Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

We had a mom make this at a teacher's luncheon I was in charge of and it was a hit.  I got the recipe finally to make today.  Yummy!

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup (170g) wild rice
• ¼ cup (60ml) vegetable oil
• 1 onions, chopped
• 2 medium sized carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 large stalks celery, chopped
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• ¾ cup (115g) all-purpose flour
• 8 cups (1.9 liters) chicken stock
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cups (300g) cooked chicken, cubed
• 8 oz (225g) mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
• 1 cup (240 ml) half-and-half
• ½ cup (25g) chopped parsley

Instructions

Cook wild rice in 4 cups (960ml) of water for 45 minutes or until it fluffs up. Drain any remaining liquid left in the pot. Set aside.

In a large pot, add vegetable oil. Sauté onions, carrots, and celery until soften, about 3 minutes. Add dried thyme and all-purpose flour. Cook and stir for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour in chicken stock. Bring to a boil.

Add cooked chicken, mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat and allow soup to simmer for 10 minutes.

Add cooked wild rice and pour in half-and-half. Bring soup back up to a boil and allow it to heat through, about 5 minutes.

Turn off heat. Stir in chopped parsley. 

Spicy Fish Taco Bowls

Got this recipe off Pinterest, I tweaked it slightly. The original recipe called for the addition of chili powder & cayenne pepper (probably why it was titled "spicy" :} but I chose to leave those out so my kiddos could eat it) I have made it several times & everyone likes it--definitely a keeper! I also really recommend making this spanish rice to serve with this dish!


Ingredients:
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic pwd
1 tsp salt
3-4 tilapia filets
1-2 minced garlic cloves
1 C corn kernels (fresh is probably best, but I only had frozen)
1 red onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 can black beans (rinsed & drained)
cooked rice (use brown or spanish rice recipe link above)
cilantro, avocado, shredded cheese, etc. for topping

Directions:
1. Make your rice.
2. Mix the spices together in a bowl & sprinkle evenly over both sides of fish--I like to season my fish a lot, but just sprinkle on however much looks good to you--add s&p to taste.
3. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, drizzle a little olive oil, add garlic & saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the fish to the pan, cook on each side for several minutes--checking the middle for doneness (fish should be completely white & flake apart easily). Remove fish & set aside.
4. Add corn, red peppers, & onion to the pan & heat on med/high heat for several minutes--stir and cook until peppers & onions are cooked to your liking. Add the black beans & heat through.
5. Layer the rice, corn/onion/pepper/bean mixture together with the fish in a bowl. Top with any of the toppings listed above, etc.!

Costa Vida Dinner

We love the food at Costa Vida in Colleyville! website here

After having their sweet pork the last time, I can home determined to try to recreate it at home. This recipe was SOO very easy and tasted almost just like it. Very yummy for tacos!

I served it inside tortillas with guacamole, cheese, cilantro lime rice (see recipe after the pork recipe), diced tomatoes, and pinto beans (black beans would be good too).

Enjoy!
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Costa Vida Sweet Pork

4 lb. pork roast (I used a pork butt roast)
2 cups brown sugar
1 (12-14 oz.) jar salsa
2 cans Dr. Pepper (I am sure regular coke would work too) (24 oz. or 2 1/2 cups)

Place roast in crock pot, fill half way with water and cook for 6-8 hours
Discard water.
Shred meat and return to the crock pot

Combine sugar, salsa, and coke in a separate bowl.
Add mixture to the meat in the crock pot.
Cook an additional 3 hours. Stir occasionally.

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Cilantro Lime Rice

2 cups white rice
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup lime juice
chopped fresh cilantro (I used some of my jarred freeze dried cilantro that I keep in the fridge)

Bring water, cilantro, and lime juice to a boil. Add rice. Cover and turn on low for about 20 minutes. (Basically just the same as cooking regular white rice)

Fluff with fork before serving.

Chicken, Black Bean & Rice Bowl

Made this tonight-it was easy and yummy; here's what I did:

Made Lisa F's spanish rice (posted on here earlier)...although I will say that I upped the salt & cumin to 1 tsp instead of the half that was on the original to give it more flavor and that is the way to go! Anyway, made this rice & let it simmer while cooking the rest.

Ingredients:

boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced

taco seasoning packet

onion, diced

bell pepper, diced (I used red & yellow because I had it on hand, but any would work)

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

chopped cilantro

In a large skillet I sautéed in olive oil the onion, bell pepper & diced up chicken. I sprinkled half of the packet of taco seasoning over this, stirring frequently & let it cook until the chicken was no longer pink and onions/bell pepper were soft. Then I added in the black beans & cilantro and mixed it all together, serving it over the spanish rice. Yumm-o!

Microwave Mandarin Chicken

Found this recipe on all recipes--I was surprised that they recommended cooking it in a microwave, but thought I'd give it a try. It turned out great! This was good and everyone ate it--definitely a keeper!

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves

2 TBS brown sugar

2 TBS cornstarch

1/2 C teriyaki sauce

1/4 C apple juice

1 TBS vegetable oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 (15 oz) can mandarin oranges

Hot cooked rice (I used jasmine)

2 green onions, sliced (optional)

Directions:

1. Pound the chicken to 1/4" thickness & place in a greased 2 qt microwave safe dish.

2. In a bowl, combine brown sugar & cornstarch, stir in the teriyaki sauce, apple juice, oil & garlic

3. Drain the oranges, reserving the juice--set oranges aside. Add the juice to the teriyaki mixture. Pour over the chicken.

4. Cover and microwave on high for 8 minutes.

5. Baste the chicken with the sauce--cover and cook for 3-5 min longer or until the sauce is thickened.

6. Serve over rice, garnish with the oranges & onions.

(side notes for future: add a little s&p/garlic salt to chicken breasts before pouring teriyaki mixture over them)

**serve with steamed veggie, fresh broccoli or asparagus

Homemade Spanish rice

Also from Lisa...

Ingredients:

1 C rice (not minute)

1/4 C oil

8oz can tomato sauce (& 3 cans of water)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

1. mix the 3 seasonings together in a small bowl, set aside.
2. in a skillet, saute the rice in the oil until it is lightly browned

3. when the rice has browned, add your water & tomato sauce to the skillet

4. toss your seasonings in, stir & bring to a boil--reduce to a simmer, cover your skillet & cook for approximately 20 minutes

This goes great with those enchiladas! Soo much better than a boxed version!

Beans & Rice, Rice & Beans...

With today's economy nothing like a cheap & easy recipe!
I got this literally off the back of a can of Westbrae Organic Chili Beans (found at SuperTarget) and now it is a staple meal in our home--it's cheap, easy, and pretty darn healthy.
(Sometimes I double this recipe) Hope you'll enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 C uncooked rice (white, brown, basmati, or jasmine, etc.)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C onion chopped
1/2 C green pepper, chopped
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
2 tsp (or less) chili powder
1 can Westbrae Organic Chili beans, drained (it's a pinto, kidney & black beans mix)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 C grated cheese

Instructions:
1. Cook rice according to pkg directions, set aside.
2. Saute garlic, onion, green pepper and spices in olive oil until onion is translucent, about 5 min.
3. Add remaining ingredients & heat
4. Serve over cooked rice
5. Top with grated cheese
6. Salt & Pepper to taste (it's also good topped with Louisiana type hot sauce)

Chipotle's Chicken Marinade & Basmati Rice Recipe

I love Chipotle, but could go broke frequenting that place! I looked online for some of their recipes and found a site that had some.
I tried making their chicken using this marinade and it was great! I made the rice and loved it too--anyway, I plan on keeping this recipe so thought I'd post it here to have it handy. :)

Chipotle's Chicken Marinade

Ingredients:
1 (2 oz) pkg dried ancho chiles (these are just those red peppers that have been dried--I found a nice small pkg of them at Walmart in the produce section)
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cumin pwd
2 TBS fresh oregano, chopped ( I didn't have fresh- I used dried and it seemed to work)
6 cloves garlic (again I improvised :} I use the minced kind that I keep in the fridge--I think I used about 2 tsp of it)
1/2 red onion, quartered
1/4 C vegetable oil
4 chicken breasts

Instructions:
*soak dry chiles overnight in water (the chiles in the pkg I bought were already kind of soft so I soaked them, but not for long); remove seeds. Add all ingredients except the chicken in food processor. Puree until smooth.
*Spread mixture over chicken and refrigerate for at least one hour, up to 24hrs (I put mine in a ziploc to marinate--I think next time I will generously salt & maybe also garlic salt them before coating them with the marinade--that was my only complaint about flavor)
*After marinating, heat grill to about 400 degrees or if cooking inside, heat small amt of oil in skillet or grill pan over high heat. Salt meat to taste & grill lightly, turning only once, until done.


Chipotle's Basmati Rice
1 tsp vegetable oil or butter
2 tsp fresh cilantro
2/3 C white basmati rice
1 C water
1/2 tsp salt
juice from 1 lime

*In a 2 qt heavy saucepan, heat oil or butter over low heat.
*add rice & lime juice, stir for 1 minute. Add water & salt, bring to a full rolling boil
*At boiling, cover, turn down to simmer over low heat until rice is tender and water absorbed (about 15 min?) add in the cilantro
*Fluff rice with fork

Chicken & Rice...an old standby, but really good!

This recipe is from my best friend Cheryl; it was her grandmother's. It is one of the best recipes of this kind that I've ever tried.
I varied it up once by adding in a can of Libby's Mixed Vegetables.
When I'm in a hurry I skip the sauting in a pan part and just mix it all together in a casserole dish so I only get one dish dirty.

Ingredients:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I cut them into strips so they cook faster)
¼ C chopped onion
½ stick of margarine
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
1 scant cup of Evaporated milk (use just a little less than one full cup)
¾ -1 C of uncooked rice (not instant rice); I use closer to 1 C b/c I like more rice!
2 TBS melted butter

Seasonings: Thyme, Poultry Seasoning, Pepper, Lowry’s season salt (no real approximate amts on the seasonings, just season to your taste!)

Directions:
1. Sauté onion in ½ stick of butter in a pan
2. Stir in the soup, milk & rice and mix well
3. Add in the seasonings (except for the season salt, it comes in at the very end) heat the seasonings and soup mixture gently for about 5 min.
4. Pour mixture into a greased casserole dish
5. Layer the chicken on top
6. Pour the melted butter over it all and then sprinkle with the season salt
7. Cover with foil & bake at 350° for an hour and a half—check it at that point and remove the foil and bake longer if necessary (you can add in milk or water if rice is dry)

Enjoy!!