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Category Archives: Quick and Easy

Curried Carrot Soup

20 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by Janis Chanin in Appetizers, Dinner, Healthy, Quick and Easy, Soup, Vegetarian

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Tags

carrot soup, curried carrots

Curried Carrot Soup

What’s better than a bowl of creamy, hot soup on a cold winter night?  How about one that doesn’t contain a drop of cream, packs a ton of flavor, is under 200 calories per serving and will fill you up?  Now we’re talking!

Curried Carrot Soup
Yield:  8 servings
Time:  20 minutes hands-on;  45 minutes total

3 tbsp. butter, cut into 1 tbsp. pieces
2 onions, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
1½ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. ground pepper
8 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth if making vegetarian)
5 lbs. carrots, peeled and cut into ½-inch thick slices
1 tbsp. lemon juice
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1.  Place the butter in a very large stock pot or Dutch oven (8-12 quart).  Melt over medium heat.  Once the butter begins to foam, add the onions and pepper.  Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, until onions and peppers begin to soften.  Stir in the curry, ginger, salt and pepper.  Cook for another 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2.  Add the carrots.  Pour in the broth.  Turn heat up to high and bring to a boil.  Once boiling for one minute, reduce the heat to medium-low and cover.  Simmer for 25 minutes until the carrots are tender.  Stir in lemon juice.

3.  Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender, filling the blender no more than half full each time.  Puree until smooth.  (Be sure not to overfill the blender, as the hot soup will expand as it is blended.  Also, to allow steam to escape vent the lid and cover with a dish towel while blending.)

4.  Serve hot and garnish with chopped cilantro to serve.

PDF to Print Recipe for Curried Carrot Soup

Recipe adapted from Great Food Fast, Everyday Food from the Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living

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Crunchy Granola

14 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by Janis Chanin in Breakfast, Dessert, Fruit, Healthy, Quick and Easy, Vegetarian

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crunchy granola, granola, parfait

Crunchy Granola

According to Urban Dictionary, crunchy granola refers to “a person who is into all that natural crap and eats tofu and does yoga and hugs trees”.  I don’t mind tofu if it’s well disguised (it actually adds unparalleled moisture to cakes!), I have come to really love yoga, but I’ve never hugged a tree and don’t intend to!  I don’t think I’m particularly crunchy, but I am a sucker for this homemade granola!  Since I’m very allergic to nuts, granola is one of those foods that I never get to eat unless it’s homemade, since most packaged granolas contains at least one variety of nuts.  I’ve tried making it many times, and I’m usually disappointed because it’s a little soft, not super crunchy how I love it.  I finally hit the nail on the head with this recipe!  I hope you love it as much as I do!  It’s a great snack to munch on dry handfuls, or enjoy it mixed into yogurt with fresh berries for a filling and healthy breakfast or dessert parfait.

Crunchy Granola
Yield:  3 cups
Time:  10 minutes hands-on;  60 minutes total

2 cups oats (use the old fashioned type, not quick cooking)
1/3 cup oat bran*
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup orange juice
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup total dried fruit (I like using a combination of raisins, golden raisins, dried cherries, and dried blueberries.  Dried mango, papaya, pineapple, or cranberries could also work!)

1.  Preheat the oven to 325ºF.  Lightly grease a 9×13″ glass baking dish and set aside.

2.  In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the oats, oat bran, and cinnamon.  Set aside.

3.  In a small saucepan, combine the honey, orange juice, and brown sugar.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Add the butter and mix until completely melted.  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.  Pour over the oat mixture, tossing to coat.  Spread into the prepared baking dish.  Bake at 325ºF for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.  At the end of the 45-minute baking time, remove from the oven and allow to sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours, until fully cooled.  Gently break apart the pieces and stir in the dried fruit.

 

*For those of you not familiar with oat bran, it has a flour-like consistency and is usually sold in the same aisle with hot cereals such as Farina, Cream of Wheat,…  I often mix some into homemade pancake batter for more wholesome pancakes.  In this recipe, you could swap the oat bran for ground flax seeds if you prefer.

PDF to Print Recipe for Crunchy Granola

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Honey Mustard Glazed Chicken Salad

06 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by Janis Chanin in Dinner, Healthy, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Salad

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honey mustard chicken

Honey Mustard Glazed Chicken Salad

Happy 2015!!  I can’t believe we’re already into a new year.  I’m sure many of you are vowing to be healthier this year, whether that involves more exercise, healthier meals, or a combination of the two.  I hope that some of my healthy recipes like this one will help encourage you to keep going with the health kick, inspiring you to realize that healthy food is actually quite delicious and you don’t need to feel like you’re sacrificing flavor or constantly hearing your stomach grumble for more food!  My husband and I jump-started our resolution this year and made a commitment to end December weighing less and being more toned than we started it.  It’s the first December in our lives that we LOST weight instead of GAINED and it feels fantastic!  I feel like we’re already starting 2015 off on the right foot and salads like this have helped us get here.  This truly is one awesome salad!  It’s healthy and light but will fill you up and leave you feeling satisfied thanks to the barley and lentils, making it perfect for either lunch or dinner.

Honey Mustard Glazed Chicken Salad
Time:  20 minutes total
Yield:  4 dinner-sized servings

For the chicken:
4 fully cooked chicken breasts*
6 tbsp. Dijon mustard
6 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. agave nectar

For the salad:
8 cups mixed greens
about 30 cherry tomatoes
2 carrots, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 cucumber, diced
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
1½ cup cooked green lentils
¾ cup cooked barley

For the dressing:
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
¼ cup canola oil
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. lemon juice
6 tbsp. orange juice
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. honey
salt and pepper

1.  In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the 6 tbsp Dijon mustard, 6 tbsp honey and 2 tbsp agave nectar.  Dice up the cooked chicken breast and toss in the honey mustard sauce.  Transfer to a saucepan and warm over medium-low heat as you prepare the salads, stirring occasionally.

2.  Toss all salad ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

3.  Whisk together all ingredients for the dressing.

4.  Plate the salad onto four serving plates.  Top with honey mustard glazed chicken and drizzle with dressing.  Enjoy!

*My preferred method of cooking chicken breasts for recipes such as this one is to: Bring a saucepan of water to a boil.  Drop in the raw chicken breasts, and allow to boil for 15 minutes.  Remove cooked chicken from the hot water using tongs and allow to cool before storing in your refrigerator for up to five days.

PDF to Print Recipe for Honey Mustard Glazed Chicken Salad

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Turkey Pear-ed with Bleu

13 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by Janis Chanin in Healthy, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Salad

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autumn salad, fall salad

Turkey Pear'ed with Bleu

I love mixing and matching ingredients to invent new seasonal salads.  This is one of my favorites right now because it contains great autumn flavors and a variety of textures.

Turkey Pear-ed with Blue
Yield:  1 salad serving
Time:  15 minutes total

2 cups baby arugula, rinsed
2 oz. roasted turkey, diced
1 oz. bleu cheese, crumbled
1 fresh pear, sliced
1 handful dried cranberries
your favorite salad dressing (I recommend a raspberry vinaigrette or Brianna’s Blush Wine Vinaigrette)

Combine all of the ingredients together in a bowl.  Toss to coat with dressing.  Enjoy!

PDF to Print Recipe for Turkey Pear’ed with Bleu

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Apple Pie Moonshine

07 Friday Nov 2014

Posted by Janis Chanin in Beverages, Boozy, Cocktails, Quick and Easy

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

apple pie cocktail, apple pie moonshine, liquid apple pie, moonshine

Apple Pie Moonshine

I am absolutely completely 100% in love with this recipe!  One of my great friends from high school, Tanya, recently made this for her Oktoberfest party and I quickly became obsessed!  It honestly tastes like liquid apple pie.  You can drink it chilled, on ice, room temperature, or warm.  It’s super easy to make and a total crowd pleaser.  I’ve already converted a handful of people into fans.  I think you’ll love it too.  I recommend making a big batch for Thanksgiving.  A BIG thanks to Tanya Santoro to sharing this recipe with me, and allowing me to post it!

Apple Pie Moonshine
Yield:  A little over 2 gallons.  Enough for a large cocktail party!
Time:  5 minutes active; 60 minutes total (plus time to chill if serving cold)

1 gallon apple juice
1 gallon good quality apple cider*
1½ cups sugar
1½ cups brown sugar
8 large cinnamon sticks
3 cups Everclear (190 proof…as Tanya says, “go hard or go home”!)
2 cups vanilla vodka
Garnish:  2 crisp apples (Honeycrisp, Gala, or Granny Smith would all work!)

1)  In a large pot, stir together the apple juice, apple cider, sugar, and brown sugar.  Add the cinnamon sticks and simmer over medium to medium-high heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2)  Cool to room temperature.  Stir in Everclear and vanilla vodka.

Garnish with dices apples, if desired.  I served mine from a large mason jar and left two of the cinnamon sticks floating to infuse even more cinnamon flavor.

Enjoy (responsibly).

 
*One of the things I missed the most about Jersey while I lived in Boston was Zeigler’s apple cider.  I especially love their cider made from Honeycrisp apples.  YUM!

PDF to Print Recipe for Apple Pie Moonshine

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