As the weather is getting colder outside and the cold fall rains come in some days I just want a bit of comfort for dinner. Nothing too heavy and certainly nothing that is too difficult or time-consuming to make. Recently I stumbled upon a recipe and of course as I always do I tweaked it to make it my own. You all know that I like to keep things simple and I have to tell you I don’t like one of these recipes better than the other the truth is they are both my faves! The chicken and wild rice soup takes a little prep time the night before you serve it because I think it tastes better if you let it sit overnight and let all that delicious wild rice puff up! The paninis were simple Costco now sells this Torte style sandwich bread that is extremely versatile and for our sized household lasts forever however it is thick and rich I consider one half of a sandwich one bread serving so you are getting 2 bread servings when you eat one Panini but it is so worth it! This is my own worry but I figure others might be tracking their carbs as well. Karen Lynn’s Italian Panini’s Ingredients:
- Italian Sandwich bread (thick & crusty is good)
- tomatoes
- Italian Seasoning
- Raw spinach
- shredded mozzarella
- Make sure to wash all of your veggies!
- cast iron skillet/cast iron panini press or you can use an panini maker or a pan and a brick it all works! You just won’t get the fancy lines 🙂
Instructions:
- Heat up a cast iron skillet
- Rub a generous amount of olive oil on the pan and let it heat up
- In the meantime slice up tomatoes and wash the spinach
- Place the bottom of the sandwich bread in the pan and then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese and italian seasoning on top
- Then place the tomatoes and spinach on top
- Then sprinkle a little more mozzarella and italian seasonings on top
- Then place the top slice of bread on top and place the hot cast iron skillet panini press on top and then let cook for a few minutes but be careful you don’t want it too squashed.
- Then just serve up on a plate…..I think this would be good with grilled mushrooms too but then again I think mushrooms are good in everything! LOL! 🙂
Wild Rice & Chicken Soup Modified from (Cream of Wild Rice Recipe From Taste of Home) Ingredients:
- 8 C. Chicken broth
- 2 C. wild rice
- 1 onion
- 2 celery stalks
- 2 carrots
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 C. evaporated milk
- 1/2 C. butter
- 1/3 C. flour
- Bay leaf
Instructions:
- Put 2 C. of broth in a stock pot on stove and bring to boil (add the bay leaf in)
- Add the wild rice
- In a Cast Iron skillet place 1 tbsp. of olive oil and cook 4 chicken breasts salt and pepper to taste
- Clean and chop the carrots and celery finely
- In the meantime peel and chop an onion finely
- Once the chicken is cooked chop the chicken up and then put it back in the cast iron skillet
- Add the carrots, onions, and celery in with the chicken to the cast iron skillet and then add the flour and butter into it and stir in to make it a rue
- Then mix the wild rice, chicken, veggies, and the remaining broth all together in a large stock pot and bring to a boil
- Once it boils then add the evaporated milk and then serve for dinner! Enjoy! Add chives on top if you like…
I hope you enjoy this as much as we did and it is the perfect time of year to spice up your recipes and make them a little more savory and a bit more like comfort food! Wishing you all a wonderful rest of your week!
Fondly,
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