Showing posts with label fresh vegetables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fresh vegetables. Show all posts

Friday, February 11, 2011

Tuscan Vegetable Soup

I wanted a Tuscan Bean Soup. Google that.  Go ahead.  I bet you come up with about 500 soup recipes.  I was baffled so I sat on the floor with my ever increasing collection of cookbooks surrounding me and began my quest the old fashioned way…
Thank you Ellie Kreiger for your cookbook The Food You Crave
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Tuscan Vegetable Soup (adapted from Ellie Kreiger’s The Food You Crave)

Ingredients

  • 2 (15-ounce) can low-sodium 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)
  • 1 small zucchini, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 32 ounces low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can no salt added diced tomatoes
  • 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, carrots, celery, zucchini, garlic, thyme, sage, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of 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.
Serve topped with Parmesan, if desired.
**This was a quick and delicious week night meal  I had some whole wheat macaroni left over in the fridge that I also threw in the pot.  A quick and versatile meal?  You know I’ll be making this again and again…
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Friday, August 6, 2010

Grilled Pizza for dinner…

The first time I tried grilling pizza was when we were in Toronto visiting my family.  It was something we had all wanted to try but had just never gotten around to doing it. So out I went and bought some grocery store pizza dough (divide it into 4 servings when you get it home) and some fresh and yummy toppings and into the world of pizza grilling we dove!

DSC_0312 Mine was simply olive oil, fresh garlic, mozzarella, fresh tomato and basil…

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Our biggest concern was that the dough would drip through the grill plates but it cooks up so quickly that there is no real worry to it.  You need to have your grill heated up to about 350F to crisp it quickly.

The trick, I think, to this is to have all of your toppings ready to go on and to not overload the pizza.  You do need to work fast once the bottom which becomes the top is grilled nice and crispy.  We did individual ones for ease of preparation and they worked perfect.  No problem flipping etc…

The second time we made them was here at home and I used my bread machine pizza dough recipe.  We divided this one into 4 to make 4 individual pizzas for us.  This worked perfectly as well and was a bit easier to stretch and shape then the grocery store one…

DSC_0203 This one was topped with garlic and herbed olive oil, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano and some homemade arugula pesto…simply delicious!

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Saturday, July 26, 2008

Do I like brussel sprouts? Yes, I do!!!

The brussel sprouts served with parsley potatoes and salmon en papillote!

I have gone all of my life up til now hating brussel sprouts. I mean to the point that when I was a child and had to eat the nasty ass things I would pop them in my mouth and swallow them whole with a gulp of milk. I've tried making them several times, several different ways.

When I went to the farmer's market the other day I saw some there and for some unknown reason I bought them. I tend to think that the foods we are drawn to or crave are the ones that our bodies need at that given time. Regardless I came home with them. I hid them from T. He hates them more than I do. I emailed my friend Jenn as I had remembered that she did a post on them back in the spring. She sent me the link.

As I got ready to print out the recipe I realized that I didn't have hardly any of the ingredients besides maybe the brussel sprouts???!!! I need to try this one next though!

I ended up trying this one and I liked them, I mean I really, really liked them. T. even ate 4 of them???!!! The girls it will take a bit of time but they did try them!

Brussel Sprouts with White Wine and Thyme (from Domino-The Guide to Living with Style)

The Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound Brussels sprouts, stems trimmed and cut in half lengthwise
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 7 to 8 fresh thyme sprigs
  • ½ cup vegetable stock
  • ½ cup white wine
  • coarse sea salt
  • freshly ground white pepper

Coat a large sauté pan with the olive oil. Add the Brussels sprouts, arranging them cut side down in one snug layer. Turn the heat to high and sauté until the cut side of the Brussels sprouts are lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme. Sauté for about 2 minutes, or until the garlic is fragrant, stirring to evenly distribute the garlic and thyme. Add the vegetable stock, wine, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and stir well. Immediately lower the heat to low, cover, and braise until the Brussels sprouts are tender, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and remove the thyme stems.

Season with additional salt and white pepper to taste and serve hot.

As Always

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Tomato and Green Bean Salad

Looks like summer huh?

Last night for dinner we were just going to have burgers and a tomato salad but as I was cleaning out my fridge yesterday I found some green beans that I had forgotten about in the crisper. I had bought them over the weekend so they were still in great shape. I decided to make a simple salad using my garden fresh tomatoes. This salad turned out great. I had seen it years ago in one of the food magazines but can not for the life of me remember which one! Seeing as I didn't have a recipe to follow I just went by memory and taste. Everyone loved this and it tasted just like summer to me!

Tomato and Green Bean Salad


1 box or bag of green beans (however you get them at the market), trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
3 lg tomatoes, chopped and seeded
1/3 cup olive oil (I think I would use less next time)
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 garlic clove, chopped fine (use more or less depending on taste)
1 Tbsp fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
  • Cook the beans in boiling water for 3 - 5 minutes or until tender crisp. Drain and transfer to an ice bath. Once shilled drain them well and place in a large bowl.
  • Mix the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and stir into the beans.
  • This can be served immediately or chilled in the fridge until ready to serve.

Fresh tomatoes for the salad

Basil is getting a little leggy so I think it is just about done! It is getting way too hot and dry here to grow anything!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Freezing Peppers

Beautiful organic green peppers!

On Saturday before T. and I went away I had him make a pit stop for me to a new Farmer's Market that I had just heard about at Cape Harbour. I am really getting tired of the same old thing that I see at all of the markets around here right now, produce from anywhere but here. Asparagus from Peru, potatoes from Argentina, tomatoes from who knows where. I guess you get my point.

But this one was different!!! I was able to talk to the man who owned the stand and he had a ton of organic produce. We started talking and I was able to find out that he has a friend who has a farm in Labelle, which is north of here, and another friend who has an organic farm in Georgia that he meets up with weekly to get his produce. This was really great info for me seeing as I have been struggling trying to get some fresh produce. Granted this isn't the perfect situation as it really screws up the "local factor" but you know what...sometimes you just have got to bite the big one and look out for yourself.

Here is where it gets really cool. It was getting late and the market closed at 1 so he asked me what I was really looking for. I told him the herbs and stuff that I wanted and then I mentioned that I would like to get a bunch of bulk things that I can freeze for summer use. Get this...he sold be a WHOLE FRICKIN' CASE OF ORGANIC BELL PEPPERS FOR $18.00!!!!

That's a ton of peppers huh?

So last night T. and I cleaned them all up and cut them in half and ripped out the membrane and the seeds and plopped them in the freezer. Peppers freeze great and we can use them a million different ways. So be prepared for many recipes with pepper as a main ingredient!!!

Ignore my rusted out pans. These are only used for freezing things and on top of that EVERYTHING rusts in Florida!!!
These trays get places in my chest freezer and then bagged in freezer bags all ready to be used!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Friday, May 16, 2008

It works...It really, really works!

Dinner!

Last night was the new William-Sonoma grill pan's inaugural run. We filled that puppy so full of fresh veggies that I thought there was no way that they would all last in there! This pan was really great. Crammed full of stuff and still able to stir without anything falling out. All of the begetables cooked evenly and trust me it was full.

The vegetables are not local (big sigh)...virtually nothing is growing here anymore at all. Even the tomatoes are small and blemished. So sad. I am having to eat organic's from California. Better than nothing I guess!

We had chopped up eggplant, zucchini, onion, summer squash, red pepper, banana pepper, garlic cloves and mushrooms. They were lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, some paprika, and garlic powder. This pan is a keeper!!!

Doesn't that look great over rice with some soy sauce on top???

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Yummy Frittata!

Pretty huh? Delicious too!

Frittata is just a fun thing to say and I had found that this word had been bouncing around in my head lately as I have been coming across some really great recipes for frittata's using spring veggies. I am not really getting spring veggies so I was really looking for something different. I grabbed my "Homegrown Pure and Simple: Great Healthy Food from Garden to Table)" by Michel Nischan and started searching.

I came up with the recipe for a Garden Vegetable Frittata and as luck would have it I had a couple of eggplants sitting on my counter just begging to be used (um-starting to rot) so this would work out perfect.

Now the only problem was that I would be at the skating rink from 5 PM until 7:30 PM. How the h*** was I going to get this made. Not too much of it could be done ahead which is what I usually do. T. to the rescue. I left him the recipe and instructions and he followed through wonderfully. You see he is not really one to ever cook from a recipe and I personally think that they tend to stress him out a little but he did this for me and I was so glad he did. This meal was great. I had made a salad earlier in the day and some dressing so we had that while the frittata was resting. My youngest one ate a PB & J and went to bed (skating nights tucker her out!) but my oldest one loved it. She is the one who doesn't like tomatoes hence the frittata with only one half with tomatoes!

See how nice and fluffy this was?

Garden Vegetable Frittata (adapted from Homegrown Pure and Simple: Great Healthy Food from Garden to Table)

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
2 small potatoes, thinly sliced
1 eggplant (about 1 pound), cubed
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup baby spinach
1/2 onion, chopped
12 eggs
1/2 cup low fat milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs (we used oregano, basil, chives)
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
2 large tomatoes, sliced
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  • Heat a well-seasoned 12 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and the butter and heat until the butter sizzles. Add the potatoes in a single layer and cook on one side until browned. Turn them over and move them to the side of the pan.
  • Meanwhile season the eggplant with salt and pepper. Add the eggplant to the skillet and cook for about 3 or 4 minutes or until the eggplant cubes are browned at least on 2 sides. Add more oil if you need to.
  • Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Move the vegetables around in the pan until they are evenly distributed.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, herbs and half of the cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Slowly pour the eggs into the skillet so as not to dislodge the vegetables. Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 6 to 8 minutes without stirring until the frittata is partially set.
  • Sprinkle the goat cheese over the top and transfer to the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nearly set but not yet brown. Sprinkle with the remaining cheddar cheese. and return to the oven until just melted. Remove and top with tomatoes and some fresh herbs and cook for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted and browned.
  • Serve directly form the skillet, cut into wedges.
T. says that he would add some more seasoning (garlic, more salt, onion powder) the next time but all in all it was good.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Not just sitting here waiting...

This is my future pasta with tomato, basil and roasted garlic meal!

See...lots more coming!

Okay, now after yesterday's cranky ass post I wanted to show you that I am not the kind of person to just sit around and b****** about something without doing something productive to help fix my problem. I decided that as the summer got closer I needed to figure out how I was going to be able to keep eating the fresh vegetables that I enjoy so much. T. and I came up with a movable garden idea. The theory behind this is that we are now able to protect what we are growing by moving it to shelter when the sun gets too hot or our afternoon monsoons start! Unfortunately we had to do this right in the front entry area of our house so now our neighbors can all see how perfectly crazed we are!

So far though everything is doing very well and we have been able to keep it completely organic. We are able to hand water them and keep a real close eye on the herbs. The tomatoes have flourished to a point that we never thought possible. We always thought that they needed depth for their root system but we have 2 plants planted in a large size window box and they are blooming like crazy at this point. If we are able to succeed with these we are going to try several other heat loving crops like eggplant, bell peppers and zucchini.

2 different types of lettuce (one is red leaf and the other I forget) and onions growing around the sides.

Green Leaf Lettuce with onions

Red Leaf lettuce
Lots of basil, Greek oregano, cilantro and parsley!

Two nice healthy tomatoes!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com