As far as winters go, this year’s has been manageable. We’ve had a lot of warm days, barely any snow and as we head into the month of March, it’s clear that spring is on the horizon… woohoo! So as we close in on the end of our season of soups, stews and roasts, we thought we’d share some of our favorite recipes that we’ve been cooking up all winter long.

Ginger Sesame Chicken Tacos

If there’s one thing we know to be true, it’s that tacos are on our menu all year round. In this unique take from Half Baked Harvest, however, we trade out spicy and limey chicken for more savory flavors. The best part is, we make a big batch of the ginger sesame chicken at the start of the week and have it as tacos one night, and on top of white rice in a bowl format another. Two weeknight meals down!

Ingredients:

Chicken:

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• Sesame or olive oil, for drizzling
  

Sauce: 

• 1/2 cup tamari or soy sauce
• 1/3 cup orange juice + 2 tablespoons zest
• 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
• 1-3 tablespoons chili paste
• 2 teaspoons creamy peanut butter
• 2-4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

Tacos:

• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 12 hard shell tacos
• nori sheets, lettuce, kimchi, cilantro, green onion, and queso fresco or your favorite cheese, for serving
• yum yum style sauce, for serving

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 475° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with oil.
2. In a bowl, combine the chicken, egg white, tamari/soy sauce, and orange zest. Toss well to coat. In a separate bowl, add the cornstarch.
3. Coat the chicken with cornstarch and place on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with oil. Bake for 8 minutes. Flip the chicken and bake another 3-5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Switch the oven to broil.
4. Whisk together the tamari/soy sauce, orange juice, honey/maple, chili paste, peanut butter, garlic, and ginger. Pour the sauce over the chicken, then toss to coat. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Broil 1-3 minutes, until the sauce begins to stick to the chicken and thicken.
5. Stuff the chicken into shells, then top as desired. Serve with any extra sauce from the sheet pan and/or yum yum style sauce.

Healthy Broccoli Cheddar Soup

For those nights when you’re wanting something healthy but hearty, we highly recommend cooking up a batch of Detoxinista’s Broccoli Cheddar Soup. Using white beans, instead of flour, to thicken it and cashews, instead of heavy cream, for added creaminess, this soup will warm and fill you up, without making you feel too full.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 yellow onion , chopped
• 2 cloves garlic , minced
• 4 cups water
• 1 (15 oz.) can white beans , rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup raw cashews (optional, but recommended)
• 1 pound broccoli florets , chopped (about 10 cups)
• 1 large carrot , shredded (about 1 cup)
• Salt & black pepper , to taste
• 4 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese , shredded (1 cup)

Instructions:

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat, and saute the onion until it starts to soften, about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and stir briefly, just until fragrant, about 1 more minute.
• Add the drained beans to a blender, along with the water and cashews (if using). Blend until very smooth, then immediately add it to the pot, so the garlic won’t burn.
• Add in the broccoli and shredded carrot, along with 2 teaspoons of salt and a 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil.
• Once the liquid is boiling, lower the heat and cover with a lid. Let the soup gently simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the broccoli is very tender.
• Transfer roughly 3 cups of the soup to a blender, making sure to grab any large pieces of broccoli, so there won’t be large chunks in the soup. Blend briefly, pulsing the broccoli into smaller pieces, but not blending until it’s totally pureed. You want some texture in this soup! (Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender to blend directly in the soup pot.)
• Return the blended soup back to the pot, then add in the shredded cheese. Stir briefly, just until the cheese has melted, then adjust any seasoning to taste. I usually add in more salt, just a 1/4 teaspoon at a time, until the soup is extra flavorful.
• Serve warm with extra toppings you love.

Basmati Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are one of our favorite meals to make at the end of the week because you can pretty much stuff the peppers with any leftover ingredients in the fridge and if you make extra, they’re easy to freeze and re-heat. Bonus! We especially love these Basmati Stuffed Peppers from the Bad Manners crew because they’re heavy on the vegetables and pack a lot of punch in flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups brown basmati or other long grain rice
• 1 large tomato
• 1 large carrot
• 1 zucchini
• 1 large onion, yellow or white
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 ¼ teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika*
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 1/4 cups veggie broth or water
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 ½ cups white beans or 1- 15 ounce can**
• 2 tablespoons of chopped onion or 1 shallot
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (or whatever vinegar you’ve already used)
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon oregano dried
• 4 large bell peppers
• fresh basil to top

Instructions:

For step-by-step instructions, we recommend reading it straight from the author’s website, so you can get a full serving of their “cook with what you’ve got!” attitude.