Gypsy Chicken Carla's Way

Tonight, I decided to put a twist on my favorite pork chops with hot cherry peppers recipe, and used chicken instead. I diced up some skinless, boneless chicken thighs, dredges them in some flour seasoned with salt and pepper, and then browned them nicely in batches, in very shallow oil. I remove all the chicken from the pan, and set it aside. I added a nice chunk of butter and a sliced shallot to the pan and cooked them about 2 minutes. Then I added 4 hot cherry peppers in vinegar that I seeded and sliced, one small jar of red roasted peppers that I sliced, 12 green olives, the ones I used where in a jar stuffed with citrus, I sliced those also, and about 1/4 cup of the hot pepper juice from the jar, making sure to scrape up all the flavorful bits up off the bottom of the pan. I let that cook about 5 minutes or so and added the chicken back to the pan. I tossed it around a bit and then I added about 1/4 cup of white wine, I used a sparkling cava. I lowered the heat and let it simmer until a little of the liquid evaporated, and the flavors married. I served the hot chicken over an escarole salad, simply dressed with grated garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, mixed well with my hands squeezing a bit. I garnish the plate with sliced grape tomatoes and chopped parsley. The only salt and pepper I used was in the seasoned flour, when I tasted it at the end it didn't need any more seasoning.

 *you can also use diced chicken breast or skin on, bone in thighs.
**I left the potatoes out to make it low carb, but I think it would taste delicious over pasta
***an easy one pot meal fit for company with maybe some garlic bread and a nice glass of wine
****use less hot cherry peppers if you don't like your food too spicy

Organic Vegetable and Barley Soup

I recently joined a produce delivery service called Misfits Market. They join organic farmers who would have to throw away perfectly good produce that is too "ugly" for the supermarket shelves, and offer them in a box, delivered directly to your door for a discounted price, brilliant!! I got the small box, including shipping, for $23.50, 10-12 pounds worth. I was so excited when I opened this box and after pondering for a day I decided to make soup. I chopped up and sauteed in a little bit of oil and butter, the smaller onion, the leek, the green beans, and 5 ribs of celery with the leaves and a nice size parsnip from my fridge. I cooked it for about 5 minutes and added a small can of diced tomatoes, a box of chicken stock and then filled the pot up with water. I seasoned it with salt, pepper and Goya Adobo. I simmered it until the veggies were soft, but not mushy, and added 1 cup of pearled barley. When the barley was soft I sliced up the rainbow chard, including the ribs and beautiful stems, added them to the pot.

Look at beautiful colors of these fantastic, organic veggies that were going to get thrown away, I am happy to receive them!! I cooked the soup for another 2 minutes, tasted it, and re seasoned it if it needed. This was one of the most delicious soups I have ever made!!

*you can really taste the difference between mass produced vs. organic fruits and vegetables

**you could probably add any kind of protein to make this heartier

***leave out the chicken stock and butter, add tofu and it's vegan

****https://www.misfitsmarket.com/ 

Easy Dry Rubbed Country Style Pork Ribs

 I found some beautiful country style pork ribs at my local grocery store, and I wanted to do something a little different than wet BBQ sauce, so I decided to dry rub and roast them low and slow. It couldn't have been easier! I made a dry rub with Adobo, Sazon con Achote, smoked paprika, dark chili powder, cayenne pepper, Tajin, brown sugar, salt and pepper. I didn't really measure, it was about 2 tablespoons of the adobo and brown sugar, and a teaspoon each of the rest. I lined a baking sheet with foil for easy clean up, placed the ribs on the sheet and rubbed generously on all sides with the dry rub, make sure there is space in between the ribs. I tossed them into a 325 degree oven and roasted them for 3 hours. They were so moist and delicious, and the color from the rub was amazing!! I served it with a jalapeno and cheddar corn bread, and a green bean, tomato and shallot salad, simply dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

This was such an easy dinner to prepare for a weeknight dinner, I hope you give it a try!!
*This would be a great dinner for a football party, or company, paired with some nice local craft beers
**You can even throw the sheet pan right on the grill for a more smokey flavor, or not to heat the kitchen up for a nice summer deck party.
***My oven is on the low side so you might want to adjust the temperature.