Fresh harvested Yukon gold potatoes.

This is such a fun time of year for gardening.  We always say we will cook what is fresh-picked but sometimes I am suprised with what son #2 brings inside.  I had planned on making a pasta dinner with left-over chicken and some other veggies from the garden, but this was too good to pass up.

I am sorry I don't have a picture of this meal, but it played out like this:

Serves:  5
Prep and cook time:  about an hour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Thinly slice 3 large Yukon golds.  Place slices in an oiled baking dish (I used a 7 x 10-inch size) and cover with either your choice of broth or gratin ingredients.  I chose to use gratin-style ingredients which included a little butter, a little half and half, and salt and pepper.  I wish I had chosen broth.

Bake until fork tender, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare your left-over chicken and the rest of your meal. I cubed the meat and set it aside.  We washed fresh lettuces and made a salad that included avocado, green bell pepper, sliced almonds, and a homemade vinaigrette.  Then, we sliced up a fresh melon and garnished the platter with fresh raspberries and blueberries from the garden.  (Our melons aren't ready yet but I found a couple of beauties at the Farmer's Market)

I no longer dress salads but put vinaigrette on the side with a small spoon so people can drizzle it over their greens if needed.  I found that we weren't eating all of our dressed salad in an evening and hated to see how much went to waste.  A dressed salad doesn't keep.  An undressed salad, if it isn't finished and everything is still fresh, can be the base for a salad the next night.

The cooked potatoes came out of the oven.  I spread out the cubed chicken over the potatoes and topped with shredded Comte cheese. Back into the oven, we waited until the cheese melted and then pulled it out to serve.

Voila!  Baked potatoes topped with chicken and cheese (not too much), fresh lettuces salad, fresh melon and berries, and left-over lentil salad with garden veggies.

To make this vegan/vegetarian,  cook the potatoes with broth and serve with our left-over lentil salad, fruit, and greens salad.

Experiment, explore, and enjoy!

- Kim Fielding

Chili Chicken Soup

This soup warms your tummy.  It is a comfort food and the
toppings allow you to customize it.

I have this friend Betty who is a marvelous cook.  At our last First Friday potluck, she volunteered to bring this soup to our home.  We worked out the logistics of serving soup to 20 people with simple cups and plastic spoons and it served as a great first course for our meal.  Although it has the texture of a cream based soup, there is no cream in it.  This is also a great meal in itself with its toppings and a side salad.

The soup has five ingredients.  Not counting the toppings.  Yup, that easy.  The toppings are vital  to make it so yummy.   I chose to make it in a crockpot, as Betty did, and let it simmer all day with the bonus of making our house smell so inviting.  Normally I would use my own homemade tomatillo sauce and chicken broth in this recipe but chose to purchase all the ingredients (well, except for the broth mix) from Trader Joes.  I was not disappointed.

This particular salsa was a little spicy but I couldn't find basic green salsa.
 Flavor was great though.  Second time around I did find green salsa
and used a mix of the two.  The heat was lower.

This soup can be prepared in a crockpot or on the stovetop.  Below are both preparation methods.

Slow-cooker method:
Serves: 6 - 8
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time:  Crockpot on low, 6 - 8 hours until chicken is cooked through

6 C. chicken broth
2 - 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 15-ounce cans Great Northern beans, drained
2 C. green salsa
2 tsp. ground cumin
Topping suggestions:  cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, diced avocado

Add chicken broth, uncooked chicken breasts, beans, salsa, and cumin to a slow cooker and stir to combine.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours until the chicken is cooked through and shreds easily with a fork.  Remove the breasts, shred the meat and add back to soup.  Stir thoroughly before serving.

Serve warm with desired toppings.

Crockpot cooking leaves time for other activities although the
stovetop cooking method goes fairly quickly.

Stovetop Method:
Serves 6 - 8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time:  10 minutes

6 C. chicken broth
2 - 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 15-ounce cans Great Northern beans, drained
2 C. green salsa
2 tsp. ground cumin
Optional toppings:  cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, diced avocado

Place chicken broth in a large saucepan.

In a separate pan, poach chicken breasts and shred the meat.  Add to the saucepan with drained beans, salsa, and cumin.  Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve soup in bowls and offer your choice of toppings.  Cheddar cheese is shown below, but Monterey jack melts nicely into the soup.

Add what you like!

Each serving (1/6) provides approximately 370 calories, 7 g fiber, 40 g protein, 33 g carbohydrates, and 9 g fat.  This does not include toppings which are discretionary.  A large green salad is a perfect compliment.

I am pretty sure this is an adaptable recipe if you wish to swap out chicken for firm cubed tofu and substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth to make it vegetarian.  Explore!

- Kim Fielding

Chicken and cholesterol

Types of cholesterol  - good or bad, sometimes could be very confusing. When you see your doctor they tell you that your cholesterol is high but... Our bad cholesterol is the LDL-cholesterol and it should be less than 165 if you're otherwise healthy.  It should be less than 130 if you have one medical condition, or less than 100 if you have diabetes, and less than 70 if you have already had a heart attack.  But even bad cholesterol LDL could be not so bad. Our good cholesterol is called HDL, and higher  numbers are better.  Sometimes your total cholesterol can be high because you have high HDL.  As I said, cholesterol can be confusing but your diet should not be confusing.
 

Let’s talk about chicken.
 

Today chicken is considered as a default healthy protein for most people.  Somehow chicken made a name for itself as a healthy meat but people should know that it doesn't lower cholesterol and as a matter of fact regular consumption of chicken will raise your cholesterol.  In reality, chicken is a big source of fat. Actually, chicken breast has exactly the same amount of fat as lean pork, beef or lamb.   Even white chicken meat raises cholesterol as it contains both saturated fat and cholesterol, plus the way the chicken is raised may have multiple other  unhealthy elements. 
 

Here are some facts about most chicken on the market.  Feedlot chickens are fed with hormones to make them grow faster, their feed is full of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and they are given antibiotics to keep them from getting sick while packed in with hundreds or thousands of other chickens.  Most chicken you eat at the restaurants  are these type.

Alpha Living is about going to back to the beginning and eating what your grandparents ate. Your grandparents did not eat chicken every day. Chicken was actually considered to be a luxury and people ate it no more than once or at most twice a week.  So, if you are trying to lower your cholesterol then try to increase vegetables and plants in your diet.  As far as chicken, eat only the organic free range version and only once or twice per week. 
 

Tuscan-Style Roast Chicken


 

Oven-roasting makes this chicken super juicy.


You should smell my kitchen when this meal is cooking!  I call this Tuscan-style because it reminds me of all the herbs I love in Tuscany to season roast chicken.  The ingredients are simple:  olive oil, fresh lemon juice, oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, fresh garlic, salt, and pepper.  And, the chicken of course.


Opened up and flattened.

Instead of cooking the bird intact, I use kitchen scissors (or have a butcher do this...) to cut the chicken in half through the breast.  I use my hands to press down and flatten it for even cooking and then rub the marinade into the flesh.  This tastes even better if the marinade is allowed to sit with the chicken for a couple of hours before it is cooked.  Consider the following measurements as approximate.  Sometimes, if I am out of a particular herb, I just skip it. 

serves: 4 - 6                    prep time:  15 minutes
                                      cook time:  45 minutes

One roasting chicken, about 4 pounds

Marinade for one chicken:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 large or 2 small lemons, juice squeezed
1 heaping tablespoon dried rosemary
1 heaping tablespoon dried basil
1 heaping tablespoon dried thyme
1 heaping tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and rub all but a small amount over the entire bird including under the skin of the chicken.  Lay the chicken on a greased baking or roasting pan, skin side up.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the oven and turn it over in the pan.  Pour the rest of the marinade over the exposed flesh and put the chicken back in the oven for another 20-25 minutes.  When the chicken is cooked and the juices run clear*, cut into serving pieces and enjoy. 

* To say that the juices run clear means that if you poke the flesh with a sharp knife, the juices running out of the puncture should not be tinted red with blood which indicates raw meat inside.

This meal included a tossed green salad with avocado and a light vinaigrette (I used Newman's Balsamic low-fat mist thanks to my friend Nicole who showed me what it was), steamed broccoli, fresh berries (blueberries and strawberries) and parmesan toasts.  The entire meal offers your full RDA for Niacin and double that for Vitamin C.  This is also a big contributor for Selenium, Phosphorus, other B vitamins, and about 1/2 of your daily Iron requirement.  In addition, this meets about 1/4 of your daily potassium needs which is important since that is often one of the most under-eaten elements.  And the calorie count is:  575!  This is a big wow factor because it is so yummy, nutritious and won't kill you on the scales. 

If you are one of those that insist on dessert, this meal deserves something like a sorbet or almond meringue cookie.  Buon appetito!

- Kim Fielding