Two Recipes In One Post, It's Your Lucky Day

I LOVE soup!  And since it's my birthday I decided if I'm making dinner it's going to be something I like.  Then I felt a little bad and came up with the idea to make some fresh cornbread for you know who to fill up on.

I've never made cornbread, in fact I don't know that I have ever eaten it.  That means I might not be the best person to judge how good this recipe was. I searched around a little and found the basic ingredients for cornbread then added onions, cheese, jalapeno and creamed corn.  Put it all together and you get Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread.

What I love most about the cornbread is that it is cooked in a skillet, for some reason that makes me happy, but I'm weird like that.

This was the perfect side for Spicy Vegetable Chicken Soup.  I love soup and I love vegetables even more and this soup is packed full of them.  I just have one confession, I didn't use happy chicken.  You see for some reason when I was standing in front of all the chicken at the grocery store $11.51 for two chicken breast seemed like to much compared to $6.51 with 30% off.  I figured since it was going to be swimming in chicken broth I would never notice....and I didn't.

                                               So Cute! Right?

Here are both recipes. I used a Hot Smoked Paprika in the soup.  If you don't have the Hot variety you could add 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper for some heat.

Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup creamed corn
• 4 tbsp olive oil divided
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 cup chopped jalapeno peppers

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet into the oven.
3. In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk together to combine well.
4. In a large bowl, combine the buttermilk, 2 tbsp olive oil, eggs, and creamed corn, and onion whisking together to combine thoroughly.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the buttermilk mixture and stir to combine. If the batter will not pour, add more buttermilk to the batter.
6. Swirl the canola oil in the hot cast iron skillet. Pour the batter into the skillet, top with cheese and jalapeno.
7. Bake until the cornbread is golden brown and springs back upon the touch, about 30 minutes.

Spicy Vegetable Chicken Soup

serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 2 cups  spinach
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 boneless, cooked chicken breasts
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 cup carrots, sliced
•  celery stalks, chopped
• 1 can chickpeas, drained 
• 1 L low-sodium chicken stock

Directions

1.  Preheat a large pot on medium heat. Add chopped bacon and fry until brown and crispy. When the bacon is done, remove and drain on paper towel.

2.  Keeping heat on medium, add onions, mushrooms and peppers to bacon grease and saute until soft, about 6 minutes.

3.  Add garlic, spinach, paprika and cumin and stir for 60 seconds.

4.  Turn heat down to med-low and add chickpeas, celery, carrots and chicken. Pour in chicken stock and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5.  Garnish with parmesan cheese and bacon. 

ENJOY!