Crazypotato98's Moroccan Chicken and Butternut Squash Soup

Bring the heady aroma of Moroccan spices to your table with this delicious soup!

The nutrition facts for this delicious soup were created at Calorie Count, the best FREE online website to count your calories!

Moroccan Chicken and Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

8 servings

1 tbsp oil

1/4 cup onion, chopped

0.38 kg (14 oz) chicken, boneless, skinless

1 tsp cumin, ground

1/4 tsp cinnamon, ground

2 1/2 lb butternut squash, peeled, cubed

2 tbsp tomato paste

5 cups chicken stock

1 cup brown rice, cooked

1 zucchini, quartered and sliced into 3/4 inch pieces

Directions:

Saute onion in oil until browned. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, add to the onion and cook for four minutes or until no longer pink.

Add cumin and cinnamon to pan; cook one minute, stirring constantly.

Add squash and tomato paste; cook 1 minute. Stir in chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 8 minutes or until squash is tender.

Stir in cooked brown rice and zucchini. Add salt to taste. Cook five minutes more or until all vegetables are tender.

Crazypotato98’s Teppanyaki

A variation using green beans instead of zucchini

Crazypotato98’s Teppanyaki is a Japanese-style mixture of  meat and veggies, best served with brown rice. Use the veggies and meat you have and create your very own Teppanyaki!

The nutrition facts for 4 servings were analyzed by Calorie Count!

Teppanyaki

Ingredients:

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp ginger, ground

1/2 pound skirt steak

8 oz carrot, sliced into long flat strips

8 oz {chayote or other squash, sliced into long flat strips}

8 oz zucchini, sliced into long flat strips

1 tbsp salt

4  sprays cooking spray

Directions:

Mix the soy sauce, honey, vinegar, garlic powder, and ginger together in a small bowl. Set aside.

On a grill, a comal or a frying pan, add steak and sprinkle with salt. Cook until no longer pink and set aside.

In a large frying pan or a wok (or a grill if desired, with foil so that the veggies don't fall through), coat with cooking spray and add carrot and chayote squash. Sprinkle with salt and saute with cooking spray for about six minutes, turning halfway through. I sprayed cooking spray on top of the veggies before I turned them.

Add zucchini, sprinkle with salt and saute for about another six minutes, turning halfway through.

You may drizzle some of the sauce into the pan with the veggies when they are nearly cooked, or you may reserve it simply as a dipping sauce.

In a large bowl, you may combine crisp-tender veggies with steak strips and drizzle some of the sauce on top, tossing so that the coating is even. Or you may simply serve steak and veggies separately and dip in the sauce.

Best served over brown rice.

Corinn's Spicy Hamburgers

The nutrition facts were designed at Calorie Count!

Corinn's Spicy Hamburgers 

Burger patties:

1 pound ground beef 80/20 (not any leaner than that)

1 minced shallot or 1/4 of a minced purple onion

2 cloves minced or crushed garlic

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 egg

1/4 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

Garnishes (all are optional and not included in the nutrition facts):

Green leaf lettuce or arugula

Sliced purple onion

Sliced dill or bread n' butter pickles

Sliced tomatoes

Sliced avocado

Sliced cheese of your choice (I find Havarti, baby Swiss and sharp cheddar to be my favorites)

Strips of cooked pork belly bacon

A fried egg

Good quality sandwich rolls

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl place the pound of ground beef, the egg, the seasonings, the minced or crushed garlic and the minced shallots or purple onion. Add the bread crumbs and mix to combine but be careful not to over-mix and mush up the meat. When mixing is complete, if the mixture is too wet, add more panko to dry it out. It should have a slightly wetter consistency than the raw ground beef alone and should easily form into dense patties. Heat an iron skillet (or any pan with high heat conductivity) to temperature; you'll know it's ready when a drop of water skitters across the surface. Use a small piece of the meat mixture as a "test" for seasoning; cook it through and taste it, then adjust salt and heat levels accordingly.

Once the burger mix is appropriately seasoned, cook on high heat on both sides until nicely browned (if medium doneness is desired). If you want well-done burgers, cook them on medium-high heat for a longer period of time. When the burgers are just a hair away from finished, place a slice of cheese of your choice on top and cut off the heat, allowing residual heat from the pan to finish the burgers themselves and melt the cheese. Allow the burgers to rest for 10 minutes before eating--this is a good time to prepare any garnishes or toast your buns.

After the burgers rest, plate up with your favorite garnishes or buns, french fries, coleslaw, potato chips or any side dish of your choice and enjoy. :)