Recipe of the Week: Tuscan Spinach, Bean and Sausage Soup

This super easy, super fast soup is great for a weeknight meal. It's ready in 30 minutes. Serve with rustic bread and a salad if you desire.

1 link hot Italian sausage
1 19 ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed
2 cups of chicken broth
1 14 ounce can of diced or crushed tomatoes
1 clove garlic, smashed
8 ounces of fresh spinach, washed and stem removed
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
salt and pepper to taste
garnish with grated Parmesan

1. Bring sausage and 1/4 inch of water to simmer in a large sauce pot over medium heat. 
2. Cook uncovered until water evaporates, approximately 8 minutes. Cook until sausage until is browned.
3. Remove sausage to a cutting board and slice into 1/4 inch pieces when cool enough to handle.
4. Add broth, beans, garlic and marjoram to saucepan. Add sausage. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add spinach stir gently until wilted. When spinach is completely wilted, remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Garnish with Parmesan if desired and serve.

Where am I sourcing my food from?

Sausage: Forks Farm (This is part of my 1/2 hog that we bought in December. I don't usually like hot sausage, but this is not too hot and really flavorful)
Chicken Broth, Canned Beans and Tomatoes: Kimberton Whole Foods
Spinach: Two Gander Farm (my winter CSA)

Recipe of the Week: Moroccan Lentil Stew

I made stew for friends the other night. It is great on cold, snowy nights because of the wonderful combination of sweet and spicy flavors. Not too hot, the stew really warms you. It also makes great leftovers. 

The original recipe came from Vegetarian Times, but below are the ingredients I used. I don't usually use prepared soups either, but Dr. McDougall's* soups are all real food (I checked the ingredient list!) and on a busy weeknight this can be made in 30 minutes or less.

Serves 6

• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 carrots diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
• 1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 2 18.2-oz. cartons prepared lentil soup, such as Dr. McDougall’s
• 1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup raisins or dried currants
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon,
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 1/2  teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4  teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 6 Tbs. plain nonfat Greek yogurt or soy yogurt, optional

1. Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, saute for 5 minutes. Add onion, and saute for 3 minutes, or until softened and translucent. Add garlic, and cook 1 minute, or until garlic is softened, but not browned, stirring constantly.
2. Stir in tomatoes, soup, chickpeas, raisins, and all spices. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Bring stew to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes, or until mixture is reduced and sauce has thickened, stirring often from bottom to prevent sticking. Garnish each serving with 1 Tbs. yogurt, if desired. 

*Dr. McDougall soups come in  box and can be found in the "organic" section at Giant, at Wegman/'s and health food stores.

Enjoy and keep eating real food!

Turkey and Black Bean Soup

I posted this last year at about this time and since it is so cold, and all I really want to do is hibernate, I thought I would re-post it. I made the soup this evening and added a parsnip and a little chipotle pepper. Everyone was happy at my house

Turkey and Black Bean Soup: This is a staple at our house. It's easy to make, you can double recipe, it freezes and frequently it's something I give as a gift. Even Brian, my oldest and my sister, who claim they don't like beans, love this. The original recipe is from Cooking.com, but I have changed enough to call it my own.

The Recipe:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion chopped

1 lb ground turkey

1 tablespoon chilipowder

1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons oregano

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

several dashes tabasco

1 15oz can diced tomatoes

1 15oz can black beans

1 quart chick stock

10oz spinach, kale or other steaming greens, washed, stems removed

1. In a large stock pot or dutch oven add olive oil and ground turkey. Brown turkey until completely cooked. Remove turkey.
2. Add onion and saute over medium heat until translucent
3. Add turkey back to pot and add spices. Let cook for several minutes to allow flavors to blend
4. Add chicken stock, tomatoes and beans. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes
5. Add spinach or kale. Cook until wilted and serve.

Serve with at little parmesean as garnish.

Note:

I prefer Kale when I know I'm going to freeze this. The kale holds up better and doesn't get mushy.

What We Had for Dinner

The fall back to school schedule is a bit full this year, I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow the boys have at least one commitment most weekdays. Tuesdays are my favorite, there is cross country, intramural sports, baseball and piano, and Tuesdays happen to be the day that I have most of my networking events too. Finding the time to make dinner, never mind something that everyone likes and is healthy seems like an impossible feat. This last week we have had the following:

Lemon Garlic Braised Chicken: I made this last Sunday and while it does take a while to make, about one hour of cooking time, I made a lot of extra brown rice which I used later in the week. For this dish, you place whole cloves of garlic in 2 cups of chicken broth and simmer for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, place the chicken thighs a saute pan and brown. When the chicken is done add 1 tablespoon of flour and make a roux with the fat. Slowly add about 2/3 cup of white wine, stirring constantly. Pour the chicken broth in the saute pan and continue to stir until slightly thickened. Place chicken, sliced lemon, and liquid into oven-proof dish and cook for about 45 minutes on 350. I served with local green beans, beets and shitake mushrooms, but you can serve with whatever makes you happy. While it does take a while to make, I love this dish because I can double or even triple it and we have leftovers or I can freeze it for dinner another week.


Fried Rice: With the left-over rice from the Lemon Garlic Braised Chicken I made what we call "Fried Rice" Not exactly Asian, our Fried Rice includes whatever vegetables are on hand at the moment. For this I scrambled 2 eggs and then sauteed, onions, carrots, swiss chard,  and mushrooms. I add the cold rice to the pan and let it heat through, not stirring too often. Once heated I add mixture of tamari, minced ginger, fish sauce and rice vinegar. Toss gently until mixed through. Serve with cashew if you like. Oh, and make sure you stir the ginger in thoroughly. I got sidetracked and we had a lot of ginger in one area.

Stuffed Pumpkins: I made this Saturday with the local Sweet Italian Sausage, red quinoa, and lentils as the base. Again I cooked extra lentils to use in soup later. For this I sauteed onions, garlic, carrots, sweet potatoes and one beet. Mix everything together and stuff your pumpkin. Cooking time is about one hour, but at least you can do something else while it's in the oven.

Lentil Soup:  We'll be having this on Tuesday! I made this on Sunday, while I was making a bunch of other things. Sauteed onions, carrot and sweet potatoes, added the lentils in and the broth that was left over from cooking them. Next add one 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes and I had some broccoli left over from something else so I put that in too. When I reheat I'm going to add some baby spinach and serve with a loaf of this amazing bread I bought from Sweetwater Baking Co. http://www.sweetwaterbakingcompany.com/index.html

Enjoy and try something new

My Family's New Favorite Soup - Chicken Tortilla Soup

We have been eating a lot of soup lately. Mostly because I can double the recipe easily and freeze half. On those nights I don't feel like cooking, it's really easy to pull out some frozen soup and heat it up.
With all the snow on the ground there is nothing more comforting than hot soup. I made this twice in the last week it is so good. It takes about 45 minutes to make, you can double the recipe and freeze the soup too. And again, even my son Brian, who claims he dislikes chicken, loved it

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

4-6 chicken thighs (see note)

1 onion diced

1 jalepeno pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 qt chicken broth

28oz can diced tomatoes

1 cup frozen corn

2 14oz cans black beans, rinsed

1/4 cup parsely and/or cilantro, chopped

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

3 soft tortillas, sliced thinly

1 lime quartered

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large sauce pot brown chicken thighs until cooked through, remove from pot and let cool. Drain fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon.
2. add onion and garlic. Saute until the onion is translucent Add jalepeno pepper, saute for 30 seconds
3. Add the chicken broth, deglazing the pan and scraping any bits from the bottom of the pan.
4. Add tomatoes, corn, black beans, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes
5. Meanwhile shred the chicken, and add back to the pot and simmer for 5-10 minutes
6. Heat a small sauted pan over medium-low heat. Add sliced tortilla strips and "saute" until the strips start to brown and become crisp.

TO SERVE:

Ladle soup into bowls, add a little parsley/cilantro and squeeze lime on top of soup. Garnish with tortilla strips. Serves 4-6 as a main dish.

NOTE:

You can substitute 2 chicken breast for the thighs if you like. I use thighs because I think they add better flavor. The chicken breast have less fat.

Dinner Ideas: What We Are Eating This Week

It's been warmer here the last couple of days and I'm really dying to grill. The grill, however is in the gargage surrounded by the sub-floor, the bamboo floor, and bathroom fixtures for the basement project we've been working on for a couple of months. There is a small path from the back door through the garage and out the garage door, so getting the grill out isn't going to happen for at least another week when we should have the sub-floor down. So since I'm stuck cooking inside for the next couple of days, this is what we are having:

Turkey and Black Bean Soup: This is a staple at our house. It's easy to make, you can double recipe, it freezes and frequently it's something I give as a gift. Even Brian, my oldest and my sister, who claim they don't like beans, love this. The original recipe is from Cooking.com, but I have changed enough to call it my own.

The Recipe:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion chopped

1 lb ground turkey

1 tablespoon chilipowder

1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons oregano

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

several dashes tabasco

1 15oz can diced tomatoes

1 15oz can black beans

1 quart chick stock

10oz spinach, kale or other steaming greens, washed, stems removed

1. In a large stock pot or dutch oven add olive oil and ground turkey. Brown turkey until completely cooked. Remove turkey.
2. Add onion and saute over medium heat until translucent
3. Add turkey back to pot and add spices. Let cook for several minutes to allow flavors to blend
4. Add chicken stock, tomatoes and beans. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes
5. Add spinach or kale. Cook until wilted and serve.

Serve with at little parmesean as garnish.

Note:

I prefer Kale when I know I'm going to freeze this. The kale holds up better and doesn't get mushy.