut milk
sea salt to taste

Heat olive oil in frying pan; add the chopped onion and saute 3-4 minutes or until onion starts to soften.  Add the ginger and garlic and saute 1-2 minutes more; then add the curry powder and saute one more minute.  Add the onion mixture to the crockpot.

Add the chopped sweet potato and red lentils to the crockpot. Deglaze the pan with 1 cup of the chicken stock and add to crockpot along with the rest of the stock.

cook on high for 4 hours, or until lentils are starting to dissolve and sweet potato is very soft.  Add 1 can light coconut milk and cook about 20 minutes more.  Season to taste with sea salt and serve hot.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Cream of Broccoli Soup

1 1/2 lb broccoli
2 cups water
1 large stalk celery, chopped (3/4 cup)
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
2 Tbls butter
2 Tbls all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup milk

1.  Remove flowerets from broccoli; set aside.  Cut stalks into 1" pieces, discarding any leaves.
2.  In 3 quart saucepan, heat water to boiling.  Add  broccoli flowerets and stalk pieces, celery and onion.  Cover and heat to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer about 10 minutes or until broccoli is tender (do not drain).
3.  Carefully place broccoli mixture in blender.  cover and blend on medium speed until smooth.
4.  In 3 quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Stir in flour.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat.  Stir in broth.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 minute.
5.  Stir in broccoli mixture, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Heat just to boiling.  Stir in milk.  Heat just until hot.
Prep: 35 min.  Cook: 10 min.  Serv: 8

Cream of Celery Soup

Cream of Celery Soup

2 Cup        celery, diced
1                onion, diced
4 Tbsp       cornstarch
4  Cup       chicken broth
3/4 Cup     skim milk
salt and pepper to taste


1. Saute celery and onion in olive oil.

2.  Whisk cornstarch into cool chicken broth until smooth.

3.  Add milk, celery and onion to chicken broth.  Heat until thickened.

4.  Season to taste. 

Serves: 5