Chicken Soup & Salad

After breakfast, I had my husband & my kids help me finish the laundry and clean up the apartment.  It takes forever to do this with them than when I do cleaning with my girlfriends which is the reason why I did not do any fancy schmanzy breakfast menu.  By the time we were done with our house chores we were all ravenous and ready for lunch. Being that we had no more time to cook lunch, we all got into the car and drove to Central Avenue in Hartsdale to our new favorite dimsum restaurant: Central Seafood Chinese Restaurant.  We ordered our twin boys' favorite beef ball & chicken feet asado(yes, for some reason they successfully acquired a taste for this most unusual chicken part), shark's fin siomai (my apologies to the conservationists but I was assured by my server that a very small amount of shark's fin was used for this dish), pork siomai, Chinese style calamari, and white rice.  All in all, our bill came up to only a little over $45.00.  We were so full that we decided to walk it off a little bit but ended up eating more as we eventually decided to have dessert at a nearby Haagen Dasz ice cream shop.  How could we resist! Coffee ice cream for the hubby and chocolate for moi--heaven! It was a good thing that there was a Marshall's store next door because I had a valid reason to now walk some more:)But shopping is just not a favorable activity for the boys in my life so we all went back to the car to go to our next destination: nowhere.

After driving aimlessly around the city of White Plains and pointing out edifices & statues of historical significance (my husband is currently into the history of White Plains, NY), my husband finally asked me where I wanted to go next.  I immediately replied that I wanted to visit a local organic farm & restaurant located in Pocantico Hills known as Blue Hill at Stone Barns.  You see, I passed this charming farm about 2 weeks ago by accident after coming from the hospital I worked in.  I was originally planning to go to the Home Depot on Saw Mill Road but I made a wrong turn and wound up in Pocantico Hills! I have always read about Blue Hill and its farm-to-table philosophy in the New York Times, Zagat and the Westchester Wag but we have never really been in there.  It is a fine dining restaurant that actually uses produce from the nearby farms in the Hudson Valley. The Farmer's feast tasting menu costs $135.00 so eating there would have to planned well in advance and only for special occasions! So we just drove there out of curiosity and also to familiarize ourselves with the area.  I was hoping that we could at least show our kids a working farm and let them breathe some farm fresh air but by the time we got there, the twins were fast asleep. We will have to go back there again at an earlier time when the kids are awake.

We had such an enjoyable time just driving around Westchester that I failed to realize that I still did not have an idea what I will be cooking for dinner! As soon as we got home, I immediately took out left over frozen roast chicken, some garlic and onion--Then boom! It dawned on me to cook chicken soup with pasta and to prepare a big bowl of romaine lettuce salad with a homemade vinaigrette dressing.  The whole production took me only 30 minutes from chopping the garlic to plating. Take note: my roast chicken was frozen.  Amazing, huh?!!?  But more amazing are the happy and contented faces of my husband & kids!

20 MINUTE CHICKEN SOUP

Ingredients:

Left over roast chicken
2 cloves garlic-crushed and chopped
1 medium onion-sliced
1 tbsp annato (achiote) seeds
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup cilantro-chopped
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup uncooked Penne Rigate
coarsly chopped snow pea shoots or spinach

Procedure:

In a large pot, saute annato seeds in oil until oil is dark red orange in color.  Remove seeds & discard.  Saute garlic & onion in the same oil then add the chicken.  After 2 minutes, add cold filtered water until it covers chicken.  Bring to a rolling boil, add pasta, then simmer until chicken & pasta are tender.  Season with salt and pepper. Boil some more then add snow pea shoots.  Simmer then add cilantro last. Serve immediately.

ROMAINE LETTUCE SALAD WITH HOMEMADE VINAIGRETTE DRESSING

Ingedients:

1 bunch Romaine lettuce-washed & sliced into 1 inch strips
1/2 red onion-sliced in circles
1 beefsteak tomato- sliced in circles
1 can small black olives-strained
1/4 cup edam cheese--shaved or grated
1 cup julienned carrots

As you cut above ingredients, arrange/ layer in a salad bowl.

Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 clove macerated garlic
anchovies-optional

Combine all of the above in a bowl. Mix well with fork. Pour on salad greens and toss gently.