Chicken Curry in a Hurry

I got this recipe from here. It's very quick and only has a few ingredients. I read some of the comments before I made it and so I do a couple things different than the original recipe. It needed more curry powder and also instead of using all sour cream I use half plain yogurt - although the reviews I read caution against going too low fat because then the sauce will not turn out well. Also, I've never made it with the raisins, only because I haven't had any golden raisins, but my sister says it's great with the raisins.

Chicken Curry in a Hurry

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1/3 cup golden raisins (optional)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder, or to taste
• 3 skinless, boneless, chicken breast halves (1 to 1 1/2 pounds)*
• 1 /2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
  
• Minced fresh cilantro or parsley for garnish

1 Put the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add the onions (and optional raisins), sprinkle with some salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium, sprinkle with half of the curry powder, and continue to cook a minute or two.

2 Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle it with the remaining curry powder. Move the onion to one side of the skillet and add the chicken in one layer. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate.

3 Add the sour cream and yogurt and stir constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture is nice and thick. Return the chicken to the skillet and cook for a couple more minutes, or until cooked through, turning once.

Garnish with cilantro or parsley and serve with rice.

Winter Squash Soup

This is a fall/winter favorite for me and I always make it for Thanksgiving. The original recipe is from epicurious.

• 1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) butter
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 14 1/2-ounce cans low-salt chicken broth
• 4 cups 1-inch pieces peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 4 cups 1-inch pieces peeled acorn squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
• 1 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh sage
  

• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add broth, all squash and herbs; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until squash is very tender, about 20 minutes.

Working in batches, puree soup in blender. Return soup to same pot. Stir in cream and sugar; bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill. Rewarm over medium heat before serving.)

Ranch Dressing Mix

I'm not sure if this will interest anyone or not. Some of my sisters are trying to avoid msg in all its forms. It's in pretty much every store-bought salad dressing in some form or another. So I happened to see this recipe in an old ward cookbook and gave it a try. This functions the same as a ranch dressing mix packet you would buy at the grocery store. The recipe makes a lot of mix so if anyone wants to try some of mine you are welcome to. One thing I like about this is that when you combine the mix with buttermilk/mayonnoise or sourcream you can make as little or as much as you want. I pretty much always half it - which makes one cup of dressing/dip. I also have used buttermilk from the freezer in this recipe (I freeze leftover buttermilk in icecube trays since I don't use it all that much) and it was fine too.

Ranch Dressing Mix

15 saltine crackers
1 C dry minced parsley flakes
1/2 C dry minced onions
2 T dry dill
1/2 C onion salt
1/2 C garlic salt
1/4 C onion powder
1/4 C garlic powder

Put crackers into blender on high until finely powdered. Add parsley flakes, minced onion and dill. Blend until fine powder again. Dump into a bowl and mix remaining ingredients in with a whisk. Put in an airtight container and store at room temp. Makes 42 T. To use combine 1 T. mix with one cup of buttermilk and one cup of mayonnaise. For best flavor make the dressing at least a few hours ahead.

Herbed Rice

I think this recipe is worth posting. I stumbled onto this recipe from Ina Garten on the food network. It's simple and instead of just plain old rice you get something really good. Basically your just adding chopped herbs to your rice after you cook it - simple and yummy.

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1 cup uncooked long-grain (white) basmati rice (recommended: Texmati)
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh curly parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill leaves
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh scallions, white and green parts
• Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Combine the rice, 1 3/4 cups water, the salt, and butter in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce the heat to low, stir once, and simmer, covered tightly, for 15 minutes. (I need to pull the pot half off the burner to keep it from boiling over.) Turn off the heat and allow the rice to sit covered for 5 minutes. Add the parsley, dill, scallions, and pepper. Fluff with a fork, and serve warm.

The only thing I did different on this was that I used cilantro instead of dill (it's just what I had). It was really good. Also here's a link to the recipe.

Bean and Corn Salsa

Suzy requested this one so here it is. This is the version of bean and corn salsa that I like the most. You can eat it like a salsa with tortilla chips or like a salad.

Mix:
1/3 cup olive oil
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. ground cumin
juice of one lime (I like to do the zest too)

Combine:
1 can of Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen corn
1 cup chopped red onion
2 roma tomatoes, diced (or 1/2 red pepper, whichever you prefer or both)
1/3 cup chopped cilantro

Add the dressing to the bean/corn mixture and stir to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Let stand for one hour and up to 4 hours.