035 Copycat Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

According to our local weatherman, today will be the coldest day of the week, followed by weather in the 50s and 60s all through Sunday. I'm pretty excited for having non-arctic-like temperatures for the next few days, but (Heaven forbid) I think I'm also going to miss the cold. I like wearing leggings and sweaters and eating potatoes and having a completely legitimately excuse to not go out to exercise - ha. Knowing Northwest Arkansas, we'll probably be back to snow storms next week. But just in case, I wanted to squeeze in a soup recipe before we lose winter.

I'm a big shameless fan of Olive Garden. I know, I know - it's not "real" Italian food. It's probably like calling OK China real Chinese food, but I love Americanized versions of all things because I am a patriot. I had a craving for their chicken and gnocchi soup the other evening, but didn't want to leave the comfort of my apartment so I decided to try and recreate it at home. I found a version on Pinterest, so enjoy my attempt below!

As always, the first thing you need is ingredients.

All fresh errrthing. Or most things.

Oops. Forgot to picture these guys. Only missed the most
important ingredient - gnocchi - in the first picture. I'm smart!

Saute the chicken breasts in a large pot over medium heat. I used pre-grilled sliced chicken strips, so I just heated them up in the pan. If cooking from fresh, you'll want to cook until mostly done (very little pink showing). Season with a little salt and pepper.

The chicken should be diced! I may or may not have cut up
the chicken in the pot after already starting to cook it... #ghetto

In the meantime, prep the other fresh ingredients (onion, celery, and carrots) slicing and dicing where necessary.

Add the butter to the pot, and then add the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic. 

So good!

The recipe I found was very vegetable-heavy, which I like, but you can reduce the amount of vegetables by about a third if you prefer a "soupier" soup.

Add the flour to absorb the butter and form a roux. Then add the half & half and the chicken broth.

Starts smelling really yummy at this point.

Allow the soup to come to a boil, and let it simmer while you prepare your gnocchi. To do this, you boil a pot of water and slowly add the pasta. You should only have to cook it for about 3 minutes - the gnocchi will float when it is done (if only all pasta were like that, right?).

The gnocchi I bought was made of potatoes, which seriously perplexed Clint. "POTATO PASTA WHAT IS THIS SORCERY?!"

Drain the gnocchi when done, and set aside. Then, chiffonade the spinach. I learned that word while making this recipe. It means to "shred or finely cut leaf vegetables, often used as a garnish for soup". Behold, my chiffonade-ded spinach!

Fancy.

When ready to eat, add the spinach, thyme, and cooked gnocchi to the soup. Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Stir, and serve immediately.

Pretty close, methinks.

Here is the recipe for your convenience, slightly adapted from Dessert Now, Dinner Later's Copycat Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup.

Yield: 4 servings

Nutrition: 256 calories/serving

Ingredients:

    3 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes

    1 tbsp olive oil

    2 tbsp light butter

    1/2 medium onion, diced

    1/2 cup celery, diced

    1/2 cup carrots, diced

    1/2 tsp minced garlic

    1 1/2 tbsp flour

    1/2 quart (2 cups) fat-free half & half

    1 cup low sodium chicken broth

    1/2 cup fresh spinach

    1 tsp dried thyme

    salt to taste

    pepper to taste

    1 cup gnocchi

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat, and cook chicken breasts. If cooking from fresh, cook until mostly done (very little pink showing). Season with a little salt and pepper.
2. Prep the vegetables. Add butter to the large pot with chicken until melted, then add the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic. Cook until the onion is translucent. 
3. Add flour to the mixture to soak up the additional liquid from the butter. This will form a roux. Stir well.
4. Add the half & half and chicken broth to the pot. Allow to come to a boil, and then lower the heat to let it simmer.
5. Prepare the gnocchi according to instructions. It should take about 2-3 minutes to cook completely. Finished gnocchi will float to the top. Drain and set aside.
6. Chiffonade the spinach. Then, add the the spinach, thyme, and cooked gnocchi to the soup. 
7. Stir and season with salt and pepper as necessary.
8. Serve immediately.
9. Enjoy! :)

Nutritional Information from MyFitnessPal:

034 Happy Chinese New Year | Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Chinese New Year is easily one of my favorite times of the year. It's like the Chinese version of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's rolled into one. We visit with family, get money, play with fireworks, eat shamelessly, AND get to watch lion dances. There are so many fun parts about our culture and tradition, so I thought I'd write a brief post to share some cool practices that my family and I participate in.

It's probably worth mentioning that my family is Malaysian Chinese, meaning some of our beliefs and traditions are a little different than what is practiced in Mainland China. That being said, practices often vary between states and cities and families as well, so what you read here may not apply to every Chinese person you know. There are like, a billion of us, so it's typically pretty hard to make generalizations about my people anyway, hoho.

So, here are some of the beliefs and practices that my family partakes in...

2014 is the Year of the Horse.

The Chinese Zodiac is a 12 year cycle that relates each year to an animal. Each animal has its own distinct attributes and personality traits, and according to Chinese beliefs, individuals tend to display the same characteristics as their zodiac animal. I'm not sure how much of this is true, and how much of it is reliant on Barnum statements, but I've always enjoyed learning about my animal, the dragon.

According to legend, the order of the Zodiac animals was determined by a legendary race. The following chart shows the different animals present in the Chinese Zodiac, and the years associated with each one. You can learn more about your Zodiac animal here, including information on your Zodiac animal's characteristics, your fortune in love and money, and even relationship advice (some Zodiac animals are supposed to pair better with others).

Photo credit to Molly the Wally.

Cleaning the house before the first day of Chinese New Year. 

As with most other cultures, we like to usher in the New Year with a clean house. The goal (key word here is "goal" lol) is to clean as much as possible, meaning we sweep, mop, dust, wipe down, rearrange, clean, and scrub all we can. This is important as you aren't allowed to do any form of cleaning on the first day of Chinese New Year. In fact, all brooms, mops, dusters, etc. are actually supposed to be kept away from sight as the belief is that any cleaning done on the first day will "sweep away" your good fortune for the year. It's intense.

This year, I divided the housecleaning over a few days, learning from last year's mistake (12 straight hours of cleaning in one day). The biggest change I made to my apartment was rearranging my bookcases in the living room - think they turned out pretty sweet. 

Thanks, Pinterest!

Part of the cleaning the house process also includes making sure all of the containers with your food staples are full. This symbolizes that you will not have to worry about having enough to eat throughout the year. For the Chinese, our food staples include items like rice, flour, sugar, and salt. My mom made me go to Walmart to take care of this.

Yep.

Reunion Dinner is held on Chinese New Year's Eve.

This is the one non-negotiable time a year when the family gets together to eat. It is usually held with extended family (a little easier to coordinate in Malaysia where Chinese New Year is a bigger deal and is a national holiday), but because we live in the US and Chinese New Year's Eve fell on a Thursday this year, it was just the immediate family. 

The New Year's Eve dinner is usually a pretty grandiose affair, again to symbolize the abundance of food for the year, and traditionally includes chicken, pork, and fish. And apparently sushi. Idk you'll have to ask my mom.

Delicious dinner courtesy of mom.

Each dish symbolizes something different, but my favorite is with regards to the fish dish. The dish is served for dinner, but intentionally left unfinished, with the remaining stored overnight. This stems from a Chinese pun, 年年有鱼/余 (nián nián yǒu yú/yú). The Chinese words for fish  (鱼, yú) and profit (余, yú) are homophones, making the phrase mean "every year there is fish/profit".

More family, more eating! :D

Wearing red for Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year Day is the biggest deal out of the 15 day celebration (that's right - we party for 15 days). One of the major practices of this day is wearing brand new everything, and incorporating red somewhere in your outfit.

There are a few variations of the story behind why we wear red, but I'll share the one that my parents told me growing up. In ancient times, there used to be a terrible monster, Nian, that would emerge from his cave every New Year's Day and terrorize a nearby village. Nian would destroy everything in sight, eating villagers and livestock. One day an old traveler passed by the village on New Year's Eve and heard about the terror Nian was causing. He told the villagers he would face the monster and vanquish him for them. The next day, the villagers gathered at the edge of the village to watch the old man face Nian. Once Nian emerged from his cave, the old man took off his robe to reveal a bright red shirt and pants. This terrified Nian and he ran away never to return. The villagers cheered for the old man, and from then on began wearing red on New Year's Day. They also hung red lanterns and red banners outside their homes, a tradition that is carried on until today.

You can't really tell, but I promise we're all wearing red! 

Visiting family and friends, getting red packets, and eating entirely too much.

You are supposed to visit with family and friends on the 1st and 2nd day of Chinese New Year. For my family that means traveling to Oklahoma City to visit with my uncles' families. My Aunt Shirley makes the most amazing food ever, and always pulls out all the stops for family gatherings, so we were super excited. We made it to OKC on Saturday evening and basically went straight into eating. Below are some of the dishes from our dinner. Each dish has its own symbolism, which I won't bore you with - but you can learn more about it here!

Fried oysters, fried squid, dumplings, shrimp, rendang, chicken,
and yeesang.

Buddha's Delight. Yep - that's hair. Jk it's algae.

Fish curry like back in Malaysia.

Char siu bao, or BBQ steamed buns - MY FAVORITE.
I stole like, 4 of these.

Fish cakes.

Ang ku kuih, or red tortoise cakes.

More Asian cakes! 

One of my favorite parts of Chinese New Year is tossing yeesang! Yeesang is a Teochew-style raw fish salad, made up of raw fish (commonly salmon), shredded vegetables, and a variety of sauces and condiments. It probably goes without saying that there's some old Chinese pun and a crazy amount of symbolism that goes with this dish too. The Chinese words for raw fish (鱼生, yú shēng) are a homophone for an increase in abundance (余升, yú shēng), so yeesang is commonly seen as a symbol for prosperity and growth through the year.

Pretty.

Typically, the "leaders" of the diners will say some good wishes for the year (in my family's case, my uncles and dad), and then everyone will toss the ingredients with chopsticks. It is believed that the height of the toss reflects the height of the tosser's growth in fortunes. 

Seriously super fun.

After tossing the yeesang, my whole family and some family friends settled into a 6 hour eating session basically snacking and talking all night long. It was awesome. 

Adults!

Me, my sister, my mom.

My dad and uncles hanging out.

Families also typically exchange red packets (红包, hóng bāo) for the kids. These red packets contain money, which are to symbolize wealth throughout the year. You usually get one as long as you're unmarried. Kids will typically wish their elders well, saying things like Happy New Year (新年快乐, xīn nián kuài lè), or Wishing You Happiness and Prosperity (恭喜发财, gōng xǐ fā cái) and receive money in return. It's a pretty sweet gig. 

Envelopes of awesome. Photo credit to Melsong.

And that's all for now. After we had our fill of food and visiting, we returned to Arkansas on Sunday. In a snow storm. 

Took us 7 hours to drive a 3-1/2 hour journey. D:

But we are alive and well! Hope you enjoyed the post, and learned something new about Chinese New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai! :)

033 Lazy Spam, Egg, and Avocado Musubi

My boyfriend offered to cook dinner last weekend, which is a rare occurrence so I didn't protest one bit. Hoho.

Proof that I get help around the kitchen once in a while.

I offered to help out so I could document how he makes one of my all-time favorite recipes - Spam, egg, and avocado musubi. Clint fervently believes that musubi is a Japanese dish, though I've only ever seen it billed as a Hawaiian treat. That being said, a lot of Hawaiian dishes are influenced by Japanese and a number of other Asian cuisines, so there's no way for me to prove him wrong. :) All you have to know about this post is that this meal is delicious, filling, easy, and cheap.

Also - I call this dish "lazy" because most musubi looks like this...

Photo credit to Heo Yeah Yum.

...and Clint and I are far too lazy to create beauty such as that.

So here are the ingredients you need. The bottle on the left contains furikake, which is a Japanese condiment made of a mixture of sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt, and sometimes dried and ground fish (depending on which type you buy). You will probably have to go to an Asian/Oriental store to find this little guy. I use furikake so that I don't have to make sushi rice (lol told you I'm lazy). In my opinion, furikake makes "regular" rice taste pretty similar to sushi rice (which is made with rice, rice vinegar, sugar and salt).

The first thing you need to do is prepare the rice. I usually wash it at least once or twice before popping it into a rice cooker (staple of any Asian household) and adding water. In the rice pot that goes into the rice cooker, there are usually markers indicating the appropriate water level for the amount of rice you plan on cooking. For example, fill the pot with water up to the line that says "1" if you're cooking 1 cup of uncooked rice, "2" if you're cooking 2 cups of uncooked rice, etc.

I don't always use this particular method, though I've never had a problem with it when I have. The Asian pro-tip that I usually default to (taught by my mom) is to place your hand flat on the rice, and then fill the pot with water up to your 2nd knuckle. It's usually a little more than what the marker states, giving you slightly fluffier, stickier rice, which I enjoy. This is a personal preference, so adjust as needed! 

Legit.

Place the rice pot into the cooker, press the Cook button, and you should be good to go. Most rice cookers have a "Keep Warm" function that will keep your rice nice and hot once it's done cooking. If you're not sure about what brand to buy, my family is pretty loyal to Zojirushi rice cookers. You can find this brand at almost any Asian/Oriental store or on Amazon. You really don't need to get the complicated rice cookers unless you plan on cooking more than rice in them.

Sha-bam!

The next step is to prepare the Spam. Cut it into bite-sized pieces and fry over medium heat. You can add some olive oil to grease the pan, but I find that Spam cooks just fine without it. 

Best smell in the world...which probably speaks volumes about my palate. :(

While the Spam is cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil and soft-boil your egg. Remove whenever it has reached the level of done-ness you like. I like my yolk runny, so 4-5 minutes is usually perfect for me.

Starting to come together...

Take the Spam off the heat once it is finished frying and let cool - it should be slightly crunchy on the outside. Then, prepare the avocado by pitting and cutting it into bite-sized cubes/strips.

Healthy deliciousness.

Your last step is to assemble this wonderful dish. Get a scoop of rice, add the Spam and avocado, and break the egg on top. Sprinkled with furikake for taste for an amalgamation of AMAZING.

Yummmmmm.

Yield: 3 bowls 

Nutrition: 539 calories/bowl

Ingredients:

    1 cup uncooked short-grain rice

    1/4 tbsp olive oil

    1/2 can Spam, cut into bite-sized pieces

    1 avocado, pitted and cut into bite-sized pieces

    2 eggs

    Furikake, for seasoning

        

Instructions:

1. Rinse rice and prepare in rice cooker (or other preferred methods) as per directions. 
2. Heat olive oil in a small frying pan on medium heat, and fry Spam for about 5 minutes until crispy on the outside. 
3. Bring a small pot of water to a boil and carefully add egg. Allow the egg to cook for about 4 minutes, if you like your yolks runny - adjust as necessary. Remove eggshell when done.
4. Pit and slice the avocado. 
5. Begin assembling the meal. Get a scoop of rice, add the Spam and avocado, and break the egg on top. Sprinkle with furikake for taste.
6. Serve immediately. 
7. Enjoy! :)

Nutritional Information from MyFitnessPal: