PaleOMG's Chicken Bacon Bowl

Original recipe here.

I made mine pretty well the same was as the original PaleOMG recipe, but I cut my bacon into pieces and cooked it with onions and mushrooms. For the assembly, I mashed the sweet potato slightly with a fork, placed it in a bowl with a handful of spinach, then topped it with the bacon & mushroom mixture and a chicken thigh. To finish it off, I added a bit of fresh cracked pepper and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

The original recipe is scaled for one serving but I made mine for 4 servings using 4 chicken thighs, 1 large sweet potato cut into quarters and 4 slices of bacon. It worked out fabulous as left overs for lunch.

Sweet Potato, Leek & Ham Soup

This recipe is adapted from Cooking Light's "Fresh Food Fast" cookbook. It's incredibly quick to make and is a great use of left over holiday ham.

1 cup diced, cooked ham
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups sliced leek (2 large)
3 cups peeled & diced sweet potato (2-3 large)
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup 2% milk
salt & pepper to taste
thin sliced green onion for garnish

1. Heat a large heavy-bottom pot over medium heat. Add ham and cook 3-4 minutes until lightly browned. Remove ham from pan and set aside.

2. Melt butter in the same pot. Add leek and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Add sweet potato, chicken broth and water. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 30 minutes until sweet potato is fork tender.

4. Remove pot from heat and pour in milk. Using an immersion blender, puree soup to desired consistency. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Stir in 3/4 cup of the diced ham. Return pot to low heat and let simmer for 5 minutes, just to heat through.

5. Spoon into bowls and garnish with remaining diced ham and sliced green onion.