Traced Elements

Tag: winter

  • Chicken Casserole for these Dark Times

    Chicken Casserole for these Dark Times

    Yes, it has been a weird year. And these are the shortest and darkest days of the year to boot. Right now I am craving calorie-laden stodgy food and damn the consequences. Lighter fare will appeal when the days brighten up.

    I have made this casserole with some good Pemberton veggies but the mayo, sour cream and cheese do not put this casserole in the healthy category. But dark days plus face mask-wearing at all times? Sign me up for a retro casserole.

    Here is to hugging family and friends in 2021 and to our Pemberton library being open for real – SOON! Happy Christmas to all!

    Chicken Casserole with Pemberton Veggies

    4 cups cooked Pemberton-raised chicken, diced

    2 tbs pure olive oil

    1 large yellow onion, diced

    2 cups blanched Pemberton-grown Swiss chard, chopped (Do NOT add raw – it MUST be blanched first)

    1 cup Pemberton-grown corn kernels

    1 cup chopped cauliflower

    2 cups chopped celery

    1 cup chopped cilantro

    1 cup diced tomatoes

    2 tsp dry mustard

    1 tsp cumin

    1 tsp paprika

    1 tsp sambal oelek

    1 tsp salt

    1 tsp pepper

    ½ cup mayonnaise

    2/3 cup full-fat sour cream

    1 8-oz package Pad Thai noodles

    1 cup mozzarella, shredded

    Method:

    Sauté onion, corn, chard, celery, cauliflower and cilantro in olive oil in a large cast-iron Dutch oven. Sauté until well caramelised. When caramelised, add cumin, paprika, dry mustard, sambal oelek, salt and pepper, tomatoes, and diced chicken. Mix well. 

    Cook Pad Thai noodles by pouring boiling water over the noodles and leave immersed for 5 minutes. Drain well.

    Add cooked Pad Thai noodles and mayo and sour cream to veggie mixture. Mix well. Sprinkle top with cheese.

    Bake casserole for ½ hour at 350C. Enjoy!

  • Perfect for a cold day – Slow-Cooker Creamy Chicken With Biscuits

    Perfect for a cold day – Slow-Cooker Creamy Chicken With Biscuits

    You know those days.

    The ones that are cold, wet and miserable and you walk the dog only to feel chilled to the bones. Or it’s snowing so hard you just want to curl up in front of the fire with a good book and a huge mug of coffee. The ones when all you want to do is eat comfort food, but with the least amount of effort to make it.

    Well I found it in this recipe for Creamy Chicken with Biscuits. 🙂 Place all the ingredients (except the biscuits) in the slow cooker and leave it to do it’s thing for 3 to 6 hours, depending on the temperature setting you choose! Isn’t the slow cooker magic?

    And what makes this recipe even better are those biscuits. You could go the extra easy [ie lazy] route and buy some store-bought ready-made biscuits OR you could make up the simple recipe that’s included for Easy Drop Biscuits. Just put all the ingredients in a food processor and mix together. I ended up bringing mine together on the counter so I really felt that I had put the effort in, and because all I really have is a hand blender chopper thing so it doesn’t work quite as well! 😉

    Anyway, boy were they worth it! They made the dish even better and merited the 10 minutes it took to make them. Flaky, buttery and oh so yummy.

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
    • 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 cup whole milk

    Directions

    1. Heat oven to 400° F.
    2. In a food processor, combine the flour, butter, baking powder, and salt; pulse until pea-size clumps form.
    3. Add the milk and pulse just until moistened.
    4. Drop 6 large mounds of the dough (about ½ cup each) onto a baking sheet.
    5. Bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.

    Now you know what to throw in the slow cooker on the next cold, wet, miserable day. You’re welcome!

  • Another soup – Sweet Potato and Red Lentil!

    Another soup – Sweet Potato and Red Lentil!

    As I sit here it is -5 (feeling like -10 and going to drop down to -13 later). So that calls for only one thing. A big bowl of something steaming and filling and nourishing for the soul.

    I’ve wanted to make a soup with lentils for ages, mainly because I have a tried and tested Chicken and Red Lentil Curry with Toasted Cashew Nuts that I absolutely love! So, after a quick search on Pinterest, this recipe for Sweet Potato and Red Lentil Soup caught my eye.

    It’s a super thick soup, almost a puree, hence really filling. Plus:

    • There’s 485% of your daily recommended dietary allowance of vitamin A. Essential for keeping all your vital organs in working order!
    • There are only 309 calories per serving, or 15% of calorie intake on a 2000 calorie per day diet.
    • The fat content is just 2g, only 3% of your daily recommended dietary allowance.

    With it being so low in calories and fat it’s good for those currently on a weight loss plan (like me – again!). Although I may have negated all the goodness with the “drop” of cream and fresh slices of bread!

    Let me know if you have any other lentil soups for me to try and I hope you like this one!

    Ingredients

    • 1 tbsp olive oil
    • 1 onion diced
    • 1 kg sweet potatoes peeled and diced
    • 1.5 L vegetable stock
    • 210 g red split lentils
    • 1 tsp ground turmeric
    • 1/2 tsp mild chilli powder
    • Freshly ground salt and pepper
    • 1 tbsp coriander chopped

    Directions

    1. Gently heat the oil in a large soup pot and add the diced onion to soften it, stirring occasionally for about 4 – 5 minutes. Then add the diced potatoes and continue to stir for a further 3 – 4 minutes.
    2. Add the vegetable stock, lentils, ground turmeric and mild chilli powder.
    3. Stir well, bring to the boil and turn down to simmer gently for 20 –25 minutes until all the mixture is completely softened. Remove from the heat.
    4. When the soup has cooled a little, blitz it in a blender / food processor and return to the pan, season to taste, garnish with the chopped coriander and then serve.
    5. Serve with fresh bread.
  • Soup for (F)all seasons!

    Soup for (F)all seasons!

    I just took the dog for a walk. It was chilly and windy. It was Fall in Pemberton.

    There’s only one thing for those kind of days and that’s a delicious, hearty bowl of soup with some fresh crusty bread, still warm if you can find it.

    I have two go to recipes. Roasted Butternut Squash, one of my all-time favourites, and Cock-a-Leekie which I love because it harks back to the Scottish side of my family and is quick and simple to make, well my version anyway!

    To make my uncomplicated variation all you will need is celery, leeks, carrots, potatoes and chicken breasts cooked together to miraculously become a wonderful warming soup.

    The traditional version includes other ingredients including prunes and oatmeal, and I have never made it this way, but the simplified version allows all the vegetables to shine – especially the leeks who are the stars of the bowl!

    Whichever version you attempt this will certainly warm you up on a cold Fall, or even Winter’s, day. Enjoy!

    Ingredients

    • 2 sticks of celery, sliced
    • 2 leeks, sliced
    • 2 carrots, sliced
    • 4 to 5 potatoes, diced
    • 2 chicken breasts, cubed
    • 1 to 1.5 litres chicken stock
    • Salt and pepper

    Directions

    1. In a large stock pot heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and add in the celery and leeks and cook over a medium-high heat to soften.

    2. Add in the carrots and potatoes.

    3. Pour over the stock.

    4. Add in the chicken.

    5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

    6. Bring everything up to boil and cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until the potatoes have softened and the chicken is cooked.

    7. Serve with fresh bread.

  • Happy Anniversary, to me.

    Happy Anniversary, to me.

    It was a year ago to the day while consuming a couple tasty Steam Works IPAs in a Richmond Irish Pub en route to a family vacation in Mexico that I took the plunge and joined the Traced Elements family. Maybe it was liquid courage that egged me on because at the time I was scared to dive into a world I knew nothing about: writing. The only constant I had to offer was my deep love for gardening. As luck would have it I learned I also loved to write – or maybe this whole endeavor came into my life when I needed a new outlet more then I realized at the time.

    Regardless: it’s one of my favourite decisions to date.

    The winter’s sun, as of late, has been flooding my living space with a warming heat reminiscent of sandy beaches and margaritas while the arctic air swirls around outside. My cheeks are constantly blushed in colour having been kissed by the cold. Overall, I welcome this false warmth; it’s a perfect excuse to devour a bowl of spicy miso ramen, everyday.

    As the days get longer I look forward to my garden springing to life, even if they are currently blanketed in more snow then I can recall in the valley in years, my thoughts are hopeful, green and full of blooms. Many days I get lost and overwhelmed by the potential of things to grow as I browse numerous websites. Basically, my urge to propagate as many cool things as possible usually wins. You already know if you’ve read my other blogs that I’m a firm believer in the, “there is no harm in trying” experimental method.

    Seeds; they fuel everything. (A little bit of love doesn’t hurt either.)

    Plant anything and something good is bound to come from it. Sometimes there is growth and sometimes there are failures; either way you’ll learn something.

    I have been carrying the following quote with me for years but it is only now that I finally feel like I am acting on it (after all spring ushers in rebirth). So, in the words of Byron Pulsifer I leave you with this,

    “Passion creates the desire for more and action fuelled by passion creates a future.”

    …get ready to see some really cool things from me.

    #summerofmeesh