This soup is SO tasty!  It’s rare to find a soup that satisfies my hungry husband for dinner, but this one did it!  It has a great spicy kick, and the not-so-optional (in my opinion) sour cream and avocado garnish is the perfect counterpart.  (As a side note, Caleb also had avocado for dinner- it’s nice to have a meal we can all eat!).

I used about 3/4 of a 16 oz bag of frozen corn, because that is what I had in the freezer!  Also, the only salsa verde I could find didn’t have a “heat” on the label, but the original recipe recommends mild.  I’d say ours was more like medium, and it was fantastic for us!  I also used 6 chicken thighs- they were all in a package, and it worked well for us!

It’s hard taking a picture of soup… all of ours did not look very appetizing, so I decided to leave out a picture on this blog post!

Lean, Mean and Green Tortilla Soup
Recipe from More Make it Fast, Cook it Slow
Serves 6

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
6 cups chicken broth
1-16 oz bag frozen corn
1-14 oz jar prepared salsa verde
1 Tbsp ground cumin
sour cream, crushed tortilla chips, and avocado slices for garnish (optional, but highly recommended)

In a 16-oz slow cooker, place the chicken thighs.  Stir in the chicken broth, corn, salsa verde and cumin.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4 hours.  Take out the chicken and shred it using two forks, then stir it back into the soup before serving.  Garnish each serving with sour cream, crushed tortilla chips and avocado slices.

YUM!  Enjoy this simple, delicious soup!
The Hungry Teacher

I grabbed Jamie Oliver’s Meals in Minutes (One of my Christmas gifts!) and looked at the pasta.  He had a recipe for Spaghetti Puttanesca, but frankly, his recipe was more work then I was looking for.  I then saw David Rocco’s Dolce Vita on the shelf.  PERFECT!  A simple, delicious, home-cooked meal.

This recipe is fantastic because it uses mostly pantry ingredients– things you can keep on hand to have a simple meal in a flash.  I used anchovy paste because I don’t really have a need for a whole can of anchovies in my fridge.  The anchovy paste comes in a tube– you can squeeze it out as you need it, and it dissolves in the sauce.  I don’t think it tastes fishy AT ALL…  The recipes I sourced for puttanesca used spaghetti, but I prefer a thicker noodle, so I used linguine.  I forgot to buy fresh parsley, so I just omitted it, but it would add a great bit of colour and fresh flavour to finish the dish!  Jamie Oliver uses a can of tuna in oil in his puttanesca sauce- I think I’ll try that next time for a little extra protein and to satisfy my carnivorous husband!

Pasta Alla Puttanesca
Recipe adapted from David Rocco’s Dolce Vita
Serves 4

3/4 lb linguine
4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Crushed red chili pepper flakes, to taste
1 Tbsp anchovy paste
2 Tbsp capers, drained
16 black olives, pitted, chopped a bit
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1-14 oz can diced tomatoes,
Salt, to taste
Fresh parsley, finely chopped

Cook the pasta in boiling water.  The pasta takes longer than the sauce!

Put a saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil.  Put in the garlic, crushed red chilies, anchovy paste, capers, olives and walnuts.  Cook gently until the garlic is lightly browned.

Pour in the can of tomatoes.  Let the sauce cook until it is thickened a bit– you don’t want it to be too runny.  Add some salt to taste.  When the pasta is finished, drain it  and save a bit of the cooking water in case you need to loosen up the sauce.  Add the pasta to the sauce with some of the cooking water if necessary.  Let the whole thing cook for a minute or two, until the sauce is thickened!

Enjoy!
The Hungry Teacher

Fall is all around us.  It’s such a beautiful time of year- oranges, yellows and reds everywhere, crisp, cool days, trips to the pumpkin patch, and more rainy days.  I must confess, I secretly like the rain.  It gives you an excuse to curl up indoors, make some comfort food, have a cup of tea and read a book… or play with a baby!

I love my slow cooker!  It’s great to throw a plethora of ingredients in, turn it on and come home to a house that smells amazing and dinner made! This recipe involves cooking the sauce on the stove for a while, and then assembling the dish, so it’s a little more work than a stew or soup.  Don’t let that stop you!  This recipe is worth the extra couple of steps!

When I was working, I liked to prep my slow cooker meals the night before and store the crock in the fridge.  Then in the morning I just had to pull the crock out, plop it in the cooker, plug it in and go!  As a result, anything I tried with tortillas in it turned out soggy.  If you do want to make this the night before, make the sauce, grate the cheese and throw it all in the fridge.  You’ll have assemble the layers in the morning, but it’s not that difficult!

Use small, 6″ tortillas for this recipe.  They fit perfectly in the middle of my slow cooker, making the result look really good!  The tortillas did not end up soggy at all in the slow cooker, or reheated for lunch the next day!  I had so much extra sauce that I froze it- it’s basically a tex-mex flavoured chili.

Slow Cooker Enchiladas
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home
Serves 5-6

1 pound ground beef
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1 can (16 oz) pinto or kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (16 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes and red chilies (or whatever you can find!)
1/3 cup water
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
6-7 flour tortillas (6″)

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef, onion and green pepper until the beef is brown and the vegetables are tender.  Add the next 8 ingredients and bring to a boil.  Turn down the heat, cover the mixture and simmer for 10 minutes.

In a 5-6 qt slow cooker, layer about 3/4 cup beef mixture, one tortilla and about 1/3 cup of cheese.  Repeat layers until all ingredients are used up.  Cover and cook on low about 5-7 hours, or until heated through.  (Mine took 6 hours!)

Enjoy!
The Hungry Teacher

Having a baby at home is a TON of fun!!  I am loving my life as a stay-at-home-mom (at least for this school year)!  But, as all parents know, the simple things in life aren’t always so simple anymore.  Take frying bacon, for instance.  When you don’t have a baby, it’s pretty simple to fry bacon.  Put it in the pan, turn it on, flip it occasionally and watch out for splatters!  But, if you have to hold a baby, or have one in the kitchen with you, it can be nearly IMPOSSIBLE to flip that bacon, or even get near it, for fear of having bacon grease splatter the baby!

I’ve heard of people baking bacon before.  I know this is not a new thing.  I’ve seen methods using a wire rack on a baking sheet, or the broiler pan… but those methods seem like they would involve A LOT of scrubbing after.  Maybe I’m lazy, but I don’t want to spend my time scrubbing a wire rack that has bacon fat and little crispy bacon pieces stuck to it!

So, I did some research, and I found the EASIEST, most convenient, and-believe it or not- the most tasty way to have perfectly cooked crispy bacon!

Here’s my method!  I found it on about.com and adapted it very slightly to suit me!

1.  Get a baking sheet and line it with aluminum foil (this makes clean up simple!)

2.  Lay out your bacon slices on the sheet.  It’s best if they’re not touching, as they’d cook together, but it’s ok to get as many on the sheet as you can WITHOUT them touching!

3.  Put your baking sheet in the cold oven, THEN turn it on to 400°.  Set your timer to 17 minutes.  Walk away.

4.  When the timer goes, check your bacon!  If it’s golden brown and cooked the way you like bacon, it’s done- if not, let it cook for a few minutes longer (I usually use thicker bacon slices and they take about 22 min).  Take it off of the baking sheet and place it on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the extra grease!

5.  Eat your bacon!

Perfectly cooked bacon! YUM! I know it looks greasy, but once it's been on the paper towels, it's not too greasy (about the same as frying it!)

I love pizza!  If you think about it, it’s pretty much the perfect food!  It has all of the major food groups, it tastes amazing and you eat it with your hands.  Yup, definitely a stellar combination!

I stumbled upon Lauren’s Latest a few weeks ago on Pinterest, when I made her Thai Sweet Chili Chicken Bites (which were SOOOOOOO good, by the way!).  I decided to do something UNHEARD of!  I made two new recipes from the same blog for dinner!  They were both so delicious!

Now, I discovered a trick for cooking bacon- bake it!  In fact, this has so revolutionized my world that I am planning to do a whole blog post on it, the next time I get a few minutes during nap time (which doesn’t happen very often… good thing Caleb is a cutie!)

The recipe calls for homemade sun-dried tomato pesto, which is DELISH!  The combination of pizza sauce and sun-dried tomato pesto is divine and makes regular pizza spectacular!  If you have store-bought, I’m sure it’s fine as well!  Now, the recipe for the pesto makes about 3 cups, but you only need 1/3 cup for this recipe.  I cut it in half, and froze the rest of the pesto for another recipe (think- over pasta with mozzarella cheese and spinach) or the next time you make this pizza!

Spinach, Bacon & Feta Pizza with Sundried Tomato Sauce
Recipe from Lauren’s Latest, who in turn got the recipe from Perry’s Plate

Enough pizza dough to make a large pizza (about 1 lb)
12 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/3 cup homemade sun-dried tomato pesto (see recipe below)
1/3 cup pizza sauce
2 or 3 handfuls fresh baby spinach
2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese
2/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1.  Preheat oven to 450°.
2.  Spread pizza dough out onto your pizza pan (or cookie sheet, I use a stone…).
3.  Combine the pizza sauce and pesto in a small bowl.  Spread over the dough.
4.  Top with fresh spinach and mozzarella.
5.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until the crust isn’t quite brown yet, but has gotten firm.
6.  Remove pizza from the oven and top with the bacon and feta.
7.  Return the pizza to the oven for another 5-8 minutes, or until the mozzarella cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden!
8.  Cut and ENJOY!

Homemade Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
Makes 2-1/2 – 3 cups
Also from Lauren’s Latest, via Perry’s Plate

2 cups oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, sliced thinly ( or just buy them thinly sliced to save time!)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
Extra virgin olive oil, as needed

1.  Combine tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and pine nuts in a food processor.  Pulse until you have a nice, thick, combined texture!  Drizzle in a little olive oil if the mixture is too thick!

I love the spicy flavour of Indian food, and I wanted to bring it into my kitchen (actually onto my patio) at home!  All summer, we’ve been doing a lot of grilling… it’s so quick, easy and adds so much flavor to foods!

I found a recipe for Tandoori Chicken on allrecipes.com that I decided to try.  I must say, I know that this isn’t real Indian food.  I know that it doesn’t really even come close to something you’d eat in a restaurant.  BUT, it was still REALLY good!  The spices worked together well!  The chicken is marinated in yogurt, with the spices added in,  which made it so moist and flavorful!

I used bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for maximum moistness and flavor.  You could easily adapt this recipe for boneless skinless chicken breasts (grill until they are no longer pink, about 5-8 minutes a side), or boneless skinless chicken thighs.  You could also bake the chicken in a 350º oven for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear.

Barbecued Tandoori Chicken Thighs
Serves 4
Recipe adapted from www.allrecipes.com
1 cup (8 oz) plain yogurt
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
8 chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on)
olive oil spray

1.  In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt with the spices, garlic and ginger.
2.  Place the chicken in a large, resealable plastic bag.  Pour the marinade over the chicken.  Turn the bag over a few times to make sure that the chicken is coated with the marinade.  Place the bag in a bowl or on a plate, and marinate in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.
3.  Preheat the BBQ to medium.
4.  Remove the chicken from the bag, discard the marinade.  Wipe excess marinade off the chicken with a paper towel.  Spray with olive oil spray.
5.  Place the chicken over direct heat and grill for about 2 minutes on each side and you have nice grill marks on the chicken.  Move the chicken to indirect heat and finish cooking, about 15-20 minutes, or until the juices run clear.

Keep grilling while the weather’s still good!
The Hungry Teacher

I love appetizers.  Anything that is bite-sized, dippable, or deep-fried is my weakness.  But, the problem is that those foods are generally high in fat and calories.  After having a baby, I can’t really afford to eat high-fat foods… I still have baby weight to lose!  (Caleb is now three months old, and as cute as can be, by the way!)…

So, when I came upon this recipe on Pinterest, I had to try it!  The recipe is on a great cooking blog that I discovered on Pinterest, Lauren’s Latest.  She has lots of great looking recipes!

But, the original recipe was pan-fried, in 1-2 inches of oil! So, I decided to adapt it and bake it instead!  The recipe turned out great, the chicken was crispy, and the sauce was sweet and delicious!

The sauce is simply a bottled Thai Sweet Chili Sauce that you can buy in the Asian aisle of the grocery store!  It has great flavour- sweet and spicy at the same time.  I’m definitely going to be looking for more recipes to try it in!

I used panko breadcrumbs to coat the chicken.  They’re Japanese breadcrumbs that are used in tempura.  Panko stays light and crispy when baked, creating a crust that has a great crunch, similar to fried food!  I now use panko in almost everything I bread!

Thai Sweet Chili Chicken Bites
Recipe adapted from Lauren’s Latest
Serves 3-4

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper
1 egg
2 Tbsp. milk
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp paprika
2/3 cup Thai sweet chili sauce

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Coat a baking sheet with non-stick spray.
2. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
3.  Get out three shallow bowls or even plates.  In the first one, combine the flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  In the second, beat the egg with the milk.  In the third bowl, combine the panko, paprika, salt and pepper.
4.   Coat the chicken first in the flour mixture, then in the egg, then in the panko.  Place on a baking sheet, leave some space in between chicken pieces.  Spray the tops of the chicken with non-stick spray.  This helps it to brown and get crispy!
5.  Put the chicken in the oven, and cook for 20 minutes, or until chicken is golden brown and no longer pink inside.
6.  Put the chicken in a large bowl and pour the chili sauce over top.  Toss, plate up and enjoy!!

XOXO,

The Hungry Teacher

The end of summer is drawing near.  The deck off the back of our house faces west, which means that it’s really hot after the sun comes over the house.  But, at the end of summer, the sun moves behind the two trees, cooling down our deck enough to enjoy!  It’s so wonderful cooking at eating outside!

This salad is SO good!  It’s easy, healthy and light, but it still fills you up!  The type of sausage we use is a farmer sausage.  It’s a smoked sausage that is about 1-1/2″ in diameter.  I cut it in half length-wise, and then BBQ it like that.  You could use  a Kielbasa sausage, or really, any of your favorite sausages.

The original recipe calls for large red-skinned potatoes, sliced.  I really like baby red (or yellow) potatoes, so I used those instead.  I cut them in half or quarters, then par-boil them for about 8 minutes.  When the potatoes are boiled a bit before they are BBQ’d, I find they have a better texture- soft on the inside and crispy on the outside!

Also, the original recipe calls for a 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped.  Both times I prepared this recipe, I forgot the jalapeno at the grocery store.  So, I used a decent squirt of Sriracha hot sauce!

I grilled the veggies for this meal in a grill basket.  It worked fantastic!  Nothing fell through the grates, and it was easy to keep all of the veggies moving.  It’s not necessary, you could place the veggies on the grill and turn them once.

The garlic is roasted on the BBQ.  Last time I made this recipe, I found I was out of aluminum foil, so instead of grilling the garlic, I cooked it in a small covered container in the oven for about 40 minutes.  Not ideal in the summer, but I was improvising!

Grilled Sausage and Potato Salad
Recipe adapted from Chatelaine Summer Cookbook
Serves 4

1 head garlic
2 lbs baby red potatoes, halved or quartered, depending on size
1 zucchini, sliced in thick rounds
1 yellow pepper, quartered, then each quarter cut in half
1 red onion, sliced in thick rounds
canola or olive oil
salt and pepper
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Sriracha hot sauce
1/3 cup olive oil
1 farmer sausage
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil (optional)

Preheat BBQ to medium.  Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Put the potatoes in the boiling water, and cook for 8 minutes.  Drain.  Wrap the head of garlic in foil.

Combine the potatoes, zucchini, yellow pepper and onion in a large bowl.  Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss to coat.

Whisk lemon juice with Dijon, hot sauce and some salt in a small bowl.  Gradually whisk in 1/3 cup oil.

BBQ the garlic.  Prick the sausage with a fork all over and barbecue, covered and turning occasionally, until cooked through, about 15 minutes.  Slice sausage.

Meanwhile, BBQ vegetables, turning often, until they are tender, and have  grill marks, about 5-7 minutes.  Add to a large bowl with the sausage.  Squeeze the garlic from the skins and mash, then whisk into the dressing.  Drizzle over the salad and toss.  Sprinkle with basil.

Enjoy this summer meal!
The Hungry Teacher

Last night, I posted a recipe for Chipotle Lime Corn on the Cob.  It was so delicious!  I served it with this Tequila Lime Chicken.

This recipe is easy, with only a few ingredients!  The fact it has tequila in it is great, because we went to Mexico a few years ago and returned with a giant bottle of tequila– yet, we don’t like to drink it!  This is a good way to help use up our stash.

The original recipe called for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but I subbed in boneless, skinless chicken thighs.  They have more flavor and more fat, which translates into juicy, moist chicken on the BBQ!  I used 16, which fed my sister and I, as well as our hungry husbands, with a bit left over.  Also, the recipe called for ancho chili powder, but I used chipotle chili powder instead.

For one meal it seems like a lot of the same flavours (chipotle, lime…), but the flavour on the chicken is subdued.  It really worked together well!

Tequila Lime Chicken
Recipe adapted from Canada Grills
Serves 4

8-16 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cook as many as your family will eat…) or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup gold tequila
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1-1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 Tbsp olive oil

Combine all ingredients but the chicken.  Pour the marinade over the chicken in a large resealable bag.  Marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature (be careful that you don’t marinate it too long- the lime juice will begin to cook the chicken!).
Heat the BBQ to medium high.  Grill the chicken over direct heat for about 5-6 minutes per side, until it is nicely browned, firm and the juices run clear.  If you encounter flare-ups, move the chicken to a part of the grill with lower heat!  Serve with rice.

Enjoy the last few days of summer!
The Hungry Teacher

The Hungry Teacher is back!  I’m now not only The Hungry Teacher, but I’m now Mom to the most
precious baby boy on the face of the planet! As my husband wrote almost two months ago (!), we are now parents to Caleb James.  He’s incredibly cute and is now 10 weeks old!  He’s smiling, cooing and interacting a lot with us!   I love being a mom!

As all moms (and dads) know, having a baby at home is a HUGE adjustment!  Just when I think I get things figured out, Caleb throws a curve ball in (he had two weeks without napping—which meant we had a cranky baby and a cranky mommy).  But, for  right now, things are great!  He’s sleeping pretty well at night (no, not through the night yet!), taking naps during the day, and  he’s generally a happy, content baby!

I’m ready to start blogging again!   I’ve got an appetite, and I’m gaining energy to try new meals, and to document them with photographs and by blogging!  I think we’ll be having a lot more simple, healthy, flavourful meals- things that taste great with minimal effort.
I live in Chilliwack, BC, and we are known for our corn.  We not only have the best corn I have ever tasted, but we have corn drive-thrus.  I even worked at one for a summer!!!!  Triple Sweet Jubilee is Sparkes specialty, and it is amazing!  The corn is picked fresh every morning- and nothing beats it!  If you live in the Fraser Valley, it’s worth the drive for the corn!

Corn is best eaten on the day it’s picked.  Once it’s picked, the sugars begin converting to starches, and if you don’t eat it soon, it will be tough, starchy corn- not the juicy, sweet corn that we love!  There are lots of different ways to cook it, and the Sparkes Corn Barn website has the basics on it!

Last week, when entertaining friends, I tried this recipe for Chipotle Lime Corn.  It was AMAZING!  It gave the corn a tangy, smoky, spicy taste that just could not be beat.  I made it again tonight for my sister and her husband.

I don’t care for cilantro, which the original recipe calls for, so I substituted in fresh parsley.  The original recipe also calls for Asiago cheese- I used Parmigiano Reggiano instead.  The recipe also called for the corn to be grilled, but since we were using our BBQ for our main dishes, we didn’t have enough room, so I boiled the corn.

Oh, a quick chipotle pepper tip.  Forgive me if you’ve heard it before!  Chipotle peppers are sold in cans that have at least 8 peppers in them.  Most recipes call for just one pepper, though.  With the remaining peppers, freeze them individually with a bit of the adobo sauce in a small Ziploc bag.  They’ll last for at least 6 months.  When you need a chipotle
pepper, just pull it out of the freezer!  I’ve been defrosting them by putting them in hot water for a few minutes.

Chipotle Lime Corn on the Cob
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home
Serves 6 (although, we had 7 cobs of corn both times, and the mixture is enough!)6 ears of corn, husked and silk removed

½ cup mayonnaise
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1-1/2 tsp grated lime zest
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add the corn, cover and boil for about 5 minutes, until kernels are tender.  (Don’t add salt- it toughens the corn!).  Drain the corn.
In a small bowl, combine mayo, chipotle, parsley, lime juice, lime zest and garlic; spread about one heaping tablespoon
full over each ear of corn.  Sprinkle with cheese!

We spread the mayo mixture and grated the cheese over each ear at the table.  Serve with a lot of napkins- this is an unapologetically messy food that gets all over your face.  It’s worth it!

XOXO!

The Hungry Teacher