SUN COOKING USA
AROUND THE WORLD
Creamy Tomato Soup Minus the Cream
Serve this soup with a grilled cheese sandwich for the ultimate feel good lunch or light dinner.
Sun Oven Tomato Soup
Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup arborio rice
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
Solar Drumsticks to Go
Unlike with a conventional oven, Sun Oven roasted poultry needs to be cooked in a covered pan. To create a lid for a rectangular baking dish simply cover it tightly with tin foil and then a dark tea towel, or if you prefer to be able to see the food while it cooks, use an oven bag. To keep the skin from getting soggy place a rack in the pan and set the chicken pieces on top.
These solar roasted drumsticks are good warm or at room temperature and are great for packed lunches or picnics – and cats like them too!
Sun Oven Roasted Drumsticks
8 drumsticks, rinsed and patted dry
2 tablespoons olive oil
The All American Sun Oven and Cookware
The slightly larger cooking chamber of the new All American Sun Oven means it’s time to reevaluate my cookware. Pans that are just a little too big for the Global Sun Oven now fit and others, that just fit, now have a little extra room for better air flow and tilt.
This 13 x 9 glass baking dish now fits just right.
The handles on this 11 x 9-inch metal baking pan made it just a little too big for the Global now fits perfectly in the All American Sun Oven.
And my 14 1/2-inch oval roasting pan still needs to go in on an angle, but now it doesn’t touch the sides making it possible to tilt the oven to the max.
Solar Chicken Stew
Serve this easy to prepare stew with rice or couscous to soak up the juices.
Sun Oven Chicken Stew with Garlic
Ingredients
1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces, skin removed
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 3/4 cups chicken broth, divided
Solar Soup Latin Style
Shake and Bake Solar Bread
On my most recent trip to Ikea I couldn’t resist this mix* for whole grain bread that comes in a milk-style carton.
You just add water, shake, pour it into a bread pan, let rise for 45 minutes, and bake. Only one pan to clean!
The instructions say to bake it at 400 degrees, which had me a little concerned about how good a candidate it would be for Sun Oven cooking, but after a quick google search where I found one review that said hers was burnt on the outside and undercooked in the middle.
I knew there was virtually no chance the outer crust would burn in the Sun Oven so I gave it a try.
The slightly hazy day was not even ideal for solar cooking – something I noticed only after mixing the dough – yet the loaf came out just fine, despite an oven temperature that struggled to stay between 250 and 300 and a rather extended (about 2 hours) cooking time.
*available at Ikea stores and on their web site
Salad? From the Sun Oven?
Here in Southern California, with some parts of the L.A. area already seeing temperatures in the 90s, it feels like we’ve gone directly from winter to summer without passing spring.
This means the thermos of hot soup in our packed lunches has stepped aside to make way for some refreshing salads.
Salad may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think Sun Oven, all the cooked ingredients in the one pictured, poached chicken, bacon, and hard boiled egg, were cooked in the sun.
Solar Poached Chicken
The Sun Oven’s gentle heat is perfect for making tender and tasty poached boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The meat can be stored in the refrigerator and used for salad, sandwiches, or any recipe that calls for cooked chicken.
Sun Oven Poached Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 stalks celery, cut into 2 to 4 pieces
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
Preparation
Set Sun Oven out to preheat.
Arrange the chicken breast in a pot in a single layer. Add enough water to cover by about 1/2-inch. Add the onion, celery, salt, peppercorns, and bay leaf. Cover and Cook in the Sun Oven until the meat is no longer pink, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove the chicken from the cooking liquid. Discard the liquid and solids. Serve warm or refrigerate for future use.
Solar Baked Rice with Peas and Mint
Sun Oven baked brown rice is good on its own but even better with a little sprucing up.
Sun Oven Baked Rice with Peas and Feta
Ingredients
Baked Brown Rice 1 1/2 cups rice and 3 cups water
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Preparation
When the rice come out of the Sun Oven fluff it with a fork and add the peas, mint, and lemon zest. Lay a clean kitchen towel over the pot. Place the lid over the towel and let the rice rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the feta cheese just before serving.
Sunny Solar Soup
If you don’t have pots that fit side by side two stackable ones will work just as well. For easier balancing place the one with the broth on the bottom.
Sun Oven Asparagus Soup
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil divided, plus extra for serving
1 onion, finely chopped
1 pound asparagus, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, tips removed and set aside
4 cups chicken broth
