Hawaiian Oxtail Soup

From Simply Recipes

From Simply Recipes

Serves 4

An odd ingredient, one that isn't readily accessible in the stores around here at least, is dried orange peel. Apparently you can buy it pretty easily in Hawaii. What I did for this ingredient is I used a vegetable peeler to strip off a long strip of peel (just the zest) from an orange. This I set on a shelf in my kitchen for a week to dry out. It worked great. I wondered why one would use the dried and not fresh orange peel and I think perhaps it's because of the long cook time; maybe the dried peel holds up better to long cooking? If I didn't think ahead to dry the peel, I would just use a couple teaspoons of orange zest instead.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs oxtails
• 1 strip dried orange peel (zest, not the pith)
• 2 star anise
• 1 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• Salt, at least a tablespoon, more to taste
• 1/2 cup of shelled, skinned, raw peanuts (can sub roasted unsalted peanuts)
• 1/8 teaspoon chili pepper flakes (or more to taste)
• A handful of fresh mustard greens, coarsely chopped (about 2 cups, loosely packed)

Garnishes:

• Fresh cilantro, chopped
• Green onions, white and green parts, sliced on diagonal
• Freshly grated ginger

Method

1 Bring a large pot (5-quart), half filled with water, to a boil. Add the oxtails. Parboil for 30 minutes. Drain the pot. Rinse the oxtails in water. Trim the oxtails of any excess fat.



2 Return the oxtails to the pot. Cover with water by an inch. Add the orange peel, star anise, ginger, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for one hour. Add the peanuts and simmer for 2-3 more hours, until the oxtail meat is tender and falling off the bone.



3 At the point, you can either skim the fat off the soup and proceed to the next step, or let the soup cool, and chill it overnight in the refrigerator. The next day the fat will have solidified and will be easy to pull up from the top of the soup. The flavors will also have had more of a chance to blend and be absorbed by the oxtails if you let the soup sit overnight.


4 Bring soup to a simmer. Add the chili pepper flakes and mustard greens. Cook for 5 more minutes, or until the mustard greens are tender.

Serve with garnishes of chopped fresh cilantro, green onions, and freshly grated ginger.

If you want, you can strip the meat off the bones before serving. We prefer the meat served bone-in, in which case you will want to provide a bowl for the bones.

Shrimp and Salmon Chowder

Chowder so rich you won’t believe it’s made with our fat free Oikos Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream!

Ingredients
1 tbs. salt
8 Maine potatoes, washed and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. unsalted butter
2 medium onions, chopped
4 stalks of celery, cleaned and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 lb. salmon filet cut into 2" pieces
1 1/4 lb. raw shrimp (about 24 medium sized), peeled and de-veined
3 cups Plain Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt

Directions

In a large stock pot bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and cubed potatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes so they’re slightly undercooked.

In a 10 quart soup pot, over medium heat add olive oil and unsalted butter. Once small ripples form add onions and celery and cook until onions are transparent. Stir in minced garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. Reduce heat to medium-low and add white wine and chicken broth. Add salmon, shrimp, and potatoes. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and gradually fold in yogurt.

Reheat slowly to avoid curdling yogurt and serve.

From our Oikos Organic kitchen.

Spicy Tortilla Soup

From "Real Simple Magazine"

Among hot peppers, jalapeños fall in the medium-spicy range. If you prefer something certifiably hot, substitute Serrano peppers.

Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 store-bought rotisserie chicken

2 32-ounce containers low-sodium chicken broth

1 small red onion, finely chopped

2 jalapeños, seeded and thinly sliced

2 large tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped

1 cup corn kernels, thawed if frozen, or fresh (from 2 ears)

A couple of handfuls of tortilla chips

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1 ripe avocado, roughly chopped

1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled Feta

1 lime, cut into wedges

Preparation
Remove and discard the skin from the chicken. Place the entire chicken and the broth in a large pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate to cool. Strain the broth into another saucepan. Shred the chicken meat and add it to the broth, along with the onion, jalapeños, and tomatoes and their juices. Place over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes. Add the corn and heat until warmed through, about 3 minutes. Place some of the tortilla chips in each bowl. Ladle in the soup and top with the cilantro, avocado, Feta, and the remaining chips. Serve the lime wedges on the side.

Nutrition per Serving
CALORIES 583 (40% from fat); FAT 26g (sat 9g); PROTEIN 56g; CHOLESTEROL 163mg; SODIUM 822mg; FIBER 8; CARBOHYDRATE 33g