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21 Nov Chicken Curry in a Hurry Salad…

I cannot say that ever in my life have I found chicken salad appealing. It’s the dripping with mayo bit that grosses me out. You know the salads that look more like a few pieces of chicken were thrown into a vat of mayonnaise, versus the other way around? Yep, scarred for life. Until…. A couple of months ago, I had a delightful lunch at Starbelly which included their curried chicken on some truly great crunchy, airy bread. I was starving after a hot and nasty (in the best send of the word) yoga class and my body for the first time in over a decade said: “get the curry chicken sandwich, NOW.” When my body shouts, I listen. It was divine and not at all a drench of mayonnaise. Of course, I’ve been obsessed with curry chicken salad since and finally had a chance to make it with chicken soup left overs.

(Totally necessary aside: In my humble opinion, one trick to truly tasty chicken salad is to use dark meat. I know everyone is breast crazy – all the 12-year-olds can stop laughing – but, let’s be honest, the white meat? Blah blah blandland. After so many years of not eating chicken, my first taste of white meat was not inspiring in the least; I could happily never eat it again. Dark meat, on the other hand, now that’s some good yum. So, do yourself a flavor favor and at least use half and half.)

This recipe literally takes five minutes to make. You can absolutely go nutso with more spices, but I was in a hurry, so I stuck with the basics. In fact, one batch (see picture above) was even sans the turmeric and it was still completely satisfying, just not as brightly colored. As I think about it now, a little crushed ginger would be a nice addition also. Final note: personally, I think you can add whatever raw vegetables you like – cucumbers, finely chopped radicchio, onion, shallots, chopped parsley, etc.

So, basically what’s printed below is a good starting place.

Chicken Curry Salad

1 heaping C chopped or shredded cooked chicken
1 celery rib, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 radish, diced
1-2 t curry powder, to taste
pinch or three turmeric
2 T greet yogurt, Vegenaise, or mayonnaise (more if you want it more drippy)
generous pinch sea salt

How to do it:

1. Mix spices and yogurt (or Vegenaise) in a medium bowl, until well-combined. Add everything else (I like to do one or two ingredients at a time) and stir until chicken and veggies are lightly coated with curry dressing.

2. Done.

16 Nov Get Over Your Cold Chicken Soup

My whole life, the answer to illness has always been chicken soup. It started with my grandma Gogo (no, that really was her name, not a grandma nickname) and has been kept alive by my mom. Even at the height of my vegetarian years when I was felled by the flu to end all flues, my mama tucked me into the family room couch, lit a fire and made me chicken soup, which I slurped up gladly.

What’s so great about homemade chicken soup when you’re recovering from or fighting off a cold? Try this on for size: hydration (liquid broth), protein for recovery (in the broth and the meat), minerals (from the simmered bones), vitamins (from the veggies), steam (good for your sinuses) and comfort (good for your soul).

Sounds pretty good, right? But you think picking up a couple cans of soup is easier? Maybe … except for all the sodium, and not knowing the quality of the ingredients, and not having the convenience of a big vat in your refrigerator to eat for days … oh, and all of the left over meat to use in other meals. I almost forgot: have I mentioned how easy it is to make? You can spend some serious time resting on the couch between the steps.

Of course, you don’t have to be sick to enjoy this. Homemade chicken soup is the perfect light but cozy meal to satisfy your belly and fortify your immune system. Either way, here’s to a healthy fall.

Super Basic Get Over Your Cold Chicken Soup

1 chicken (a small fryer will do)
1 large carrot, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 large celery stalk, ditto
½ large onion, diced
sea salt and pepper to taste
Optional: handful chopped kale, chard or collards stems, and/or large handful of a tender green (e.g. baby spinach or tatsoi) roughly chopped
Optional: ½ C brown rice
Water, as much as you need

What to do:

Rinse your chicken and pull out the innards (these should be neatly packaged in paper inside the core of the bird – just pull out and set aside – don’t throw away!).
Place rinsed chicken in a large (you can add the neck too – also should be tucked inside the core), deep pot and fill with water until the chicken is juuuuust about covered (a little less than completely covered is fine if your pot isn’t that deep).
Bring water to a simmer, but do not boil. If you can’t cover chicken with water, use tongs or whatever is handy to gently roll chicken over to other side (so the more exposed side is now on the bottom of the pot and fully submerged). Simmer until meat easily falls off bone – test by picking up a leg and giving it a gentle tug. If it separates fairly easily from the rest of the body, you’re good to go; if it’s as strongly attached as when you plopped chicky in the water, give it more time.
As chicken simmers, you may notice a foam build up around the edges of the pot. Use a slotted spoon to scoop up this foam and throw away. You may want to do this a couple of times.
Carefully remove chicken from the water and place on a large plate or platter to cool off until you can touch it without burning your fingers.
At this point, the chicken broth will be pretty bland tasting. To concentrate the flavor, while chicken is cooling, add onions, carrots, celery and other veggies, except leafy vegetables (add when done reducing broth) to the broth, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer until broth has reached desired concentration of flavor. Probably at least 20 mins.
When chicken is cool enough to handle grab a largish bowl and two smallish bowls, and begin stripping meat, skin and fat off the carcass – meat pieces go in large bowl, skin and fat go into one of the small bowls (or a plastic bag, if you don’t compost). Once chicken is completely stripped of flesh (this can take a while if you want to be meticulous), tear ~ 1/3 of the meat into large one or two-bite sized pieces and put into other small bowl – this will go back into the soup in a bit. Toss your compost and store the other meat for later (chicken pot pie? curry chicken salad? lots of options for the leftovers).
You have two options regarding the rice. Either cook in a rice cooker while the chicken is simmering, then add once the broth has been reduced, or cook directly in the chicken soup – just remember that this will take ~30 minutes, use up a cup of the soup and make the rice super soft and potentially a little mushy, which isn’t a bad thing if you’re sick. If you’re choosing the latter, add to broth with the veggies in step 5.
When broth is happily reduced, add chicken meat, cooked rice (if you cooked separately) and any tender green leafy veggies you’re using. Taste and adjust salt and pepper for seasoning.

Notable: when chicken fat in the soup gets cold, it will solidify. You may notice a thin layer – almost like a crust – form on the top of the refrigerated leftovers. It’s fine to scoop it off, or you can just let it melt back into the broth as you reheat the soup. But really, don’t fear the fat. If you have a good quality chicken, it won’t be that fatty and natural fat is important for several reasons, not the least of which is that it helps trigger the hormones that tell your brain you’ve had enough to eat.

*Umm, yes, this bowl of soup looks extra shiny, but it’s not because of the soup, it’s because of the camera and an unfortunate mistake I made taking the picture, which I didn’t realize until after I ate the bowl of soup. Some weird lighting effects to fix the photo later… and here it looks weirdly glossy. BUT, you can still see all the yummy goodness inside, so… photos were kept.

20 Jul Holy Corn on the Cob!

I don’t know why I forget every year – until I sink my teeth into my first ear – how much I love fresh corn. It’s always, without fail, a total surprise. A brilliant, delightful surprise. I grew up with boiled corn. Often boiled forever. It was a revelation when my mom toned that down – a mere three minutes in the pot, then done. The corn tasted fresher and crisper. Love. Then my dad started grilling corn. Pre-soaking the ears in water and having to take care that the leaves wouldn’t catch on fire, took some of the grilling joy out of it for me. Tasty but too high maintenance and not really practical for those of us without a grill (or grilling weather – I’m looking at you June gloom).

Deb of the Smitten Kitchen is a inspiration in many, many ways. This summer she published a recipe for charred corn and zucchini tacos that you really should go make right now. Seriously, my ode to corn can wait, go make her tacos and come back.

Hi, again. So, where was I… oh, yes. It was while reading Smitten’s recipe that my brain blew open – you don’t need a grill to roast corn! You just need a flame. Like the one on a gas stove. Inside, in my kitchen. Whoa. So, this summer, instead of waiting for pots of water to boil, or shaking my wool gloved fist at San Francisco’s cold, gray, not-BBQ-weather-at-all skies, I’ve been having my own little grill-outs inside. Best part – besides the smokey flavor – is that I don’t have to wait for the ears to cool like I do with boiled corn. I can chomp and savor the roasted outside and fresh barely cooked inside immediately. (Note, if you’re entertaining for a crowd, this would not be terribly efficient – even if it is delicious. Best for one or two people, unless you let everyone roast their own, like marshmallows.)

Stove Grilled Corn on the Cob

1-2 ears of fresh corn

1. Clean corn; you can keep the leaves and stems on (peeled back to use as a handle of sorts is nice, especially if you don’t have tongs). I am not meticulous about stripping off every last strand of silk for two reasons: first, in general I don’t care if a few strands are left behind, and second, the gas flame will burn off the little bits and pieces anyway. If your corn is already cleaned entirely of leaves and stems, that’s fine, but you’ll just want to use tongs for sure.

2. Turn on gas burner to high. Using tongs or your leaf and stem handle to hold the bottom end of an ear, patiently hold ear of corn over flame, rotating every 30 seconds or so, much like a marshmallow. You can go ahead and set the corn on the burner (again, rotating every 30 seconds or so), but stay close and pay attention so that bit of the corn doesn’t completely burn.

3. When ear is evenly roasted, stop. Serve. Eat. Love.