comfort food – Stylish Heath

Fall Minestrone

A few months ago a friend from work shared a recipe for fall minestrone soup from an article in her Cooking Light {October 2003} magazine. So, I photocopied the recipe, placed it on my desk and completely forgot about it until this weekend. After hitting the farmers market for a few items, the butternut squash and kale I decided to try this comforting and delicious soup.

The hardest part of the process was the prep of cutting vegetables into cubed pieces, but other than that the meal is done. When I got up yesterday morning, I made my own broth from a roasted chicken we had for dinner a while back, as I preferred chicken to vegetable broth. I also sautéed the potatoes with the onion and garlic for a bit of added flavor then tore Thai basil with grated Parmesan cheese for the final garnish.

Place the soup into a big cup instead of a bowl and curl up for an evening of sitting on the front porch or watching your favorite television shows!!

Bon appetite,
K

September 28, 2014

Kathleen6 Comments

Comforting Winter Foods

Battening down in the kitchen during rigorous Winter Storm Wiley to prep and cook comfort foods is the best way to spend a snowy day. I had a turkey that was the perfect start to the meal with sourdough bread that was lightly toasted to make a delicious sage, rosemary and thyme dressing, along with the final dish, which was a luscious broccoli-cheese casserole.

The best thing about this meal will definitely be the left-overs for lunches tomorrow. Not to mention the individual turkey pot-pies for dinner.

Plan your meals stylishly,

March 17, 2014

Kathleen4 Comments

Awesome Sunset

{Mark Rothko-esque sunset at Heath}

I wanted to share these awesome pictures of our sunset taken yesterday evening after dinner. The Mid-Atlantic was caught in drenching, windswept rain from a cold front that moved from the west and merged with lingering moisture of Tropical Storm Karen. Alerts were being sent very early in the day to warn of possible flooding and tornados.

By midday the rain was producing vast rivers of water and made the loudest sound ever heard, when it battered against the roof. Talk about rainy days and Mondays, but all I could think of was what comfort food I would prepare for dinner.

{Sunset after the storm}

On cold and rainy days the perfect comfort food for me consist of potatoes, eggs and a bit of chicken. I came home from work and prepped my ingredients for a savory chicken hash. I began peeling and dicing potatoes, and then chopped onions and bell peppers with a few cloves of garlic. There were a few chicken breast that I cubed and placed in a bowl to season with salt, pepper and thyme. In a pan I put a dollop of canola oil and a tablespoon of butter to stir-fry the chicken until golden brown. Once the chicken was cooked I placed it in a bowl to stay warm, while pan-frying the potatoes. When the potatoes were semi-browned I placed the onions and peppers into the pan, along with the garlic, and tasted for seasoning. The chicken was placed back into the pan and mixed in with the potatoes. Several eggs were prepared over easy, which would top off the meal, along with a few slices of wheat toast and a touch of butter…. this meal was shear heaven!!!

As we were finishing the meal my brother looked out the window and noticed the sky trying to clear, and said that I needed to take a picture of those glorious colors.

Enjoy,