Chicken and Gnocchi Soup (like Olive Garden)

I made this and we really liked it. If you have tried the soup at Olive Garden, it is very similar. Yummy!

I want to do this! What's This?

• 1 cup chicken breasts, cooked and diced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups cream (I just use evaporated milk and works great!)
• ½ cup celery, finely diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ cup carrots, finely shredded
• ½ cup onion, finely diced
• 1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin oil
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon parsley
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese - optional
• 1 pound potato gnocchi - can buy this in the gourmet section of many supermarkets or find a recipe for homemade in the resource section

1. Sauté the onion, celery, garlic, spinach, carrots in the olive oil till the onion is nearly translucent. Add the chicken, chicken broth, and spices. Bring to a boil.

2. Slowly add the gnocchi into the boiling broth.

3. Turn down the heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
   
   (If you want a thicker soup, add 1 tablespoon corn starch to the cream before you add it into the broth). Add the cream. Slowly allow the mixture to come to a boil and then turn it off.

Pasta Pronto Italiano

This recipe reminds me of what Chad would make all the time...

1 pkg. Macaroni & Cheese Dinner

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 jar (15 oz.) pizza sauce

1/2 cup KRAFT Pizza Shredded Four Cheese

PREPARE Macaroni as on directed on package. Meanwhile, brown meat in large skillet; drain, if necessary.

ADD Dinner and pizza sauce; mix lightly. Sprinkle with shredded cheese; cover. Reduce heat to low; cook 2 min. or until shredded cheese begins to melt.

Twilight Time Turkey Patties with Cranberry Sauce

This is from Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals cook book. What a fun recipe with great flavors. The combination of ingredients reminded me of Thanksgiving dinner all in one burger- minus the jello of course. I think I will call these Thanksgiving burgers from now on. And my favorite- Cranberry sauce with Turkey!!!

Ingredients

1 handful of pecan pieces crushed or chopped very finely
1 cup instant mashed potato flakes
1&1/3 pounds ground turkey
1 small white onion grated or finely chopped
handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 sprigs thyme
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning ( I used 'Better Than Bouillon' chicken flavor from Costco)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce- or make it homemade.

Mix crushed pecans with potato flakes in shallow bowl and set aside. Place turkey in different bowl and add onion, parsley, thyme, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Form into patties and coat patties with potato and pecan mixture and cook on skillet with a little oil- 5 minutes on each side until turkey is fully cooked.

Serve with cranberry sauce on top! I love the Oroweat skinny hamburger buns toasted with this recipe.

Thai Turkey Burgers

This recipe is from Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals. This was so so so good. Chay loved it and was surprised ground turkey could taste so good. So fun to make. This tasted more Hawaiian than Thai.

Warm Pineapple Salsa ingredients:

1/2 to 3/4 of fresh pineapple cored
1 Tbs sesame oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 red bell pepper seeded and chopped
1/4 red onion finely chopped
2 Tbs brown sugar
10-15 fresh basil leaves cut into this stripes

Burger ingredients:

1&1/3 pounds of ground turkey breasts (Costco sells ground turkey in 1 1/3 lb packages)
2 pinches of ground ginger
2 cloves garlic minced
2 TB dark soy sauce
2 tsp curry powder
Coarse salt to taste
2 scallions or green onions finely chopped
Hamburger rolls or sandwich size english muffins or I used those skinny buns from Orowheat at Costco.

Salsa:
cut pineapple into pieces and put in blender to make a chunky texture
Heat sesame oil and red pepper flakes in skillet over medium high heat until oil smokes.
Add red bell pepper and onions and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add pineapple and heat through. Sprinkle brown sugar and cook 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and toss in basil. Let the salsa hang out in the pan and cook the burgers.

Burgers:

Combine turkey, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, curry powder, salt, and scallions. Form into patties and cook on skillet about 4 minutes each side and serve on rolls with lettuce and with lots of pineapple salsa.

Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage

This is from Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals cook book. So perfect and festive for this time of year. I loved loved it.

Ingredients:

1 pound Rigatoni pasta
extra virgin olive oil
1 pound Italian sweet sausage
1 medium onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 bay leaf
4-6 fresh sage leaves slivered or dried
1 cup white grape juice
1 can chicken broth
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 pinches ground cinnamon
3 pinches ground nutmeg
Romano or Parmesan cheese for over pasta

Cook Pasta Al Dente.
Brown sausage with a little oil and put on paper towel-lined plate
In same pan add a little more oil and saute onion and garlic for 5 minutes until soft.
Add bay leaf, sage, and grape juice- reduce for 2 minutes.
Add broth and pumpkin to combine-stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble
Return sausage to pan
reduce heat and stir in heavy cream
Season with cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and simmer 5 minutes

Add pasta to pot you originally cooked it in. Remove bay leaf from sauce and pour sauce over pasta. Toss pasta and sauce 1 or minutes over low heat so pasta can absorb flavors. Then put it in a beautiful bowl to serve of course.

Romano or Parmigiano on top of each serving.

Garden Patch Chowder

This has been a favorite of mine since the good ol' days in Moscow!  This was a recipe submitted to the Ward Cookbook "Cookin' the Moscow Way" by Heidi Wilford.

Veggie Mixture:
2 1/2 cups water
2 medium carrots, diced
4 large potatoes, cubed
1 cup chopped celery
1 -2 cups corn
3 Tbs. chopped onion
1 Tbs. salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper (to taste)

Cheese Sauce:
1/4 cup butter  (I try to get away with less)
1 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Bring veggie mixture to boil.  Reduce and simmer 15 min.  In a (separate) small saucepan, melt butter.  Stir in flour until smooth.  Remove from heat and add milk and broth.  Bring to a boil stirring constantly over medium heat for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and stir in cheese.  Add to veggie mixture.  Do not boil.

Zuppa Toscana

 

I LOVE this soup!  I get asked about this recipe frequently, so I decided to post about it again and make it easier to find. This soup is easy and quick to make.  I love taking it to potlucks or ward activities because it so yummy and unique. It can also be made healthier by using fat-free half and half, instead of heavy cream. I made a few notes in parenthesis of the changes that I do when making this soup. This recipe was taken from here.

Ingredients:

1 lb. Italian sausage
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp. red pepper flakes (I use 1/4 tsp.)
4 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch chunks
2 cups fresh kale, chopped
3 cups chicken broth (I use bouillon cubes)
2.5 cups water
1 cup heavy cream (can use fat-free half and half)
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Place a large stockpot on the stove over medium heat. Crumble the sausage into the pan and cook until well browned. Remove the cooked sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl; set aside. Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to the pan and cook for a minute more, just until fragrant. Add the potatoes, kale, chicken broth and water to the pot. Return the sausage to the pot. Increase the heat to medium-high, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer on medium-low. Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender and cooked through. Stir in the heavy cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.