Tag Archives: recipe

Black Beans and Rice

Posted on by Run DMT
8

PhotobucketWhen my friend Kelly sent me a Facebook message requesting my black beans and rice recipe, it dawned on me that I had never shared it with my Run DMT readers.  I shared how much I love Cuban food and an old public service announcement video from the 80s, but I never shared my recipe.

Honestly, it’s probably good that I didn’t share my recipe in that post.  That photo was horrible.  Back then, Friday Food Fight was still in its early stage, where we actually fought over who was eating the tastiest food.  Hence, the term “fight” in Friday Food Fight.  In those early Friday Food Fight days, Kirsten, Karen and I tortured each other with bad photos of good food.

So although technically I already shared a photo of black beans and rice, I never shared my recipe.  And since my photography skills and Friday Food Fight have evolved into something more than just food porn and foodie photos, I thought I would serve this dish once again, because it’s a really good recipe.  With one taste of my black beans and rice, you’ll know just how truly Hispanic I am.  Black beans and rice this bueno is in my blood, y’all.

Beans and rice…beans and rice…once or two or even thrice…beans and rice is nice.

Black Beans and Rice

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil

½ cup Spanish onion, chopped

½ cup red bell pepper, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 bay leaf

2 cans black beans

1 cup Pomi chopped tomatoes

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp oregano

¼ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large skillet on a low-medium heat.  Add onions and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add red bell pepper and cook until soft.

Stir in minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Add bay leaf to pan and stir into vegetables.

Once the bay leaf appears wilted and warm, add black beans with water from the can to the skillet.

Add chopped tomatoes and all the dry spices.  Stir to combine.  Add red wine vinegar and mix thoroughly.

Allow beans to simmer for about 10 minutes before serving.  Serve with rice.  Top it with salsa or hot sauce.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!


*Also submitted at*

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Egg and Sausage Breakfast Casserole

Posted on by Run DMT
4

PhotobucketYou will seriously love this breakfast casserole recipe and you will want to bookmark it or pin it for sure.  Go ahead.  I’ll wait.

Because this breakfast is so tasty and such a crowd-pleaser, I’ve made it twice just this month for family and friends.  Seriously, it’s that good.  And the best part, it’s low fat.  You’re pinning it now, aren’t you?  I knew I would have you at “low-fat”.

I’m not sure how I stumbled upon Eat Yourself Skinny, but I was happy to find her low-fat recipes, especially her healthier version to a brunch classic.  However, I had to modify her recipe because I can’t eat breakfast sausage that contains MSG due to my sensitivity to it.  So, I substituted the reduced-fat pork sausage for an even lower fat option: Al Fresco Country Style Chicken Breakfast Sausage.

I also used a half loaf of Publix White Mountain bread because I thought the thick, dense bread would make a wonderful base for the casserole.  Both substitutions were spot-on and like I said, a real crowd pleaser.

All you need is a mimosa to wash it down.

Low-Fat Egg and Sausage Breakfast Casserole

(Adpated from Eat Yourself Skinny)

Ingredients

1 package Al Fresco Country Style Chicken Breakfast Sausage

1 medium onion, diced

2 eggs

4 egg whites

2 cups fat-free milk

1 ½ tsp spicy brown mustard

½ tsp Kosher salt

¼  tsp ground black pepper

½ loaf of dense, crusty bread cut into 1 inch cubes

2 cups (8 oz) reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° degrees.  Prepare a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

In large skillet, stir and sauté onions until translucent.

As onions cook, slice sausage links into quarters.  Slice each link into quarters lengthwise and then slice each quarter strip into small bite size morsels.  Add to onions.  Stir and warm through.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, egg whites, milk, mustard, salt and pepper.  Stir in the bread cubes, cheese and sausage mixture.  Pour into baking dish.

Bake at uncovered for about 45 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Watch closely for the last ten minutes to avoid overcooking or burning the casserole.

Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.  Serve with Tabasco or fresh salsa.

Makes 12 servings.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!



*Also submitted at*

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Progressive Picnic: Thai Basil Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Posted on by Run DMT
6

Roll out the picnic blankets and bring an appetite for the blogosphere’s first ever Progressive Picnic Blog Hop!

For this virtual picnic, each foodie blogger listed below is offering a different menu item.  Click on the links and be prepared to lick your lips as your eyes feast on an assortment of delicious dishes.

Camille from Growing Up Gabel is offering an appetizer, Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates.

Courtney from Peace, Love, Recipes is bringing the beverage, Red, White and Blue Sangria.

Ruthie from What’s Cooking With Ruthie is supplying the side dish, Picnic Perfect Potato Salad.

Heather of Hezzi-D’s Cooks and Books is dishing out the dessert, White Chocolate Brownies.

And yours truly is serving up the main dish, Thai Basil Chicken Lettuce Wraps.

Thai Basil Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

2 Tbsp canola oil

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into thin strips

½ tsp Kosher salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 large yellow or white onion cut Asian style

1 red bell pepper cored and cut into thin strips

¼ cup tamari or low sodium soy sauce

3 Tbsp honey

¼ cup fresh basil, chopped

1 cup cooked Jasmine rice

Leafy green lettuce (Romaine or Bibb)

Directions

Heat the canola oil in a large skillet on a medium high heat.  Add chicken strips and season with salt and pepper.  Stir-fry for a few minutes to sear the meat at the edges.  Then, add ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for two minutes more.  Add the red bell pepper and cook until softened.  Add onions and stir fry for few minutes.  Once onions are soft, add tamari and honey.  Together, they should form a caramel colored sauce as they deglaze the pan.  Stir to coat chicken with the sauce.  Remove from heat and stir in basil.  The heat from the pan will cook and wilt the basil.

Using the leafy part of the lettuce, drop a Tbsp on cooked Jasmine rice in the center of the lettuce.  Then, add spoonful of the Thai Basil Chicken and gently drizzle some sauce from the skillet over the mixture.  Roll lettuce to form wrap and place on a serving platter. Continue with remaining stir-fry and serve.  If any sauce is remaining in skillet, pour it into a ramekin to use as a dipping sauce.

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Chicken and Chorizo Paella

Posted on by Run DMT
4

PhotobucketI seriously love Spanish food.  For me, Spanish food is comfort food, like someone’s else mac and cheese.  Throw a bunch of ingredients together and it’s like a latino’s version of a casserole.  Not to mention, there’s just something about the saffron that just makes me happy.

I’m just mad about Saffron. 

So when I found this easy, low-fat version of a Spanish classic, I had to give it a whirl.  Thankfully, my family loved it and now this meal is a regular on our weekly dinner menu.

Now, if I was a better latina, I would go to the bodega to buy my chorizo, but I’m too lazy for that, which is just sad really because there’s a bodega on every corner in Tampa.  However, there is really no need for me to make an extra trip to the bodega, except to support small business owners which I really should instead of giving money to big corporation.

But in one weekly shopping trip to my local Target, I can buy MSG-free Archer Farms Chorizo Sausage as well as pick up a allergy medication, tampons, a cute sundress, some new sandals for my kids and deeply discounted running clothes.  See how I save money shopping at Target?

But this post is about paella not summer deals at Target.

Chicken and Chorizo Paella (Pollo y Chorizo Paella)

(Borrowed from So Easy by Ellie Krieger)

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil

3 chorizo sausage links

1 lb skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 medium onion, chopped

1 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups low-sodium free range chicken broth

½ cup frozen peas

1 cup uncooked white rice

1 ripe tomato, chopped

¼ sliced green Spanish olives with pimentos

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

¼ tsp turmeric

Pinch of Saffron threads

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.

Using a large, heavy skillet with lid, heat olive oil in skillet on a medium heat.  Add chorizo links and cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until brown.  Remove links from skillet and slice into ½ inch round slices.  Return chorizo to skillet and add chicken.  Cook both meats together for about 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink on outside.  Transfer chicken and chorizo to a plate.

Add onions to skillet and cook, stirring often until softened, about 3-5 minutes.  (There should be enough oil in the pan left from the chorizo, but if need be, add 1 Tbsp olive oil to skillet.)  Add garlic and cook for about a minute.  Return chicken and chorizo to skillet and add chicken broth, peas, rice, tomato, olives, salt, pepper, turmeric and saffron.  Bring to a boil, cover and transfer to oven.  Cook until rice is tender and the liquid is completely absorbed, 25-45 minutes*.

*Time may vary depending on oven.  This dish takes closer to 45 minutes in my oven.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!



*Also submitted at*

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Mexican Wedding Cakes for Cinco de Mayo

Posted on by Run DMT
10

PhotobucketMy family and I are participating in a Mexican-themed race today called the Crazy Sombrero.  Afterwards, one of our friends is hosting a post-race party where all the guests were asked to being a snack to share for the fiesta.

What to bring?  What to bring?  Margaritas?  Mexican Lasagna?  

As I flipped through the Mexican-flare recipe cards in my mind, I recalled the potluck luncheons from my early teaching days. Back then, I taught in a very rural community of Dade City with a large population of migrant workers, mostly Mexican and some were part of our school’s staff.  Thanks to the lovely senoras on staff, Mexican Wedding Cakes were always part of the potluck and they were delicious.  Similar in texture to a shortbread (Scottish, not Martha’s), they were a tasty light, flaky buttery cookie.

So, to pay homage to my Mexican homies, I tried my hand at Mexican Wedding Cakes like the senoras used to bake.  Traditionally, these cookies are made with pecans or walnuts, but due to my nut allergy, I chose to use almonds instead.

Before beginning the cookie batter, I roasted the almonds on an ungreased baking sheet at 325° for about 10 minutes for a rich fragrance but not burnt.

I let the roasted almonds cool completely before I chopped them in a food processor for a fine, almost mealy texture.

Using a standing electric mixer, I combined the butter, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, ground nuts and flour.  Then, I rolled them into 2-inch balls and baked them for about 15 minutes until the edges were golden brown.

I let the cookies set and cool for a few minutes before rolling them in powdered sugar.  Once coated with a light layer of confectioners’ sugar, I returned them to the cooling rack.

Honestly, Mexican Wedding Cakes are so easy to make and I think the senoras would be quite pleased with my cookies.  They tasted just like I remembered.  It’s funny how one small taste can send you back in time.

Me gustan mucho.

Mexican Wedding Cakes

(Adapted from The Joy of Cooking)

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

½ cup confectioners’ (powdered) sugar

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts or almonds), toasted and finely ground (See above.)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup confectioners’ sugar for topping

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.

Grease or line two cookie baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat liners.

Using a standing electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until well combined.  Then, add finely ground nuts and mix on a low setting for about 15 seconds.  Add flour and mix on a low setting until well combined.

Shape into 1-2 inch balls and arrange about 1 ¼ inch apart on the baking sheets.  Bake one at a time until edges are golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Remove sheet from oven and cool on a wired rack for about 5 minutes.

While still warm but cool enough to handle, roll each cookie in confectioners’ sugar and return to cooling rack.  Just before serving, sift additional confectioners’ sugar over cookies.

Yields about 2 dozen

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!



*Also submitted at*

Sweet Tooth Friday

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Potato Balls

Posted on by Run DMT
9

PhotobucketYou know how I’m always stealing permanently borrowing cookbooks from my MIL?  Well, I’ve taken it another step further.  Now, I’m stealing her balls.

Last Sunday for Easter, my MIL threw together a gorgeous spread, which included three meats (lamb, ham and chicken), a number of veggies and two kinds of potatoes.  Yes, you heard me right. Two kinds of potatoes!  One was a delicious cheesy layered scalloped potato casserole.  The other spud she called “French-Style Potatoes” to sound all posh, but to the rest of the family, these potatoes will be forever known as “Potato Balls”.

Obviously, French-Style Potatoes has a nice ring to it, but there’s no disputing the salty, heavenly taste of these balls in your mouth.  (Sounds like the infamous Schweddyy Balls from Saturday Night Live, doesn’t?)

A few days later, I decided to try my hand at these balls.  Although my MIL preferred to handle hers with butter, I chose to lather mine in olive oil.

Ok enough with the innuendoes!  To start, I par-boiled the potatoes until a bit firmer than fork tender.  For portion control, I only boiled 6 medium sized potatoes for my family of five.

Then, using the larger end of a melon baller, I scooped and rolled out some potato.

Then, I tossed those bad boys into some pre-heated olive oil in an electric griddle and cooked them until crispy.

These potato balls present well and are a tasty companion to any meat dish.   For this meal, I served it as a side dish to my Mojo Chicken.  And don’t worry.  I didn’t serve two potatoes.  That’s mashed cauliflower as the other side dish, but more about that lovely carb substitute another day.

 

Elizabeth’s Posh Potato Balls

(serves 4)

Ingredients

1-2 lb medium size baking potatoes

¼ – ½ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions

Par-boil potatoes until slightly firmer than fork tender.  Drain and allow potatoes to cool.  Using a melon baller, scoop out small amounts of potato.

Heat about ¼ – ½ cup olive oil at 350° in a electric griddle.  Toss in the potato balls and occasionally flip potatoes as they sauté in the oil. Cook until crispy and golden brown (about 20 minutes).

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!



*Also submitted at*

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Heart-Healthy Spinach Avocado Egg Salad

Posted on by Run DMT
13

PhotobucketAfter Easter Sunday, you’ll have a dozen or so colored hard boiled eggs hanging around and if you’re like me, you’ll want to make egg salad with them.  It sounds a bit like a children’s book, doesn’t it?  If you give a mom a dozen Easter eggs, she’ll probably make egg salad with them. 

Although traditional egg salad is delicious, it’s not the healthiest with all the mayo added to make it tasty.  Enter an avocado spinach egg salad made with half an avocado, spinach, plain non-fat yogurt and 1 hardboiled egg.

Every week, there is some study stating if eggs are good for you or not.  Eggs may be associated with high cholesterol but eggs are high in Vitamin D and Omega-3 and that’s pretty good if you don’t get enough fish in your diet, like me.  Toss in an avocado and spinach also rich in vitamins and lowering-cholesterol minerals and you’ve got a reason to celebrate all those left over Easter eggs.

I found this recipe on Pinterest pinned via We Are Not Martha.  The original recipe uses seven eggs, but I modified it for one serving.  If you want to make a big batch of it at once, follow We Are Not Martha’s recipe.  Since I’m the only one in this house that will eat this, I prefer to make it fresh each time and I always eat it right out of the bowl…even for breakfast.

Heart-Healthy Spinach Avocado Egg Salad

Ingredients

1 hardboiled egg, coarsely chopped

¼ cup baby spinach, coarsely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

1 Tbsp red onion, finely chopped

½ Haas avocado, mashed

1 Tbsp plain non-fat yogurt

Dash crushed red pepper flakes

Salt, to taste

Ground black pepper, to taste

 

Directions

Mash half a Hass avocado in a medium sized bowl.  Add all chopped ingredients, red pepper flakes and yogurt. Mix until well combined.  Add salt and pepper.

Serve as a dip, in a wrap or on toasted whole grain bread.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!


*Also submitted at*


Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Grape Soda Cupcakes

Posted on by Run DMT
13

PhotobucketWhen Kirsten and I planned a purple picnic for our girls to celebrate Purple Day, purple cupcakes were on the menu.  And since I’ve become quite the baker these days, I wanted to try my hand at a new cake recipe.

So as I perused the aisles of my favorite Publix supermarket to pick another box of King Arthur Cake Flour, I spotted a special low price for Publix Grape Soda (2 for $1) and then my wheels got to spinning.  How could I do something really different besides a plain ol’ white cake with purple frosting?   I’ve heard of cupcakes with Mountain Dew as an ingredient, but can you make cupcakes with grape soda?  With a quick Google search in supermarket (yet another reason to love smart phones), I stumbled upon a Grape Soda Cupcakes by The Kitchen Magpie.

Once I purchased all my ingredients including Publix Grape Soda and a package of purple Peeps, I had a little look around The Kitchen Magpie later that day and I adored her site, her stories and all her recipes.  However, for this particular recipe, I had to tweak it a bit because the directions were hard for me to follow as it was written like she was telling the recipe over the phone to a friend rather than actual directions.  Since I’m new to cooking and baking, I lack the intuitiveness that most bakers have (or are even born with) to know how create a cake masterpiece.  Therefore, I had to really read through it, understand it and reword it to where I could follow it with ease.

With my modifications, I also used less purple food coloring than the original recipe stated as I was trying to limit my kids’ overexposure to Red #40 and Blue #1.

For icing, I followed the Joy of Cooking “Quick White Icing”, which can also be found at theJoyKitchen.com.

In the end, I had the grape soda cupcakes I hoped for our Purple Day Picnic and the results were perfectly purplicious and delicious.

Grape Soda Cupcakes
(Adapted from The Kitchen Magpie)

Ingredients

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

4 cups cake flour

1 tsp vanilla

½  tsp baking soda

½  tsp of salt

½  tsp baking powder

1 ¾  cups Publix Brand Grape Soda

Neon Food coloring pack

24 cupcake liners

Butter cream frosting (see below)

Purple Peeps or purple cake sprinkles

 

Directions

In a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar until well blended.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.  Add vanilla.

Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in another bowl.

If using purple liquid food coloring, add a few drops to the egg batter to achieve desired color.  (Add a few drops for a lavender shade.  Add more drops for a darker violet shade.)

Then add the flour mixture and grape soda to the batter in mixer, alternating and ending with the flour mixture.

Ladle batter into cupcake liners about three-quarters full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes. Cool completely.

Once cooled, add icing and decorate as desired.

Yields 24 cupcakes.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!



*Also submitted at*

Sweet Tooth Friday

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Pollo Relleno

Posted on by Run DMT
10

PhotobucketRemember how I told you I steal borrow cookbooks from my MIL on a permanent basis?  Well, this recipe is from one of her cookbooks that found a new home on my kitchen counter.

Better Homes and Gardens: Fast & Fresh Family Dinners offers many recipes that are truly fast and fresh as well as simple and healthy.  All which are important factors with my busy runner mother lifestyle with three kids.

My favorite recipe so far from Better Homes and Gardens : Fast & Fresh Family Dinners is Pollo Relleno, but then I love anything Tex Mex.

When I make this meal for my family, I always serve it with a side of Spanish rice.  It’s a wonderful accompaniment to the chicken and it just finishes the meal off perfectly.  For my kids, I add a dollop of light sour cream to hide the heat.  And to really finish it off, top it off with some of Rachel Ray’s Salsa Fresca.  Yum.  Es muy bueno.

This dish is gluten free as no wheat products were used in the making of this meal, however, it is definitely not dairy free.


Pollo Relleno

Ingredients

6 medium skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 ½ pounds)

½ yellow cornmeal

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp cumin

½ tsp salt

2 eggs

1 4-ounce can whole green chile peppers, rinsed, seeded and cut half lengthwise (6 pieces total)

2 ounces Monterey Jack cheese cut into six 2 x ½ strips

2 Tbsp snipped fresh cilantro or parsley

½ tsp ground black pepper

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

Salsa

½ cup shredded Monterey Jack, Colby Jack or cheddar cheese (optional)

Fresh cilantro sprigs (optional)

2 cups shredded romaine lettuce (optional)

Light sour cream (optional)


Directions

Preheat oven to 375.  Prepare a shallow baking pan with cooking spray.

Place chicken piece between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound lightly with flat side of meat mallet until ¼ inch thick.  Remove plastic wrap and repeat with other chicken pieces.

In a shallow bowl, combine well cornmeal, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin and salt.  Place eggs in another shallow bowl; beat lightly to make an egg wash.

For each chicken roll, place a chili pepper half on piece near edge.  Place a cheese stick on top of chili pepper.  Sprinkle with some of the snipped cilantro or parsley, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.  Fold in sides, starting from edge with cheese, roll up chicken.

Dip chicken rolls into egg wash and roll in cornmeal mixture to coat.  Place rolls, seam sides down, in a prepared shallow baking pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.

Serve on a bed on shredded lettuce with a side Spanish rice.  Sprinkle rolls with shredded cheese and some Salsa Fresca.  Add a dollop of light sour cream and a few sprigs of fresh cilantro for garnish.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!



*Also submitted at*


Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Irish Oatmeal Leek Soup

Posted on by Run DMT
10

PhotobucketI have to confess.  I found this recipe in a place other than Pinterest.

*gasp*

Remember that social network everyone was obsessed with before Pinterest?  You know, the one where you collected friends instead of ideas, objects, bodies, food, home décor, etc.  you wished you had?

Remember Facebook?

Sometimes I remember to visit Facebook too, which is where I found this tasty soup.

I follow Fila Toning and you should too if you love motivating discussions and recipes related to fitness and healthy living.  Someday I hope to be part of the Fila Toning team.  Until then, I’ll keep lurking following the Fila Toning Facebook page.

Last week, the Fila Toning Team shared a recipe.

Sounds interesting and different, doesn’t it?  My family loves Potato Leek Soup, but it’s not the healthiest soup.  But Irish Oatmeal Leek soup sounds like a healthy alternative.  So, of course I pinned it…

…which led me on a path exploring skinnytaste.com, but that’s a whole other post.

I shared Skinny Taste’s Irish Oatmeal Soup with my non-Pinterest hubby, Iron Chef Allan, to hear his thoughts on it and he thought the same. “That sounds interesting.”

One trip to my local Publix and I found all the ingredients.  You know, the whole six ingredients in the soup.  You have to love a recipe with only SIX ingredients!

Although we don’t use light butter, I opted for the full fat of 1 Tbsp of butter, so my finished soup isn’t quite as healthy as Skinny Taste’s, but the results were tasty nonetheless.

So this once referred to as an interesting Irish Oatmeal Leek Soup can now be called a simple, tasty, slightly healthy soup.

And one we will definitely eat again.

Just out curiosity, I visited Spark People to calculate the nutritional contents of my full fat version.  Incidentally, there is only one fat gram difference between using regular butter over light and no difference between the saturated fat content between light and regular salted butter.  Plus, regular butter has less sodium!  So go on and drop small slice of full fat butter when making this soup or opt for canola oil instead.

Also, the original recipe states to cook the oats for 45-50 minutes, but I found the oats still too raw and chewy after that cooking timeframe.  I continued simmering the oats on the lowest setting for a few hours which allowed the soup to become thicker and creamier (more mushy), but that’s a personal preference.

Irish Oatmeal Leek Soup
(From skinnytaste.com)

Ingredients

1 Tbsp butter

1 ½ cups (3 large) leeks, white and pale green only, sliced thin

1/2 cup Irish steel cut oats

4 cups fat-free reduced sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth

1 ½ cups non-fat milk

Fresh cracked pepper and salt to taste

2 tbsp fresh chives for garnish


Directions
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally until the leeks are soft (about 15 minutes).

Add the broth and then milk to avoid scalding the milk.  Raise heat to high and bring to a boil.

Add the oatmeal and fresh cracked black pepper to taste.  Return to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once a boiling, reduce heat to lowest setting, cover and simmer until oats are tender, 45-50 minutes.  For a thicker creamy soup, allow soup to simmer for three hours.

Serve garnished with chopped chives and fresh ground pepper.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!


*Also submitted at*


Denise Mestanza-Taylor+