Chicken and Rice Soup

Found this recipe HERE. I think I posted another chicken and rice soup on here before, but this one's a lot different.

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4" pieces

• 1 Tbs Emeril's Essence or Creole Seasoning

• 1 Tbs olive oil

• 2 cups diced onions

• 1 1/2 cups diced carrots

• 1 1/2 cups diced celery

• 1 Tbs minced garlic

• 1 tsp dried basil

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

• 2 quarts chicken stock/broth, plus more if needed

• 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice

• 1 5-oz bag prewashed spinach

Place the chicken in a medium bowl, season with the Essence or Creole seasoning, and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a 6-quart or larger soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, basil, salt, and crushed red pepper, and continue to cook for 1 minute.

Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the broth and rice, cover the pot, and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove the cover, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook until the rice is just tender, about 12 minutes.

Stir in the spinach, and serve immediately.

NOTE: If you have cooked white rice on hand, omit the uncooked rice and simply stir in a bout 1 1/2 cups cooked rice just before you add the spinach.

YIELD: 3 1/2 quarts, 6-8 servings

The only changes I made to this was to probably season the chicken a bit more and use kale instead to spinach. Because kale seems to be a bit tougher than the packaged spinach, I decided to add it in earlier. I put it in right before I put the rice in. It was really good, and went over well. It made a lot even though it says 6-8 servings. I think we only ate about half of it.

Grits 'n' Greens Casserole

This is a recipe that we all enjoy - it's southern all around.

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups cream
2. 8 cups chicken broth, divided
3. 2 cups grits - NOT instant or quick-cooking
4. 1 large bag frozen collards (we've used home-grown greens and it works great)
5. 2 sticks butter
6. 2 1/2 cups Parmesan
   
7. 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
8. 1 cup cooked and crumbled bacon

Directions:

Grease a 9x13 casserole dish

If you want to brown the casserole, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine cream and 6 cups of the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir in grits and cook over medium heat until the grits return to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and stir frequently to keep it from burning, 25-30 minutes.

Add milk if needed to thicken to proper consistency (about like slightly runny oatmeal).

While grits are simmering, cook frozen collards with remaining 2 cups of chicken broth 'til tender, about 10 minutes. Drain well in colander, squeezing out remaining liquid.

Add butter, Parmesan and pepper to cooked grits, and stir 'til butter is melted. Stir in cooked greens and spoon into greased casserole dish. Top with additional Parmesan and bacon. Dish can be served at room temperature or heated in a 350 degree oven 'til browned on top.

Turnip Greens

Ingredients:

1. a big bunch of fresh turnip greens (rinsed well)
2. a bit of water
3. Mrs. Dash
4. Black Pepper
5. 1 cayenne pepper
6. a couple of cubes of beef boulion (more or less to taste)

Preparation:

Cook the above ingredients in the pressure cooker for about 10 minutes. After the ten minutes are up, remove the lid and let the greens simmer while you finish up the rest of the meal.

Tip:

You really do need a big bunch of greens, even if there are only a few people planning to eat them. Turnip greens (and other greens - mustard, collard, etc.) cook down a whole lot, so we usually pick enough to fill an ordinary grocery bag. It should fill up the pressure cooker at first, but once they're done cooking, you'll just have a nice bowl full.