Chicken & Rice Soup with Ginger & Toasted Sesame

This recipe is a republish from 2016, originally inspired by a lunch at a little Korean shop, and long due for an update. If you hadn’t tried this one before, now’s the time! It’s bolder and tastier than ever.

Located in an otherwise uninviting strip mall, “A Cup of Peace” is one of the few places in Boulder serving Korean food. While I have no idea what they put in their recipe for chicken soup, one bowl was enough to inspire me to make my own. An extremely simple soup, the broth is robust with umami, in part because it is doused with soy sauce and sesame oil (which is like liquid gold in the kitchen, isn’t it?).

In a time where we all need a little added comfort in our lives, chicken soup seems like a sort of staple. A healing, cozy staple. Perhaps because I haven’t eaten much of it, classic chicken noodle soup has never been my thing. But the flavors here are very much my thing. (In case you forgot already, toasted sesame oil is liquid gold status in my cupboard).

Chicken & Rice Soup with Ginger & Toasted Sesame

Published March 14, 2020 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 6   |    Active Time: 45 minutes

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Ingredients:

1 tablespoon coconut oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch ginger, minced or finely grated

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts

8 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon chili garlic paste (Sambal Oelek)

1 teaspoon fish sauce (optional)

1/2 cup dry white rice

1 zucchini

1 summer squash

3 stalks green onion, green and white parts sliced (roots removed)

Drizzle of toasted sesame oil

Salt to taste (Note: depending on your broth, you may not need any salt)

1/4 cup sesame seeds

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot, melt coconut oil over medium heat. Add minced garlic and ginger, and sauté a few minutes, until golden.
2. Pour broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce, and (optionally) fish sauce to the pot, and stir.
3. Bring soup to a simmer, and add chicken breast. Continue to simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. (If using Instant Pot, see note below)
4. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove chicken from the broth. Use two forks to shred the chicken. Then, add it back to the soup.
5. Slice zucchini and summer squash into half-moons. Add zucchini, squash and the dried white rice to the soup, and return to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, until the vegetables and rice are tender, about 15 minutes.
6. While soup is cooking, toast sesame seeds: place in a skillet over low heat. Shake the pan every minute or two to stir the seeds. Watch closely to avoid burning, and remove seeds from heat once lightly golden. Set aside.
7. Remove soup from heat. Stir, and optionally season to taste with salt (depending on your broth, you may not need any salt!). Stir in half of the green onions, and drizzle with toasted sesame oil.
8. Ladle into bowls, and garnish with additional green onions and sesame seeds. Serve.

Note: If using an Insant Pot, saute ginger and garlic in bottom of IP using Sauté setting. Add broth, soy sauce, vinegar, chii garlic sauce, fish sauce, chicken, zucchini, summer squash, and dried rice. Turn IP to Manual and set to High Pressure for 7 minutes with valve closed. Allow to naturally release for 5 minutes, then open the valve.

Broccolini & Tofu in Chili Garlic Sauce

Here is a recipe I’ve been cooking a lot lately, because it’s quite easy and also checks all the boxes (veggies, protein, lots of flavor). Though, I’ve learned some lessons along the way:

• Broccoli rabe and broccolini are not interchangeable. While they seem similar at first glance, broccoli rabe is more like mustard greens—spicy and leafy, and the flavor overwhelms this dish. Opt for broccolini, and if you can’t find it, go for regular broccoli.

• A clean towel from your pantry is just fine for drying your tofu. I’ve never gotten my tofu very dry before, because we don’t keep paper towels in the house and I always hesitated to use a kitchen towel. But in the January edition of Bon Appetit the suggested a clean towel in their tofu recipe, so I went for it, and now I’m not really sure what my previous hesitation was all about. (And yes, dry your tofu! It’s how you’ll get those nice edges!)

• Add the garlic to the pan (not the marinade) for maximum roasted garlic flavor. Add the marinade to the pan at the end of cooking for that sauciness that’s so delicious. While we’re talking about sauce, here’s something else: broccolini is ideal for sauce, because it has all these nooks and crannies that soak up sauce (in other words: bites of broccolini are extra flavorful).

Broccolini & Tofu in Chili Garlic Sauce

Published January 21, 2020 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 4 with rice   |    Active Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

For the marinade/sauce:

3 tablespoons soy sauce

4 tablespoons sambal olek (chili-garlic sauce)

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

For the stir fry:

1 fourteen ounce block extra-firm tofu

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bunch broccolini or 1 head broccoli, chopped into 1-2 inch pieces (note: I do not recommend broccoli rabe for this dish, which has a much stronger flavor that broccolini, and overwhelms the dish)

1 teaspoon coconut oil

2 green onions, sliced, plus more for garnish

2 tablespoons minced cilantro, plus more for garnish

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

For serving: cooked brown rice

Directions:

1. Drain water from tofu, and wrap in a clean kitchen towel to remove excess liquid. Cube tofu into bite-sized pieces.
2. Combine all ingredients for sauce in a medium-sized bowl or pyrex, and stir. Add tofu to sauce, cover, and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes (or all day, until ready to cook).
3. When ready to make stir fry: heat coconut oil in a large skillet or wok or medium heat. Add minced garlic, and cook until it just begins to brown.
4. Using a fork or slotted spoon, remove tofu from sauce, allowing excess to drip off. Place in pan (there may be some splattering). Cook tofu for 5 minutes, until tofu begins to brown on one side. Use a spatula to turn tofu over, and cook 3-4 more minutes.
5. Add chopped broccolini to pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Drizzle remaining marinade over stir fry, along with sliced green onions. Stir briefly, and continue to cook for a few more minutes until broccolini is bright green and tender.
6. Sprinkle with cilantro and sesame seeds.
7. Serve: Scoop prepared brown rice into bowls, and top with stir fry. Add additional green onions, cilantro, and sesame seeds as garnish.

Pear Harvest Salad with Hazelnuts & Brie

If you want a fail-proof salad formula, with no recipe, just take a bed of greens and add a fruit, a nut, and a cheese. Drizzle with vinaigrette. This salad is a perfect proof point for that formula (which really never fails).

Happen to be planning your Thanksgiving menu? With pears, brie, and hazelnuts this dish fits right in. Looking for more of a salad-for-lunch kind of situation? Add cooked farro, which will add some heft.

Pear Harvest Salad with Hazelnuts & Brie

Published November 13, 2019 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 2-4   |    Active Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

3-4 cups baby arugula

1 ripe bosc pear

1/4 cup raw hazelnuts

1/4 cup brie, sliced into bite-sized pieces

1/4 tablespoons dried cranberries

1/4 cup cooked and cooled farro, wheat berries or brown quinoa

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon dijon mustard

Generous pinch salt

Several cracks of black pepper, plus more for topping

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 300°F and spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet. Place pan in oven, and toast nuts for 10-15 minutes, checking frequently. The nut should be golden brown (the papery skin will be dark, and begin to blister). Remove nuts from oven, and place in a cloth kitchen towel. Rub nuts in the towel to remove the papery skins (some won’t come off, but it’s fine). Set aside to cool completely.
2. While the hazelnuts toast, place arugula in a serving bowl.
3. Slice the pear in half. Cut off the stem, and remove the seedy center. Slice pear into 1/4-inch thick pieces. Arrange pears over top of the arugula.
4. Top with dried cranberries, farro, and pieces of brie.
5. When hazelnuts are cooled, scatter over the salad.
6. Add balsamic vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, a pinch of salt, and a few cracks of pepper to a jar/container with a lid. Place lid on jar, and shake to combine.
7. When ready to serve, drizzle vinaigrette over salad.