In an effort to avoid adding any of those seemingly inevitable winter pounds on, I devised this recipe as clever way to make me feel like I was eating a big bowl of pasta. And it works! Little tender bites of squash make for a lovely accompaniment to a homey tomato sauce, and I have a feeling I won’t be ditching this recipe once the warmer months roll around either!

-Cleo

Shopping list: (for 4 servings)
3 small-medium zucchini
3 small-medium yellow squash
1 28oz. can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes
1 medium onion (any color works)
2 good-sized garlic cloves
1 15oz. can of Cannellini beans
4 slices of lean bacon
Salt & Pepper
Optional extra spices/herbs: Rosemary, Sage, Oregano, Fennel

Step #1: Preheat a saucepan on medium and boil a large pot of water for the squash.

Step #2: Peel all your zucchini and squash, and then dice them about as evenly and finely as you can. I shoot for around ¼”- ½” cubes. Once the water has come to a boil, cook the squash in two batches. They will only need a few minutes to reach a perfect tenderness, so watch them carefully!

Step #3: Dice the 4 bacon slices and add them to your preheated saucepan. Cook until nicely browned but not crisp. If there’s too much fat left, drain some out, but otherwise leave it in the pan for cooking the onion and garlic in.

Step #4: Add your diced onion to your pan and sauté for a few minutes. Add your garlic, and whatever spices/herbs you’re in the mood for. Personally, I like red pepper flakes, fennel and rosemary. Combined with the smoky bacon flavor, those spices/herbs make this dish super cozy.

Step#5: Give that mixture a few minutes and a few stirs, then add in your drained cannellini beans. Cook until your onions are translucent and your beans are soft but not falling apart. Add your can of crushed tomatoes, cooked bacon bits, and stir it all together.

Step #6: Let this come to a good bubble, bubble, toil and trubble before lowering your heat to medium-low and letting it simmer for as long as your patience can muster. I often make this on weeknights upon getting back from the gym, so I am chopping at the bit to get some food in my mouth. I don’t let it simmer for much longer than 15 minutes before deeming it ready to eat!

Step #7: Add your sauce to a heaping bowl of squash, throw on a hefty grating of parmesan cheese, and enjoy!

I’ve developed this recipe over many years of my family getting sick and needing a good chicken soup for recovery.  Now, the broth from this soup has become a staple stock that I use in every aspect of day-to-day cooking.  As it is now flu and cold season, and I have already seen those around me “go down,” Cleo suggested I post this prior to a festive holiday recipe.

This makes a whole big pot!

Shopping list:
3-4lb whole chicken
1 large white onion, cleaned with the skin on
2-3 carrots (2 large or 3 medium)
2-3 celery ribs
1-2 parsnips (1 large or 2 small)
1-2 turnips (1 large or 2 small)
3-4 mushrooms
1 garlic clove, cleaned with the skin on
10 whole peppercorns
5 whole juniper berries
Very generous pinch (or 2) of kosher salt
Water
Cheesecloth

What & how to do it: Using a large, heavy bottomed stockpot…

Step #1: Wash all of your veggies and peel any that need peeling.  Cut them into big chunks- it’s ok to leave some whole- and drop them into your large stockpot.  For the onion and garlic, don’t even bother peeling, just drop them into your large stockpot too.  Of course you will want to peel the dirty skin layer off the onion, and rinse away any dirt, but you can leave the rest of the clean skin on; this help to keep the onion intact.  If this grosses you out, peel it, but leave the root end on so the onion stays together.

Step #2: After dropping the layer of veggies into your pot, rinse your chicken inside and out, and sit it on top of the veggie layer. If your chicken comes with the extra giblets, you can add those to the soup for extra flavor as well. (I sometimes stuff the onion and carrots into the chicken cavity if there isn’t enough room to add in water once all of the veggies and chicken are in the pot.)

Step #3: Add the peppercorns, juniper berries and salt.

Step #4: Cover all the ingredients in your pot with water to ½” below the top rim.  Cook on medium-low for 1 hour, and then turn the heat down to low for as long as 4 hours!  You will likely need to adjust the lid off to the side to let steam escape or it will hiss and make a mess as the soup boils.  The longer it cooks, the deeper the broth becomes.  You may even need to add more water if the broth evaporates too much.  If I want a super duper rich stock, I’ll add a previous stock to the soup instead of using water.

Step #5: Once your soup is done, let it cool a bit (so you don’t get burned!) and remove the chicken and the veggies and process*. Then cover the very top layer of the broth with a double sheet of cheesecloth, cut to fit over the soup but let it hang over the edge of your pot so you have something to grab the next day.  Put the lid back on and refrigerate over night.  The next day when you take off the lid, you will see the chicken fat solidified onto the cloth, and all you have to do is lift it off and perhaps spoon away any residual fat laying on the surface.

*Processing is simply de-boning the chicken meat and shredding or chopping it as you like for adding back into the broth with the veggies.  At this point, you are ready to add any ingredients back into the broth. You can re-season with salt and pepper after re-heating and tasting, and then get creative!  For a classic take, there’s always little pasta stars or rice. For a fun Mexican take, you can add in a pinch of cumin, a handful of chopped cilantro, chunks of avocado and tomato, and of course, don’t forget the chicken!

I hope you don’t get sick!  But if you do, I promise this will help!!

Happy Winter!

This dish was named by Dena, my niece who is studying abroad in Paris this semester.  Dena is quite the fashion maven, and it was a blast eating around town with her, window shopping and relearning the metro under her tutelage.  For our last night together, I made a zucchini, roasted tomato, and fresh mozzarella tarte**, which she aptly named “ghetto pizza”.  This is a super easy recipe that even a busy fashionista like Dena could throw together!

(**In France, they call dishes both savory and sweet that rely on a crust as it’s base, a tarte.)

Recipe makes 1 tarte, in a standard 10” pie pan…

Le Shopping:

1 roll of prepared pastry dough OR 1 premade pie shell OR pâte brisée (recipe to follow below)
2 medium zucchini, cubed evenly
4 medium tomatoes, sliced evenly
4 medium balls of fresh mozzarella (or to taste), sliced
1 clove of garlic, crushed or minced
1 large shallot or medium red onion, minced
Several sprigs of fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, finely chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of dried thyme
Salt & Pepper to taste

What & how to do it: This recipe is made in the following stages so it can be spread out throughout the day or completed all at one time.

Step 1. Make the pie shell

Step 2. Make the filling

Step 3. Assemble the pie and bake just so it’s warmed through and the mozzarella melts, then serve immediately!

Ingredient #1: THE SAVORY PASTRY DOUGH

I was super excited to find savory pastry dough sold in a roll in the freezer section of the chic mini-supermarché on Rue Lepic. I have not been as lucky locating a similar pre-made rolled dough here at home.  While we do have frozen pre-formed pastry shells at the supermarket, I think these tend to be mostly tasteless and so they’re versatile enough be used for either sweet or savory pies.  I find these shells most useful for making apple, pumpkin and pecan pies during the holidays when time is too short to make a crust from scratch.  But if you do have the time, this recipe will benefit from making the pâte brisée from scratch.

Pâte Brisée: savory pie dough used for quiches and tartes

1 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
¼ TSP salt
7 TB unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 7 pieces
5-6 TB ice water

Pastry pan options range from something fitted with a removable bottom to a standard pie dish made of ceramic or a glass, any will work for this.

Preheat the oven to 375°.

The fastest and easiest way to make this dough is to just mix the ingredients together in a food processor fitted with a dough blade.  If you don’t have a food processor, you can also do it by hand.  At first the ingredients will appear as a coarse meal until you add in the water and then it will form into a dough ball.  Roll it out on a floured surface and let it sit for 30 minutes wrapped in parchment paper or covered with a clean dish towel.

After fitting your buttered pie pan with the dough, put the pan into the fridge to rest for an hour while you make the rest of your ingredients.  After an hour, prick the pie shell with fork tines and line it with aluminum foil then fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake in the center of the oven until the edges take on a golden color, about 10-15 minutes.  Pull out the aluminum foil and cook the rest of the shell for another 10-15 minutes.  Let cool and proceed with the rest of your assembly.

When you are done pre-baking your shell, turn the oven up to 425°.

Ingredient #2: THE ZUCCHINI

Cut the zucchini into cubes… basically slice it down the middle lengthwise, and then again, so it’s quartered. Slice into cubes, then set aside.  It’s always good to cut veggies into the same size so they cook evenly, and at the same rate.  If the veggies are all different sizes you end up with the smaller ones turning into sludge and the larger ones still crunchy.

On your stove top, using a medium flame, heat up approx 1-ish TB olive oil in a large sauté pan, add in the minced shallot (or red onion), and after 10 minutes add in 1 clove crushed (or minced) garlic. After about another 3-5 minutes, add in the cubed zucchini so that it is mostly one layer thick and sauté.  Add in a pinch of dried thyme for the Provencal flavor, and salt & pepper to your liking. (If you want an Italian flavor, omit the thyme, and add a pinch of dried oregano instead.) Add in the finely chopped parsley when the zucchini is almost done cooking.

Cook the zucchini until the water has evaporated out of the pan and the cubes are juicy but not full of liquid.  If you get too impatient and raise the flame, it will burn- slow and steady wins the race here. Make sure not to leave any water in the zucchini or you will have a soggy tarte later, yuck!

Ingredient #3: THE ROASTED TOMATO

Make sure that your oven is at 425° after pre-baking the tarte shell.

Slice your tomatoes fairly thin and evenly so that they’ll roast at the same rate. Spray a baking tray with a non-stick spray, or use a silicone mat so that they’ll slide off easily, then lay the tomato slices out in a single layer. Drizzle some olive oil onto the tomatoes and then sprinkle them with minced garlic, salt and pepper.

Pop this tray into your oven and let the water roast out of the tomatoes, for about 15 minutes.  The round slices should dry out and get a little shriveled, but maintain their tomato shape.  The drying process concentrates the tomato flavor so you don’t need a lot of it, and you won’t need any sauce to get the classic tomato flavor associated with pizza.

Ingredient #4: THE FRESH MOZZARELLA

I prefer fresh mozzarella over a block of salty, overly processed mozzarella any day; not that that salty block doesn’t have its uses. But fresh cheese works better for a fresh tart like this. Slice the cheese of your choice thinly so that it will melt quickly.  When I made the tart in Paris, I used buffalo milk mozzarella and it was silky and amazing.

Assembly:

Fill your pre-baked tart shell with the zucchini, layer on the oven roasted tomatoes, and finally layer on the cheese.  I drizzled a little olive oil over the cheese slices, added a pinch of salt and a twist of fresh pepper over the entire pie, just because I didn’t add that much to each ingredient when cooking prior.

Place your assembled tarte into your oven (at 425°) and cook just until the cheese is melted.  This pie does not need to be piping hot.

Hands down, this “Salsa Chicken” has got to be one of the easiest and most delicious recipes I have ever come across. While cruising through the “Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook” for some easy comfort food to make in the slow cooker, I found this gem. It wasn’t even two weeks ago that I found it, and yet have already made it twice. This baby is a “winner, winner, chicken dinner”……literally.

The chicken is delicious by itself, but it’s also the perfect thing to throw together with some other classically Mexican accompaniments. The “Fresh Bean Salad” was my own addition that I paired with some light sour cream, reduced-fat shredded cheese and a tortilla for one excellent meal. I highly recommend using Joseph’s Flax, Oat Bran and Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas to keep things super healthy in the most delicious way possible.

*Shopping List for the Salsa Chicken:
-about 2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-1.5 cups of salsa (so far, Tostitos’s medium salsa has worked well for me)
-the juice of one lime, or about 3 TBS.
-1.5 tsp. of ground cumin
-1 tsp. of chili powder

*…and For the Fresh Bean Salad:
-roughly 1.5 avocados, diced
-about 2/3 cup diced tomato
-about 2/3 cup corn kernels (frozen works)
-15 oz. can of black beans
-as much or as little raw red onion as you like, very finely diced
-the juice of about a half of a lime
-salt, pepper and olive oil to taste

*What and How to Do It:

Step #1: Place all the chicken breasts in your slow cooker, cover with the salsa and cook on high for 3-3.5 hours.

Step #2: During the last 15 minutes of cooking, add the lime juice, cumin and chili powder.

Step #3: Enjoy your delicious chicken!!
(*Note: At this point the salsa will still be somewhat liquidey. I let mine cook down for another 2 or so hours just to let the salsa thicken and the flavors deepen. But that didn’t stop me from taking some chicken out to eat at the 3.5 hour mark.)

Step #4: To make your Fresh Bean Salad, combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix!