Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup

adapted from Rachel Ray's Smoky-Spicy Sweet Potato Soup

Soup is not something that I normally love. Don't get me wrong. I do like soup. But it has to be good. Really good, in order for me to enjoy it. However, I love sweet potatoes, I love bacon (who doesn't!?) and I love spicy stuff. So I decided to give this recipe a whirl. And if you don't don't like bacon or want a vegetarian version, just don't add the bacon as a garnish. Easy Peasy.

My rating: ★★★★★

After a few minor adjustments, this soup has become my favorite soup ever. Seriously. I like my soup to be chunky and I love cheese, so I added feta and extra bacon. I have already made this soup three times since I first found the recipe three months ago. However, I don't recommend this as a family meal, unless of course your kids like hot stuff. It definitely has a kick to it! 

Ingredients

• 4 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
• salt to taste
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped, plus 2 teaspoons of adobo sauce
• 5 sprigs of thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 3 Tablespoons milk (I used 1%, but you could use anything)
• 1 teaspoon grated peel and juice of 1 orange
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pepper
• sour cream, bacon bits and feta cheese, for garnish

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan, add the sweet potatoes and cover with water. Bring water to a boil, add salt and cook until tender, 12-15 minutes. Drain and return to pot.
2. In a large pot, heat the olive oil, add the onion, carrot, chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Cook until the onions are softened, 6-7 minutes. 
3. Stir in the chicken broth, water, orange peel, orange juice and cinnamon.Simmer about 5 minutes. Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaf.
4. Add the broth mixture to the sweet potatoes in the pot and puree with an immersion blender (you could also use a full size blender) Stir in milk.
5. Serve the soup with a dollop of sour cream, sprinkle bacon and feta cheese on top. 

Sausage, Kale & Gnocchi Soup

Wow. This came out incredibly. Got rave reviews from the man of the house. Original recipe found here.

Ingredients

• 1 pound of ground hot italian sausage (definitely go for the hot sausage)
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups of kale, roughly chopped and stems removed
• 1 pound of gnocchi
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper, to taste
• freshly shaved Parmesan. 

Instructions

1. Add hot sausage and diced onion to a large stockpot.  Cook over medium-high heat until the sausage is browned.  Drain out any excess grease.
2. Add in the chicken stock and bring the mixture to a simmer (still over medium-high heat).  Once it reaches a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low and add the kale and gnocchi and stir to combine.  Continue cooking for 5 minutes. 
3. Stir in the heavy cream.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Serve warm with freshly shaved Parmesan

My Rating: ★★★★★

Another winner here. Simple. Easy. Delicious. It's hard to beat that. 

Baked Sweet Potato with Feta and Honey

This dish makes an excellent side for any meal. I love sweet potatoes and I love feta. Throw in a few more things that bring out the flavors of both and voila! I will be remaking this in a couple weeks for Thanksgiving dinner!

Ingredients

• 3-4 sweet potatoes
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons honey
• 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled (I use low fat and it tastes just the same to me)
• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (for a little extra kick)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into bite sized cubes. 
3. Toss the sweet potato cubes in oil and bake on  parchment covered baking sheet for 20-25 minutes.
4. Drizzle with honey, balsamic vinegar, feta and chili flakes. Season with salt and pepper. 

My Rating: ★★★★★

I feel like I say this all the time. But soooo delicious and easy! Seriously, I am a little obsessed with feta. So if I can find something that I can pair with it, I will!

I served this with Smoky Roasted Chicken.

Hot Italian Sandwiches

Another easy meal! Very tasty and satisfying. Adapted from this recipe here.

Ingredients

• 4 Hoagie Rolls
• 8-12 slices of salami
• 8-12 slices of pepperoni
• 8-12 slices of deli smoked ham
• 4-8 slices of mozzarella
• butter
• Italian seasoning
• 1 tomato, sliced

Instructions

1. Preheat broiler
2. Mix the softened butter and Italian seasoning and spread evenly on inside of hoagie rolls.
3. Broil for 2-3 minutes, to toast bread.
4. Remove rolls from oven, layer your meat and cheeses to your liking. Top with sliced tomato (You can also add grilled onions, grilled peppers or banana peppers)
5. Return to broiler for 2-3 minutes, until cheese is melted.

My rating: ★★★★★

Definitely a tasty and easy sandwich to throw together. The Zucchini Fries were more time consuming, but not by much. They went excellent together. 

Baked Parmesan Zucchini

Absolutely unbelievable. A tasty and healthy alternative to traditional fries. I slightly adapted the recipe that I found here.

Ingredients

• 3 zucchini, quartered lengthwise
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup egg beaters (I use this low cholesterol alternative, but an egg will do)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl combine Parmesan, thyme, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
3. Pour egg beaters into a separate bowl
4. One at a time, take your zucchini and dip into egg, then gently roll in parmesan mixture. 
5. Place zucchini on parchment covered baking sheet. 
6. Bake for 15 minutes. Then broil for 2 minutes. 
7. Serve immediately, with side of sweet onion mustard sauce.

My Rating: ★★★★★

Awesome appetizer or side dish. Really easy and super delicious. I served this with some Hot Italian Sandwiches.

Maple Glazed Salmon

Maple Glazed Salmon 

This is one recipe you will definitely need to try. Delish!

Ingredients

• 1 t. paprika
• 1 t. chili powder
• 1/4 t. ground cumin
• 1/4 t. brown sugar
• 1 t. kosher salt
• 4 (6 oz.) Alaskan salmon fillets
• 2 T. maple syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat broiler
2. Combine ingredients for dry ryb; rub spice mixture evenly onto fillets. 
3. Coat a pan with cooking spray and place fish in pan. 
4. Broil for 6 minutes. 
5. Brush fillets evenly with maple syrup; broil 1 minute

My rating: ★★★★★

Love love love this salmon. Great balance of sweet and spicy. Perfectly crispy on the outside, while moist and tender on the inside. I served it with black rice (<--awesome!), green beans and crab cakes (I didn't make these from scratch, they were frozen from Trader Joe's). 

All in all, this meal was healthy and super delicious. 

Crockpot Sausage Tortellini

Sausage Tortellini

 Delicious! Delicious! Delicious! How many times do I need to say delicious until you decide to try this recipe?? Thank you to recipemothers for this amazing find!

Photo credit: Recipe Mothers

• 32 ounces chicken broth
• 20 oz package of favorite tortellini
• 1 lb spicy Italian sausage, cooked
• 2 cans diced tomatoes 
• Basil, garlic & Oregano, to taste
• 8 oz. cream cheese (try neufchatel or 1/3 fat cream cheese), softened
• grated parmesan cheese for toppings

1. Brown sausage and put into crock pot with tortellini. 
2. Pour the tomatoes, including liquid, and broth into crock pot. 
3. Add softened cream cheese in chunks. And stir well. Make sure that the tortellini is covered with liquid
4. Cook on LOW for 4 1/2 hours. Stir at 2 hours, and again at 4 hours, remove the lid for last half hour of cooking to allow the sauce to thicken up.

My review: ★★★★★

There is nothing about this recipe that I didn't love. It was easy, it was delicious. Absolutely amazing. I loved it. The man of the house loved it. The kids even gobbled it up. A real winner here.

Greek Chicken Gyros

Greek Chicken Gyros

One of my favorite meals ever! I have done this recipe a few times now and it's absolutely amazing. I give all credit to Half Baked Harvest for their Greek Chicken Gyros.

Photo credit: Half Baked Harvest

Ingredients

For the chicken

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3 teaspoons of red wine (or red wine vinegar if you prefer)
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons plain greek yogurt (I used nonfat and it was just fine)
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken, cut into thick strips

For the tzatziki sauce

• 16 ounces plain greek yogurt (again, nonfat. But any kind will do)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon white wine (or white wine vinegar)
• 1 teaspoon, dried dill
• 1 teaspoon, dried oregano
• half a fresh lemon, juiced
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Serve with:

• 6-8 Pita breads
• fresh cherry tomatoes
• your favorite hummus
• tapenade (you can buy this at the store or find awesome recipes to make it at home)
• feta cheese ( <---- my favorite part!)

Instructions

1. Prepare the chicken by combining all ingredients, except chicken in a medium bowl. Whisk together until mixed well. Add in the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
2. To prepare the tzatziki sauce, mix together the greek yogurt, diced cucumber, garlic, white wine, dill, oregano, salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice. Drizzle with olive oil. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
3. To cook the chicken preheat your broiler. Place the chicken, including marinade on a baking pan and broil the chicken for 5-7 minutes until cooked through.
4. Heat pitas. Top with chicken, tzatziki sauce, sliced tomatoes, feta cheese, tapenade and anything else you'd like on your gyros. Serve immediately.

My review: ★★★★★  

I definitely give this meal a 5 star rating! It's so easy and unbelievably delicious. It WILL be going back on the menu for another night.