Ok, this is starting to get old.
It s been colder longer than I can remember than any time in my nearly 59 years on the planet and I m here to say that I ve had enough of it.
It s not that I m anti-cold weather. A little cold goes a long way but at this point I m pretty much sick of the whole notion of bundling up and trying to stay warm.
I ve tried to battle the cold with warm, savory soups and other comforting foods designed to warm you from the inside out. I tried my famous pasta e fagiole recipe with a pone of cornbread on the side and that didn t work.
Even though this horrid spate of frigid weather is supposedly on the wane, I m still not able to shake this notion that I m just cold. I m not sure why but I think I m frozen in my core.
Like I said, I ve tried to offer savory, warm comfort foods in an attempt to thaw out my psyche, but for some reason it s not working. So with that in mind, I ve decided to go off in a completely different direction and try to fool my feeble mind into thinking that it is actually swimming pool weather.
During the summer, recall, our emphasis is on offering recipes that are lighter, less filling and dishes that don t require you to heat up the entire house to make.
Still, I can t seem to get past my built-in bias about eating soups and other hearty fare this time of year. What s a body to do? The answer is to use the best of the lighter summer menu and the richer winter bill of fare.
To do that, I scoured my resources and found this recipe that somebody sent to me a while back and I m sure they got it from the internet somewhere. I like it because it uses a chicken that somebody else cooked.
This is a very good, very easy recipe that can be thrown together at the last minute after a long day at work. The only thing you need to remember to do is to pick up a chicken from the grocery store on the way home.
It may not be the cure for these winter blues, but it will certainly make the cold a lot easier to bear and hopefully make the winter go by faster.
Chicken and Vegetable Soup
6-8 servings
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup yellow onion, chopped
cup carrot, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
teaspoon ground black pepper
1 sprig thyme
3 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted tomatoes with juice
cup orzo (uncooked)
1 cup fresh green beans cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken, shredded
cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
Place oil in a Dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, garlic, pepper, salt and thyme and saut until onions are tender, about 4 minutes. Add broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil.
Add past and beans; cook 5 minutes. Stir in chicken and heat through. Add cheese just before serving.