East Coast Chicken Bowl Pie (Flat Dumplings)
Chicken Bowl Pie is about as simple as it comes, while still being hearty and stick to your ribs. It is a staple back east where the dad-man and ma’ grew up. We call it bowl pie, but to others it is chicken and dumplings. To me, they are two different things even though I put similar things into both.
In its most basic form, the recipe came from the dad-man’s childhood best friend, Shemp. Specifically, it was Mrs. Shemp’s chicken and dumpling recipe. I changed the name when I got this recipe plus the one from my Aunt Linda, which used biscuit dumplings. The dumplings in bowl pie are pasta like and flat and I personally like the texture over biscuit dumplings.
Chicken Bowl Pie
Ingredients
Bowl Pie
- 3 c cooked, shredded chicken
- 2 qts chicken broth
Dumplings
- 2 c all purpose flour
- 1 t salt
- Ice water
Instructions
- Combine chicken, and broth in a Dutch oven and bring to a boil.
- For Dumplings, place flour and salt on a clean work surface. Slowly work in the water until a firm dough forms. Lightly flour the work surface, and roll out dough to one quarter inch thick. Cut dough into 2 inch squares.
- Place dough squares in the pot and cook at a boil for about 5 min. Add frozen vegetables and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Serve warm.
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
My family calls them stuffed cabbage rolls, but others call them pigs in a blanket. I’ve even heard them be called cows in cabbage. Which is kind of a fun name. I find cabbage rolls to be a great, quick cool weather dish. Yes, even in the desert we like a cozy warm dish.
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 c day old rice
- 8 large cabbage leaves
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1/4 c chopped onion
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 1 t salt
- 1/4 t ground black pepper
- 1 can condensed tomato soup 10.75 oz
Instructions
- In a large, wide saucepan bring slightly salted water to a boil. Cook for 2-4 minutes, until softened; drain water.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine ground beef, rice, egg, salt, pepper, along with 2 tablespoons of tomato soup. Mix thoroughly.
- Divide beef mixture evenly among the cabbage leaves. Roll and Securewith a toothpick or kitchen string.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, place cabbage rolls, and pour the remaining tomato soup over the top. Cover and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring and basting with liquid often. Serve hot.
I find that this meal is the best with mashed potatoes or simple buttered potatoes because the tomato gravy provides so much flavor. I also like to top my plate with a little bit of cheddar cheese.
Roasted Garlic Potato Soup
Cooler weather is upon us in the desert… for the week. Nothing warms the soul like Roasted garlic potato soup. It is no surprise at this point that I love potatoes. I also love garlic and this marries the two perfectly.
Roasted Garlic Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 3 lbs red potatoes
- 4 c water or broth
- 1-1/2 c heavy cream
- 1/4 c red onion, diced
- 1/4 c roasted garlic cloves, minced
- 1 stalk celery
- 2 t creole seasoning
- 1 t black pepper
- 2 t garlic powder
- 2 t onion powder
- 1 t chili powder
- 1 t paprika
- Sour cream, shredded cheese, chives, bacon to serve
Instructions
- Rinse potatoes, cut them into cubes and put them into a pot of water. Boil until fork tender.
- In a large pot, saute onion, celery and spices until translucent. Add garlic and pour in water/broth.
- Once potatoes are cooked, rice about â…” of them into your pot of sauteed veggies. Throw in the other â…“ of diced potatoes. Mix well and cook on low for 45 min to an hour.
- Add cream and mix to combine. Cook for an additional 20 min with no lid, so the soup thickens slightly. Stir and serve with toppings.
I find that this soup goes amazingly with pretzel rolls or soft pretzels. But, I just like pretzels in general. The saltiness just works with the soup.
Artichoke Pasta Salad
Artichoke Pasta Salad is a light yet fulfilling tortellini pasta salad. With marinated mushrooms, artichokes and chopped olives it is a dump and go meal for a hot day when you don’t want to heat up the house. Light and a bit funky with the crumbled feta, it is a great change from the extra savory pasta salads that come up in the summer.
Summers in Tucson are brutal, there’s no other way to say it and no one out here wants to cook on the regular. With end of the school year picnic and luncheons growing up the room parents struggled to provide the teachers with the food they deserved. But, this pasta salad from Ms. Ima Kemp (back in 2006) came in clutch whenever they needed a easy and delicious side to feed teachers.
Hate to break it to you, but you will have to turn on the stove for just a couple minutes to boil water and cook your pasta. I find it easiest to cook the tortellini in the morning before it hits 100 degrees by 9 am in Tucson. Now, I don’t have the humidity that others do, but I have to assume that it makes it just as bad to cook.
Letting the salad sit once it’s mixed is imperative in my opinion. It doesn’t have to be for long, but the longer it sits, the better it gets. When serving this dish, I find that this pasta salad is not as good when you add meat to it. Additionally, you may have to add more dressing as the cheese and pasta soaks up the dressing.
Whether you’re taking this to your next summer potluck or eating it as an easy dinner, don’t forget to savor the time around the table. Stay cool this summer and enjoy a cool meal around the picnic table.
Artichoke Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb tortellini, cooked & rinsed according to package
- 3 small jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained but not rinsed
- 1 jar marinated mushrooms, drained but not rinsed
- 1 pkg crumbled Feta 6-8 oz
- 1/2 – 1 c Italian dressing
- 1 can diced black olives 4 oz
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to the package and rinse.
- Roughly chop artichokes. Combine ingredients, refrigerate for an hour and serve.
Classic Stuffed Peppers
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Stuffed peppers are a great low cost, very scalable meal. You can add more to the recipe to feed more people. This recipe makes eight servings with just 4 bell peppers; though you can eat as many as you want!
Growing up, I couldn’t eat bell peppers or a lot of ground beef, so they didn’t get made. When I finally had them in college, I thought they were the best thing on the planet. The twin-human did not agree; they were the worst thing on the planet. The problem, we now know, is the fact that we used oregano instead of parsley. That makes a huge difference as you could imagine because when you add too much oregano to something it tends to taste like dirt.
Stuffed peppers don’t really need a side dish, but I tend to serve it with burn and serve garlic bread. If you’re packing it for lunch as meal preps, bring some extra cheese because it adds an extra something to the reheated meal.
Classic Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 can tomato sauce 28 oz, divided
- 1 c 1-1/4 water divided
- 2 t soy sauce
- 1 t sugar
- 1 t salt
- 1 t garlic powder
- 1 t dried parsley
- 1/2 t mustard powder
- 1 c minute rice uncooked
- 4 large green bell pepper halved
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 deg.
- Heat a large skillet on medium heat; add the ground beef and chopped onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is fully cooked with some brown bits.
- Stir in 1 c of the tomato sauce, 1 c water, sugar, soy sauce, garlic powder, parsley, salt and mustard powder. Increase the heat and bring to a boil. Stir in minute rice, then cover with the lid and take it off the heat. Let stand for 5 min.
- While you wait, cut peppers lengthwise in half and remove the stem and seeds.
- Mix remaining tomato sauce and a sprinkle more garlic powder; pour it into the bottom of a 13 X 9 inch pan. Place the peppers in the bottom of the pan, like little boats.
- Spoon meat mixture into the peppers and cover with foil.
- Bake for 35-40 min. Spoon the sauce over the peppers before serving.
