Spring Chicken Salad with Noodles

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures

Hi guys!

Yes, I am back. Feeling so much better.

Even though I still have no clue what has been causing my health to deteriorate recently, I know for sure that I am getting better and feel new waves of energy entering my body. After almost four long months of living like a zombie.

It feels great to come to life again!

Oh, and the most important thing – I’d love to thank all of you who’s thought of me, or sent me a comment or an email. You’ve really helped lift my spirits. Big THANKS, guys! You are the best. I have always thought so. And I always will.

Love you !

 

So, with this new energy in me I walked into the kitchen the other day and I decided to prepare something very colorful, healthy and energizing.

It is this Spring Chicken Salad.

With noodles.

And it is yummy.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, ingredients

Here’s what we need.

 

If you feel inspired and would like to have this salad on your plate too, then this is how you can prepare it.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, rinse the green onion under cold running water, pat them dry and slice them, in this recipe we are going for long strips of colorful vegetables

1. First, rinse the green onions under cold running water, pat them dry, and slice them.

In this dish we are going for long strips of colorful vegetables.

 

2. Peel the carrot and cut it into thin strips too.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, core the red bell pepper and remove all seeds

3. Core the red bell pepper and remove all seeds.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, cut red pepper into strips

4. And, yes, strips again.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, chop parsley or cilantro finely

5. Then grab your herbs.

You can use parsley or cilantro (coriander).

And you can either use whole leaves or chop them finely.

Depending on what makes you happy.

 

And that’s it for the vegetable part.

Now let’s make some sauce.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, making the sauce, peel two cloves of garlic

6. To make the sauce, peel two cloves of garlic.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, making the sauce, press or mince the garlic finely, place it into a small bowl

7. Press or mince the garlic finely.

Place it into a small bowl.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, making the sauce, squeeze half a lemon, add the juice to the garlic

8. Squeeze half a lemon.

Add the juice to the garlic.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, making the sauce, add the soy sauce and the sweet chili sauce, stir a little

9. Add the soy sauce and the sweet chili sauce.

Stir a little.

And that’s our flavorful sauce.

Easy!

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, wash two pieces chicken breasts

10. Now we need two pieces of washed chicken breasts.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, slice each breast in half horizontally to make it thinner, then cut each piece into strips against the grain, how to make chicken breast butterfly cut

11. Slice each breast in half horizontally to make it thinner.

Then cut each piece into strips against the grain.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, pour the vegetable oil into a larger pan and heat it over medium-high heat, then add the chicken and salt

12. Pour the vegetable oil into a larger pan and heat it over medium-high heat.

 

13. Then add the chicken and salt.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, fry, stirring frequently, for about 6 minutes

14. Fry, stirring frequently, for about 6 minutes.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, add the vegetables

15. Then add the vegetables.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, add the parsley leaves and the sauce

16. Add the parsley leaves and the sauce.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, stir-fry for about 5-6 minutes, the vegetables should still remain a little crunchy

17. And stir-fry for about 5-6 more minutes.

The vegetables should still remain a little crunchy.

This is a salad, after all.

A warm salad.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, taste the chicken and add more salt if necessary

18. Taste the chicken and add more salt if necessary.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, preparing noodles

And that’s it.

So simple.

All we need to do now is to prepare some noodles.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, preparing noodles

19. These are noodles.

I love noodles. So I’ve put this poem together.

MY ODE TO NOODLES:

Noodles are good.

Noodles are pretty.

They make this world a better place.

I love noodles.

If they were on facebook, I’d be a fan.

The end.

 

A little too sophisticated, I agree with you.

But that’s how I function.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, how to cook the noodles

20. Cook the noodles.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, serving the dish

And serve your dish.

Like this.

 

spring chicken salad with noodles recipe with step by step pictures, serving the dish

Or like this.

 

Or mixed together.

The choice is yours.

 

Enjoy, dear friends.

 

Love,

Petra

 

(The recipe has been adapted from www.taste.com and makes 2-3 portions.)

Bean Soup

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures

This soup is super yummy.

It’s one of my all-time favorites, actually. This one and a wonderful lentil soup that I am going to prepare for you soon as well.

The vivid and optimistic colors of this soup are a pleasure to look at and its high content of vitamins and fiber means that this gorgeous soup is a powerful health bomb.

Your body will be thankful if you make it.

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, ingredients

These are the ingredients.

 

I’d like to let you know that if you don’t have or can’t find parsley root anywhere there’s no need to pull out your hair. You can replace it with about 3 tablespoons of chopped leaf parsley.

Also the celery root (celeriac) can be replaced with about 3-4 chopped celery stalks.

No problem at all.

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, rinse the bean, place them in a large bowl and cover with four time their volume of water, leave the beans to soak, drain the soaking water and rinse

1. To prepare your own delicious bean soup, first rinse the beans, place them in a large bowl and cover with four times their volume of water. Leave the beans to soak for at least 6-8 hours, overnight is even better.

 

2. When the beans are soaked, drain the soaking water and rinse them.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, place the beans into a large pot and add water

3. Place the beans into a large pot and add 5 cups (1.25 l) water.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, add bay leaves and salt

4. Then add 2 bay leaves and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

 

 

5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and let cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until beans are tender.

The length of this process also depends on the variety of beans you are using. The larger the beans the longer the cooking time. I was using large red beans and they needed about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

 

6. When the beans are cooked remove the bay leaves.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, vegetables, celery root, onion, parsley root, carrot, potato, garlic cloves

7. In the meantime (while the beans are cooking), you can prepare your vegetables.

What we have here is the celery root, onion (I am using shallots here because life gets interesting sometimes and you might not find onions in your fridge but you don’t give up on your dream anyway), parsley root, carrot, potato and garlic cloves.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, cleaned, sliced, chopped, diced vegetables

8. Here are the vegetables again. This time nicely cleaned and sliced, chopped and diced.

The celery and the potato were diced.

The carrot and parsley root were cut in half lengthwise and then sliced into little crescents.

The garlic was sliced and the shallots were chopped finely.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, pour the olive oil into a large pot and heat it until hot

9. Now pour the olive oil into a large pot and heat it until hot.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, add the vegetables

10. Add the vegetables (except the garlic).

 

11. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook your vegetable mixture over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, add the ground cumin, chili powder, and garlic, cook

12. Add the ground cumin, chili powder, and garlic. Cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, add the beans

13. Then add the beans along with their cooking liquid, …

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, add the chicken stock

14. … the chicken stock …

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, add the lemon juice, simmer

15. … and the lemon juice.

 

16. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes or until all vegetables are soft.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures

And serve.

I like to eat this soup as is or with slices of fresh bread.

It’s so good!

Enjoy, dear friends!

 

(This soup makes 8 cups/2 l and serves 6 hungry people.)

Potato Soup with Celery and Basil

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

When summer comes to an end and the first signs of fall start to show I begin to think differently.

All that my brain is able to come up with is dreaming about large, comfy sofas, soft, cuddly blankets, great books to read, heart-touching movies to watch and – AND – warm cups of soup to eat.

(And, pssst, mulled wine, too.)

For me, that is perfection.

And because I’m not only a hermit but also a photography freak, I’ll be showing you all the yummy soups and all the other comfort dishes that this magical season inspires me to prepare.

Please don’t you get scared by the words ‘hermit’ and ‘freak’ that I’ve just used in the previous sentence.

I don’t really mean them literally.

Hm.

But you know what?

I think I do…

I think I do mean them literally.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

These are the ingredients that I’ve gathered to prepare this wonderful soup.

The soup is thick, flavorful, comforting, soul-warming and satisfying – who on Earth would be able to say no to that?

I ask.
Would you like to see how I made it?

Well, come and have a look – I’ll be more than happy to show you!

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

1. First, peel, wash and dice up the potatoes.

To dice the potatoes, cut them in half, then place each half face down on your cutting board and slice it into half again horizontally. Continue and cut it into strips lengthwise and, holding the strip together, slice across them to achieve these cute little dices.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

2. Throw the potato dices into a pot.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

3. Wash and slice the celery stalks.

Please, please, don’t omit these. You’ll be amazed by how much flavor they add to the soup. They pretty much make up for the homely feeling that this soup delivers.

And if you happen to buy celery stalks along with the root, just like I did, then you can use the root in this delicious Tuna Sandwich.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

4. Grab the onion, peel it and chop it finely.

Chop, chop, chop.

A yellow nail polish is not necessary in the whole process, though it might help a little. I just don’t now how yet.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

5. Add the onions and the celery to the pot.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

6. Peel the garlic cloves and press them into the pot.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

7. These are basil leaves.

I’ve bought a basil plant recently and can’t get enough of it.

There’s nothing like the smell of fresh basil – it is strong and sweet and bright. And that brightness exactly works perfectly in thick soups to ‘lift’ and balance the taste.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

8. Finally, add the chicken broth and place the pot over medium heat.

Let cook until all the ingredients are soft – this process should take about 15 minutes.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

9. In the meantime, in a saucepan or a pan, melt the butter.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

10. When the melted butter starts to sizzle, stir in the flour to make a roux.

Cook the roux for a minute or two, stirring every few seconds so it doesn’t brown.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

11. Pour in milk at once while stirring.

Continue to heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or a whisk, until the milk mixture is thick and bubbly.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

12. Using an immersion blender, carefully process the potato-vegetable mixture in the pot until the mixture is smooth.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

13. Pour thickened milk mixture into the potato mixture.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

14. And give it all one more stir.

If the mixture is very thick, add additional broth till desired consistency is reached.

Taste for seasonings and add salt and pepper to adjust.

potato soup with celery and basil recipe with step-by-step images

This is beyond delicious.

Try it, you’ll be happy.

Enjoy, dear friends.

Love,

Petra

(This recipe was adapted from Eat Real.)

Tomato and Bean Salad

tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

This week there’s a lot of celebrating going on.

To my astonishment, summer is coming to an end. To say a proper ‘Goodbye’ I’ve decided to prepare this yummilicious summery salad.

Yum-yum!

Second, though one might guess so, fall is slowly breezing its way to our days. Recently, there was a strange click in my brain and suddenly I started to think about mulled wine, The Annual Fall Market and – may heaven forgive me – Christmas.

And all those thoughts felt so good!

Hey! Am I the only one?

HELLO!

Is there anybody out there thinking about Christmas already?

Anyway, to celebrate the arrival of the most flamboyant seasons of them all, I’ve made a wonderful potato soup today. I am posting the recipe soon.

And then, this maniacal site of mine is celebrating its first birthday in a couple of days.

This is just a gorgeous week!
tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

These are the ingredients that I’ve use to prepare the Tomato and Bean Salad.

tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

And these are the same ingredients in picture.

 

The story goes like this:

tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

1. First, dice the tomatoes.

Begin by cutting them in half.

You can also seed your tomatoes at this stage (using a little spoon) if you don’t prefer ‘the water’ in your salad.

tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

Then turn the tomato half face down and slice it horizontally.

tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

Cut the tomato into strips.

tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

And finally, hold the strips together and slice across them to have these cute little dices.

tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

2. Throw the tomato dices into a bowl along with the beans.

tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

3. Chop the green onions, fresh oregano and basil…
tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

…and into the bowl they go, as well.
tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

4. Now let there be some seasoning – add the salt, ground black pepper and fresh lemon juice.

tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

5. And the olive oil, of course.

Olive oil is healthy and yummy.

tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

6. Toss all the ingredients gently to mix.

tomato and bean salad recipe with step-by-step images

Serve chilled.

This wonderful salad can be served as is, or with a crunchy toast (or two or five), or with some yummy chicken steak …or any way you really like.

Enjoy, dear friends!

And have a wonderful week!

Love,

Petra

(This recipe was adapted from AppleCrumbles.com.)

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