Homemade Chicken Soup – from a bag

Posted on December 24, 2017 by melsmosaic

Had just been on one of the deadly shopping trips to Costco. You know, where you have a list of a few things and then your cart ends up being oddly full. Well one of the things that ended up as part of the cart contents was some (Israeli) pearl couscous. I happened to actually read the recipe on the back of the bag and it sounded really good. I was in the mood for some soup that day so figured I’d give it a try.

Couscous Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

1/2 cup each chopped onion, carrots and celery
4 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 cloves (or more, of course) garlic, minced
1 tbsp lemongrass paste, optional
2 cups cubed rotisserie chicken
1 cup pearl couscous
2-3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
S&P
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

In large stock port, add onions, carrots and celery with 2 tablespoons broth. Saute 5 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Stir in ginger, garlic and lemongrass. Add remaining broth, chicken and couscous; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Add lemon juice, S&P; garnish with parsley before serving.

This soup was great! And so easy. Since you buy a rotisserie chicken, that work is done. The taste from the lemongrass and ginger just give it such a nice twist from traditional chicken soup and I love pearl couscous. Great recipe to have on hand for winter. I also had lots of leftover so froze them. Oh, also added more chicken broth and some water when I had leftovers the next day (before freezing the rest). The couscous soaked up some of the broth, but to me that just meant more soup!

A Green Staple

Posted on March 4, 2016 by melsmosaic

I love seafood, I love cilantro, I love avocados, I love olives. What does one do when they all come together? Melt, find their happy place, eat way too much and then just share — oh not the food, just the recipe.
I found this Ceviche Verde Recipe in Bon Appetit several years ago and just can’t get enough of it. It’s almost a Green Staple to me. So many things in it that I just love. When halibut is sort of affordable (Costco, I love you) it’s amazing, but using another, affordable fish is just as good. It might not look super eye appealing but it is appealing to the taste buds!

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh Pacific halibut or other firm-fleshed fish
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
3/4 cup green olives, sliced
1/2 cup tomatillos, diced
1/4 cup onion, very finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and minced (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Tostadas or tortilla chips

Directions:

Chop fish into 1/2″ cubes; place in medium bowl. Add kosher salt; toss to coat. Add lime juice; toss to coat. Marinate until the edges of the cubes begin to turn opaque, tossing occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Dice avocados; add to bowl along with green olives, tomatillos, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño Add olive oil and season to taste with salt.

Serve over tostadas or with tortilla chips for dipping.

Honey Smoked Salmon

Posted on December 26, 2014 by melsmosaic

Keep hearing these non-stop, repetitive ads for this smoked salmon. I have worked in radio marketing/advertising and will say they are quite effective. I also can’t even imagine the cost of them. Well, the exact brand that is being advertised is Honey Smoked Fish Company ‘available at (all local stores),’ mostly in Colorado. Was at Costco and had to look for it. Reasonably priced so decided to pick some up.

You have the normal lox, you have smoked salmon, but I will say, there was something about this stuff. Totally worth the ads getting stuck in my head swaying me to pick some up. Could not stop nibbling on it! Hopefully you live where it’s available and can grab some. It is available to order on their site, but much more expensive than in store.

Use What You Have

Posted on September 5, 2013 by melsmosaic

It’s amazing what you can find in the kitchen, between both the cupboards and what you recently bought at the store, that can make a great meal. I got creative tonight and whipped up a tasty salad that required nothing but ‘shopping’ in my own cupboards and fridge. It took less than 10 minutes but has and will provide(d) hours of happiness, from a full stomach…to multiple meals, aka leftovers.

Ingredients:

-(Trader Joe’s) couscous
-(Trader Joe’s) grape tomatoes
-(Trader Joe’s) frozen artichoke hearts
-(Costco) hearts of palm
-Grapefruit
-Leftover chicken breasts
–Tessemae‘s Lemonette
-S&P

Directions:

-Cook couscous per directions — boil water, put in couscous, let sit 5 minutes.
-While that’s happening, defrost artichoke hearts, cut hearts of palm, peel and cut grapefruit. The chicken I had was already sliced from last night.
-When couscous is done, place in large bowl, top with all other (solid) ingredients. Toss with salad dressing, season to taste. Eat.

Rough, right? Just think about all the additions/subtractions/changes you could make to this, too, to fit your tastes.

-add nuts
-add beans (garbanzo (chick peas), black, kidney)
-no meat
-seafood (I’m out of chicken — only had a couple pieces left so salmon or tuna’s going in there tomorrow)
-dried fruit
-different dressing
-more seasoning
-base of quinoa vs. couscous

What’s the most important thing? You can make SO MUCH out of what is in your kitchen so you don’t have to go out night after night. What’s the worse case scenario? You experiment, it’s not great. You know everything that went in there and you just keep trying. Cook on my friends, cook on.