This lentil soup is a winner!

IMG_9353 by pianomom2001, on Flickr

Recipe here

quote:

Originally posted by AdagioM:
This lentil soup is a winner!

Is it ever!!! It's a damp, cold autumn day here and the soup is the perfect dinner.

What I'm trying to figure out...how did you know I had just over a half a pound of slightly wilted baby spinach in the fridge, and almost exactly a cup of lentils in the pantry?

You're a lifesaver.

quote:

Originally posted by well-tempered gardener:

quote:

Originally posted by AdagioM:
This lentil soup is a winner!

Is it ever!!! It's a damp, cold autumn day here and the soup is the perfect dinner.

What I'm trying to figure out...how did you know I had just over a half a pound of slightly wilted baby spinach in the fridge, and almost exactly a cup of lentils in the pantry?

You're a lifesaver.

Winner, winner, soupy dinner! We really liked it. I had to buy turmeric; that's not a standard here. But now I have a whole jar. It's pretty.

I like that the spinach goes in after pressure cooking. It wilts enough from residual heat, and isn't super limp. Pretty!

Mine wasn't vegan; I like chicken broth better than vegetable broth. But yummy!

Trying chicken cacciatore next week.

Yes, the spinach right at the end worked well. There's a bit of soup left (we were hungry and had seconds!), enough for a bowl for lunch tomorrow. I suspect it will taste good but the spinach may not be the pretty green it is when it's freshly prepared.

I used home made chicken broth that I had in the freezer...another great pressure cooker/IP recipe...not sure if I've already posted it, but here goes...no skimming the foam or worrying about keeping it at a simmer. Just set it and forget it!

Instant Pot Chicken stock

4 lbs. chicken wings and/or backs (I buy organic drumsticks from Costco - skin on, bone in. Come in a three-pack, each pack is about 2 pounds. Only $1.99 a pound, I think.)

2 medium onions, peeled and quartered

2 ribs celery, cut into 2 inch lengths

2 carrots, peeled, cut into 2 inch lengths

(Original recipe also calls for 2 leeks cleaned and cut into half lengthwise. Also a couple of parsnips, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks. These are items I don't usually have in the frig, so I've never made the soup using them. I think they might be a good addition, though.)

2 bay leaves

3 sprigs parley

3 sprigs thyme

9 to 10 cups water

Place chicken in the IP along with the onions, celery carrots, bay leaves, parsley, thyme. Add water.

Select high pressure and set timer for 45 minutes. Natural pressure release.

Strain, discarding chicken bones, meat, skin, vegetables and herbs. (The chicken meat is pretty well spent, but Mr WTG saves it, chills it, and then chops it up to make a pretty good chicken salad with celery and tarragon.)

Pass the stock through a fine mesh strainer to remove small bits. Cover and refrigerate. When chilled and congealed, remove chicken fat. With the chicken drumsticks, I don't usually get much fat at all, so I often skip this step.

Will keep frig for 3 days or in freezer for 6 months. I put the stock into 2 cup containers and freeze it. Much better than the store-bought stuff in the cartons.

Cheater hint: This stock is good on it's own, but sometimes I add a little Better Than Bouillon chicken stuff when I make soup recipes; adds a nice depth of flavor.

quote:

Originally posted by well-tempered gardener:
Yes, the spinach right at the end worked well. There's a bit of soup left (we were hungry and had seconds!), enough for a bowl for lunch tomorrow. I suspect it will taste good but the spinach may not be the pretty green it is when it's freshly prepared.

I used home made chicken broth that I had in the freezer...another great pressure cooker/IP recipe...not sure if I've already posted it, but here goes...no skimming the foam or worrying about keeping it at a simmer. Just set it and forget it!

Instant Pot Chicken stock

4 lbs. chicken wings and/or backs (I buy organic drumsticks from Costco - skin on, bone in. Come in a three-pack, each pack is about 2 pounds. Only $1.99 a pound, I think.)

2 medium onions, peeled and quartered

2 ribs celery, cut into 2 inch lengths

2 carrots, peeled, cut into 2 inch lengths

(Original recipe also calls for 2 leeks cleaned and cut into half lengthwise. Also a couple of parsnips, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks. These are items I don't usually have in the frig, so I've never made the soup using them. I think they might be a good addition, though.)

2 bay leaves

3 sprigs parley

3 sprigs thyme

9 to 10 cups water

Place chicken in the IP along with the onions, celery carrots, bay leaves, parsley, thyme. Add water.

Select high pressure and set timer for 45 minutes. Natural pressure release.

Strain, discarding chicken bones, meat, skin, vegetables and herbs. (The chicken meat is pretty well spent, but Mr WTG saves it, chills it, and then chops it up to make a pretty good chicken salad with celery and tarragon.)

Pass the stock through a fine mesh strainer to remove small bits. Cover and refrigerate. When chilled and congealed, remove chicken fat. With the chicken drumsticks, I don't usually get much fat at all, so I often skip this step.

Will keep frig for 3 days or in freezer for 6 months. I put the stock into 2 cup containers and freeze it. Much better than the store-bought stuff in the cartons.

Cheater hint: This stock is good on it's own, but sometimes I add a little Better Than Bouillon chicken stuff when I make soup recipes; adds a nice depth of flavor.

I wish I had a bigger freezer! I don't think I have enough room to keep stock on hand. Tiny kitchen, tinier fridge/freezer. Le Sigh.

Could someone please remind me why chicken stock is healthy - in other words, how it's good for us?

I've been religiously buying the boxed broth for use in various dishes, but other than avoiding salt and chemicals (if I don't buy the organic kind) I've forgotten why!

(Like several supplements I continue to take without remembering what they were supposed to help with. Memory?!?)

quote:

Originally posted by Amanda:
Could someone please remind me why chicken stock is healthy - in other words, how it's good for us?

Dunno. I just like chicken stock as the base for most of my soups.

Check the label. Commercial stock has sugar in it. Lots of sugar. Might be HFCS but it’s sugar. Will it kill you? Maybe not, but sugar has no business in chicken broth.

I sent an email to Trader Joe’s basically asking “sugar WTF” and got a nice email back. She had no idea that TJ was adding sugar to commodities and said she would check with the techs.

She did follow up and told me that the techs told her that without sugar, TJ chicken broth would have no flavor at all. Chicken offal is expensive, HFCS is cheap. The modern palate likes sweet stuff.

I make my own stock. Once you do that you’ll never go back.

I made a wonderful chicken stew last night. I’m loving that this appliance lends itself to last minute, what do I have in the fridge kind of cooking. This is a made up recipe, so I did the amounts by eye, no measuring. I had a low grade migraine all day, and it was nice that this was so easy and uncomplicated. If I’d felt better, I would have made some baking powder biscuits go go with.

3 quart Instant Pot:

Sautéed finely chopped carrots, onions and celery in some olive oil - carrots onions and celery are the key ingredients to making any gravy/soup/stew taste full and rich.

Tossed in a small amount of chopped raw bacon to cook along with them (I have some bacon end pieces at the butcher that I keep in the freezer).

Deglazed the pot with some dry sherry (would have used white wine, but I didn’t have any)

Added some peeled chopped potatoes, and a couple of frozen raw chicken tenders (I like these better than the breasts) Normally I would have browned a couple of chicken thighs after the sauté step, before the deglazing, but I didn’t have those either, so I went with the tenders.

Added a good spoonful of the organic better than boullion chicken base that you keep in the fridge, and some water to cover it all.

Only spices I added was a small spoonful of this stuff I found in our local grocery store called Bells Seasoning, and some freshly ground pepper. The Bells seasoning is awesome, it’s ground into a fine powder, so it incorporates really nicely into the broth. The organic chicken base in the jar is salty.

Cooked it on the stew setting - 15 minutes under pressure. Let is sit for about 10 before letting off the steam. Shredded the chicken before serving. Comfort food on a cold rainy evening.

Last night's dinner. Original recipe had 4 chicken breasts halved crosswise, but I think I'd prefer thighs on the next go-round. Added a bunch of stuff to it (celery, olives, capers, Italian seasoning) to make it more interesting.

25 min prep, 25 min cook (10 min pressure, instant release)
Serve over rice, pasta, or with crusty bread

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more if necessary

10 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered

8 bone-in chicken thighs

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 large carrots, sliced 1/4" thick

2 ribs celery, sliced

1/2 cup dry red wine

8 sprigs fresh thyme

1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes, DRAINED

2 tsp capers, drained

1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives

2 tsps Italian seasoning

Small handfull chopped parsley for garnish

1. Turn the Instant Pot® on to saute. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate. (Yes worth it to do these first.)

2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add half the chicken, skin side down, and cook until the skin is golden brown and crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 minute more. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and the onion and celery, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

4. Add carrots and wine, and cook, stirring and scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot, for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, crushing them with your hands as you add them to the pot. Add Italian seasoning, thyme, mushrooms, olives, and capers, and mix to combine. Press Cancel.

5. Arrange the chicken on top of the tomato mixture. Lock the lid. Press Manual and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Use the “Quick Release” method to vent the steam, then open the lid.

6. Serve the chicken and vegetables over rice or pasta, garnished with parsley.

Something simple. Got home late.

4 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts. I don’t like these but my wife does and keeps them in the freezer.

Put ‘em in the pot without thawing. Salt, pepper, poultry seasoning. A dollop of chicken stock.

10 minutes on high.

Fantastic! (And the cooking liquid is over the top delicious by itself.)

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Check the label. Commercial stock has sugar in it. Lots of sugar. Might be HFCS but it’s sugar. Will it kill you? Maybe not, but sugar has no business in chicken broth.

I sent an email to Trader Joe’s basically asking “sugar WTF” and got a nice email back. She had no idea that TJ was adding sugar to commodities and said she would check with the techs.

She did follow up and told me that the techs told her that without sugar, TJ chicken broth would have no flavor at all. Chicken offal is expensive, HFCS is cheap. The modern palate likes sweet stuff.

I make my own stock. Once you do that you’ll never go back.

Off-topic, but one of my pet peeves is when a meal that should be savory is inexplicably sweet. It happens a lot, especially with sauces. Sugary marinara, for example. Sweet pad thai. Eeeew.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Check the label. Commercial stock has sugar in it. Lots of sugar. Might be HFCS but it’s sugar. Will it kill you? Maybe not, but sugar has no business in chicken broth.

I sent an email to Trader Joe’s basically asking “sugar WTF” and got a nice email back. She had no idea that TJ was adding sugar to commodities and said she would check with the techs.

She did follow up and told me that the techs told her that without sugar, TJ chicken broth would have no flavor at all. Chicken offal is expensive, HFCS is cheap. The modern palate likes sweet stuff.

I make my own stock. Once you do that you’ll never go back.

Thank YOU, Steve!

I've decided sugar is my enemy. Somehow even the smallest quantities trigger insulin resistance and the whole hypoglycemic cycle of ravenous, roller-coaster appetite (expecially craving sugar). It's hard enough for me to fight my metabolism and my sweet tooth, without adding the insulin metabolism thing.

And the more you eat sugar, the more you crave it.

NO, THANKS! I started my query basically wondering why bother (money and/or time) with "real" chicken broth for soup and other bases. (I'd expected to hear it contained protein unlike bouillon powder). Now I find the most meaningful answer for me, in why to use it is not so much because of what it contains that's GOOD for me, but because of what it doesn't contain because it's BAD for me.

VERY important! Two sources now tell me my instincts about sugar are right for me:

First, the head of the John Hopkins Lipids clinic told me my hereditary lipid disorder could only be dealt with successfully - if at all - dietarily (mostly by avoiding refined carbs and alcohol). Second, my son just went through a pricy personalized health analysis (his boss paid!) including a genetic profile which specifically showed he had a powerful drive for sugar which did him special harm.

I've been telling him to give it a try but as always, it takes someone besides Mom to have an effect. That's OK as long as he does it.

Sure enough among other things, he's already healthier - specifically, getting sick much less now that he's cutting out sugar. Also, the less he consumes it, the easier it is to do without.

What's interesting to me is how individual it all is. Everybody really does have personal optimal food profiles. The more they study it, the more it seems to tie into the whole gut biome deal about which too little is yet known (but coming along fast!).

I'm very pleased with the results of tailoring my food choices, and the "frosting on the cake" (VERY poor metaphor!) is that I continue to be able to avoid statins despite elevated lipids - the only one in my family to do so.

Among the many bad effects of statins is (over time) rhabdomylasis. Both brothers have it; muscle fibers degenerate, and after long enough, that excess protein, starts to damage the kidneys. Our dad died of kidney failure.

So it wasn't as trivial a question (about chicken broth) as I myself thought - far from primarily a matter of taste. I'd never have thought it was so much a matter of sugar. Thanks for the research, Steve.

I don’t have any particular health reason to cut way back on sugar, I just find that as I get older I don’t want sugar in my savory food. My Dad was the same way.

It’s kind of a problem. There are several restairants my family likes (Cracker Barrel in particular) where they put so much sugar in everything the only thing I’ll eat is scrambled eggs and I have to tell them not to add sugar to them.

Makes me sound like a curmudgeon.

In the last six months or so, I find that I've lost much of my taste for fried food.

And I don't handle sugar as well, except when it's mixed with dairy (yogurt or ice cream).