Last Night's Dinner: Curried Chicken Soup

So the other night I gave my eldest daughter and my husband a choice for dinner. Their choices were curry with rice or curried chicken soup, either way they were going to get chicken curry! Well my daughter loves the curried chicken soup, so picked that. Then my husband picked the curry with rice. So we had the curry with rice then last night we had the curried chicken soup. This may be enough curry for the week!

Anyway, I got this recipe from the Rachel Ray magazine (http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/soup-stew-choup-recipes/curried-chicken-soup/article.html). They usually have this pull out section for 7 days worth of dinners with a shopping list. I did it and found this little treasure! Enjoy!

CURRIED CHICKEN SOUP 

2 tablespoons butter

1 bunch scallions, white and green portions thinly sliced separately

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

2 teaspoons curry powder

One 32-ounce container (4 cups) chicken broth

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 large baking potato (12 to 14 ounces), peeled and cut into small cubes

1 rotisserie chicken, skin discarded and meat shredded

One 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed

Salt and pepper

3/4 cup plain whole milk yogurt

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the scallion whites, bell pepper and curry powder and cook, stirring, until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth, cauliflower and potato and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, partially cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

Stir in the chicken and chickpeas and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir in the scallion greens and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the yogurt just before serving.

NOTES: The rotisserie chicken is just a quick way to get around cooking the chicken. I like to buy those cheapo chicken breast strips (I think they are left overs or something that the meat ppl just try to sell off) cube them up and fry them until they are no longer pink.

Tonight's Dinner: Salmon Patties

So as I was grocery shopping last week I happened to notice that the canned salmon was on sale. I remember my mother making mackerel patties when I was younger and I have tried it a couple of times since I've grown up. I never wrote down the recipe, which isn't really a recipe, more like a thought or a memory, it may have never been written down. So I decided to find my own salmon patty recipe. While I was searching two really popped out to me, one from a southern cooking website and one from a health and fitness website. I chose the healthy one. It calls for Old Bay seafood seasoning but I didn't have any so I made my own substitute, which I though turned out good and my kids loved it. I just need to wait for my husband to come home to eat so I know what another adult thinks of it. I served this with a mushroom rice and italian cut green beans. The nice thing about the healthy website recipe is that it includes the nutritional facts! http://www.answerfitness.com/232/salmon-patties-recipe-healthy-recipes-snacks/

SALMON PATTIES

1 can (14 3/4 oz) canned Red Sockeye or Pink Salmon (I prefer Sockeye, which has a deeper red color, a little more flavor and is higher in Omega-3s than Pink Salmon.)
1 tbs fresh lemon juice, or one packet True Lemon
1-1/2 tbs Dijon style mustard
3/4 cup oat bran or quick oats
2 tbs dried onion flakes
1/2 cup sliced green onions (white part and some of the green) — Optional
Three egg whites
1 tsp Old Bay Seafood Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large glass mixing bowl, (reserving some of the “broth” on the can) drain and flake the salmon. If you want to remove the skin and bones, do it at this point and discard them (or feed them to the cat or dog!) Add the lemon juice or Real Lemon,  egg whites, dried onion flakes, Dijon mustard and Old Bay seasoning to the bowl and mix until well blended. If the patties are a little too dry, you can add a bit of the salmon broth you reserved from the can, or a bit of water. If they are too moist, add a tbs or two of additional oat bran or quick oats. The salmon patty mixture should be fairly most and easy to form into a patty, while retaining it shape and not “cracking.” If the salmon patty “cracks” when you are forming it, it’s too dry and you should add some a tablespoon or so of water or salmon broth.

Form the mixture into four to five patties, placing each patty on waxed paper while making the others.

Lightly oil a non-stick pan with 1 tbs of walnut, olive or canola oil. Add the patties and cook over medium-high heat until golden brown on both sides (about 10-15 minutes.) Or, you can bake the salmon patties in the oven until golden brown at 350 degrees. You can also grill the patties.

Serve the salmon patties on their own with brown rice or brown rice pilaf and a side vegetable, or a baked sweet potato with low-fat quark and vegetable. You can also serve the patties burger style with the usual burger condiments on a 100 percent whole wheat bun, or between two slices of of toasted Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grain bread.

NOTES: There is a recipe for Old Bay seasoning here: http://www.cookingcache.com/jargifts/oldbayseasoningmixinajar.shtml?rdid=rc1 

I didn't have all the ingredients for this mix so I used a shake of each of these, dry mustard, black pepper, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, paprika, and onion powder (instead of the dry onion flakes).

I also didn't use any lemon juice or "true lemon" or green onions. 

FUNNY NOTE: As I finish typing this Good Eats has come on my television and it is all about salmon! It's title "Gills Gone Wild" :)