Half Assed Kitchen

Chicken noodle soup with sourdough croutons

People have been catching colds here at Casa Half Assed. To counteract the sniffles we've been making vats of chicken noodle soup. And last week we stumbled upon a happy discovery. That is, sourdough croutons, when plunked into chicken noodle soup, add a whole new gastronomical dimension to the blandish (but delicious) medley.

It's your healing carbs and broth and poultry and veggies all wrapped up in one really good and really easy soup.

Rating: 3/4 assed (chopping)

Here's what you need and how you do it

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 carrot, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

6-8 cups chicken broth

1 cup dry pasta

Salt to taste

Lots of ground black pepper

Fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Several slices sourdough bread, brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut bread into cubes, scatter over a cookie sheet and bake about 10 minutes, or until cubes are crisp.

Cook chicken breasts until no longer pink in the middle. In a stock pot, add olive oil, onion, carrot and celery and cook until vegetables are soft.

Add broth and bring to a low simmer. Chop or shred chicken. Add pasta, salt, pepper and chicken to broth and heat until pasta is done.

Garnish with croutons and parsley.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Chocolate panna cotta

Up until this week, we'd never made panna cotta before. And now, well, we're not exactly panna cotta experts, but we know a thing or two about this dessert.

It's considered easy to make. Nothing more than heating cream and sugar and adding gelatin. 

Maybe it's just that we tried to make ours lower fat or because we added chocolate, but, while our panna cotta wasn't difficult, it wasn't a complete snap either.

There were a few bowls dirtied, a strainer involved and more than a couple steps to making this rich little concoction. Still, we think it was worth it and no harder than baking cake or pie.

We modified this recipe from one we found in Sunset. It's sweet, sophisticatedly tangy and, as we mentioned before, insanely rich.

Rating: 3/4 assed (maybe a little less, but we can't, in good conscience, give this a half assed rating either).

Here's what you need and how you do it

4 teaspoons gelatin (we used Knox)

2 cups milk or half-and-half, divided (traditionally heavy cream is used, you can go this route if you so desire)

3/4 cup sugar

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Chocolate shavings (optional)

In a small bowl or measuring cup, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup milk. Let sit about 10 minutes until softened.

In a saucepan, mix remaining milk, sugar and chocolate and heat, stirring often, until it starts steaming. Pour in milk and gelatin and whisk to dissolve gelatin.

Mix yogurt and vanilla in a large bowl (that's three big dishes to wash already. I know!!). Pour chocolate mixture through a fine strainer into yogurt and vanilla and stir.

Lightly oil a muffin tin and divide chocolate/yogurt mixture evenly. Chill for at least 2 hours. Top with chocolate shavings (if desired) and serve.

If you don't have time to chill thoroughly, serve in wine glasses or other decorative bowl and they'll still be pretty and tasty.

Serves about 8.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Quinoa chicken salad

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah), is a plant with exceptionally nutritious seeds (which is the part that's packaged and sold in supermarkets). Quinoa cooks up like a grain and is a great (and more protein-packed) substitute for rice and pasta.

We've been eating a lot of it around here and this is our favorite quinoa recipe. It's tangy and healthy and light.

Rating: 3/4 assed (chopping)

Here's what you need and how you do it

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

1 cup chicken, diced

1 red, orange or yellow bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup green onion, sliced

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

1 avocado, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

Dressing:

3 Tablespoons olive oil

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 Tablespoon rice vinegar

2 cloves garlic, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Fill saucepan with two cups water and cook quinoa according to package directions (boil for 10 to 15 minutes, until water is absorbed). Stir in chicken, bell pepper, green onions, kalamata olives and basil. Mix with dressing. Top with avocado and tomatoes.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Maple pork chops with apples and onions

We had a package of pork chops in our fridge and no plans for them. So we browsed around internet recipes a little, announced, "Screw it! We're just gonna throw stuff together" and then started tossing ingredients into a skillet.

What we ended up with was maple pork chops with apples and onions. And it turned out well. So well, in fact, we made it two nights in a row. The apples, onions and maple complemented each other nicely and made a bland pork chop taste a little like opera would if it had a flavor.

Rating: 1/2 assed (simple, but not ridiculously so)

Here's what you need and how you do it

2-4 pork chops (we used bone out)

1 medium onion, sliced

1 apple, sliced (Granny Smith or Braeburn, something a little sour, would work well)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 cup red wine

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Pinch red pepper flakes (to temper the sweetness of the maple syrup)

In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add onions, apples and pork chops. Cook until each side of the chop is seared. Add remaining ingredients and continue to cook, covered, until all are heated through and pork chop is no longer pink inside.

The key is to not let one flavor overpower the others. If the maple is a little too pronounced, add more onion and some extra red pepper flakes. If the burn is too strong, add in a little more syrup (but not too much, or this will turn into breakfast).

Serve with roasted potatoes and green beans. Or whatever.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Peach blueberry pie

This is a classic end-of-season fruit pie. We made it after our friend and mentor, Heather, gave us a bag full of peaches and we needed some delicious way to use them. We love pie. It's so easy and so...homey.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed (simple, but not ridiculously so)

Here's what you need and how you do it

7-8 ripe but firm peaches

3/4 cup sugar

1-1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup blueberries

1 Tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Fill saucepan with water, add peaches and bring to boil for a minute or two. Run under cold water to cool peaches. Skin should peel off easily. Slice peaches and mix with sugar, lemon juice, flour and blueberries.

Pour filling into pre-made pie crust. Cover with top layer of crust. Brush with milk and dust with granulated sugar.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until top starts turning golden (you can cover the edges with foil if they start browning too much).

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Chickpea patties with Mediterranean salad

We're not vegetarians anymore, but sometimes we still like a light, yet filling, meat-free dinner. We got this idea from Real Simple (where else?) and love the lower-fat twist on falafel. The chickpeas have a faux meaty texture and the yogurt-lemon dressing makes them sing.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed (simple, but not ridiculously so)

Here's what you need and how you do it

2 15.5-ounce cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed

1-2 eggs

1 cup fresh, flat-leaf parsley

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt and pepper

4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 Tablespoons olive oil, plus some for frying

1 cup low-fat yogurt (preferably greek)

6 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

8 cups mixed greens

1 cup grape tomatoes

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

Pita chips (optional)

In a food processor, pulse chickpeas, eggs, parsley, garlic, cumin, 2 Tablespoons olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. When coarsely chopped and the mixture comes together when gently squeezed. Form into 6 to 8 half-inch thick patties and coat with flour, tapping off excess.

Heat oil in nonstick skillet (very important that it be nonstick) over medium high heat. Cook the patties, turning carefully, until golden brown.

In a small bowl whisk yogurt, lemon juice, 2 Tablespoons olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Divide the greens, tomatoes, onion and chickpea patties among plates. Drizzle with the dressing and serve with pita chips.

If the patties crumble a bit, just spread them out over the salad. The combination is delicious.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Taco Bowls

Taco bowls are a most ingenious and super simple dinner idea we ran across in Parenting magazine several years ago (and modified a little). Kids will generally eat these plainish and adults can gussy them up with avocado, lettuce, tomato, chilis, etc.

Rating: 1/4 assed. Absurdly easy.

Here's what you need and how you do it

12 6-inch flour tortillas

1 pound ground turkey or ground beef

Olive oil (for sautéing meat)

1 package taco seasoning mix (We like Simply Organics Southwest Taco)

16-ounce package shredded cheese

Avocados (optional)

Lettuce, shredded (optional)

Tomatoes, diced (optional)

Sour cream (optional)

Black olives, sliced (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trim about 1/2-inch around the edge of each tortilla. Push the tortillas into a non-stick muffin tin (we use the super large tins and do not trim the tortillas, but you can use regular tins to make more manageably-sized bowls).

Meanwhile, sauté ground meat in olive oil, breaking apart large chunks and stirring occasionally until meat is cooked through. Add taco seasoning mix and a 1/2 cup water, simmer for a few minutes more.

Fill each tortilla cup with meat and cheese and bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until cheese is melted and cups start to brown.

Serve with black beans with lime and cilantro.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.