Pumpkin Tortilla Soup with Chili Lime Chicken

I'm slowly giving in. Rain and general dreariness forced me to break out the Le Creuset and make a comforting soup this Sunday night. I don't wax poetic about pumpkin spice lattes every fall (did you know I don't like coffee? I know...weird), but there are a few pumpkin treats I can get behind. Pumpkin tortilla soup is one of them.

I stumbled upon this recipe on the Kitchn last fall and have made some adjustments to amp up the flavor and make it a bit healthier and substantial. I recommend serving on a cold night, snuggled up on the couch with a cute guy and a cute dog (kitties would make a nice -- albeit more sassy -- substitution). Or maybe that's just me.

This go-round, I made some roasted chicken to make the soup more filling AND so that I'd have leftovers for lunch this week. This addition of a bit more protein makes it more of a meal. If you're going veg, black beans would be awesome too.

Corn tortillas give this a lot of depth and a thick, luscious texture. Check your grocery store for fresh corn tortillas... in many big markets they're delivered daily. At our local store, if you arrive on a Saturday morning sometimes they're even warm.

First can of the season. Note, DO NOT use pumpkin pie mix here. Just go for the straight pureed pumpkin.

After an hour of simmering, the flavors have melded and you're ready for dinner.

Serve with baked tortilla strips, shredded chicken, avocado and cilantro.

Pumpkin Tortilla Soup with Chili Lime Chicken
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup cilantro, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
10 6-inch corn tortillas, 6 cut into 1/2 inch squares and 4 cut into small strips
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons cumin
3 teaspoons cayenne
1 teaspoon salt
1 avocado, cut into strips
2 bone-in chicken breasts
Juice of one lime

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken breasts on a cookie sheet or  in a casserole dish. Cover with 1 tablespoon olive oil, lime juice, 1 tablespoon cumin and 1 teaspoon cayenne. Massage into chicken and let rest.

Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Cook onions, garlic, cilantro and tortillas until onions are soft; stirring often so that tortillas don't stick. Add 1 tablespoon cumin and 2 teaspoons cayenne; cook until fragrant. Add pumpkin, tomatoes and chicken stock. Simmer over low heat for 1 hour.

Place chicken in oven and cook for 35-45 minutes, or until the juices of the chicken run clear. Remove from dish and allow to cool before handling. Use fork and knife to shred meat from the chicken breast.

Place remaining tortilla strips on a cookie sheet and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Back for 5 minutes or until crispy.

Once soup has finished cooking, serve with 1/4-1/2 cup shredded chicken, tortilla strips, avocado and bit of cilantro.

*There will be remaining chicken from this recipe

Butternut Sweet Potato Barley

In the slow, colorful slide into winter -- or Autumn as some of you may call it -- you can only fight the cozy cravings for so long. I wore boots today. They were adorable and remarkably depressing all at the same time. Soon there will be no choice and there will also be days I can feel my contacts freezing to my eyeballs. I'm hard core Chicagoan and therefore know how to cover every inch of my body in multiple layers of wool, fleece and down. Boo.

Okay, end weather rant. But now that things are cooling off, I am firing up the oven and enjoying fall vegetables. Butternut squash and sweet potatoes happen to be two of my favorite things. This salad pairs them with hearty barley, dried cranberries and rosemary.

Even the colors are Autumnal.

A lot of people don't quite know what to do with a butternut, but its simple when you have a sharp vegetable peeler and knife. Start by peeling down long strips on the neck and go in a circular pattern on the base.

Wasn't that easier than you thought?

Then simply chop off the ends and slice in half. Use a spoon to scrape out the insides.

Barley will add a nutty, toothsome quality.

Roasted and ready.

Toss and enjoy warm or at room temperature. Really yummy for lunch.

Butternut Sweet Potato Barley
2 cups barley, rinsed
1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons rosemary, minced
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
S&P

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and add barley. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 35-45 minutes, or until all water is absorbed.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss sweet potatoes and butternut squash in 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with S&P. Roast for 20-30 minutes or until tender.

While barley is still warm, toss with cranberries, sweet potatoes and butternut squash. In a separate bowl, combine remaining olive oil, vinegar and honey. Toss barley with dressing and rosemary and season with salt to taste.

Enjoy warm or at room temperature. Works well for leftovers.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

It's rare that pasta is necessary for health reasons. Carbs were needed for science...legit. Because this: 

Led to this:

So proud of the Husband for running and (even more impressively) finishing the CHICAGO MARATHON on Sunday. 26.2 damn miles fueled on the finest refined carbs this girl could muster. Homemade marinara and meatballs were most certainly in order. 

This is the base of many awesome things.

Simmered for the afternoon to perfection. This will make A LOT of sauce, but if I'm going to take the time, I always make extra for the freezer. Saved stuff like this are a lifesaver on hectic weeknights.

While the sauce gets good, I started mixing up this meatball business. I put a healthier twist on tradition with spinach and lean turkey.

Be careful not to over mix or tightly pack your meatballs. No one likes tough balls. Everyone loves Schweddy Balls though.

It's immature, I know, but I could have made some disgusting marathon chafing joke. I could have, but I didn't. Such a lady I am!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

For sauce -- makes 10-12 cups sauce (I reserved 2/3 in the freezer for future use)

3 28-oz cans crushed tomatoes

4-5 garlic cloves

3 carrots, finely chopped

3 celery stalks, finely chopped

2 small yellow onions, finely chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup red wine

3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

For meatballs

1 lb lean turkey

1 cup frozen spinach, defrosted

2/3 cups bread crumbs

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons parsley, chopped

1/2 cup grated parmesan

3 tablespoons milk

1 egg, beaten

S&P

1 lb thin spaghetti

Heat olive oil in a large sauce pot over medium high heat, saute onions until soft (about 10-15 minutes). Add garlic, carrots and celery and saute for another 10 minutes or until carrots have softened. Add red wine and crank heat to high, scraping off the bits from the pot. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves and red pepper flakes and simmer over low heat for at least an hour. Remove bay leaves. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Start by squeezing all of the liquid from the spinach. Combine spinach, turkey and all remaining meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Take care not to over mix or squeeze too tightly. Gently roll into 1-2 inch balls and back in the oven until golden, about 30 minutes. 

Both the sauce and meatballs can be prepared ahead of time. When ready to serve, prepare pasta to box instructions and serve with meatballs and sauce. 

Maple Grilled Pork and Autumn Vegetable Salad

Everyone is so gung-ho to jump on the Autumn bandwagon. I get it... ya'll like Pumpkin Spice lattes and leather boots. I like decorative gourds and Honeycrisp apples just as much as the next gal, but I'm a realist. All this leaf-crunching and corduroy are merely symptoms of what's to come. Chicago winter is coming. I feel very Game of Thrones saying that. 

From a food perspective, it's going to be at least seven months until I see a ripe tomato. Knowing this, I usually try to restrain myself from cooking big, warm cozy pots of chili and soup. There is going to be plenty of time for that... so much so that you'll probably stop reading this blog out of sheer boredom. 

Seeking balance, I put together a yummy salad that leant the freshness and grilled flavor of summer, while incorporating some of tastes of Autumn -- like maple, beets, caramelized onions, cider and sweet potatoes -- I find myself craving. 

Isn't my street pretty in fall? My tiny pup has been having a ball playing in the leaves. We even got him a new sweater. 

The marinade is simple.  A basic mix of maple syrup, olive oil and a bit of cider vinegar. Just remember, any good marinade or vinaigrette needs fat, bitterness and sweetness. We got it here. 

I lightly dusted my pork chops with applewood smoke rub, and tossed with the marinade.

One of my most favorite food things in the world... caramelized onion. It's candy. Candy that takes some serious patience, but will make anything better.

Slice as thinly as you can and cook over the lowest flame you can get on your stove. Toss periodically... this will take about 45 minutes. If you start this first and then make the rest of your pork and salad, it won't feel so long.

Sweet potatoes roast in basic olive oil, S&P.

Your onion patience will be rewarded.

Served with sliced beets and sunflower seeds. I just use the pre-roasted beets from Trader Joe's for stuff like this. Canned would work well too.

Maple Grilled Pork with Autumn Vegetable Salad
For pork and marinade
3 pork chops, approx. 1-inch thick
1 tablespoon applewood spice

1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil

For salad

2 sweet potatoes, cubed
5-6 roasted beets, cubed
2 onions, very thinly sliced
1 bag baby spinach
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup

For vinaigrette

3 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil


Heat oven to 425 degrees. Start by thinly slicing onions. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over low heat. Place onions in pan and cook over very low heat, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes.

Toss sweet potatoes in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, S&P. Roast in oven until tender, about 30 minutes depending on the thickness.

Combine marinade ingredients and pour over pork. Allow to rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes. Grill pork over medium, direct heat for 5 minutes per side. Allow to rest at least 5 minutes before serving.

Arrange spinach on plate and toss with beets, sweet potatoes and caramelized onion. Whisk vinaigrette together and lightly dress salad. Slice pork chop and place on salad. Finish salad with sunflower seeds.

Deviled Eggs

Some party foods are classic for a reason. Every time I make deviled eggs, they're the first thing to disappear. These were apparently popular enough at one time that people bought special plates to serve them. I am not usually one for kitchen uni-taskers (who makes deviled eggs THAT much?), but this vintage find from my Grammie has so much charm.

My Grammie was a pretty fabulous lady; fabulous enough to think that Grandma made her sound too old. And she certainly knew how to set a table. We didn't necessarily share the same place setting taste -- I've yet to spray paint pine cones gold or a place decorative pineapple on an inverted crystal bowl -- but I'd like to think that I get a bit of my love for entertaining from her. I will however spare you from her favorite salad recipe -- a slice of tomato and tablespoon of mayo. The woman was southern after all.

I first made deviled eggs for a Mad Men themed New Year's party and used the fabulous Smitten Kitchen recipe for Caesar Deviled Eggs. I highly recommend this version, but for this party full of pregos I wanted something with a bit milder flavor. Who knows what kind of food aversions I would have set off with (delicious in my opinion) anchovies!

Easy method for deviled eggs... place in pot and cover with water, over high heat. As soon as the water starts to boil, shut off heat and cover for 10 minutes.

Once the 10 minutes is up... plunge into a large bowl of ice water. This will make it much easier to peel all of these eggs.

Zone out for awhile while you peel a bunch of eggs. Get excited because you REALLY love hardboiled eggs. Gently slice and remove the yolks from the whites. Admire how the easy hardboiled egg method ensures there isn't any gray or green in yolks.

This recipe doesn't stray too far from classic deviled eggs, but pops of freshness from parsley, lemon and Worcestershire give that little something extra.

Mix filling and pipe into whites. If you don't have a pastry bag, just cut the tip off of a plastic bag. It will work just fine. I don't even have a pastry bag...thanks mom for letting me borrow yours!

Deviled Eggs

1 dozen eggs

4 tablespoons lowfat mayonnaise

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Juice of one lemon

4 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon butter

1/8 cup breadcrumbs

S&P

Place eggs at the bottom of a large pot and fill with enough water to cover. Turn up stove to high and bring water to boil. Immediately cover and turn off heat. Allow eggs to remain covered in hot pot for 10 minutes. Remove from pot and place in a large bowl filled with ice water. 

When eggs have cooled, lightly crack and remove shells. Slice eggs in half lengthwise and gently remove yolks to a separate bowl. Combine yolks, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire, lemon juice 3 tablespoons parsley and S&P to taste. Fill plastic or pasty and pipe yolk mixture into egg whites. 

Melt butter over low heat and add bread crumbs. Stir until toasted and mix in remaining parsley. Sprinkle lightly over plated deviled eggs. 

Chicken Salad Skewers

Are ya'll sick of hearing about this shower yet? No... you can't get enough of a party you didn't attend, huh? Good thing I've still got recipes to share. We'll continue livin' the dream together my friends. Livin. The. Dream. 

Okay, I feel like every shower I ever go to -- be it baby or wedding -- there's chicken salad. What is it about this tasty dish on a croissant that makes it scream "ladies who lunch"?? Seriously! I have a vagina and a beautifully wrapped gift... I MUST love chicken salad. Well I'm not one to completely muck with tradition, but I did want to find a new way to enjoy this favorite. Plus I like meat on a stick. 

Enter grilled chicken salad skewers. A creamy yogurt marinade makes it feel chicken salad-y, but grilled chicken and bites on a skewer lend creative freshness. 

The marinade is just a few ingredients -- plain greek yogurt, basil, parsley and lemon juice. You'll reserve at least one cup for your dipping sauce later. This marinade adds flavor and the yogurt really tenderizes the chicken.

How Love and Lemons is this photo? Who knew my Grammie's old kitchen table was so blog-forward.

After marinating overnight, load up the chicken onto pre-soaked skewers. Thank your friends for taking pictures while your hands are covered in raw chicken yogurt.

Grill over medium-high, direct heat until they release easily.

Pop-on a red grape and celery chunk to finish and don't forget the reserved dipping sauce for extra chicken salad flare.

Chicken Salad Skewers
3lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
4 cups plain Greek yogurt
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 cup basil, chopped
Juice of one lemon
S&P
Red grapes
Celery, but in 1-inch chunks

Rinse and pat dry chicken before slicing into 2-inch strips. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, basil, parsley, lemon and S&P. Reserve 1-1 1/2 cups of marinate for dipping sauce. Toss chicken in remaining marinate and seal in a large zip-top bag. Marinate overnight.

Soak wooden skewers in water for 15 minutes. Skewer chicken, one per stick. Place on a preheated grill and cook over medium-high direct heat for 7-8 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through (may depend on how thickly they were sliced).

When ready to serve, skewer red grapes and celery on each stick. Serve with remaining dipping sauce.

Note: Chicken can be grilled one day ahead of serving.

Earl Grey Panna Cotta

Okay... so this is not low fat. Not even a little, but hey, it was for a party. Plus the pregnant ladies needed the calcium in all that whole milk and cream. I came to this recipe because I was looking for something that I could do in individual servings AND that I could make ahead of time.

Panna cotta is almost as simple as dessert comes and a teacup offers baby shower level cuteness. Plus once you learn the basic recipe, there are nearly endless variations of flavors and toppings.

Plus this adorable dessert gave me a chance to use all of my mom's and Grammie's pretty china. If you can't use it for a party, when can you?

It starts with warm milk, cream and gelatin...gently stirred until the gelatin dissolves and steam just starts to rise.

Remove from heat and allow to steep. If Earl Grey's not your thing, you could do vanilla bean or lavender here. Lavender is going to be my next round. It's one of my favorite smells and I'm interested to experiment with it as a flavor.

Gently ladle into tea cups or small bowls. These need to refrigerate at least overnight or you can make two days ahead like I did.

I added a saran wrap on top while the pudding was still warm to avoid pudding skin. Pudding skin reminds me of a cafeteria or an old folks home. Not cute for a party. Say no to pudding skin.

Remove from the fridge for a few minutes before serving to take the cold edge off and remove your skin-preventing saran. There may be a few wrinkles in the panna cotta from the wrap, but nothing a light dusting of cinnamon can't fix. A squeeze of honey would be good too.

Earl Grey Panna Cotta
Makes 24 individual servings

6 cups cream
6 cups whole milk
1 oz unflavored gelatin
2 cups sugar
6 Earl Grey tea bags

Pour milk an cream in large pot and sprinkle gelatin. Turn heat on low and stir until gelatin dissolves completely. Add sugar; stir until dissolved and continue just until milk begins to steam. Remove from heat and steep tea bags for 30 minutes.

Ladle into teacups or small ramekins. Place plastic wrap on the surface of the milk and smooth out wrinkles. Refrigerate overnight.

Remove from refrigerator 15-30 minutes before serving. Remove plastic wrap and lightly dust with cinnamon.


Oh yeah... it the spirit of being transparent, I promote consumption of milk at my job. I was not asked to write this, nor compensated. Secret's out... milk is good for you. Have you heard?