Classic Minestrone

The first thing I always want when I return from a long trip is something that feels like home!  There is nothing more decadent than eating out every night and having a relaxing vacation, but I always come back just craving a simple, delicious meal.  Nothing fancy, just good food.  

Minestrone is so easy to make, tastes so fresh, is very healthy and keeps great in the refrigerator for days.  I love splitting my big pot into two tupperwares, one for the week and one to freeze.  That way, when I am craving it again or need dinner in a snap, all I have to do is defrost!  What is easier than that?

Classic Minestrone

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium red onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

2 large celery stalks chopped

1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

Fresh Ground Salt and Pepper

2 tablespoons Tomato Paste

1 can (14.5 ounces) crushed tomatoes

1 can (15 ounces) white beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen spinach, defrosted and drained

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup thinly sliced basil

3/4 cup Parmesan, for serving

Directions

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion, carrots, celery, red pepper flakes, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and garlic.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to turn golden, about 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes and cook for about 1 minute.  Add beans, tomato paste and 6 cups of water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Add spinach and season with salt and pepper if needed.  Stir in basil.  Serve with Parmesan cheese.

What are you craving when you come home from vacation??

Goodbye Summer

The summer is wrapping up for us here in Southern California and we have had so many weird weather days.  One day it will be sunny and warm, the next foggy and cold.  This week when it looked like there was no sun in sight, I instantly felt like a hot bowl of soup.  

I love finding great broth based soup recipes that give you that warm, cozy feeling without the rich heavy feeling of all that cream.  This Asparagus soup is light, but flavorful and is complimented nicely with a few dollops of goat cheese.  So, if you are needing a little comfort food, try this one out without feeling the least bit guilty!

 

Asparagus Soup with Goat Cheese and Herbs

Courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

 Ingredients

1/2 cup Goat Cheese

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large leek, white and light green parts thinly sliced

4 cups low sodium chicken broth

2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

kosher salt and pepper 

Directions

 In a large sauce pan, heat the butter over medium heat.  Add the leeks and cook, stirring constantly until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the broth, asparagus and basil.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook until the asparagus is tender, about 15 minutes.  Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Keep soup warm over low heat.  

To serve, ladle soup into bowls and garnish with the goat cheese and extra herbs.

The Perfect Summer Soup

I have been really anxious to make a summer soup lately, but I haven't found anything that sounds appetizing.  The right balance of light and fulfilling is really hard to accomplish, but as I browsed the pages of my favorite sites, I happened upon this one for Asparagus soup.  You would never know that it wasn't cream based because the asparagus and leeks create a lovely velvety texture that is a perfect compliment to the tangy goat cheese.  Try this one out, you are going to love it!

Asparagus Soup with Herbed Goat Cheese

Courtesy of Giada de Laurentis

Ingredients

1/2 cup (4 ounces) Goat Cheese, at room temperature

2 tablespoons fresh Basil Leaves, chopped

Kosher Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper

Cooking Spray

2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, at room temperature

1 large leek (white and light green part only), thinly sliced

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 pounds medium Asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 fresh basil leaves, chopped

Directions

Goat cheese: Line a small backing sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.

Using a fork, in a small bowl, combine the goat cheese and basil till smooth.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Using a 1/2 ounce cooking scoop or a round tablespoon measure sprayed vegetable cooking spray, scoop the goat cheese into balls and arrange on the prepared baking sheet.  

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.  

In a large saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat.  Add the leeks and cook, stirring constantly until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the broth, asparagus and basil.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook until the asparagus is tender, about 15 minutes.  Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Keep the soup warm over low heat.  

To serve: Ladle the soup into shallow bowls and garnish with the herbed goat cheese.  

Time to Relax

The other night I was really in the mood for something I could put on the stove and then go relax.  I find cooking very relaxing and I look forward to coming home to make dinner, but sometimes I just want to sit on the couch and relax after work.  As I was searching through recipes, I came across this one from Giada for Beef and Cannellini Bean Minestrone and it sounded like the perfect thing to complete my day.  

Minestrone is one of my favorite soups, but it never has enough protein or substance to be a full meal.  Giada made a few changes to this one, the biggest one being that it calls for ground beef.  I used little shells like I do in my mom's Pasta Fagioli because Brian didn't want the beans.  I think it would be great either way.  This is one of those meals you could make to warm you up in the winter or in this case a summer soup full of great vegetables!

The best part of this meal was once I put all the ingredients in the pot, I was able to sit on the couch and watch America's Got Talent.  Nick Cannon makes me laugh!

Beef and Cannellini Bean Minestrone

Recipe courtesy of Giada

• Ingredients
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 rib celery, diced
• Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
• 8 ounces lean (8 percent fat) ground beef
• 3 garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 cups low sodium beef broth
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

In a large saucepan, add the oil and heat over medium heat.  Stir in the onion, carrot and celery and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.  Increase the heat to high and add the ground beef and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Cook until the beef is browned and cooked through, about 6 to 7 minutes.  Stir in the tomato paste and mix to combine.  Add the broth, tomatoes, beans and bay leaf.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the liquid has reduced by half, about 30 minutes.  Remove the bay leaf and discard.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  

Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with Parmesan.

Reinvention: BLT

Lately, it kinda seems like I have been obsessed with the concept of a BLT.  Well, it is sort of true.  I am obsessed with the flavor profile, but mostly it is the ease of making it.  The almost insignificant effort required to make something tasty.  As I was perusing the pages of my new Martha Stuart Magazine, I came across a BLT soup.  Yes, a BLT soup...

I checked out the recipe.  I love the concept, but did not like they way they did it in the recipe.  I am pretty picky about tomato soup =)  The way they had the recipe written was with iceberg lettuce, tomato soup, croutons, bacon and an egg drizzle.  

No offense, Martha, but Iceberg lettuce in soup does not work for me!  

My re-invented, BLT Soup came out perfectly delicious, healthy and satisfying.  I would make this again any day and the tomato soup was great for lunch the next day!  

BLT Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup chopped onion, one medium

3/4 cup shredded carrot

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

1 tablespoon, shallots, minced

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 basil leaves

3 drained sun dried tomato halves, packed in oil with herbs

2 (14.5 ounce) cans organic diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (14 ounce) can fat free, less sodium chicken broth

Croutons

8 slices Turkey Bacon Pan Fried in cooking spray (or Regular Bacon), torn into pieces

2 cups Fresh Spinach

Directions

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add chopped onion, shredded carrot, garlic, and shallots to pan.  Cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently.  Add sugar, pepper, salt and 4 basil leaves and cook for 5 minutes.  Add sun-dried tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.  Remove from heat.  Use and immersion blender (or regular blender) and blend until smooth.  

In the bottom of each bowl put a bunch of spinach.  Divide soup amongst bowls and top 

with croutons and torn bacon. Serve!  

Enjoy this one!  It was wonderful!

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Flavor Explosion!

I was pretty thrilled the other day to find this somewhat hidden section of healthy recipes on the food network website the other day! In this little treasure trove was this a recipe for a Chicken Scallion Rice Bowl. I think the title is horrible really. It is so much more than Chicken, Scallions and Rice in a bowl. It is a flavor explosion!

The flavor of the broth comes from Fresh Ginger, Mushrooms, Scallions and Basil and it is delicious. I would say this soup tastes most like Pho and you could easily substitute the brown rice for thin rice noodles. It is fresh and light, but still plenty filling and like

the Vietnamese say, "It will stick to your ribs"!

Chicken Scallion Rice Bowl

Ingredients:

6 Cups Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth

2 Cups Water

2 Tablespoons Mirin

1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce

1 Bunch Scallions, about 6

4 ounces Shitake Mushrooms, caps sliced, stems removed and reserved

1 two-inch piece fresh Ginger, peeled and sliced

6 Garlic Cloves, sliced

1 small bunch Basil, plus some leaves for serving

1 large Chicken Breast, 12 ounces

1 Red Jalapeno, thinly sliced (ribs and seeds removed for less heat)

1 Cup Shelled Edamame

1 Cup Julienned Jicama

Kosher Salt

2 Cups Hot Cooked Brown Rice

Lime Wedges

Directions:

Combine the broth, water, mirin, and the fish sauce in a large saucepan. Cut all but one scallion into 1-inch pieces and add to the broth with the mushroom stems, ginger, garlic and bunch of basil. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and continue to simmer until reduced by half, about 45 minutes. Remove all the solids from the broth using a

strainer or slotted spoon and discard.

Add the chicken, sliced mushroom caps, and jalapeno to the broth; adjust the heat to keep the broth at a gentle simmer and cook 12-14 minutes (mine took about 16 minutes) or until the chicken is just cooked through.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and slice into 1-inch pieces.

Remove the broth from the heat; Stir in edamame, jicama, and sliced chicken. Season with salt. Scoop 1/2 cup of the cooked rice into each bowl and ladle some of the soup over it. Slice the reserved scallion on an angle and sprinkle over each bowl along with basil leaves. Serve with lime wedges, if desired. I also served this with some sriracha.

Beautiful Broth

Ta da! This was a very relaxing meal to make. I was able to sit on the couch and watch my DVR while the broth simmered and made for a very nice evening!