A Sunday Kind of Love: Roast Chicken, Mashed Parsnips and Southern Collard Greens

A Sunday Kind of Love: Roast Chicken; Mashed Parsnips and Fingerling Potatoes; and Southern Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey. Served with a bottle of Viognier
A Sunday Kind of Love: Roast Chicken; Mashed Parsnips and Fingerling Potatoes; and Southern Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey. Served with a bottle of Viognier

“… I don’t want a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, Friday or Saturday
Oh nothing but Sunday oh yea
I want a Sunday Sunday
I want a Sunday kind of love
Oh yea
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday kind of loooove.”

– The Etta James version, A Sunday Kind of Love

Etta James spoke to me on a Thursday. It’s when the weather report foretold of showers and thunderstorms all of Sunday. Knowing the temperature to be indecisive at this time of year, I opted for a slightly Southern comfort dinner of Roast Herbal Chicken; Creamy Mashed Parsnips and Fingerling Potatoes; and Southern Collard Greens.

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Cream. Chicken. Corn. It Makes a Delicious Chowder.

Corn and Chicken Chowder
Corn and Chicken Chowder

This is a delicious, quick meal that could be made within an hour on a weekday, including prepping time*. In place of chicken use any seafood to make shrimp, fish or crab chowder**. Unlike chicken, add the seafood to the pot after the potatoes are cooked to keep the meat tender. Using fresh corn will enhance the sweetness of the cream and the meat. During the off-season months, use organic frozen corn, for it has a better texture and taste than the non-organic and canned versions. If using fingerling potatoes, slice them. Baby potatoes should be quartered or cut in half, depending on their size. Some people like to peel their potatoes, but this is a weekday meal. Such details can be overlooked in place of saving time. Besides, the visual appearance of red-skinned potatoes provides a nice contrast in a creamy soup. A simple, green salad and a Chardonnay will complete a well-meaning meal.

*Clean and cut chicken on a weekend. Place it in a freezer and defrost before using.
** Buy shrimp raw, clean and devein. Fish should be cut into chucks. Use precooked crabmeat sold in the seafood section.

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An All-Season Tortilla Soup

Tortilla Soup

Last winter, instead of serving a sick boyfriend bland chicken soup, he ate a sultry Vitamin C filled Tortilla Soup. Actually, this soup is a good choice to serve between seasons. The potatoes and the chicken give the soup the hearty weight of winter. The sweetness of the corn and the tomatoes has the reoccurring flavors of summer. When the weather abruptly switches from warm to cold to rainy, the spiciness of the soup reminds the soul that summer is on the way. Now, on those warm spring days, in which time outside is preferred to the indoors, this recipe is quick to make when the warm sun finally gives way to the coolness of moon. Read more

Quick Chicken Dill Salad Served with Mustard Vinaigrette Green Beans

Chicken Dill Salad Served with Mustard Vinaigrette Green Beans
Chicken Dill Salad Served with Mustard Vinaigrette Green Beans

Six months since starting this food blog, writing about food has become an unexpected newfound passion. The topics in my mind about food are as diverse as the spices on earth. Let’s talk from morning to night about ingredients, the environment, health, food, nutrition and recipes… on another day. This week there is little time for an all day conversation about these ravenous topics. As this post is being written, a silent prayer is being chanted: “Please, God, let this food post about the Chicken Dill Salad be short and savory. Taxes need to be filed, a design proposal, dinner for tonight that I have no idea…”

Viola, prayer granted! As this is a quickly written post, so is the recipe.

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One Turkey Meatball Recipe, Two Different Dinners

Recipe Number 2: Turkey Meatball Sandwich with Mozzarella Cheese
Recipe Number 2: Turkey Meatball Sandwich with Mozzarella Cheese

From one Turkey Meatball recipe, two different meals were served, sans the classic tomato sauce. Recipe number one was Turkey Meatballs with Creamy Mushroom Sauce and Lemon Arugula Spaghetti. The second recipe was a Turkey Meatball Sandwich with Mozzarella Cheese. Why should tomato sauce have all the fun? This is a versatile ingredient that will add instant flavor to other dishes, as well. Flatten a raw meatball to make a breakfast sausage served with pancakes, add a pre-cooked meatball to a salad for lunch, or try it in another pasta dish for dinner. Read more