Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup?

Please don't let the picture fool you, this tastes a lot better than it looks. And it was supposed to be a soup, but ended up being quite thick, so not sure, maybe its a stew? I guess if you shortened the simmering time it wouldn't end up being quite so thick.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup onions, chopped
3/4 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
2/3 cup corn
1/2 cup flour
5 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1 1/2 cups wild rice (or wild rice blend), uncooked
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp thyme
3/4 tsp dry mustard powder
3/4 tsp curry powder
1/2 tbsp dry parsley
1 1/2 cups cream (I just used 1% milk cause that's what I had and it worked fine!)

Melt butter over medium heat in soup pot. Stir in the onions, celery, carrots and green pepper and saute a few minutes until tender crisp. Add mushrooms, corn and flour. Stir until well combined. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the chicken, wild rice, all the seasonings and the cream/milk. Simmer until done, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours (or less if you don't want it too thick).

*Adapted from http://www.mennonitegirlscancook.ca/2013/10/wild-rice-blend-soup.html

Cheesy Bacon Mushroom Chicken

Now this recipe is apparently a copycat of a dish at Outback Steakhouse (US chain restaurant) called Alice Springs Chicken. But I've been to Alice Springs and nothing about this dish makes me think "Australia". So I had to change the name. That being said, it is still very tasty, how can it not be with bacon, cheese and mushrooms??

1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp lemon juice
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
salt
pepper
paprika
8 slices bacon, cooked
2 cups cheese

In a small bowl whisk together Dijon mustard, honey, 1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil and lemon juice. Add the chicken breasts to a large container and pour about 2/3 of the marinade over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate chicken for 2 hours (or however long you have). Refrigerate the remaining marinade for later.

In a small frying pan, melt the butter and saute mushrooms until desired tenderness. Remove from heat. Spray a 9x13 pan or line with foil. Heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Remove chicken from marinade (discard the marinade) and season with salt, pepper and paprika. Sear chicken in hot pan (3-4 minutes per side). Place chicken in 9x13 pan. Bake in oven at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Add the mushrooms, bacon and cheese and return to oven for a few minutes to melt cheese. Serve with the remaining honey mustard sauce.

* From http://blogchef.net/outback-steakhouse-alice-springs-chicken-recipe/

Lasagna Roll-ups

Here's a great pasta dish for meatless Mondays!

10 lasagna noodles, cooked
2 1/2 cups marinara sauce
5 cups kale, stems removed, chopped fine
1 cup mushrooms, chopped fine
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
500 g container ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
salt & pepper
mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread about 1 cup of marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

Place kale in a food processor or blender and pulse a few times until finely chopped.

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until golden, about a minute. Add kale, salt and pepper and saute about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until soft, an additional 5-6 minutes.

Mix ricotta, Parmesan, egg and salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the kale/mushroom mixture. Stir to combine.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out cooked lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take about 1/3 cup of mushroom kale mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle more marinara sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top with mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, until cheese melts.

From www.skinnytaste.com

Creamy Pesto Penne

Oh, this is delicious! I was inspired after having something similar at The Old Spaghetti Factory. And this reheats in the microwave really nicely. Yum!

1 package (454g) penne pasta
2 tbsp olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
1 1/2 cups grated Romano cheese (I used a combo of Parmesan & Feta instead)
1 cup prepared basil pesto
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken pieces and cook until no longer pink. Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent. Dissolve flour in milk, then stir in. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer until sauce starts to thicken, stirring constantly. Add cheese and stir until melted. Stir in pesto, mushrooms and tomatoes. Cook 4 minutes or until heated through. Toss with pasta until evenly coated.