Red Pepper and Onion Relish

2 red bell peppers, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 T crushed red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to boil, and reduce to simmer.  Cook 30 minutes, uncovered.  Stir occasionally.  Chill at least 4 hours before using.

I went in search of this recipe after buying something similar in a jar at a schmanzty cooking store.  I was reading the ingredients on the jar ($5 for 6 ounces!) and thought it must be simple and cheaper to just make.  This makes a smidge over a pint for probably the same or a little less money. 

This is good on top of chicken.  Usually I pan fry chicken with salt and pepper, then remove it from the pan and deglaze it with the relish - just long enough to heat through - and spoon over each piece of chicken.  Lately we've been using with mayo or italian dressing with chicken and cucumber in sandwich wraps.  It also goes nice on a Triscuit with some mozzerella and heated under the broiler until the cheese just melts.

This freezes nicely, although I've yet to see it go bad in the fridge - possibly due to the high acidity from the vinegar.

Chicken Soup with Lentils and Barley

1 cup sliced leeks
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T butter
2 14.5 oz cans chicken broth
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dry lentils, rinsed
1/2 t basil
1/4 t oregano
1/4 t rosemary
1/4 t black pepper
1 1/2 cup chopped cooked chicken
1 1/2  cup sliced carrots (about 3 medium)
1/2 cup quick-cook barley
1 14.5 oz can tomatoes, cut up

In stockpot cook leeks, bell pepper and garlic in melted butter until tender.  Stir in broth, water, lentils, herbs and black pepper.  Bring to boil; simmer covered 20 minutes.  Stir in chicken, carrots and uncooked barley.  Cover and simmer another 20 minutes or until carrots are tender.  Stir in undrained tomatoes and heat through.


Instead of using water, I had about a cup of home made chicken stock and completed the rest of the water.  Also I think that using a can of diced tomatoes instead of cutting up whole canned tomatoes would be better.  On the whole this is a hearty soup, not very brothy. 

Also, when making anything that requires cooked chicken I buy a rotisserie cooked chicken.  It costs the same around here as buying a raw roaster, and it has a better texture than poached chicken.

Fennel and Celery Salad

2 fennel bulbs
3 celery ribs
1/4 cup olive oil
3 T lemon juice
salt/pepper

Cut fennel in quarters - use mandoline to slice thinly.  Slice celery in the same thickness. Chop small handful of fennel fronds.  Toss all together.  In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, then combine with vegetable. 


The original recipe called for freshly shaved parmesan cheese.  I find shaving parm to be tedious, and I don't think I can taste it in this salad.  Also, if you are going to make this salad ahead of time and eat over the course of a week (which I do) I recommend leaving out the salt and just adding some on and tossing it in just before eating.  Otherwise it leaches out all the water from the vegetables and the dressing becomes very runny.  If serving right away though it's fine. 

I tried this the first time with skepticism.  I don't generally like fennel; I'm not a big fan of licorice.  Even when I make this I can't snack on the fennel shavings.  Something about the lemon juice mixes with the slight licorice flavor and somehow makes it acceptable to me.  This last time I made this, I used 1 fennel bulb and julienned a jicama for a little variety. 

Also regarding the mandoline - use the slicing guard or get a fancy cut-proof glove.  I have a nice oval scar on the very tip of my middle finger where I took a slice off while not using one.  Thankfully, I was slicing things very thin and my blade was sharp, so the damage wasn't too bad.