Recipe: Cheap and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

This weekend I just needed some soup. Using some leftovers and things I had lying around, I threw together this simple and delicious take on chicken noodle soup.  If you have low/no sodium chicken broth, it is great here, especially if you are combining it with bouillon, which I had to do.  I also used some leftover rotisserie chicken, though you could use any leftover cuts of chicken.  What really makes this soup special is the red pepper flake, which adds a subtle heat to the soup.  For the pasta, I took the very easy way out and just boiled it in the stock.  The bouillon is probably less salt than I would use in a normal pasta pot but it worked out fine.  Feel free to cook the pasta separately if you choose. This pot would serve 3-4 depending on how hungry people are.

You will need:
4-5 cups of liquid (Stock or water with bouillon)
1/2 box of whole wheat spaghetti
~1.5 cups shredded chicken
~1/2 cup grated carrot
Salt
Garlic Powder
Pepper
Red Pepper flakes
3 Tablespoons chopped parsley, 1 Tbsp. for garnish

Bring the liquid to a boil.  When it is boiling take bunches of the pasta and break into about two inch pieces.  Cook for 7-8 minutes, until the pasta is very close to done.  Add the shredded chicken, grated carrot, a shake of garlic powder, and a large dash of the pepper and red pepper flakes.
With a soup like this, it is easy to add a bit at a time and taste it until it is too your likely.  In the last minute, add 2 tablespoons of the parsley.  Use the remaining parsley to garnish.

Recipe: Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles, Chicken, and Peanut Sauce

I love trying out new ingredients when I can (especially if I've never heard of it before).  One of my favorite places to shop or find these are at asian or middle eastern markets.  In this recipe the "noodles" I used were sweet potato thread.  As best as Google can tell me it is a Korean noodle made from sweet potato starch.  The cooking process is easy, and the texture is very different from the standard noodle.  They are slightly sweet, quite chewy, and mostly translucent. They threads are also textured with raised bumps like beads which hold the sauce and give a wonderful mouth-feel.  It was a wholly interesting food experience.  Even after using them I got the feeling I wasn't using them quite "right," but I was happy with the results.

If you can't find/don't want to use/are scared of the threads feel free to use any type of cellophane noodle or other stir fry noodle that you want.  To go with them I sauteed up some vegetables, threw in a bit of chicken, and did an in pan peanut sauce. Feel free to use any veggies that you like, snap peas, broccoli, etc. would work great.

The dish and noodles scream for some heat so I was fairly liberal with my cayenne, but go with what works for you.  P.S. The noodles don't photo particularly well...which is why they are mostly covered in the picture.

You will need:
1 pack Sweet Potato Thread
1 medium zucchini, cut into half moons
Half an onion, sliced into half moons
1 anaheim pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 bell pepper, thinly sliced
3/4lbs white button mushrooms, sliced thick or quartered
2 chicken breasts
1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter
1 cup reserved pasta cooking water (take right before you drain the pasta)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Paprika
Cayenne

You will either need two large pots or a large pot (for the pasta) and a large saute pan (for the chicken/veggies).  To start, season the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and a dash of cayenne.  You can cook them as breasts and then cube them, or cube them and then cook them.  Once they are cooked (and chopped) set them aside on a paper towel.  At this point start getting the water in the large pot ready to boil for the sweet potato thread.

Wipe out some of the grease from the bottom of the pan, add a bit new olive oil and start cooking the vegetables.  I put in the zucchini first (about 2 minutes), then the bell pepper (2 more minutes), then the onions (3-4 minutes). I then added a good pinch of all the spices, stirred, and followed it with the mushrooms. Stir until everything is just cooked through and turn off the heat.

As soon as the water has reached a boil, salt heavily, and add the sweet potato thread, cook for 4-6 minutes until the noodles are done.  They will remain chewy but will be soft.  Reserve one cup of the pasta water and drain.

Add the pasta, chicken, and veggies into one of the big pots.  Add in the peanut butter and the pasta water and stir until the sauce is formed.  Taste for seasoning.  I needed to add more cayenne, garlic powder, and paprika to get it to the spice level I wanted. Stir again and serve immediately.

I have also found that when I make pasta I really like to make the vegetables the star (which, let's be honest, also makes the dish a lot healthier).  If you can find your veggies fresh or at a farmer's market vendor you like it can really change the quality of the dish.  

Recipe: Pasta with Peanut Sauce

Here is another easy pasta dish that tastes great and can be ready in around 20 minutes.  A few days ago I showed you how to make a simple peanut sauce.  In this recipe that sauce becomes a coating for whole wheat pasta, a protein of your choice, and cooked frozen vegetables.

You will need:

1 Recipe of Peanut Sauce
1 box whole wheat thin spaghetti (half box used in recipe)
1lb your choice of protein cooked as desired
1 cup frozen crinkle cut carrots
1 cup frozen broccoli
3/4 small/medium onion

Optional Toppings:
Crushed lightly salted or salt free peanuts
Chopped Green Onion

Begin by setting your pasta water boiling and begin preparing your peanut sauce. Begin cooking your protein of choice if you wish to add one.  If not you may wish to add more vegetables.  I used casing free chicken sausages that I found on sale though shrimp, chicken, and beef would also work well. I sauteed the onion along with the meat as it had started cooking.  After the water boils salt it heavily and add the thin spaghetti and frozen vegetables.  Cook for 6-7 minutes.  Reserve a cup of cooking liquid before draining in case the peanut sauce needs to be thinned further after adding.  Strain pasta and vegetables and put it back into the pot, add the protein, onion, and Peanut Sauce.  Stir to combine.   Top with crushed peanuts or green onions if desired.
Serves 4-6