Delicious Minestrone - Move Over Olive Garden

This is a very tasty soup!  And it is chock full of vegetables, so it is very healthy.  (Sorry, I don't have a picture today.)

Makes about 10 cups

ingredients

1/2 lb dried white beans, rinsed and soaked overnight - or - 2 14.5 oz cans canellini beans, drained and rinsed and 1 14.5 oz can chick peas

1/4 lb pancetta (I found this at Trader Joes) - or - use sliced, lean bacon, chopped

1/3 C olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 large carrot, sliced

2 ribs of celery, sliced

3 cloves garlic

2 zucchini, diced

1/4 lb green beans, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 lb potatoes, diced

4 C shredded cabbage

1/2 lb kale, chopped - or - spinach, chopped

28 oz can diced tomatoes

4 1/2 C chicken broth

1/2 lb macaroni noodles

freshly grated Parmesan, bruschetta, and sausage to accompany

preparation

If using dried beans.  After soaking overnight, drain beans.  Place in saucepan and cover with water and simmer, uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until they are tender.  Add the salt.  Remove from heat and let the white beans stand uncovered.

In a heavy dutch oven or large pot, cook the pancetta in oil until crisp and pale golden, add the onion.  Cook, stirring, until the onion is softened.

Add the carrots, celery and garlic.  Cook for 4 minutes. Add zucchini, green beans, and potatoes.  Cook for 4 more minutes.  Add the cabbage and the kale, cook until that cabbage is wilted.  Add the tomatoes and the broth.  Simmer, covered for 1 hour.  

Drain the white beans, reserving the liquid.  In a blender or food processor puree half of them with 1 C reserved liquid.  Stir the puree and remaining beans into the soup.  Add the pasta.

Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.  Thin if desired with remaining reserve liquid.  Season with salt and pepper.  

Chicken Rice Soup

From:  epicurious.com

This is a simple soup made from scratch.  Throw everything in the pot and walk away.  The rice cooks in the pot along with the chicken.  Use brown rice, its starchiness and heaviness work as an advantage.  White rice would get mushy.  It is very good.

Ingredients

2 T butter

1 Large onion, chopped

3 large celery ribs, sliced and diced

3 medium carrots, sliced

1 (3/12-4 pound) chicken  (I substituted chicken breasts because that's what I had)

1 C brown rice

1/3 C fresh parsley  (I used 2T dried parsley)

3 t salt - or to taste

4 C chicken broth (you can use all water, but the added broth gives a greater richness))

8 C water

Freshly ground pepper

Preparation

Saute veggies in the butter for about 5 minutes.  Add the rice and brown for an additional minute.  Add liquid and chicken, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, and simmer for 1 hour.

Transfer chicken to a colander. When cool enough, remove meat, discard skin and bones.  Coarsely shred chicken and return to soup.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Thank you Serena for the suggestion.

Easy Double Chocolate Chip Brownies

I grew up believing that baked goods should be made from scratch.  My mom made cookies, cakes and brownies this way.  And for the most part I believe.  Except, I love a good brownie mix.  They are usually so much better than scratch brownies.  But this recipe is quite tasty and comparable to a mix I think - moist and chewy with a pretty papery crust on the top.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate, cut into chunks

1/2 C butter, cut into pieces

3 large eggs

1 1/4 C flour

1 C granulated sugar

1 t vanilla

1/2 t baking soda

1 Cup chocolate chips, semi-sweet

1/2 C chopped nuts (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 13x 9 inch baking pan.

2.  Melt semi-sweet chocolate and butter in a large, heavy-duty saucepan over low heat.  Stir until smooth.  Remove from heat.  Stir in eggs.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Spread into prepared baking pan.

3.  Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky.  Cool completely on wire rack.

Quick Vegetarian Chili

This is one of my favorite comfort dishes.  It is made with barley and beans, every once in a while I also add diced chicken.  This has a certain flavor that just hits the spot for me.  I made this today but was missing some of the key ingredients (diced green chiles and the right kind of tomatoes.)  Many times, substitutions work without changing the essence of a given dish.  Today's chili tastes just fine, but for me it is missing a certain je'nais se quois.  So if you do decide to try this, get the ingredients from the recipe the first time you make it.  Top it off with some avocado, shredded cheese and maybe a dollop of sour cream.  Let me know what you think.

Quick Vegetarian Chili

2 t canola oil

1 C chopped onion

1 C chopped red bell pepper

2 t chili powder

1 t ground cumin

1 t dried oregano

3 garlic cloves

1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles

2/3 C uncooked barley

1/4 C water

2 15 oz cans black beans, drained

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can vegetable or chicken broth (I get a little loose on the definition of vegetarian)

1.  Heat oil in a Dutch over.  Saute onion and bell pepper 3 mins.  Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, garlic and chiles.  Cook for 1 minute.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until barley is tender.

Serve with sour cream, lime wedges, fresh cilantro, chips and avocado.

Note:  store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.  Also freezes well.

Homemade Play Dough is the Best!

I have taken to making our own play dough. It's great fun to mix up a batch and then let the kids mix in the colors. I give them a scoop of dough, they add a few drops of food coloring (first they make an indentation with their finger to put the drops in). Lastly, the go to town kneading it until the color has been incorporated. It's also a great way to talk about how to mix primary colors to make secondary colors.

The recipe is very simple:

2 C boiling water
1 C salt
2 C flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
food coloring of choice

Dissolve the salt in the boiling water. Then mix in the flour and cream of tartar. Allow the mixture to cool. Have your kids knead in the food coloring.

Note: If you prefer, mix the food coloring in with the water.

'Foodies' Unite

I have read a several blogs now that have group authorship centered around a common theme.  I am wondering if anyone else would like to be a contributor to a food blog?  I would love to have a place where we could all share since many of us love food, most of us have to prepare food several times a day and we all have really great recipes.  Let me know if you are interested.  

You Don't Make Friends With Salad - H. Simpson

We had our annual neighborhood Potluck Block Party this weekend.  I decided to see what I could do with a little yellow cake mix, pudding mix and sour cream.  This is the cake I created.

I used a 9x14 rectangular dish to bake this in.  I thought a square shaped cake fit my mood.  To make layers, I simply cut the cake in half. Then I piled raspberry jam on one half and placed the other half on top.  I wanted the frosting to match the filling so I added a couple of drops of red food coloring to a buttercream frosting to get pink.  Just for fun I used a pastry bag and piped little flowers around the bottom and on the top.

I have to bring dessert to a Enrichment Night on Tuesday.  I am planning on making this again and using 9 in rounds instead.  I want to do a ribbon piping around the sides next time.  I'll post a picture after I've made it.

Recipe:

1 yellow cake mix

1 vanilla pudding mix

1 C water

2/3 C oil

3 eggs

1/2 C sour cream

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease and flour desired pans.

Slowly beat all ingredients together until smooth and incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. Scrape sides of the bowl occasionally.  Increase mixer speed and beat additional 5 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake 30 minutes or until cake tester inserted in middle of cake is comes out clean.

Cool cakes in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.

Buttercream Frosting

3/4 C butter, at room temperature

6 C powdered sugar

2 T vanilla

1/4 C milk

1.  Beat butter at high speed until light and fluffy.  Decrease speed and beat in sugar, vanilla and milk.  Check frosting consistency.  For thicker frosting, add more sugar.  To thin frosting, add milk 1 T at a time.