I made you/me some soup. It’s green…

I wasn’t going to post it because, well, it might be the ugliest soup I’ve ever made. I usually like to share things that are pretty/cute/delicious. Not today, my friends!! Today I’m hurling nutritious, humble and necessary (for me anyway) your way.

My head is stuffed up, my nose is clogged, and my ears hurt (hello ear ache!). Yeah, I’m sick. UGH!

Growing up this is the soup my mama would make me to make things all better. So, this post comes straight from her mama heart through me. JUST like that scene at the end of Ghost, you know? When Whoopi let’s Patrick Swayze take over her body so Demi can get her last dance. JUST like that. So, basically this is my mom giving you this recipe (through me). Weird, right?

Let’s dance!

This chicken soup is daaa best.

This chicken soup story starts with a bunch of fresh cilantro heading into a blender with some garlic cloves, serrano pepper and chicken broth. After a minute or two, you’ll end up with a fragrant, beautiful bright green liquid mixture. Try not to drink it.

Next you’re gonna cook the chicken on both sides in some oil. You want crispy skin. You want the chicken to be nearly cooked all the way through.

After the onion, garlic and red pepper are sauteed, you’re gonna add the rice…

And then the cilantro liquid. Next up, you’re going to add the chicken back to the pot, along with a good amount of chicken broth.

After a good simmer of 20-30 minutes, you’ll have some of the most nutritious, strong soup ever.

Okay. Here’s the thing about this soup: the lime is an absolute must. Like, if you forget it…you have to go back to the store. I’m sorry to be so bossy. I really am, but it’s that important. That citrus works in ways that are indescribable with the chicken and cilantro. This soup feels like gigantic hug from mom (my mom anyway).

Also, if you’re one of those people who tastes soap when you eat cilantro, I’m totally intrigued by you. Like, fascinated…say hi. I wanna know you.

Aguadito (a.k.a. Peruvian Chicken Soup)

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3/4 cup cilantro leaves
1 serrano pepper, halved and de-seeded
4 garlic cloves (2 whole garlic cloves and 2 garlic cloves minced), divided
4 1/4 cups chicken broth, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 chicken thighs, skin-on and bone-in
2 chicken drumsticks, skin-on and bone-in
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup white rice
1 ear of corn, cut off the cob
Salt to taste
1 lime

1. Add cilantro leaves, serrano pepper, 2 garlic cloves and 1/4 cup of chicken broth to a blender. Blend until mixture is thoroughly combined. Set aside.

2. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. When hot, carefully add chicken thighs and drumsticks, skin-side down. Cook on first side for 4-5 minutes, and until skin is crisp and slightly browned. Flip on second side and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside.

3. If the chicken absorbed all of the oil, add one more tablespoon of olive oil. Add yellow onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Next, add red bell pepper and ground cumin, allowing to cook for 1-2 more minutes. Add minced garlic atop of mixture and cook until fragrant.

4. Add the rice and cilantro liquid mixture to the pot and mix, being sure to completely coat the rice. Gently add the chicken back to the pot and cover with the remaining 4 cups of chicken broth. The broth should just cover the chicken. Cook for 20-30 minutes, and until rice is fully cooked.

5. When you’re ready to serve, add salt to taste. This will all depend on how salty your chicken broth was. I needed to add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Mix in corn right before serving.

6. Add a few cilantro leaves to each bowl of soup, along with a few wedges of lime. It’s important.

Yields 4 servings

I’ve had exactly four cups of coffee today. My hand is shaking (just slightly). And I really need to trim my bangs. But I’m scared. I think I have reason to be…

I also cannot stop thinking about homemade fish sticks. How will I do this?! How will I make homemade fish sticks? Huh?

Still not sure. But if you have ideas/thoughts/experiences of the fish stick variety, I’m all ears. Also, if you know secrets about cutting your own bangs, I’d like to hear those too.

These are important life things. Fish sticks. And haircuts.

I’m all about fish sticks right now, but really I should be convincing you how incredible these sticks made from polenta are. They really are. It’s just that I made these about a week ago when I was back home and now I’ve moved on to something else.

I often times feel like I have the attention span of Ellen Degeneres’s character in Finding Nemo. You know..like a goldfish.

(Weird how Ellen Degeneres is a fish and I was talking aobut fish sticks, right?! RIGHT?! Totally wasn’t planned.)

Back to polenta fries…I’m a huge proponent of fries that aren’t made from potatoes. You know this. Evidence: here, here, here, AND lastly, here.

I love everything about fries. I love their bite-sizeness. I love that I can gab and gossip while simultaneously eating an entire plate. They offer breaks in between. The dipping sauce situation that goes along with fries is always important.

These have everything I love about a French fry, actually. They’re crispy on the outside with a smooth center. In this case, their smoothness is helped by a heaping handful of shredded Parmesan. Add a bit more if you like (or another kind of cheese), and you’ll have Cheesy Baked Polenta Fries. HELLO DELICIOUSNESS!

They taste even better with this spicy lime mayo, which comes together with a dash of hot sauce, a squeeze of lime and a sprinkling of salt.

Baked Polenta Fries with Spicy Lime Mayo

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Fries:
4 cups whole milk
1 cup water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 teaspoons kosher salt, and more for sprinkling
2 tablespoons olive oil

Chili Lime Mayo:
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 dashes Cholulua (or Tobasco)
1 teaspoon lime juice
Pinch salt

1. Spray non-stick cooking spray on a baking sheet (or casserole dish). Bring milk, 1 cup water and butter to boil in heavy large saucepan. Gradually whisk in cornmeal. Reduce heat to low and cook until polenta is very thick and starts to pull away from sides of pan, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Stir in cheese and salt. Add more salt if you like. Immediately transfer polenta to prepared baking sheet, spreading mixture to a 1-inch thickness. Mine filled up half of the baking sheet. No biggie. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool and firm, about 1 hour. (You can totally do this a day ahead. Just be sure to cover and keep refrigerated.)

3. Cut polenta lengthwise in pan into three-inch-wide rectangles. Cut each rectangle crosswise into 3/4-inch-wide strips. Set polenta strips aside.

4. Preheat oven to 450F. Transfer polenta fries to lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with about a teaspoon of kosher salt and some olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping the fries at the 10 minute mark. Fries, when done, will be slightly golden brown at the edges.

5. Meanwhile, mix together the mayo, hot sauce, lime juice and pinch of salt.

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit

Yields two and a half dozen fries

I made weekend plans for you. Are you ready? Trust me…this is good.  Life is about to feel really rich and awesome.

Here it is:

1. Go in your closet. Grab that dress…you know…the one that makes you feel pretty. Make sure it’s not too short.

2. Text the person you have a crush on. Scared? I know I know…but seriously, just jump.

3. Set a date. A picnic date in a grassy, meadow-type place. (See note about dress that’s not too short.)

4.  Make a salad. Buy a salad. Do what’s easy. Don’t forget forks.

5. Put on some mascara. Everyone looks better with mascara.

5. Then spend 5 minutes making this watermelon syrup.

6. Stick the tonic, gin and watermelon in the fridge so it gets super cold. There’s no place for ice on a picnic.

7. Arrive on time. Bring a blanket. Shyly say hi. Take a seat on the grass.

8. Make two drinks. Start sipping.

9. Talk. And talk. And talk some more.

10. And then when talking is no good…just stare. Then, tell your person that their face is so cute it makes you want to punch it. They’ll like this, trust me.

xo

Adrianna

CINCO DE MAYO in the hiiiizzz-ouse.

I know what you want. You want something Mexican, and cheesy with salsa…maybe something that’s even sprinkled with cotija cheese and avocado…

But I don’t have that. I’ve got nothing of the sorts. I had plans to do this, I swear. But something happened. A heat wave came ploughing through LA with 90-degree temperatures, and all I had the desire to do was to drink like, everything in the world. Not alcohol-wise, but like, lemonade, iced coffee, limeade, watermelon raspberry slushies, etc.

I did have a plan, though–it involved lots of shredded pork, a fried tortilla and lots of cotija cheese. I didn’t make that, obvi. It was too hot. I’m sweating now just thinking about standing over a hot stove with even hotter oil.

Instead I made this…for lunch…and dinner.

Ginger Limeade with a side of Guacamole and chips. The perfect I’m-too-hot-to-eat snack/meal.

And really, it’s kind of amazing even if you aren’t sweating.

Let me explain…

You squeeze the limes until you have about 3/4 of cup of fresh lime juice.

Then there’s a ginger syrup you’ll need, which is just made of water, agave (or sugar) and minced ginger. If you want more ginger flavor let it simmer for 5 minutes; want less gingery flavor? Less time. Easy peasy!

Combine the rest of the water, ginger syrup and lime juice together…and BOOM! Ginger Limeade!

Other good ideas: juice a half of a cucumber and top if off with cucumber juice! Yum!

Or…add some tequila, gin, or vodka. All good ideas.

And then garnish it with something you kinda want to eat while you’re drinking. I chose a slice of a cucumber, candied ginger and a slice of lime.

Welcome to yum-town, population: YOU!

Ginger Limeade

Recipe tweaked from Gourmet

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3 1/2 cups water

4 tablespoons of agave (or 3/4 cup sugar)

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

3/4 cup fresh lime juice

Thin lime slices for garnish (optional)

Cucumber slice for garnish (optional)

Candied ginger for garnish (optional)

In a small saucepan stir together 2 cups of the water, agave (or sugar), and the ginger, bring the mixture to a boil, and stir.  Let simmer for 5 minutes.

Strain the syrup through a fine sieve set over a bowl and let it cool. In a pitcher combine the cooled syrup, the remaining 1 1/2 cups water, and the lime juice and stir the limeade well.

Divide the limeade among the tall glasses filled with ice cubes and garnish each drink with a lime slice, cucumber slice and/or candied ginger.

Other options include: adding a splash of soda water; adding booze (gin!); or the juice of half of a cucumber.

 

Is anyone else having as busy of a holiday season as I am? I’ve traveled from coast to coast, been all over the state of North Carolina and have seen more family and friends than I did at my wedding. I’m hitting that point where all I want to do is relax and enjoy the remainder of my vacation with a tasty cocktail in my hand. Preferably a cocktail that’s easy to make. If it comes in a pitcher that would be pretty cool too. Sangria, anyone?

Sangria is really, really easy to make. It’s also really fun to play around with. If you have some leftover fruit you need to use, or a couple cups of fruit juice you want out of the fridge, or your friends gave you 2 bottles of cabernet when you only drink pinot noir, sangria is the answer.

First, you start off with two bottles of wine. Some people will tell you to use  something sweet like a moscato or something light and fruity like a pinot noir. I disagree completely. I like a more full bodied wine such as a cabernet or shiraz. If I’m using white I tend to lean toward chardonnay or a sauvignon blanc. My theory is that the purpose of the wine is to add flavor, so use something that will come through all the other fruits. Otherwise this is just alcoholic fruit juice, although even I’ll admit that’s not necessarily a bad thing. if you want to sweeten sangria, just use some old-fashioned sugar.

You’re gonna need a whole mess of fruit. In the South “a whole mess” is a very technical term, although, I’m not entirely confident I can translate it. What you see here in this photo is roughly what you want for one batch of sangria. You also need fruit juice – about 1 cup of juice for 2 bottles of wine. I used apple juice for this recipe, but this is where the fun comes in. Try playing around with stuff like peach nectar, pomegranate or pineapple juice.

Now it’s time to add in your fruit. Here’s another place to get creative., but you need to take into account the color of your wine here. For red wine, you can almost add anything, but I like to throw in some berries and oranges since those flavors really compliment red wines. Keep in mind that if you add berries to white wine it might muddle the color of the sangria. Things like apples, grapes, peaches or kiwi tend to go better with the white wine and come out with a prettier presentation.

Lemons and limes are nearly mandatory regardless of what type of wine you use. You’ll see a lot of recipes that call for lemon lime soda. I guess in a pinch this will work fine, although I will argue until I’m blue in the face that real fruit will taste better. Just trust me on this one.

I also like to add a liquer to sangria just to give a little kick. Although I’m using a pretty basic triple sec in this recipe, I strongly recommend going with a Cointreau or some other higher-quality fruity liquer for flavor. The above photo is the result of cooking away from home and on a bank account that has been drained from Christmas shopping- it still turned out quite delicious anyway.

If you’re making a red sangria, you must, must, must, MUST add cinnamon sticks. I also added cloves cause I had some on hand, but really all you need are cinnamon sticks. If you can, add these to the serving glasses when you’re done. “Too much cinnamon” is a phrase I have NEVER heard when someone is drinking red sangria. If I had heard it I probably would have started to ignore the person immediately since I don’t associate with crazy people.

Once you’ve combined everything in a big pitcher it’s time to stir in some sugar. Here’s the thing – you can always add more sugar later, so start slow. I would start off with half the amount of sugar the recipe calls for, let it sit for 2 hours, stir, and then taste. If you want more, add it. If you’re like me and don’t like super-sweet sangria, you might be okay right where it is.

The other key to sangria is to let it marinate a while. Eight hours is good, overnight is even better. This is one reason why I think sangria is an awesome party drink – you can make it the day before and then have it chilled and waiting in the fridge when people come over. Also, I think people assume there’s some sort of magic involved with making good sangria, when it couldn’t be easier.

Trust me, although there are certain ingredients I prefer over others, it is going to be really hard to use these guidelines and end up with a bad sangria.

It might even be impossible.

If you tell me you managed to make a bad sangria, I probably won’t believe you, FYI.

Basic Red Sangria

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2 750ml bottles red wine
1 cup apple juice
2 oranges, each cut into 8 wedges
2 cups chopped strawberries
1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
2/3 cup triple sec or orange-flavored liquer
½ cup sugar
3 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves

Combine all of the ingredients together in a large pitcher. Allow to chill for 8 hours or overnight. Remove cloves and cinnamon sticks (you can put the cinnamon sticks in serving glasses if you want). Serve over ice and enjoy!

I really, really, really miss summer vacation. I wish that someone had told me that adulthood meant most of my summers would be spent sitting behind a desk. At least then I could maybe have found time to start a petition for change. Nowadays if I find myself with more than a week of free time it’s because I’m unemployed and I then I’m stressed about paying rent, health insurance, and buying dog food. Why can’t I just go to summer camp instead?

Since I’m currently working I have to squeeze all of my summer fun into the weekend, which is not even close to the amount of time I need to do everything I have planned. Like laying by the beach, or catching up with a friend at Aroma Café, or flying back to North Carolina so that I can float down a river in an inner tube. Things like that cannot be squeezed into a normal 48hours, at least, not when I also have to do laundry, grocery shopping, sweep my floors and walk the dog. Seriously, can we form a protest about this??

I did manage to find the time to stroll through the farmers market and found everything I needed to make this salsa though. And that’s pretty cool. I sat on the couch while reading a book and ate this entire bowl all by myself. It sort of felt like summer vacation, and it at least allowed me to forget about that pile of laundry for a while.

Fresh Corn & Avocado Salsa

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It is absolutely imperative that you chop all of the vegetables to roughly the same size as a corn kernel, otherwise the flavors will be off. The dressing in this salad is not meant to dominate the flavors of the salad, and it is therefore very light. The real stars of the show are the fresh vegetables, so I implore you to buy the best quality you can for the best salsa. I cooked my corn by leaving the husks on and placing them in the oven for 30 minutes, but any technique that you prefer will work.

3 ears of corn, cooked (by grilling, boiling, baking, however)
¼ cup chopped red onion
½ cup chopped red pepper
1 large avocado
Juice of 1 lime (roughly 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 small garlic clove minced
¼ teaspoon salt

Combine the lime juice, olive oil, chili powder and garlic clove in a small bowl, set aside.

Using a knife, scrape the sides of the corn to remove the kernels. Place in a small bowl. Combine with the onion, red pepper, avocado and dressing and gently mix together.

LA is notorious for fabulous 70 degree weather year around, but this week the weather gods decided to strike us with blistering 105 degree temperatures, which has put much of the valley up in flames.  With smokey cloudy air and sweltering temperatures, the last thing on earth I feel like doing is turning on a stove or, gosh forbid, an oven; really the only effort I feel like exerting is trying to find a creative way to keep cool.

I came across this jewel of a recipe a few months ago when I was recovering from two back-to-back flu attacks, and figured it might be a good time to cool it with all of the white sugar and white flour I was constantly consuming.  I turned to a cleanse I saw on Gwenyth Paltrow’s blog, GOOP.  She’s received a ton of criticism about the blog, mainly because people say it’s targeted for the rich, but how many of us can say our personal friend is Mario Batali?  It’s actually kinda fun hearing about what he cooks for private dinners with her and Emeril Lagassee.

Anyway, the cleanse on her blog was designed by her doctor in place of the very popular Master Cleanse, which I bravely tried a few years ago and on the ninth hour, gave up and madly drove to the nearest Chipotle where I stuffed my weak little body with chips and guacamole.  When I took a look at the cleanse’s menu I was pleasantly surprised that I could actually eat! When I delved into the experience I quickly dismissed most of the recipes and basically ate this soup for a week straight.  It’s so creamy, rich and tart, while still feeling like you’re eating real food.  After the cleanse was over I continued to eat this soup.  And when yesterday’s dreadful weather set in I decided to introduce the two ingredients together once again.  Mr. Cucumber, please meet my dear friend, Mr. Avocado. You guys have a really bright future together…Maybe even a really cool soup.  A soup that will keep even the sweatiest, overheated person as cool as a cucumber.

Cucumber and Avocado Soup

Recipe from Gwyenth Paltrow’s blog, Goop

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Zest from 1/2 lime
Juice from 2 limes
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cucumber peeled and seeded, roughly chopped
1/2 avocado, peeled and roughly chopped

Blend everything together until totally creamy and smooth.  I added a dollop of creme fraiche just to add a little creaminess, but you’re totally welcome to leave it out.