Saturday, April 9, 2016

Chicken and Collard Green Stew


Since moving to Jacksonville, the DH and I have started taking advantage of a service called Local Fare Jax. They deliver locally sourced vegetables and fresh eggs. We have chosen to receive deliveries every other week which seems to be enough for us.

The variety of vegetables is wonderful! We have gotten some vegetables which we have never tried before. As a result I have had to figure out how to cook them, too!

In the most recent delivery, we received some collard greens. I ate collard greens once in a restaurant, but could not remember how they tasted. Collard greens are part of the same family as kale, cabbage and broccoli.

I began looking at collard green recipes and found most cooked the greens with a smoked meat. Hmmm, smoked meat includes bacon! But seeing that the DH and I are trying to watch our calories, I decided that bacon would be flavor and chicken would be the main protein in a hardy stew.

Ingredients

2 Boneless, Skinless, Roasted Chicken Breast --about 15 oz sliced thin.
6 slices Hickory Smoked Bacon
8 cups Chicken Stock
4 oz raw Barley, pearled
1 lbs Collard Greens, de-stemmed and chopped.

In a large dutch oven, cook the bacon until the fat begins to render but the meat is still soft, then add the chicken slices, stock and barley to the pot. When the stock comes to a boil, lower to a simmer and put the collard greens into the pot. It will take a few minutes for the collard greens to soften. When they have wilted enough, stir them into the broth. It will take between 35 and 45 minutes for the barley to cook and soak up most of the liquid.

6 servings, 323 calories each

The DH was very impressed and said it was one of the best vegetables he ever tasted he even mentioned it on facebook. I guess I should be flattered that my collard green recipe ranks right up there among the SF Giants posts!

Happy eating!


Sunday, April 3, 2016

Project 2016 -- Florida or Bust: The End!

View from the floatie in the pool.
It is hard to believe that it has been almost 18 months since my last blog. I have been a little busy. It all started with my daughter's wedding and the week we when we rented a house in Florida. If you remember, way back it 2013, I started a blog series called Project 2016 -- Florida or Bust. DH and I were working on various projects to ready the house for sale. After returning from my daughter's wedding and the reveal of the wedding dress, we realized how much we missed Florida and decided to kick it into high gear.

I must apologize that I did not include you, Dear Reader, in my adventures, everything just happened so fast, and there was not any time or energy left for blogging; but let me tell you that when the clock struck midnight on New Years' Eve and 2015 gave way to 2016, the kiss DH gave me was in our new home in Florida. Project 2106: Florida or Bust has ended.

Now on to other things...