Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

I made this simple roasted chicken and potatoes the other night.  The recipe is from May's Martha Stewart Living, which is an excellent issue.  Go get it!  I'm not always interested in Living, but this is a great issue.  I have all the recipes flagged.

These were great because I had everything other than the chicken already in my pantry or in my garden.  I felt very domestic and competent.  Just call me Mini-Martha.

Roasted Quartered Chicken with Herb Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), quartered and backbone removed, room temperature (I used 2 breasts and 4 legs because that was on sale at Earthfare)

• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

• 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

• 1 cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (from 1 small clove)

• 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Rub chicken with 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Arrange, skin-side up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until golden and a thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast (without touching bone) registers 160 degrees, about 30 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a plate. Pour off and discard fat from baking sheet; return chicken to sheet. Whisk together remaining 1/4 cup oil, vinegar, parsley, garlic, and pepper flakes in a bowl. Season with salt. Spoon sauce over chicken and let stand 10 minutes before serving with accumulated pan juices and sauce.

Pair with these potatoes- I could not stop eating them straight off the cookie sheet.  Put them in the oven after the chicken has roasted for about 15 minutes, then everything will be ready at the same time 

Crispy Potatoes With Rosemary

• 2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cover potatoes with 2 inches of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil; add a generous amount of salt. Boil until potatoes are just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and immediately toss in a bowl with oil and rosemary. (Potatoes will break apart slightly.) Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer potatoes to a rimmed baking sheet. Roast, flipping once, until golden and crisp, about 35 minutes. Serve immediately.

 I paired the chicken and potatoes with white wine sautéed mushroom with fresh thyme and greens dressed with the chicken sauce and a touch of balsamic vinegar.  Make sure you have some good French bread for mopping up the pan juice from the chicken- it's the best part!

We ate outside and had a glass of white wine.  I felt sooo European with my simple fresh dinner enjoyed al fresco.  Then I looked over to Dell Harper who was dipping bread into ketchup. Illusions of French countryside living dashed immediately by the toddler clad only in a diaper.  C'est la vie!

Things are Turning Around

• DH is now sleeping better.  I think any TV viewing after about five o'clock was the culprit- just getting her overstimulated.  So much for our Friday movie and pizza nights. 
• My stye on my eye mysteriously healed between Deeds' 1 AM and early morning feeding last night.  Hurrah!
• I finally finished a work project that had been giving me absolute fits.
• Deeds peed all over me while he was eating this morning, but at least I hadn't gotten out of my pjs yet.
• I took advantage of Loft's 50% off sale and ordered a new pair of white jeans instead of freaking out about my normal ones' sudden inability to button (although have I really gained that much weight in a month?).
• We took the kids out to dinner with a group Friday night.  My child was all over the patio (Dell Harper, not Deeds, obviously).  It was chaos, and I was glad that there were plenty of toddlers in attendance.
• I had a friend's birthday dinner Saturday night- just girls.  It was wonderful!  Apparently diners were warning other tables about the "loud table".  Oops.  We don't get out much- there's nineteen children's mothers in this picture.

Okay, off to Jazzercise then work.  Hope your day is turning around too!

Ham Hell Part 2 (Creamy Green Soup)

Okay, I'm feeling much more like normal (albeit) exhausted self today, so no more whining.  Excuse my lapse into pity party yesterday.

Moving on, have y'all noticed the current "it" term for food, especially for those of us who are health-minded?  POWER!  Everything is a power food.  I'm inclined to be drawn to a power food- I mean, I'd rather be powerful than "lite", or "skinny".

POWER!  I'm flexing my muscles and grunting just typing it.

This is another recipe from the good old Private Collection, slightly altered.  It's got dark leafy greens, eggs and Greek yogurt, so I think it would definitely qualify as a POWER soup.  It sounds pretty strange, but tastes delicious.  And it uses the reminder of that ham!  Powerful, indeed.

Creamy Green Soup

1 lb spinach or chard
4 leeks
3 tablespoons butter (you can use olive oil, but butter adds a nice flavor here)
1 tablespoon butter
4 1/2 cup chicken broth
4 1/2 cup water
3 eggs at room temp
8 oz cream cheese (you can use reduced fat), at room temperature
2 cups plain Greek yogurt
4 cups diced ham
chives to garnish

• Chop the white and pale green parts of the leeks, and rinse all the sand out.
• Chop the leafy greens of your choose, and remove any large stems.  If you use baby spinach, it's fine as is.
• Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter in a large soup pot on medium heat, and sauté your leeks and greens until soft and wilted.
• Add the water and chicken broth and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, mash the cream cheese well.  Add in the eggs and yogurt, and mix very well.  I would use a hand mixer and really beat this until it is a super smooth consistency.
• Take the veggie/broth mixture off the heat and gently stir in the cream cheese mixture.  Slowly heat through under low heat, stirring constantly.  After it's well-incorporated, puree the soup with an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender.
• Saute the ham in the 1 tablespoon of butter in a small skillet.
• Stir the ham into the soup.
• Add salt and pepper to taste and top with chopped chives.

I tried this the night I made it, and thought "Well, that's okay.  Tastes a little powerful, so it's a good , healthy lunch option when I need some green."

Then I tried it the next day.  Revelation!  It was amazing!  So this is one of those things that gets better the next day after the flavors meld.

I am re-energized just looking at all those vitamins and protein.  Although this is not my persuasion, it would be almost as good without the ham and chicken broth- simply omit the ham and use vegetable broth for a vegetarian version.

Thanks for all of your nice comments yesterday after my whine (or whinge as the Brits say- very descriptive of the actual sound, no?).  I truly adore my life and am so grateful for everything in it.  That doesn't mean that I don't occasionally long for a break from it!  Ha!