By Marie Fagan Peart | marie@haldimandpress.com
Sometimes I get tired of trying to figure out what to make for a meal. I am sure I am not the only one out there who feels this way. Maybe it’s part of the winter blahs that tend to descend about this time of year.
So, I was happy to run across an article entitled “How to turn a rotisserie chicken into a week of high protein meals.” The website for your reference is loseit.com/articles/how-to-turn-one-rotisserie-chicken-into-a-week-of-high-protein-meals
The article gave seven meal suggestions and was a great reminder of what can be done with a few basic ingredients to add more variety to our meals. Some of the suggestions included a chicken quinoa bowl, a chicken coleslaw sandwich, and a southwestern-style baked potato with Brussels sprouts.
The recipe I tried was the deli-style chicken salad. It was easy to make and I was happy I had all the ingredients on hand. This salad was the perfect side to my sweet potato soup. I also added some naan bread to round out the meal. I was so eager to try it, I forgot to take a photo of the salad until the end! My photo shows the last spoonful.
I mentioned having sweet potato soup for my lunch, which was featured previously in this column. I am sharing another favourite soup of mine, minestrone. This soup recipe was given to me by a family friend many years ago. It is packed full of veggies and depending on how thick you like your soup, you may want to add more broth. You can easily freeze it for the next time you don’t feel like cooking. Enjoy!
Deli-Style Chicken Salad
3 ounces cooked chicken
3 ounces plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 stalk chopped celery
Mix the yogurt, mustard, and lemon juice together. Pour over chicken and chopped celery. Mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. This makes a generous side dish for one.
Minestrone Soup
3 tablespoons oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 to 3 slices of bacon, cut up
4 tomatoes chopped or small can of tomatoes
½ cup navy beans
2 carrots, diced
2 potatoes, diced
1 small turnip, diced
1 to 2 stalks of celery, chopped
½ a small cabbage, shredded
½ cup macaroni
3 tablespoons fresh or frozen peas
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
2 to 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese
and more to serve
6 cups of beef broth or water
Heat oil in a large pan, add onions, garlic and bacon. Cook gently for a few minutes.
Add beans, tomatoes and cook for a further few minutes.
Add 6 cups of broth or water. Add herbs, bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer for about 1 hour.
Add carrots, potatoes and turnip. Cook for 10 minutes. Then add celery, cabbage, pasta and peas. Cook until all vegetables are tender.
Add parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the parmesan cheese.
Before serving, allow flavours to blend. To serve, offer additional cheese and crusty bread.
