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:

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:

032 Turkey + Tomato + Avocado + Cottage Cheese + Egg Sandwich

I love following food blogs as much as the next 20-something who spends too much time on Pinterest, but it can be challenging sometimes. Many of the recipes call for ingredients I don't have at home, or ones that I'll buy for the dish and probably never use again. I have lost track of the number of spice bottles and the tubs of sour cream/plain Greek yogurt I've purchased, and more often than not, have had to throw away. I have no doubt this travesty is easily avoided in bigger households, but because it's just me and my cat, I usually try to purchase ingredients I can get in small quantities, and this recipe is an example of that philosophy put into practice. I'm also not a fan of doing dishes, especially when I'm cooking for one, so this keeps the mess and the work to a minimum.

Here's the super simple collection of ingredients you'll need:

Big fan of Italian bread! The crunchy texture exterior with the chewy interior
when toasted is awesome.

I start by frying the egg in a little bit of oil...butter works too. 

Sunny side up eggs are the best.

In the meantime, I prepare the rest of the ingredients, which means slicing up the tomato and avocado, and getting the right amount of cottage cheese and turkey slices.

By the time you get the above ingredients ready to rumble, the egg should be done. I like mine with the yolk pretty runny, so I cook my eggs for about 5 minutes. Next, assemble the sandwich! 

Mmm. 

Look at this deliciousness.

And it's that simple.

Enjoy! :)

Yield: 1 sandwich 

Nutrition: 397 calories/sandwich

Ingredients:

    2 slices Italian bread

    1/8 tbsp light butter

    1 egg

    6 slices turkey breast

    1/2 roma tomato

    1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese

    1/4 avocado, pitted and sliced    

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in a small frying pan on low heat, and carefully crack egg over pan. Cover the pan and allow the egg to cook for about 5 minutes, if you like your yolks runny - adjust as necessary.
2. In the meantime, prepare the other ingredients. Toast the bread, slice the tomatoes, and pit and slice the avocado. 
3. Begin assembling the sandwich. I prefer to layer it from bottom to top as follows: turkey breast (so the bread doesn't get soggy), tomato, cottage cheese, and avocado. Add the egg to top the sandwich off and add the second piece of bread. 
4. Slice the sandwich in half and serve immediately. 
5. Enjoy! :)

Nutritional Information from MyFitnessPal:

030 Skinny Fettuccine Alfredo

One of the biggest challenges I've faced being an "adult" is not having mom around to help with dinner. Fully aware of the fact that I'm both incredibly lucky and spoiled, getting home after work and cooking has been one of the biggest changes I've had to deal with. My pre-dinner routine usually consists of me Googling or Pinteresting combinations of "easy", "cheap", "quick", and "dinner". Also "pasta". I like pasta a lot.

This week, I finally found a recipe that seemed to fit my aforementioned criteria. Most importantly, I already had all the required ingredients (this is the most important aspect of all my cooking projects, honestly). It substituted most the fattening (albeit delicious) ingredients with healthier, low-fat ingredients and promised the same delicious taste, so I had to give it a go.

First, boil some generously salted water, and get your pasta going. According to ask.com, the reason you add salt to water when making pasta is to 1) add a bit of flavor/seasoning to the pasta, and 2) bring the boiling temperature up to allow the pasta to cook faster and better. If it's on the Internet, it must be true, so do it! :)

I didn't have fettuccine at home, so I substituted it with angel hair pasta.

Fettuccine imposter.

While the pasta is cooking, you can start creating the alfredo sauce. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and saute for about a minute until fragrant. Believe you me, I am a big fan of using fresh ingredients as often as possible, but I'm also a big fan of keeping things simple...You can substitute fresh garlic for pre-minced garlic that you can buy at Walmart. 1 clove = 1/2 tsp.

No shame.

Gradually add the flour and stir to combine. Continue cooking for a minute. Then, slowly add chicken broth, continuously stirring/whisking until you reach a smooth consistency. Add milk, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Allow the sauce to thicken slightly...

...then add the best part! The cheese!

Yep. 

Allow the cheese to melt completely, and reduce heat to keep the sauce warm. When the pasta is al dente or however dente you want it to be, drain in a colander.

Add the pasta into your delicious sauce, and toss to combine.

Keepin' it real with chopsticks, cause this is an Asian household.

Now here is where I varied from the original recipe slightly. Apparently, my boyfriend is a 5th grader, so I had to add chicken tenders to the dish. Yes - you read that right. Chicken tenders. Whipped up some frozen breaded chicken tenders I already had in the freezer, and chopped them up to add to the pasta. The adult version of this is to add grilled chicken instead, if you want the added taste and texture.

Toss the chicken with your pasta, add salt, pepper, and parsley to taste, and you have a delicious dish that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare.

Here is the recipe for your convenience, slightly adapted from Gimme Some Oven's Skinny Fettuccine Alredo. This is perfect for 2 people, if one of them has a really large appetite. :)

Yield: 3 servings

Nutrition: 319 calories/serving

Ingredients:

    4 oz fettuccine (or any pasta shape)

    2/3 tbsp olive oil

    2 cloves garlic, minced

    1 1/2 tbsp flour

    1/2 cup chicken broth

    1/2 cup low-fat milk

    1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

    4 oz frozen breaded chicken tenders/grilled chicken

    salt to taste

    pepper to taste

    parsley (optional)    

Instructions:

1. Boil generously salted water and cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and saute for about a minute until fragrant.
3. Sprinkle with flour, and stir to combine. Saute for an additional minute to cook the flour, stirring occasionally.
4. Slowly add chicken broth, continuously stirring/whisking until you reach a smooth consistency. Add milk, and bring the mixture to a simmer. 
5. Allow the sauce to thicken slightly, then add in Parmesan cheese and stir until melted. Reduce heat to keep the sauce warm. 
6. Prepare frozen breaded chicken tenders/grilled chicken according to package directions. Chop to bite size pieces, if necessary, and set aside.
7. When the pasta is done, drain in a colander. Add pasta and chicken to sauce and toss to combine. 
8. Add salt, pepper, and parsley to combine and serve immediately.
9. Enjoy! :)

Nutritional Information from MyFitnessPal: