Soup time! Hearty lentil soup

Another chilly day today, I guess it's time for soup! This recipe for lentil soup originally came from a Williams Sonoma cookbook called Soup.  It was part of a boxed set I received as a gift. Since so many of the things I cook come with some kind of story. here's my lentil soup story.  My mother made lentil soup, though hers was nothing like this recipe, it was dark and muddy and didn't have any vegetables.  My sister always said it tasted like dirt.  Now the only time my mother made this soup was during Lent when we ate less meat.  Throughout my entire childhood, I thought it was called lentil soup because it was only eaten during Lent!  I never knew those little legumes were called lentils! 

 Often soup  tastes better if let to simmer for hours on the back burner.  Not this one!  This recipe is quick.  It is inexpensive and very healthy.  Lentils have protein and lots of fiber.  You can use any kind of lentils, they come in many colors.  I use a mixture of brown and pink, but you can use any color.  Brown are the most common.  Lentils are found in your supermarket near the beans and rice.  I did make a few changes to the recipe and this is my version.

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk of celery thinly sliced
1 carrot peeled and thinly sliced
1 clove of garlic minced
1 bay leaf
1 can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups of dried lentils rinsed and picked through
4 cups  chicken broth
1 box of frozen chopped spinach (you can of course use fresh)
salt and pepper
8 ounces of uncooked small pasta like ditalii

Put the oil into a saucepan and sauté onion, carrot, celery, garlic and bay leaf.  Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened.  Add the tomatoes, chicken broth and  lentils. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Raise the heat to medium high and bring to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to medium low, partially cover and cook for about 15 minutes.  Add the box of spinach and continue to cook another 15 minutes.  While the soup is cooking, prepare the pasta according to package directions.  Add drained pasta to the soup.  Remove the bay leaf and serve with crusty bread and a salad.  This meal can be made ahead and frozen.  It makes about 4-6 servings, double the recipe and freeze half for another meal.  How easy was that!

Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a. Nonnie

Confessions of a Gadget Junkie

I have thought about this long and hard, if I could only have one kitchen gadget, what would it be?  I am fairly certain that I know.  The one thing I could never give up would be my chef's knife.  I truly believe if you have money to spend on one good tool for your kitchen, this would be it.  I learned to use a chef's knife many years ago.  I worked my way through college, and one summer I worked in a restaurant.  I was a waitress, but I also helped prep the salad bar.  I was terrified of this big sharp knife at first, but the chef taught me that the sharper the knife, the less chance you will cut yourself.  This is because you apply less pressure. Once I learned how to use it, I was sold. I bought my first chef's knife over 40 years ago, when I lived in Germany.  It is a Wustoff; it's  a wonderful knife, and I still use it today.  I now have another one, a little larger and it is pretty much my go to knife.

I also have a really good set of stainless steel cookware that I would have trouble giving up.  It's heavy and has a layer of copper imbedded in the bottom, so it conducts heat really well.  I was lucky and purchased it a few pieces at a time at a once a year warehouse sale for a fraction of the actual cost.  Good, heavy cookware is another really good investment if you can spend the money.  I would recommend one or two sauce pans in different sizes, a skillet and a stockpot.  These will last forever. 

Next on my list of what I would hate to give up is my Kitchen Aid stand mixer.  It was a gift from my children one Christmas. I use it so often, that I keep it sitting out on my counter.  It took over the spot of my food processor on the counter.  The food processor went into the cabinet, but I still use it fairly often.  I use it when I have large quantities of something to chop, for making bread crumbs, and I always use it for pesto.  Another favorite is my immersion blender, or stick blender.  I received mine as a gift and it also has a mini chopper that it attaches to.  While I love the blender part for soups, I rarely use the mini chopper.  Could live without that part.  One other chopping device that I love is my Pampered Chef chopper,  I use it mostly to chop garlic and herbs.  It goes right into the dishwasher, doesn't take up much room, and doesn't use electricity.

Now on to the things I have, but could live without.  These are extras, they make life in the kitchen easier, but are not necessary.  First, my George Forman Grill.   I use it mostly to make paninis, I would probably replace it if it broke, but I could certainly live without it.  Of course, yesterday I mentioned my quesadilla maker-a nice extra to have, inexpensive, easy to clean, but I could live without it.  Next is my crockpot.  While I love it and use it all the time, I could probably live without it.  Finally, my bread machine.  I love this.  For years I made all the bread we ate by hand without a machine.  This ended when I got a full time job.  Then I got a bread machine.  I can literally take ten minutes to put the ingredients in; I then close it up, and a few hours later I have wonderful fresh, warm bread.  Could I live without this?  Sure, do I want to?  No!

Next we will talk about things that I have but hardly ever use.  I have a hand mixer, you know a hand held electric beater.  I got my first one when I was married, and replaced it when it burned out.  Now that I have my stand mixer, I almost never use it-usually just for mashed potatoes.  Next in line, my blender.  I am not a smoothie lover, I have an immersion blender and a food processor, so this only comes out when we are making fancy drinks, which is almost never.  Waffle iron-another thing I rarely use.  I did use it more when I had kids at home but now, almost never.  It's actually buried in the back of a cabinet and it would be a struggle to get it out. 

So that pretty much covers my small electrical appliances.  I do have a drawer full of little gadgets, things like cherry pitters, strawberry hullers, egg slicers, lemon squeezers, etc.  I could probably devote another whole post to those.  Let's leave that for another day.  Now go cook something good for your family.  I know I am!

Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a. Nonnie

The Best $20 I've Spent in a Long Time Makes a Super Quick Dinner!

Several years ago I was I visiting my daughter in Colorado,  and she served me quesadillas for lunch. I was quite impressed! This was the first time I had eaten them anywhere other than a restaurant.  She had a nifty quesadilla maker! She said it was only $20 and that she had gotten it at Target.  Well, when I got home, I ran right out and bought two of them, one for myself and the other I gave to my daughter in law.  Now I am the first to admit that I am a kitchen gadget junkie, but I'm usually fairly reserved when it comes to small electrical appliances like donut makers, cup cake makers and the like.  You know, every year around holiday time the stores are full of them, but  I do have a few favorites and later this week, I will do a post just about kitchen gadgets.  However, this quesadilla maker is something I use all the time, probably several times a month.  It was well worth the money I spent on it.  The best thing about it is that with a few left overs, some flour tortillas and some cheese you have dinner in minutes!  Literally minutes.  The possibilities are endless; there is no limit to what you can put in a quesadilla. 

 

Most of the time, I make them with left over cooked chicken, frozen spinach, which I defrost and drain and shredded cheddar cheese. Put the tortilla on the base of the maker, put a little cheese, add the chicken and spinach and more cheese, cover with another tortilla and close.  It kind of works like the George Forman Grill, both sides are heated, so it cooks through. In just a few minutes you have a tasty quesadilla!  I use my pizza cutter to cut them up, it seems to work easier than a knife.

 

Ok, now I do not work for the quesadilla maker people, or Target or any of those places, and I won't get any kind of kick back if you decide to buy one, but I did go online today, and Target still sells them!  What's even more amazing is that they are still $19.95!  Now, I totally understand if you don't want to buy a quesadilla maker, and you want to spend your hard earned money elsewhere.  That's fine, but you can still make quesadillas.  The only difference is that you use your skillet.  Only fill half of the tortilla and flip the other half over the top of your fillings.  This makes it easier to flip the whole thing over so both sides will cook. I imagine you can use a stove top griddle and get the same effect. 

 

So, now that I have convinced you to make quesadillas, what else can you put in them?  As I said, the possibilities are endless.  What about black beans, peppers, mushrooms, onions, salsa, Monterey jack cheese instead of cheddar, or any combination of cheeses?  What about an Italian inspired quesadilla?  Use mozzarella, tomatoes, and a little crumbled Italian sausage. Asian inspired?  Pork, edamame, onions, peppers and a few shakes of five spice powder or ginger. Breakfast?  Scrambled eggs, crumbled bacon or sausage and cheese? 

 

The only word of caution is that whatever you put in a quesadilla must be already cooked, except of course, cheese or veggies.  You don't cook a quesadilla long enough or hot enough for eggs or meat to cook.  This is why they are so great for leftovers!  You have heard me talk often about pantry supplies.  I always keep tortillas on hand;  they are on my list of staples.  You can use them for quesadillas, soft tacos, enchiladas, or wraps.  They never go to waste in my house.  So go get some tortillas and give quesadillas a try.  And when you do, post here and let me know what you put in them.  I am always looking for new ideas!  Enjoy!

 

Happy cooking!

 

Carol

a.k.a. Nonnie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Asian Inspired Pork Chops

 

Asian Inspired Pork Chops

 

I know I have been quiet for a little while, sometimes things just get crazy.  Last week my niece called and asked if I could prepare a birthday dinner for her mom, who is my only sister.  She requested egg rolls, which is everyone in my family's favorite.  I only make egg rolls about once a year, they are kind of time consuming, make a mess in the kitchen, and are deep fried in oil.  I learned to make them many years ago from a Taiwanese woman, who offered a cooking class to the Officer's Wives Club.  I usually make them with fried rice, and a few other Asian dishes.  This meal took two days of prep and cooking.  My sister was surprised, and we all had a wonderful time.  I will share these recipes with you later this week. 

I brought home some of the leftover fried rice, since I made enough for an army.  I had it in the freezer and wanted to use it for dinner last night.  I took out a package of pork chops and a container of green beans along with the fried rice and set to work.  This is a recipe that evolved as I was cooking. I have often mentioned the importance of having a well stocked pantry, and this recipe is a result of that.  Everything I used for this recipe was in my pantry. You might think it weird to keep fresh ginger, but I use it fairly often.  I cut it up into one inch pieces and freeze it. Here we go.

1 package pork chops - I used center cut, boneless, but you can use any kind of pork chops.

Marinade:

1/2  cup soy sauce
1/4  cup honey
3 cloves garlic, run through a garlic press
fresh ginger-a one inch piece, grated

Sauce:

3/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 T cornstarch

Mix the first four ingredients together.  Place the pork chops into a zipper bag and pour the marinade over.  Marinate for about 1 hour.  Drain and reserve the marinade.  I cooked the pork chops on the grill, but you could bake them or put them under the broiler.  My pork chops were thick cut, so they took about 7 minutes per side.

While the pork chops were cooking, I made the sauce and prepared the green beans.  Pour the reserved marinade into a sauce pan, add the broth and bring to a boil.  Boil for about three minutes.  Stir the cornstarch into a quarter cup of water and add to the pan. As soon as it begins to thicken, turn the heat to low.  If it becomes too thick, just add more broth or a little soy sauce.

I put the green beans in a pan with a tablespoon of oil.  I used coconut oil, but vegetable oil is fine.  I added a quarter cup of soy sauce, and two cloves of garlic, which I ran through the garlic press and a few shakes of pepper.  I cooked these about 5 minutes over medium heat until they were "al dente".

I reheated the rice, removed the pork chops from the grill, poured some of the sauce over and served the rest at the table along with the green beans and rice.  We had a great meal!

Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a. Nonnie

Stroganoff in the Crockpot--Another Great One!

I came from a very traditional Italian family.  The only ethnic food we ever ate was Italian.  Needless to say, I had a very limited palate. When I was in college, I would occasionally go out for Chinese food with my friends, but that was about it.

 When I got married, my husband was in the Air Force; we moved to Ohio, and my world changed.  No bagels, no good pizza or Italian sausage, but I met people from all over the country through our association with other military families. My food horizons were greatly expanded, and I ate things like corn bread, hush puppies, and Mexican food.  These all seem pretty commonplace to me now, but wow, was my mouth having fun!  Look what I had missed all these years!  Of course this was the late 60's and there were also things like salad with fruit cocktail, whipped cream, coconut and marshmallows.  This was like dessert, but eaten as a salad.  Some things were a bit hard for me to get used to.

My first cookbook was The Better Homes and Gardens Fiftieth Anniversary Addition.  It had a gold cover.  I still have it and I still use it.  The pages are torn and dirty and I  recently bought the newest edition. Since there are some old favorites not in the new edition, I kept the old one.  One of the things I used to make from that cookbook was beef stroganoff.

It was pretty much my go to stroganoff recipe until I got the Slow Cooker Revolution, published by America's Test Kitchen.  Their recipe for stroganoff, puts my old one to shame.  This one has so much more flavor!  The only change I made to this recipe was to increase the amount of sour cream.  Also, it calls for Dijon mustard mixed in with the sour cream, but I left that out. There are some unusual ingredients like dried porcini mushrooms and soy sauce, but as I have said before, these really boost the flavor. In case you were wondering, packages of dried porcini mushrooms are usually on the shelf above the regular mushrooms in the produce section.  If you can't find them there, ask the grocer.

The prep time for this recipe is about 30 minutes.  You can cut down on the time a bit if you use pre-sliced mushrooms and use a food processor to chop your onions, garlic and porcini.  Trust me, it's well worth the time and effort. This is another recipe that you can prep and night, refrigerate and put in the crockpot before you leave for work in the morning.  Also, you can make this on one of your weekend cooking days, and freeze it until you need it.  If you freeze it, its best to put the sour cream in just before serving, but it won't ruin it if you freeze it with the sour cream. Serve this over buttered noodles and add a vegetable for a great meal.  Enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff from Slow Cooker Revolution

3 Tablespoons olive oil - you can substitute vegetable oil if you like
1  1/2 lbs. mushrooms rinsed and sliced
salt and pepper
3 onions minced
6 cloves garlic minced
1/4 c. tomato paste
1/2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms rinsed and minced
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
1  1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth plus more as needed
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup white wine
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 bay leaves
2 lbs. beef chuck roast, or other suitable cut of beef
1  8 oz. container sour cream - you can use low fat or fat free

Put one Tablespoon of oil into a skillet and add the mushrooms and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Cover and cook on medium high for about 5 minutes.  Remove the cover and cook another ten minutes, until all the liquid has evaporated.  Transfer mushrooms to the slow cooker.  While the mushrooms are cooking, chop the onions, garlic and porcini mushrooms.  After you remove the mushrooms from the pan add the remaining oil, onions, garlic, porcini, tomato paste and thyme.  Mix well so the tomato paste  is incorporated and lower the heat to medium.  Cook until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes.  While the onions are cooking, cut up the beef.  When the onions are softened, add the flour and cook for about three minutes.  Add the chicken broth and stir, raise the heat to medium high.  When the sauce begins to thicken, transfer it to the slow cooker along with the bay leaves, wine, and soy sauce.  Finally add the raw beef to the slow cooker.  Give everything a good stir.  Cook on low for 9 - 11 hours or on high for 5 - 6.  I prefer not to cook it on high because the beef seems to get a bit tough.  When it is cooked, remove about a cup of the sauce to a bowl.  Add the sour cream to the bowl and mix well. This process tempers the sour cream and keeps it from curdling when added to the pot. Add the sour cream mixture back to the slow cooker and stir well.  Serve over buttered noodles. Please let me know how you liked this! 

Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a. Nonnie

Another Quick Dinner from Leftovers--Baked Ziti with a few Additions

Remember the post about making dinner in the time it takes to boil water?  Well I almost did it again.  Today I was cleaning out the fridge and found two left over chicken breasts, pasta sauce, half a container of ricotta cheese, and a tiny bit of broccoli.  So I decided to make baked ziti with a few additions.  I put the water on to boil.  Cut up the chicken and put another package of frozen broccoli in the microwave for three minutes.  While that was cooking, I put the ricotta into a bowl (there was about 8 ounces) and added half a cup of parmesan cheese and a few shakes of oregano.  I then cut up the broccoli florets into smaller pieces. Next, I  put a light coating of olive oil on a baking pan. When the pasta was done I drained it and put it back into the pot.  I added the chicken and broccoli and gave it a stir.  I then added the ricotta cheese mixture, about 3/4 cup of shredded mozzarella and about 2 cups of the pasta sauce.  I gave it a good stir and put all of this into the baking pan. I then sprinkled a little more mozzarella on top, poured on the rest of the pasta sauce and sprinkled on more mozzarella and some parmesan.  I covered it with foil and put it in a 350 degree oven for about thirty minutes. 

The actual prep took less than 20 minutes!  I made a meal with all four food groups and all in one pan in that amount of time. Of course you could leave out the chicken or substitute ground beef or turkey, but then you would have to take the time to brown it.  You could also leave out the broccoli, I just try to sneak in veggies whenever I can.  If you don't have pasta sauce made, you can always use sauce in a jar.  (Just don't tell my grandmother!)  Now I will tell you that I used a pound of pasta and with the other ingredients, it made a very large pan.  I wish I had put it into two smaller ones, so I could have frozen half.  Next time. 

Give this a try and let me know.  Please feel free to post comments in the comment section below this post.  I would love it if you would, just so I can see that it works!  Thanks.

Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a. Nonnie

Chili for a Chilly Night

Oh, could I get any cornier?  Probably, but I'll save it for another time.  I had a busy day today.  I went to an outdoor craft festival and had church at 5:00, so a crockpot meal was in order.  You could definitely put this meal together in the evening, store it in the fridge and put it in the crockpot before you leave in the morning.  I got this recipe for Weeknight Beef Chili from Slow Cooker Revolution published by America's Test Kitchen. It's probably the best chili I have ever made.  I didn't change very much.  The recipe called for red kidney beans which I really don't care for, so I used the same amount of black beans.  Also, it called for canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce.  I didn't have any, so I left it out. The recipe calls for soy sauce which seems a little weird in a chili recipe.  This is one of those ingredients that this cookbook uses often to boost the beefy flavor.  They call it umami. The kids were here for dinner and everyone had second helpings.  I guess it was a success.  Here goes.

Weeknight Beef Chili

2 lbs. ground beef
2 slices white bread
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
3 onions minced
6 cloves garlic minced
1/4 c. tomato paste
1/4 c. chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1  28 oz. can of tomato puree
1  28 oz. can diced tomatoes
2  16 oz. cans black beans (use kidney beans if you prefer)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
salt and pepper

Tear the bread into pieces and soak in the milk.  Using your hands, mix this into the beef along with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.  In a very large skillet, add the oil, onions, garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and red pepper flakes.  Cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes.  Add the beef mixture and cook until it is no longer pink, about 6 minutes.  Add 1 cup of the tomato puree to the pan and cook for a few minutes.  Add to the crockpot along with the beans, diced tomatoes, remaining tomato puree, soy sauce and brown sugar.  Mix well.  At this point you can put the ceramic pot into your refrigerator and put it into the crockpot before you leave for work.  Cook on low for about  6 hours.  When chili is finished, let sit a few minutes and skim off any fat that has accumulated at the top.  Serve with shredded cheddar, sour cream, and rice if you like.  Enjoy. 

If you make this, let me know how you liked it.  And as always, I welcome questions and comments.

Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a. Nonnie

A dinner you can make in the time it takes to boil water.

You can make dinner in the time it takes to boil water.  What?  She can't mean that!  No, really I do and you can.  Just hear me out.  This is a recipe my father taught me to make.  I grew up in the fifties. Back then men didn't usually do much cooking, only when it was time to fire up the backyard  barbeque did men cook.  However, when I got older, my dad would occasionally cook.  My mom didn't eat seafood, so that was something my dad did.  One time, after I was married and had moved away, I came home for a visit and he made linguine with white clam sauce for me.  It was wonderful.  It became one of those recipes that I always keep the ingredients on hand.  It is super easy and if you begin by putting water on to boil, the sauce will be done the same time the pasta is.  Now I am embarrassed to say that I live near the ocean and have never made this with fresh clams.  I'm sure I could, but this has become one of those "quick" dinners, and whenever I make it I am usually short on time.  I have one of the best fish markets in the area within walking distance of my house, and I promise, now that I have time, I am going to try this recipe with fresh clams.  When I do, I will report back.  Until then, put the pot of water on the stove to boil, and let's get started!

Dad's Linguini with White Clam Sauce

1 lb. linguine
2 cans chopped clams (6 oz. each)
3-4 large cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons chopped parsley (use only 1 Tablespoon if you are using dried)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup white wine
pepper to taste

Begin by putting the water on to boil.  Chop garlic and parsley.  Open clams and drain reserving juice.  Chop clams.  Put olive oil and garlic in a skillet and turn the heat on medium.  I always put garlic in a cold pan with the olive oil to prevent burning.  Garlic is bitter when it is burned.  Cook for about 2 minutes and add the clams, cook 2 minutes longer and add the flour. Stir so the flour is mixed in to the oil.  Cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the wine and scrape up anything stuck to the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat to medium high.  Sauce should begin to thicken.  At this point, the water is probably boiling, add the pasta to the water with a tablespoon of salt.  Cook until al dente.  Add the reserved clam juice to the skillet along with the parsley and pepper.  When sauce begins to bubble, turn down the heat.  If the sauce should become too thick, add a few spoonfuls of the pasta water.  When the pasta is done, drain.  If you have a large enough skillet, add the pasta to the skillet, if not transfer the pasta to a bowl and pour the sauce over.  Serve with parmesan cheese and a salad.  Now that was quick!  Don't tell me you don't have time to cook!  If you have time to boil water, you have time to cook.!  Try it out and let me know how you liked it.  Remember I welcome questions and comments.  Check out the comment section at the bottom of each post.  Thanks.

Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a. Nonnie

Crockpot Herbed Chicken with Kalamata Olives

This is the time of year I bring out the crockpot.  Meals cooked in the crockpot always seem like comfort food to me, and this is the time of year for comfort food.

For years I've had many issues with the crockpot and hardly ever used it.  First, who wants to do all that work of preparing a meal before you go to work?  I am not a morning person, so that was never an option.  Second,  for years, everything I made in the crockpot tasted the same, dull, bland and overcooked.  Then my friend Lisa turned me on to a great cookbook, Slow Cooker Revolution.  It's published by America's Test Kitchen.  They have a show on PBS that I love to watch.  I have several of their cookbooks, and get their magazine, Cooks Illustrated. They test recipes, until they find the best version.  I have never made anything bad from one of their recipes. 

Back to the crockpot.  The people at America's Test Kitchens believe, that you need to develop flavors when using a crockpot, which makes a ton of sense to me, since everything is always so bland. This takes a few extra steps, but it's so worth the time.  I also discovered, that I don't need to cook things for 8-12 hours. Usually six hours works just fine.  No wonder everything tasted overcooked!

So as I said, my other issue was the prep thing.  While I am not a morning person, I do get up in the middle of the night a lot--don't ask.  I started preparing things at night, putting them on to cook and turning them off when I woke up to use the bathroom.  Then in the morning it was cool enough to put in the refrigerator until dinner. If you have a timer on your crockpot, you can just set the timer and it will be cool in the morning.  Ok, so you don't get up in the middle of the night, and your crockpot doesn't have a timer. How about preparing the meal at night, putting the ceramic pot in the fridge overnight and taking it out and turning it on in the morning? The heat is very low, so it won't crack the cold crock.  That works! 

This recipe is an adaptation from another crockpot cookbook and the techniques I learned  from America's Test Kitchen. I know, you are looking at this recipe and thinking, "Is she crazy?  There are a million ingredients in this thing!  How is this quick and easy?" Trust me, it is. The only ingredient I had to purchase for this meal was the olives.  Everything else, I had on hand.  Check out my pantry page links at the top of the blog.  By the way the prep time for this was just 30 minutes.

Just a quick word about the ingredients.  Boneless, skinless thighs work best in the crockpot.  They have more flavor, and don't dry out, and they are cheaper, but you can substitute breasts, if that's what you have.   I get the olives at the olive bar of my Shop Rite, but if you hate olives, leave them out!  Remember what I said in an earlier post; these recipes are meant to be adaptable.  If you don't like an ingredient, substitute another or leave it out. I use sun dried tomatoes packed in oil.  They keep forever, so I always have them on hand. Now you are thinking,  "What do I do with all that leftover tomato paste?"  I put it into the freezer.  Each time I need it, I defrost it for a minute or two and scrape off the tablespoon or two that I need and put it back into the freezer.  I use it often to develop the flavors in crockpot meals, so now I always have it on hand! No big deal! Here we go.

1 to 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
1 onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tablespoons minute tapioca
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
12/ cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 lemon, thinly sliced

Begin by chopping the onions and garlic.  I use the Pampered Chef chopper and it is a real time saver, and the whole thing goes right into the dishwasher.  Combine the garlic, onions, tomato paste, oregano and 1 Tablespoon of the oil in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 5 minutes.  This step is where the flavors are developed, so don't leave it out.  Transfer onion mixture to the bottom of the crockpot and add bay leaf, rosemary, lemon zest, salt, pepper, tapioca, (for thickening) and sun dried tomatoes.  Give a good stir to combine.  Put the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat.  Trim any bits of fat off the chicken and add it to the skillet.  Cook about five minutes, turning once, just until it begins to lightly brown.  Transfer the chicken to the crockpot and cover with lemon slices.  Add the wine and chicken broth to the skillet that you used for the chicken.  Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil, scraping up any bits stuck to the pan.  Cook for 3 or 4 minutes, just until the alcohol cooks off add this to the crockpot.  Cook on low for 6 hours.  Serve over rice, orzo, or noodles.  Add a green vegetable and you have a great meal.

Give this recipe a try and let me know how it turned out.  Also, let me know any changes or additions you made.  Good luck and remember to have fun!

Happy Cooking!

Carol
a.k.a. Nonnie