Lemony Chicken Soup ｜檸檬雞肉湯

My son said he wanted to be in the photo with this beautiful looking soup that's made for him. So sweet.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Chicken, whole, skin off

2 Carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

1 Onion, cut into chunks

1 Leeks, cut into big pieces, both white and green parts

8 cups Water

1/2 cup Brown Rice, rinsed

4 Eggs

1/2 Lemon of juice and zest, small

1 bunch Dill, fresh

1 tablespoon of Sugar (to balance the sour)

Salt to taste

small pinch of sugar (optional)

DIRECTION:

1. In a big pot, add water, chicken, carrot, onion, leek, two twigs of dill.  Bring it to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium; continue to boil for another hour without covering.

2. Remove all the ingredients from the pot; drain well.

3. Scoop out a cup of chicken soup from the pot and allow it to cool.

4. Meanwhile, add the brown rice to the pot.  Continue to cook over medium heat until the chicken stock reduces in half.

5. Shred the chicken; set aside.

6. In a small bowl, zest and squeeze the lemon; set aside.

7. Then whisk the eggs into the lemon juice.

8. Add a spoonful of egg mixture to the reserved chicken stock one at a time; mix well. The stock should be cool at this point; otherwise the egg will be cooked and the soup will not be milky looking.

9. Slowly add the reserved chicken pot back to the boiling chicken stock.

10. Add the shredded chicken and vegetables back to the pot and stir until heated through.  Season it with salt and sugar.  Remove the soup from the heat.  Add more dill before serving it if desired.

Simplest Crunchy Pan-fried Sardine

Fried fish is one of the simplest but the most satisfying recipes I love to have over a bowl of hot rice.  The lemony juice is optional, but it brings tremendous difference in the flavour of sardines.  I enjoy these little fishes with bones, fins and tails everything except the head part.  What about you?

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 Sardine (I used frozen)

1-2 teaspoons Cornstarch

3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1/3 Lemon

DIRECTION:

1. To clean the sardines, slit open the belly with a knife and remove the guts.  Remove the gills and descale the sardines.  Rinse them well under running water and then pat them dry with paper towel.  If you are using frozen ones, let them thaw at room temperature until they become soft again before cleaning them.

2. In a non-stick frying pan, add vegetable oil.  Heat it up over medium heat.  Meanwhile, coat each sardine with a thin layer of cornstarch.  When the oil is ready, carefully lay them into the pan.  Fry until they are crispy and slightly brown; about 5 minutes.  Flip the sardines onto the other side; fry for another 5 minutes.  Remove them from the heat.

3. To serve, squeeze the lemon juice over sardines before eating.

Lemony Barley with Sautéed Swiss Chard and Roasted Golden Beet ｜ 檸檬大麥配瑞士甜菜和金菜頭

This time of the year is the best time to hang around farmer's markets because there are always so many colourful root vegetables sitting on the shelves accompanying the seasonal greens.

At St. Lawrence farmer's market

Today I went to look for golden beets.  Golden beets taste much less earthy than the common red beets, but they have the similar sweetness and jewelry looking beauty.  I just love them.  At the market, I also found some prime seasonal Swiss chard.  A whole bundle of Swiss chard sold only $1.99 and it looked amazingly fresh.  So it was how I pulled my healthy vegan dinner together tonight.

Lemony Barley with Sautéed Swiss Chard and Roasted Golden Beet

檸檬大麥配瑞士甜菜和金菜頭

(Ingredients for roasted beet):

3 Golden Beets (red beets are fine too)

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

(Ingredients for sautéed Swiss Chard):

1 bundle Swiss Chard

5-7 Garlic Cloves

5 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

2 tablespoons Chinese Rice Wine (optional)

1/2 teaspoon Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Salt

Ingredients for barley:

2 cups Barley

1.5 teaspoons Salt (for boiling barley)

1/3 cup Pine Nut

1/3 cup pumpkin Seeds

1/3 cup Cranberry, dried

4 tablespoons Olive Oil

1/3 Lemon of juice

 How to make it:

Roasting beets takes the longest time, so we can prepare them first.

I enjoy eating the beet greens so I bought the ones with a top.  I would sauté it with the Swiss chard later.  If you just want to use the beet roots, it is totally fine.

1. Remove the green tops from the beets and rinse off the dirt.

2. Place a beet on a piece of foil, and drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt on it.  Repeat the process until you finish the beets.

3. Wrap the beets individually with the foil, and place them on a roasting pan.

4. Roast the beets in the oven at 400F for about 30 minutes.  (Cooking time may vary according to the size of the beets).

5. Remove the beets from the foil and allow to cool slightly.  Remove the skins and cut the beets until chunk size.  Set the beets aside for later use.

6. Rinse the beet greens thoroughly.  Tear the leaves into bite sizes.  Snap the stems into about 3 cm sticks and also peel off the hard fibre along the stems.  

7. Separate the stems and leaves for even cooking later.

8. If you use Swiss chard, repeat the process as you would do for the beet greens.

9. Heat up about 5 tablespoons of vegetable oil over high heat.  Add garlic; fry until it is fragrant and slightly brown.

10. Add the beet greens and Swiss chard stems.  Sauté until the stems slightly give in; about 2 minutes.

11. Add the leaves, and sauté for another 2 minutes.

12. Add rice wine and sugar.

(Wine is optional and you can skip it if you don't have it on hand.  The sugar is to mellow the bitterness of the dark greens; the amount of the sugar should not be tasted in the dish.)

13. Continuously sauté for another 30 seconds.  Remove it from the heat and set it aside until later use.

14. To cook barley, first rinse it in a few changes of water until the water is slightly clean; drain it.

15. Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add salt and barley.

16. Cook the barley over medium-high heat until it is softened; drain it well.

17. Squeeze lemon juice and add olive oil.  Season it with salt if needed.

18. Add pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, and cranberries; mix well.

19. Place the food on a serving plate.  Then, the dinner is ready.

I hope you will like this recipe.  See you next time.

Lemony Spaghetti and Grilled Chicken ｜ 檸汁意麵配烤雞塊

The first time when I made spaghetti with lemon sauce was long ago when I was pregnant.  I still remember how much I craved this citrus flavoured spaghetti and roasted chicken.

We were living on a remote island back then, and button mushrooms and basil, and these types of exotic products somehow were often sold out very quickly due to the high demand.  It brought stress for a pregnant woman whose stomach only accepted lemony spaghetti and nothing else (It was funny when I look back now). 

So, everyday as soon as my husband got off the ferry, I would urge him to buy all the ingredients so that I could cook.   We ate this spaghetti literarily every day through my whole pregnancy, and my husband didn't even complain about it once (he is wonderful).  Years later, he told me he was actually terrified about seeing it served at the table at some point, but love blinded him.

Perhaps my son "ate" a lot of lemony spaghetti in my tummy too, so he also loves it so much.  He claims it is his favourite food ever.  And it is true.  He eats much more than usual whenever we serve him this dish.

For the chicken, I used skin-on chicken thighs.  Not sure about your preference, but we don't like chicken breast and skinless chicken as much as thighs.  There is too much compromise on the taste.  When you can, try to purchase some good quality chicken so that you will not need to load lots of seasoning or herbs to mask the flavour of the freezer taste.

You can slice the mushrooms, but I found chunky mushrooms bring more juice and flavour.  Add the mushrooms into the spaghetti after turning off the heat and allow the mushrooms to cook with the remaining heat.  In this way, the mushrooms won't release water while keeping their intense flavour.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you enjoy this recipe.     



 Lemony Spaghetti and Grilled Chicken ｜ 檸汁意麵配烤雞塊
INGREDIENTS:

Spaghetti

Chicken Thighs

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Chilli Pepper (optional)

DRESSING:

1 Lemon of zest

1 Lemon of juice

Olive Oil

Basil Leaves

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

材料：

意大利麵

雞腿肉

海鹽

黑胡椒

辣椒粉 (隨意)

意粉汁：

1 個   檸檬，刨皮和榨汁

橄欖油

九層塔葉

海鹽

黑胡椒



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