Category Archives: Dr. Collard’s Favorite recipe

Dr. Collard’s Favorite Recipe- Phu Noodles

Phu Vietnamese Restaurants are some of my favorite healthy eats. I love the fresh vegetables and the lean protein. My wife started making it at home and it is just as good. But here is the best part. Left overs are even better and your food will taste just as fresh by storing your broth, vegetables and garnishes all separate. Then when you are ready for a quick dinner heat up your broth, noodles, meat and add your fresh veggies, dinner or lunch is done. You can heat up one bowl at a time for yourself or the whole pot to serve a crowd.

1. Take your meat that you have already cooked. This can be baked, BBQ, roasted it does not matter. Chop it up into bite size strips.
2. Chop up all of your vegetable. You can keep them separate or dump them all together in one big bowl. Get creative and make it colorful. Use your favorite veggies and use up what you have in your fridge. There is no wrong here.
3. Make your broth using your choice of chicken broth. We use the broth in the carton for convenience. Then we add chopped purple onions, garlic, salt and pepper & ginger. The trick is not to over cook your broth because the flavor will become more bland and loose nutrition value. If you choose to add cabbage or bok choy or mushrooms we add it to the broth and cook it unlike the other veggies.
4. Cook Rice noodles following directions on the package. If you have never cooked rice noodles before, your going to love how fast they cook and are light and delicious.
5. Dish up your bowl by adding your freshly chopped veggies, & protein, then add your hot broth (with cabbage) overtop. Garnish with cilantro, green onion and fresh lime. We also like to add a bit of chili sauce like Sriracha.

Ingredients

1 lbs.    lean protein (we like chicken or steak)

1 head    cabbage or bok choy

1 pkg.    rice noodles

10 c.    Chicken Broth

1/2 t.    Salt & Pepper to taste (depends on the broth)

1     onion, purple or white

1 8oz    mushrooms sliced

4 clove    Garlic

1 t.    Ginger

Garnish with green onion lime, cilantro & chili sauce. This recipe can be easily modified. Enjoy!

Zucchini Soup

This time of year everyone has a zucchini they are trying to get rid of but how much zucchini bread can you eat? We love this soup recipe that Missy’s mom would make. It could be even more healthy than this but this is how we like it.

Zucchini Soup

4 tablespoon butter (real not fake)

2 Onions, chopped

8 small zucchinis (you can use large ones)

2 tablespoon season salt

4 c. low sodium chicken broth

1 c. milk (I like to use coconut milk)

1/4 c. flour

1. In a stock pot melt 2 tablespoon butter add onions and zucchini with the skin on and 1 tablespoon season salt. Sauté until the zucchini is soft and the onions are translucent.
2. When cooked, puree in food processor or blender.
3. Use the same empty stock pot while your mixture sits in the blender. Melt 2 tablespoons butter and add 1/4 c. flour, 1 tablespoon season salt to make a creamy white sauce. Then slowly add your milk while whisking together to prevent lumps.
4. Add your puree to your stock pot and continue to heat, do not boil.

Adjust seasonings to taste and serve warm. My mother-in-law would add a spoonful of sour cream to each bowl when serving. We still do this to our kids bowls. For a complete meal add a side of chicken breast and 1/2 c. grains. We like to add the chopped chicken breast and cooked barley right into our soup– not how mom did it but it is healthier than a loaf of warm bread.      ♥♥ U Mom

Enjoy!

Grilled Salmon with Coconut Curry Sauce

Grilled Salmon with Coconut Curry Sauce

BBQ veggies and meat is a summer time staple. It’s flexible to cook with whatever you have on hand. At the Collard house we mix it up by adding different seasonings and sauces. Buy a grill basket or pan that has holes in it for your veggies. I bought two for $1 at the dollar store. We reuse them all summer. Or for a different texture we steam the veggies using tin foil.

1. Take whatever veggies you have in the fridge or garden and chop them up. Make sure you have a carb like potatoes or you can add a grain to your dish like rice or our favorite kamut.
2. Add a light coating of melted coconut oil or butter to the veggies. This helps them brown in the bbq without drying out. Then dump veggies with lemon halves onto your grilling pan on the bbq.
3. Take your salmon and put it on foil, add salt and pepper. You can combine the veggies with the salmon but I like to cook it separate.
4. Put the salmon wrapped in tin foil on the bbq and grill until the Salmon and Veggies look done. Don’t over cook your salmon or veggies.

Coconut Curry Sauce

We don’t always add a sauce but when we do the coconut curry is delicious. You can adjust this to how you like or Pinterest a great recipe, we use what we have on hand and try to keep in fresh with simple ingredients without sugar. If you make it yourself then you know what is in it. I use canned coconut milk , curry powered, Braggs Soy sauce and Thai chili paste.

In a sauce pan add

1 can      light coconut milk

2 T.        Braggs soy sauce

2 ½ T.   Curry power

2 T.        Thai Chili paste

Heat and serve. This sauce will not thicken up because we don’t add sugar. Trust me its still good! Enjoy