Chicken Enchilada Soup

My sister brought some leftover chicken enchilada soup she had made over to my mom's one night. It was so delicious. She told us she bought a pouch of a mix and added chicken, corn, and rice. It was so good, I decided I wanted to make it this week. When I went to the store, I only found one mix, and it was 4 dollars. I was then inspired to try to make it from scratch. I searched for chicken enchilada soup recipes and came across a few copycats for Chili's chicken enchilada soup. A few had velveeta, which I don't usually buy, but I did find one with cheddar, so I decided to give it a try. YUM!!! This soup is awesome!
Note- this recipe calls for Masa Harina. This is a corn flour that can be used to make tortillas, tamales, and this soup! It can be found either in the ethnic food or with the flours.

Chicken Enchilada Soup
(Chili's copycat)- Original Recipe found on Allrecipes.com

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into small cubes and cooked
1/2 onion diced
1-2 garlic cloves diced
4 cups chicken broth
3 cups water, divided
1 cup masa harina
1 can red enchilada sauce
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin

1. Prepare a large pot with cooking spray and heat over medium high. Add onions and garlic and cook until soft and translucent. Add chicken broth and 1 cup water.
2. In a bowl, combine 2 cups of water and masa harina and mix until well combined. Add mixture to soup and stir in.
3. Add enchilada sauce, cheddar, salt, chili powder, cumin and stir to combine. Bring to a boil. When boiling, add chicken and lower heat to simmer. Simmer 30 minutes.

I think I am going to add in corn and rice next time.

Coconut Cheesecake

I LOVE coconut; so when I saw this cheesecake recipe on The Novice Chef blog, I knew I had to try it. My recipe is different because I wanted to make mini cheesecakes to bring to work. I didn't want too much tempting dessert in the house. Check out The Novice Chef blog for the original (which includes a recipe for coconut whipped cream topping which I didn't make). My recipe is different that hers, but I used hers as a base.


Crust
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
4 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp shredded coconut
1 Tbsp melted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Place paper liners in muffin tin.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, coconut, and melted butter. Stir until well mixed.
4. Scoop graham cracker mixture into each of the cupcake liners. Bake at 350F until lightly browned (approx 5-7 minutes).
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Cheesecake
1 package cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1/3 - 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 Tbsp coconut milk (I used light, but I don't think it had enough flavor)
1/4 cup cream of coconut (YUM)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese until smooth using either a spatula or hand mixer. Add in the sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat until well combined. Add in the egg and beat until well incorporated. Add the coconut milk and cream of coconut and beat until well incorporated.
3. Pour mixture into cupcake liners on top of the prebaked crust. Do not fill to top as they will rise slightly. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes, or until the filling looks set. Remove and allow to cool.
YUM!

Pork Braciole

This past weekend we decided to take a friend to dinner at one of our favorite local Italian Restaurants, Lonzano's. Every time I go to Lonzano's I try something new. Usually when I find something I like, I stick to it, but they have so many tempting options, I feel the need to experiment...and I have yet to be disappointed. This past weekend, I decided to try the Veal Rollitini. It was veal pounded thin and stuffed with a ham and breadcrumb filling. It is usually served with a sherry wine sauce, but their maranara is so good, I decided to get that instead. YUM! It was so good, I wanted to try to make it at home this week. The dish reminded me of a dish my mom makes called Braciole. It is basically a thin piece of beef which she wraps around a filling of seasoned breadcrumbs and cheese and cooks in the tomato sauce. One of my favorites! I decided this week to try it with pork. The end result was so tasty, but with the cut of pork I brought home (and the way I used it), it wasn't as thin as I like it, but since it was so delicious I will still post the recipe. I would recommend trying a pork cutlet that you can smash very thin.

Pork Braciole

1 pound pork (I used a loin that I cut to flatten and tried to thin, but it wasn't think enough, so I suggest a pork cutlet)
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
2-3 small cloves of garlic minced
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 tsp salt
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1/4 jar (approx 1 cup) Ragu tomato sauce (I used Old World Style)

1. In a bowl, combine bread crumbs, cheeses, salt, garlic and mix until well incorporated. Sprinkle mixture over each piece of thin pork. Wrap the pork around the filling and secure (I used toothpicks, but remember how many are in the meat, you could also use cooking twine).
2. Bring pan (use one with sides, because once meat is browned, I put the sauce over to cook through) to heat over medium high heat. Spray with cooking spray and add pork. Brown on all sides. If you have a smaller pan, you may have to work in batches. Do not overcrowd the pan, or the meat will steam and never brown. Once all of the pork has browned, add it all to the pan and cover with tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to rapid simmer and cover. Lower heat to low and allow to cook through (I let mine go for about 45 min to an hour).

I serve mine over pasta and it was SO GOOD! I couldn't stop eating the sauce!

Smoky Lentil Soup

This recipe came to my inbox the other day along with an advertisement for a new soup making small appliance for the kitchen. I don't really feel that I would ever need something like this appliance (which is pretty much a blender that can heat up to cook ingredients prior to needing to be blended...I can achieve the same thing-although with a few more dishes to do- with a pot and a blender), but the recipe was intriguing. Now I can't believe in the dreadfully hot day we are having that I decided to make soup, but I did and it is delicious! So we will just sit under the fan in the A/C eating this yummy soup!

Using the Cuisinart soup maker and blender, you can sauté the vegetables, cook the soup and then puree it all in one vessel. For a quick and easy weeknight dinner, pair this hearty lentil soup with our Grown-Up Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (see related recipe at left).


3 slices of bacon (I used turkey bacon)
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 celery stalk, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 Tbs. tomato paste
1 tsp. smoked paprika (I didn't have this, so I used a little more than 1/2 tsp of chili powder)
1/4 cup canned diced tomatoes, drained (I also didn't have this, so I used crushed tomatoes)
3/4 cup lentils, picked over and rinsed
4 cups chicken broth

1. Preheat large pot over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned/crisp. Drain on paper towels and chop.

2. Return the pot to the heat and add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, tomato paste and paprika (or chili powder). Cook until the vegetables just start to soften. Add the tomatoes, lentils and broth. Cover and cook on high heat until the lentils are tender, approximatley 30 minutes. Add in bacon reserving a few pieces for garnish.

3. This step is optional. I used my stick blender and pureed until smooth and almost creamy. If you like yours more chunky, you can skip this or just blend it lightly. If you don't have a stick blender, you can pour the soup into a blender. Use the lid, but leave that central piece out and cover with a towel, blend on low.