Chicken with Sorrel and Capers

Sorrel looks kind of like spinach but has a remarkable lemony flavor. It’s great raw in salads or raw soups. When cooked in this dish it wilts and has a velvety texture. We loved the sorrel and it’s worth searching for it, but you can replace the sorrel with collards, kale, chard, spinach, or arugula; just increase the cooking time (for the collards, kale, or chard) and add some fresh lemon juice to taste. I made version of this for my friend Sandi with a lot of chard, it was equally delicious.

Before adding it to the skillet, I poached frozen chicken in a vegetable broth and lemon juice combination to make it juicy and tender. I then used the poaching broth to cook short grain brown rice with bay leaves, chopped celery, marjoram, and thyme. I stirred in some caramelized shallots at the very end. It was an excellent side dish.

We have a local green house that produces good tomatoes on the vine in the winter. You could replace the fresh tomatoes with chopped or whole canned tomatoes.

Ingredients:
4 shallots, thinly sliced
Dash of each: coriander, paprika
10-12 chicken breast tenderloins (I used poached chicken)
4 small tomatoes, chopped
1-2 T capers
1 large bunch sorrel, chopped into thin ribbons
Oregano, salt, pepper to taste
Olive oil
Fresh minced Italian parsley

Sauté the shallots in olive oil on medium heat with a bit of salt until they begin to release their juices. Add the chicken and brown the chicken on both sides, letting the shallots caramelize a bit as they cook. At this point I sometimes take out the chicken breasts and chop them into smaller pieces (your choice.)

Add the coriander and paprika, stir, then toss in the sorrel, stirring to wilt the greens. Add the capers and just a touch of oregano and black pepper. At the last moment, add the tomatoes and stir until they just begin to release their juices (if using canned tomatoes, you may want to add the tomatoes sooner and cook them longer). Taste to see if it needs any other seasoning. Mix in the parsley at the very end.

It’s great with the brown rice pilaf mentioned above, simple boiled potatoes with butter, or would be nice with a homemade risotto too. Enjoy!

Coconut Milk Hot Morning Cereal

What We're Eating for Breakfast

There are many variations you can create from this, including adding quinoa (soak for 10-20 minutes, rinse, cook for 20 minutes), polenta or grits, or any other grain that you like. This is a long cook porridge – you might want to start it the night before.

You can also cook fruit in the porridge like diced apples, dried bananas, dried mangos, raisins, dried shredded coconut, etc. Add the fruit at the same time as the oatmeal. To top your porridge, all kinds of fresh or dried fruit or nuts can be good. I like to add protein powder and agave nectar, Mike likes maple syrup and Edenblend rice/soy milk. I have a bonus recipe below for homemade almond milk – if you strain it, the resulting almond meal can be a nice addition to the porridge.

Ingredients:

¼ cup barley

½ cup brown rice

½ cup oatmeal

2 ¾ cups water

1 can coconut milk (I use low fat)

cinnamon to taste

pinch of salt

Bring the barley, water, and the pinch of salt to boil in a medium sauce pan. Reduce to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 30-40 minutes. Rinse and drain the brown rice. Add to pan and cook for another 40 minutes. Add the oatmeal, coconut milk, and cinnamon, cook for another 30 minutes. At any point (depending on your stove, pan, how fast it’s simmering), you might need to add more water to prevent the cereal from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Eat it up!

Bonus recipe; homemade raw almond milk

This is a recipe for raw homemade almond milk that is fresh and energizing. The date is optional, but it does add a little sweetness and thickness. This recipe is still not very sweet; if you like it sweeter, add another date, maple syrup or agave nectar. I sometimes use this milk as a base for my morning protein and greens drink (Amazing Grass makes a chocolate greens powder for all you chocoholics.)

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh raw almonds*, soaked overnight

3 cups water

juice from 1 orange

1 date (soaked for 10 minutes), pit removed

I admit this is best done in a Vitamix (you are welcome to bring you almonds over to our house to make almond milk!), but a blender will work. Add all the ingredients to your vitamix or blender, blend until totally creamy. Unless you like a slightly crunchy, mealy milk, strain the mixture and reserve the remaining almond meal for cereals.

Yum, yum, yum.

*Almond tip; raw almonds go rancid quickly, buy them as fresh as possible and store them in your fridge.