You are here: Home / Archives for Soups

Beef and Barley Soup

February 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

IMG_6544.JPG

I am unsure of how to make Beef and Barley soup look presentable, but we really liked this soup no matter how it looks in photos. We watched an episode of Barefoot Contessa where Ina was making this soup for a firehouse. She actually used oxtails as her beef and then didn’t serve the soup with the meat. We thought that was kind of strange, so we used stew meat and definitely served it in the bowl.

The recipe was a good Sunday soup since it sits for a while and involves a lot of veggie chopping. It was a very well-rounded meal with a meat protein, barley and lots of vegetables. A win for a one-pot dinner!

Here are some step by step pictures with the recipe below.

1. Browning meat in a cast iron skillet.

photo 1.JPG

2. Chopping veggies to add to soup.

photo 2.JPG

3. Simmering the beef, broth and veggies together.

photo 3.JPG

4. Barley cooks separately until water is absorbed, then added to soup pot.

photo 4.JPG

Beef and Barley Soup

By Ina Garten

Ingredients

(below is her recipe that feeds probably 10 people. We roughly cut it down, especially in the broth doing about 6 cups. Otherwise, do about the same.)

  • 1 tablespoon good olive oil
  • 2 pounds stew meat (that’s really what it’s called)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)
  • 2 cups (1/2-inch) diced carrots (4 carrots)
  • 1 cup chopped yellow onion
  • 1 cup (1/2-inch) diced celery (2 stalks)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 10 cups canned beef broth
  • 1 cup pearled barley

Directions

  • Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset. Add the beef, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes until browned all over. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and reserve.
  • Add the leeks, carrots, onion, celery, and garlic to the fat in the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until the vegetables start to brown. Tie the thyme sprigs together with kitchen string and add to the pot along with the bay leaves. Return the meat to the pot and add the broth, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Discard the thyme bundle and the bay leaves, and skim off the fat.
  • Meanwhile, bring 4 cups of water to a boil and add the barley. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, drain, and set aside.
  • When the soup is ready, add the barley and cook the soup for another 15 or 20 minutes, until the barley is tender. Depending on the saltiness of the stock, the soup might need another teaspoon of salt and some pepper.

photo-9.JPG

 

Print
Beef and Barley Soup
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • Beef and Barley Soup
  • By Ina Garten
  • below is her recipe that feeds probably 10 people. We roughly cut it down, especially in the broth doing about 6 cups. Otherwise, do about the same.)
  • 1 tablespoon good olive oil
  • 2 pounds stew meat (that’s really what it’s called)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)
  • 2 cups (1/2-inch) diced carrots (4 carrots)
  • 1 cup chopped yellow onion
  • 1 cup (1/2-inch) diced celery (2 stalks)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 10 cups canned beef broth
  • 1 cup pearled barley

Instructions
  1. Directions
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset. Add the beef, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes until browned all over. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and reserve.
  3. Add the leeks, carrots, onion, celery, and garlic to the fat in the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until the vegetables start to brown. Tie the thyme sprigs together with kitchen string and add to the pot along with the bay leaves. Return the meat to the pot and add the broth, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Discard the thyme bundle and the bay leaves, and skim off the fat.
  4. Meanwhile, bring 4 cups of water to a boil and add the barley. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, drain, and set aside.
  5. When the soup is ready, add the barley and cook the soup for another 15 or 20 minutes, until the barley is tender. Depending on the saltiness of the stock, the soup might need another teaspoon of salt and some pepper.

Filed Under: Dinner · Tagged With: ,

Hearty Minestrone Soup

January 4, 2012 by 1 Comment

Here’s another easy weeknight meal. We made this on Monday night after our weekend away. A hearty soup is a great way to get back to eating your veggies and not eat something so rich and gluttonous after the holidays. We love our soups.

I found this recipe on the Whole Foods iPhone app in the car on the way home. I changed out some veggies to suit what we like, and served it with mini cornbread muffins that I made real quick. If it were just for me, I would have added mushrooms and some squash, but that’s a no-go for the other one eating.

photo 1.JPG

The recipe called for chickpeas and cannellini beans, but Jeffrey doesn’t like beans so I left that out and just used the chickpeas. It gave the soup a nice crunch to go with the other softer veggies. I also left out cabbage and replaced with more carrots and celery. And I love fusilli in soups.

We thought the soup was very thick and tomato-ey. I didn’t mind and like thick soups, but Jeffrey would have used less tomato or more broth. However, 6 cups of broth and 28 ounces of tomatoes makes a lot of soup! There was lots leftover. A great soup for freezing too! On the second night, I added some water to thin it out and it helped a lot. Do that.

Hearty Minestrone Soup

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley
  • 1 tablespoon chopped basil (subbed rosemary)
  • 2 large stalks of celery, sliced
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 dried bay leaf
  • 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with their liquid
  • 1 cup canned chickpeas, drained
  • 1 cup dried fusilli pasta
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 3/4 to 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

  • In a large stockpot, heat oil over medium high heat.
  • Add garlic and onions and cook until translucent.
  • Add broth, tomato paste, parsley, basil, celery, carrots, bay leaf, and tomatoes with their juice and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
  • Add chickpeas, pasta, and simmer for another 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Ladle soup into bowls and serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.

To go with the soup, I made a half batch of cornbread mini muffins. If you have cornmeal in your pantry, you probably have everything else you need–flour, egg, milk, oil. I amped it up by adding some frozen corn kernels, rosemary that we used for the soup, and some cayenne to give it a slight kick. A half batch made about 16 mini muffins–good to last a few days or take for lunch too!

As you can see, I love it when meals last a little while.

photo 2.jpg

 

Print
Hearty Minestrone Soup
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

 

Ingredients
  • Hearty Minestrone Soup
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  • ¼ cup tomato paste
  • ¼ cup chopped parsley
  • 1 tablespoon chopped basil (subbed rosemary)
  • 2 large stalks of celery, sliced
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 dried bay leaf
  • 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with their liquid
  • 1 cup canned chickpeas, drained
  • 1 cup dried fusilli pasta
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • ¾ to 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions
  1. In a large stockpot, heat oil over medium high heat.
  2. Add garlic and onions and cook until translucent.
  3. Add broth, tomato paste, parsley, basil, celery, carrots, bay leaf, and tomatoes with their juice and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
  4. Add chickpeas, pasta, and simmer for another 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.

Filed Under: Dinner, Recipes · Tagged With: , ,

Semi-Homemade Chili

November 4, 2011 by 4 Comments

IMG_5571.JPG

No harm in taking a little help from the grocery store and letting someone else measure the spices for you so you don’t have to buy a whole jar for one use. I’m such a saver.

My family has been eating chili with spices from a box for many, many years. The box is Wick Fowler’s 2 Alarm Chili. It’s found by the taco seasonings. I like this chili in a box because it is really just spices, and they are all labeled so you can control how much you add, like of salt. The spices are chili pepper, red pepper, salt, oregano, garlic/onion, masa flour for thickening, and probably something else. Not too harmful! You add your choice of meat, 8 oz of tomato sauce and 16 oz water. It’s a winning dish for our family and husband approved every time! We usually eat it on New Year’s Day with cornbread.

On a very hot October day, we decided to have our first chili of the season. At least we’re pretending it’s cooler temperatures by eating hot chili. It’s actually in the high 80s still. Sadface.

We dress up our chili with turkey meat, an onion, bell peppers, corn, and toppings and cook away until it’s spicy and thick.

IMG_5583.JPG

Since you can make chili earlier and let it sit for a while, I had some extra time to make homemade cornbread. I used the recipe on the back of the Jif cornmeal bag and cut it in half. A regular amount makes a whole cornbread pie, or about 12 muffins, and half made about 16 cute mini-muffins, great for crumbling and taking for lunch during the week. I added corn kernels and only baked for about 8-10 minutes. Otherwise, it was as instructed. They are pretty cute.

IMG_5573.JPG

This was a great weeknight meal, and really didn’t take that much time, or cleanup! I also made a veggie side dish, to come later this week!

Filed Under: Dinner, Recipes · Tagged With: ,

Sweet Potato Vegetable Stoup

October 21, 2011 by 1 Comment

IMG_5356.JPG

This is a hearty and healthy vegetable soup. Rachael Ray coined a great word–a stoup–which is thicker than a soup but thinner than a stew. It’s a stoup. I roasted some sweet potatoes in the oven, and at the same time, started cooking the soup on the stove. The soup was a thick mix of sweet potatoes, onion, mushrooms, kale, and white beans with broth. It was a veggie-ful soup good when you are craving something clean and healthy.

I jazzed it up with guacamole and tortilla chips on top to make it kind of tortilla soup-like.

IMG_5361.JPG

Sweet Potato Vegetable Stoup

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, cubed
  • 1 pack mushrooms, sliced
  • 1.5 medium onions, diced (too much)
  • 3 gloves garlic, minced
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 bunch kale, washed and trimmed
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • 1 can cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
  • spoonful guacamole
  • salt and pepper (to taste)

To Prepare:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cube the sweet potatoes into evenly sized pieces.  Toss with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper, and spread evenly onto a sheet pan.
  2. Roast for 45 minutes, or until browned and tender, stirring once halfway through cooking. Add mushrooms to sheet pan with about 15 minutes remaining.
  3. Once the vegetables are done, sauté the onions and garlic over medium high heat in a heavy-bottomed pot (like a Dutch oven) until soft and starting to turn brown.
  4. Add roasted vegetables, vegetable broth, and spices and bring up to a simmer.
  5. Fill pot to the top with kale (washed and torn), and cover for at least 10 minutes so that the kale will wilt and steam.
  6. Check kale for tenderness after 10 minutes.  Once ready, add rinsed beans and stir well to heat through.
  7. Adjust final seasoning with salt and pepper.  Serve with guacamole and tortilla chips for extra crunch.

IMG_5367.JPG

Have a nice weekend!

Filed Under: Vegetarian · Tagged With:

Really good Vegetable Soup

August 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Do you cook at home when you’re lazy, not feeling great, but still want to make sure you get your vegetables and a square meal? We try to, sometimes. I browsed cookbooks on Saturday and decided soup sounded good. I made the grocery list and Jeffrey did the shopping (so nice), and then we cooked together on Sunday afternoon and ate together a few hours later. Soups are great to cook ahead and let simmer or sit with the heat off. It only gets better tasting with time. Even better the next day too.

This soup was plenty big for a few meals or multiple bowls of soup. I plan to freeze some leftovers and pull out on another occasion when I just want a quick and simple meal but don’t want to resort to frozen food, canned food, or takeout.

Great with toast with cheese on top, or Saltine’s, we both loved the herb flavors in the soup, and I loved the big chunky vegetables like potatoes, beans, and big carrots.

Vegetable Soup

(recipe adapted from Ellie Krieger’s cookbook)

Ingredients

  • 1 (15-ounce) can canellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
  • 2 carrots, diced (about 1/2 cup)
  • 2 stalks celery, diced, (about 1/2 cup)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Russet potato, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 32 ounces low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can  no salt added diced tomatoes (we subbed tomato sauce)
  • 2 cups chopped baby spinach leaves
  • 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan, optional

Directions

  • In a small bowl mash half of the beans with a masher or the back of a spoon, and set aside.
  • Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and let saute for a few minutes.
  • Add carrots, garlic and celery and let saute a few minutes more.
  •  Add potato and herbs, salt and pepper and cook stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.
  • Add the broth and tomatoes with the juice and bring to a boil. Add the mashed and whole beans and the spinach leaves and cook until the spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes more.
  • Let simmer for a few minutes, making sure carrots, celery and potato are fork tender, and then turn heat off and cover until ready to serve.
  • Serve topped with Parmesan, if desired.

Notes–you can add any vegetable you want–zucchini, squash, mushrooms, etc. I was just lucky to get the spinach and beans in this dish! Could also add pulled chicken and sub chicken stock instead of vegetable stock/broth.

Sorry for the blurred iPhone photo, I was too lazy to get the big camera out.

What do you cook for a simple but delicious one-pot Sunday night or weeknight dinner?

Filed Under: Dinner, Recipes · Tagged With: , ,

Summer Gazpacho

June 28, 2011 by 2 Comments

IMG_4606.JPG

Talk about a healthy soup. This is raw. Vegan (if you exclude Worchestershire sauce). Full of fresh and seasonal vegetables. And my husband ate it too! It’s summertime gazpacho, one of the easiest and quickest soups making it perfect for summer. No stove or oven needed.

This is my mom’s recipe, which is probably my grandmother’s too. I used to help chop vegetables because I used to enjoy that when I was a youngin’ just like I do now. This soup is extra tasty with toasted bread with hummus and feta cheese on top to make it a full meal. I recommend it. Also perfect for lunch or dinner, or a refreshing afternoon snack. It’s full of veggies, you can’t go wrong.

Summer Gazpacho

Ingredients

  • 24 oz tomato juice
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2 T red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce (not vegan, has anchovies, who knew?)
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1/4 C onion
  • 1/2 C red bell pepper
  • 1/2 C cucumber
  • 1/2 C celery
  • 1/2 C corn kernels (I used from a frozen bag)
  • 2 tsp parsley
  • 1 tsp chives

Instructions

  • Chop all vegetables and add to large bowl or container.
  • In blender, combine tomato juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, chives, worchestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, and one tomato. Blend until combined.
  • Pour on top of vegetables in  large serving bowl.
  • Refrigerate and serve cold.

IMG_4609.JPG

Gazpacho can come in so many variations. There are fruity ones like watermelon or canteloupe. There are green ones, pureed ones, etc. I really like this one best, probably because it’s a family recipe! But I also like textured soups more than a puree. I don’t like a soup to be like drinking a smoothie. There is a time for smoothies and a time for soups. Keep your soups chunky.

IMG_4628.JPG

What a difference a year makes! I made this soup last July, which is the last time I made it. I had just started to blog, and here’s the post from then. What a newbie I was…I didn’t even photograph on place mats.

IMG_4650.JPG

What a nice little cup of soup.

IMG_4631.JPG

Print
Summer Gazpacho
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup
Prep time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 6
 

Ingredients
  • Summer Gazpacho
  • Ingredients
  • 24 oz tomato juice
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2 T red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ½ tsp Worchestershire sauce
  • 2 tomatoes
  • ¼ C onion
  • ½ C red bell pepper
  • ½ C cucumber
  • ½ C celery
  • ½ C corn kernels (I used from a frozen bag)
  • 2 tsp parsley
  • 1 tsp chives

Instructions
  1. Instructions
  2. Chop all vegetables and add to large bowl or container.
  3. In blender, combine tomato juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, chives, worchestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, and one tomato. Blend until combined.
  4. Pour on top of vegetables in large serving bowl.
  5. Refrigerate and serve cold.

 

Filed Under: Recipes, Vegetarian · Tagged With: , ,

Best Ever Tortilla Soup

May 5, 2011 by 3 Comments

IMG_3169.JPG

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Do you celebrate this holiday in your neck of the woods? As you can probably imagine, it’s a big deal in Texas. We drink margaritas for breakfast, beer for lunch, and tequila shots for dinner. Just kidding. We don’t do that. We have queso for three meals. No, not really.

What we do like is Mexican food all year round. In our house, it’s common to add salsa to eggs, guacamole to salads and cheese to everything. We are practically in Mexico anyway.

I saw this tortilla soup recipe and thought Jeffrey would really love it. (Do I sound like Ina Garden talking about her Jeffrey? That’s what I heard in my head.) This has so many flavors of spice like a roasted poblano pepper, a jalapeno, chili powder, and of course cheese and cilantro.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 large red onion, diced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, diced (seeds included)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 poblano pepper
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 8 cups chicken broth
  • 1 4-oz can diced green chilies
  • 1 cup hominy (canned)
  • 1 14-oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes (or Rotel tomatoes and chilies)
  • 4 corn tortillas, cut into strips
  • juice of 2 limes
  • shredded monterey jack cheese for serving
  • chopped cilantro for serving

Directions:

  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the chicken breasts and simmer for about 20 minutes, until breasts are cooked through. Drain and set chicken breasts aside to cool. Once cool, chop into cube-sized pieces.
  • While chicken is cooking, roast the poblano pepper over a burner on a gas range stove or under the broiler. You want the pepper to be very dark and charred—almost black. Set aside on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Once cool, peel the skin off and dice.
  • Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a dutch oven or very large pot. Once hot, add the diced onion and jalapeno and cook for five minutes, until soft. Add the garlic and diced poblano pepper and cook for another minute. Add the chili powder and cumin and mix until well combined.
  • Pour in the chicken stock and add the diced tomatoes, hominy, green chilies, diced cooked chicken and salt. Bring to a boil.
  • Finally, add the tortilla strips and lime juice and cook until tortillas soften. Simmer on low or turn off and cover until ready to serve.
  • Serve with chopped cilantro and shredded cheese on the side.

We thought the hominy was an interesting chewy addition that I hadn’t eaten before, and the tortillas surprisingly dissolved completely in the soup. It was still a brothy soup and not too thick or creamy, and delicious with all of the textures and big bites of chicken.

One thing we did find is that I used cayenne pepper instead of chili powder because I thought I had chili powder but it was really cayenne. Well, 2 tsp of cayenne does not equal 2 tsp of chili powder, and the soup was very spicy. I added sugar to balance it and it worked, but for your soup, use chili powder.

 This soup was a winner and a keeper.

IMG_3170.JPG

Filed Under: Dinner, Recipes · Tagged With: , , ,

Green Soup

March 22, 2011 by 2 Comments

IMG_2805.JPG

Happy Spring! This soup reminds me of Spring. It’s light, clean, and simple, great for the season when we realize winter is gone and we can’t be shielded by sweaters and coats. This soup will get you ready for summer. That’s a powerful soup claim!

Yesterday I show you cookies, today I show a vegetable soup. That’s how we roll, indulge and then eat clean. Repeat.

This soup is kind of like a Broccoli Cheese soup, but I don’t want to mislead you if you think it tastes a little more earthy and less decadent. I also haven’t had authentic Broccoli Cheese Soup in a million years, so I don’t really remember what it tastes like.

It kind of looks like a Green Monster in a bowl, but tastes more earthy. The cheese stirred in makes in nice and cheesy.

IMG_2809.JPG

Green Soup

(serves 3 dinner size or 5ish soup course size)

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 white onion, chopped
  • 1 crown of fresh broccoli or 1.5 C frozen broccoli, a few florets reserved for the end
  • 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 C frozen spinach
  • 1 can Great Northern beans
  • 3 C vegetable broth
  • 1 T salt, 1 tsp pepper
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 T fresh rosemary
  • dash cayenne pepper
  • cheese and extra broccoli for garnish

IMG_2807.JPG

Instructions:

  • In a large soup pot over medium heat, coat bottom with olive oil.
  • Saute onion, garlic and carrot until soft and onion is starting to become translucent. Don’t let garlic burn
  • Add broccoli and let soften too.
  • Add broth, beans (drained), and frozen spinach. Let cook together.
  • If your spinach has not thawed, break it into pieces and it will thaw quicker in the soup once heated.
  • Add salt and pepper and rosemary.
  • Bring to a boil and let simmer for 10 minutes.

(not so pretty before blending! but it smells good.)

IMG_2804.JPG

  • Remove a few broccoli florets for after blending and set aside.
  • Blend everything in a blender or with hand blender.
  • Pour back into soup pot to heat up and add whole broccoli florets back in for some bite.
  • Garnish with broccoli on top and cheddar cheese.

IMG_2817.JPG

 

This would be a great soup for a night when you want a simple and clean dinner, or good for leftovers for lunch too. The protein comes from the hidden beans and cheese, and it’s choc-full of vegetables. Comes together fast and keeping some broccoli whole makes it seem like a heartier dinner than a green smoothie texture. Healthy, earthy, clean, delicious.

What are your go-to dishes for super clean eating?

Filed Under: Dinner · Tagged With: , ,

Homemade Tomato Basil Soup

March 17, 2011 by 6 Comments

One of our favorite comfort foods are grilled cheese and tomato soup. As I’ve mentioned before, we love to watch Ina Garten. This tomato soup recipe is by Ina, and we liked it because it’s not cream-based, and it’s very flavorful with lots of basil and roasted tomatoes. Although this does take longer than opening a can of tomato soup, it is far superior in looks and taste.

The soup is first cooked stovetop and then is blended, but the texture is not a wimpy liquid, it actually looks like there’s cream holding it together.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

IMG_2711.JPG

Ingredients:

  • 3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
  • 1/4 C plus 2 T EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
  • 1 T salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 2 C chopped yellow onions
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 T unsalted butter
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 28 oz can plum tomatoes, with juice
  • 4 C fresh basil leaves
  • 1 tsp thyme leaves
  • 1 quart chicken stock or water, or vegetable stock (I used chicken broth because I think stock is too yellow)

IMG_2698.JPG

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 400*. Toss together tomatoes, 1/4 C olive oil, salt and pepper on a baking sheet in one layer. Roast for 45 minutes.

IMG_2701.JPG

  • In a large soup pot over medium heat, saute onions and garlic with 2 T olive oil, butter, red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until onions start to brown.
  • Add canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, chicken stock.
  • Add oven roasted tomatoes and juices from the pan.
  • Bring to a boil, then simmer for 40 minutes.
  • Ina passes her soup through a food mill, but no one has that, so we used a blender. Be careful when adding hot soup to a blender by adding small amounts and then dumping in a mixing bowl.
  • Add blended soup back to stovetop to heat up when ready to serve.
  • Add more salt and pepper as desired.

Can be served hot or cold.

IMG_2715.JPG

Grilled Cheese

We actually Googled how to make a great grilled cheese because there are so many breads, cheeses and methods. Here is how we cooked ours.

IMG_2705.JPG

Ingredients

  • 4 pieces sourdough bread (2 per person)
  • 1/3 apple
  • Gouda cheese
  • White cheddar cheese
  • 2 T butter

Instructions:

  • On a hot skillet with a dab of melted butter, place one piece of bread buttered side down with cheese on top in a row. Add top piece of bread with buttered side up and let sit for 2-3 minutes.

IMG_2702.JPG

  • When cheese is starting to melt, flip the sandwich and cook again for 2-3 minutes.
  • When cheese is melted and bread is toasty, it’s ready.
  • I put apple slices inside mine with the cheese. Gave it a nice crunch and sweetness.

IMG_2713.JPG

When is the last time you made grilled cheese and tomato soup? Making the whole thing from scratch makes it extra special, and a true meaning of homemade comfort food.

Filed Under: Dinner · Tagged With: , ,

Vegan-ish

February 3, 2011 by 4 Comments

On Oprah on Tuesday, she spent the entire show talking about vegan eating. She and 378 staff members went vegan for a week. The week was sponsored by Kashi and Whole Foods, and their office cafeteria catered to vegan eating too. The episode also showed the inside of a slaughterhouse in Colorado (Cargill Meat Solutions) which was hard to watch but still fascinating. You have to know where your food comes from. At the end of the episode, they announced they would continue to have a vegan option and start “Meatless Mondays” at Harpo.

Here are some of my thoughts on the episode:

  • You dont have to shop at Whole Foods to be healthy. I know the episode was sponsored by Whole Foods, but non-meat foods can be found anywhere, and I don’t think they did a good job of making that clear.
  • The show focused a lot on faux meats and not vegetables and fruits. Part of the show went to a Whole Foods to go grocery shopping for a family of four. They bought a lot of Gardein chicken breasts, Tofurky, or veggie patties. I have never eaten any of those brands but I can still eat many of my meals without meat every week. They did not show how to add beans, whole grains, or more vegetables to a meal plan.
  • Changing your diet that drastically is hard. You can’t just pick it up today; it takes a lot of planning and research. I am not vegan, but I read a lot about it. Before I started reading healthy living blogs or Michael Pollan’s books, I didn’t know anything about it. I definitely didn’t know how to cook quinoa or have all veggie meals or cook tofu. If I just decided to go vegan that day, it would never work. Many of the people I read about who have started eating vegan took months or years to do it completely. They start with a few days of no meat, then gradually eliminate dairy or fish. It’s not like a 7 or 21 day diet like Oprah made it out to be.
  • You have to know why you’re doing this and believe it. Giving up all products and foods that had a mother is hard. You have to really believe it and commit to it. It’s not just a diet to stop when you get to a goal weight. You have to educate yourself completely, know you will be in the minority, and know you will always wonder what’s in a pie crust or soup or even if your crackers contain powdered milk.
  • There is nothing wrong with eating meat or eating yogurt, eggs and cheese. Animal products provide certain proteins that just can’t be replicated. I like how Michael Pollan said he is picky about where his meat comes from, and I think getting to know your food sources is most important. That was the most eye opening for me from this show, from watching Food, Inc., and from reading his books.

Coincidentally, vegetable soup and salad were on Tuesday night’s dinner menu at our house. Both were vegan, but I would never label it that way for Jeffrey. There were no animal products in the soup and no cheese in the salad. Eating vegan doesn’t have to be scary or seem “gross” (as shown in the show).

My opinions:

I thought Oprah’s show was a good look at veganism for beginners. It was still geared toward a very wide audience, Oprah even said she could be “vegan-ish” although having all your meals prepared for you makes it a whole lot easier.

Since this is my blog, I will tell you my opinion. I eat less meat than I used to because I have read more and educated myself about where our food comes from. I also find it cheaper to not buy chicken or turkey each week and buy more fresh produce. I have also learned more about alternative proteins and how to cook better with vegetables and grains.

However, I do eat meat, chicken, fish, eggs, yogurt, turkey, and butter frequently. The bottom line is to educate yourself of where your food comes from and make your own decisions.

IMG_2025.JPG

Hearty Vegetable Soup

  • 1 medium white onion
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 4 stalks celery, chopped
  • 6 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 medium zucchini, chopped
  • 1 can corn
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  • 1/2 box chicken stock or broth
  • 4 C water
  • 5 large baby potatoes, washed and chopped
  • 1 sprig rosemary, 1 sprig time
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 2 T olive oil

Instructions:

  • In a large soup pan, drizzle olive oil down to get hot. Pot should be on medium heat. Add onion and garlic and let sweat out for a few minutes. Stir so it doesn’t stick.
  • Add celery, carrots, zucchini and let get hot while you keep chopping. Add zucchini and potatoes, then add stock and water.
  • Add tomato sauce, corn, bay leaves, spices.
  • Bring to a boil and let cook for 45 minutes on boil or simmer until potatoes and carrots are fork tender.
IMG_2020.JPG  

Simple Salad

  • 1 bag any lettuce
  • 1/2 avocado, diced
  • 1/2 orange, in pieces
  • 2 T dried cranberries
  • 2 T peanuts

Combine all ingredients together and top with any salad dressing. I made a mustard dressing with 1 T dijon mustard, 2 T olive oil, 1/2 lemon juiced, 1/2 orange juiced, and salt and pepper.

IMG_2024.JPG

What do you think? Did you watch the episode? Have you read any of the books or watched the movies? Leave your thoughts here!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Filed Under: Dinner, Thoughts, Vegetarian · Tagged With: , ,
«Older Posts