Black bean soup

Last month we had a Mexican potluck! Patrick and I contributed black beans and rice as well as a Mexican Chocolate pound cake. There were a lot of black beans after the potluck and no one wanted to take home some leftovers. Not to worry, I thought, these'll make a great black bean soup.

The leftover black beans were in a loose liquid so to turn them into soup I simply warmed them in a pot and took a potato masher to the beans. I tried to mash about a quarter of the beans so that they would thicken the soup. The originally black beans were very well seasoned so I didn't add anything extra for the soup. I primarily wanted to thicken it a bit.

This turned into a great weekend lunch. We toasted a slice of sourdough bread with cheddar cheese to have with the soup and a sliced apple rounded out the meal! We typically eat our leftovers as is so it was fun to turn them into a little something different (although this really wasn't that different).

Soba Noodle & Sweet Potato Soup

Patrick and I made this dish about a month ago at the beginning of the year when our bodies were wanting some fresh, clean foods and a palette cleanse after all of our holiday travels. This soba noodles and sweet potato soup hit just the spot on a cold evening! We were able to use sweet potatoes held over from our CSA. They're great to store in the pantry. Soba noodles are also something we typically keep in the pantry and homemade chicken stock is always in our freezer. After picking up the remaining vegetables on a weekly grocery store run we were able to make this without any trouble. With one small exception! The grocery store didn't have miso so I was forced to omit this.

Soba Noodles & Sweet Potato Soup inspiration from "A Clean Slate" cookbook
   Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp ginger, peeled and small dice
4 scallions, whites and greens separated and sliced thin
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 oz shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced with stems removed
1 sweet potato, peeled and 1/2" cubes
3 cups chicken stock
3 cups water
4 oz soba noodles
2 heads baby bok choy, sliced into 1/2" pieces
1/2 cup miso (we omitted)
1 tbsp fresh lime juice

Directions
   Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add ginger, scallion whites, and garlic; cook, stirring, until fragrant (about 2 minutes). Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2 minutes more. Add sweet potato and toss to coat. Add the stock and water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until sweet potatoes are tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
   Meanwhile, cook soba according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water.
   Add bok choy to sweet-potato mixture, and cook until leaves are just wilted and stems are crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in cooked noodles. Remove from heat.
   Remove 1 cup hot broth, and whisk in miso until smooth, then stir into soup. Add lime juice, and season with salt. Serve soup immediately topped with scallion greens.

Brunswick Stew

Coming in today with a very timely post. Timely meaning we made this over the weekend! We are usually sharing drafted posts that are scheduled a few days or weeks out but things are a little light for January and I thought it would be fun to get this soup post up the week after we made it.

Much like fellow East Coast folks we were snowed in this past weekend. On Friday morning we awoke to a blanket of snow and a beautiful winter wonderland. Fortunately we never lost power so we were able to enjoy the comforts of our home (cooking and heat, primarily) throughout the weekend. Patrick and I kept ourselves well entertained during the icy storm and remnants. On Friday I ventured outside to deliver goodie bags to all the neighbors (post on that next week) and enjoyed saying hello to everyone. Then on Saturday we invited neighbors over for lunch and an afternoon game. Finally on Sunday we forged on in our journey called "paint the house" and painted a bunch of upstairs doors.

One thing Patrick and I were pleasantly surprised when we moved into our house last year was that several other houses were occupied by young folks! Woo millennials! We put in an effort to get to know said young folks over the past year and have enjoyed building these neighborly relationships. With everyone cooped in houses and impassable roads on Saturday we invited the neighbors over for lunch and games. I had things on hand for Brunswick Stew and passed along the message that if folks wanted to bring something to share that'd be welcome. In addition to the stew we had homemade rosemary bread and angel food cake. The majority of our young folk neighbors are not from the South and only one had heard of Brunswick Stew so it was fun to share one of my favorite soups with them.

Before setting out to make this Southern soup I called my grandmother and asked to "walk me through" making it. My grandfather answered the phone and after telling him what I wanted he said, "good luck, she does it differently every time." After telling me the basics of making the soup she asked me when I was making it and when I responded with "it's for lunch" she quickly responded "well you better hurry up and start." So I hung up and here's how I winged it:

Brunswick Stew
   Serves 8
Ingredients
2 tbsp butter divided
2 onions, diced and divided
2 qts water
2 large chicken breasts
2 cups butter beans (frozen)
1 pint corn (frozen)
3 Yukon potatoes, 1/2" dice
1 bell pepper, small dice
2-3 carrots, small dice
1-2 celery stalks, small dice
3 cups stewed tomatoes

Directions
   In a large soup pot melt 1 tbsp butter and saute onion. Add salt. Once translucent add water and chicken. Bring to a boil and simmer until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken and set aside. Once chicken has cooled, shred and reserve.
   To the broth add butter beans, pint corn, and potatoes. Continue to simmer. In a separate pan melt remaining butter and add saute diced bell pepper, onion, carrot, and celery. Once sauteed veggies are soft and translucent add to the broth mixture along with shredded chicken and tomatoes. Season accordingly and keep on a low simmer for about an hour.

Mine didn't turn out quite as good as Granny's so I'm looking forward to refining my Brunswick Stew technique. She highly recommended started the soup base with pork (either a ham bone or bacon) but I didn't have either one of those at my disposal.

It's Always Caturday

Nacho analyzing the white stuff

Did you make snowed in soup this weekend??

Cheeseburger soup

This cheeseburger soup is basically an amped up potato soup! It certainly takes things to the next level. It's a wonderful comfort food so if you're looking for something savory and delicious while you're cuddled up under on a blanket on the couch then this would fit the bill!

Cheeseburger Soup

Ingredients

3 hamburger buns, diced into 1-inch cubes

4 slices bacon, diced

1 tbsp olive oil 

8 oz ground beef

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 carrots, grated

1 teaspoon Worcestershire

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 cups milk, or more, as needed

2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 tbsp chopped chives

Directions

   Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spread bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place into oven and bake until crisp and golden, about 10-15 minutes; set aside. (We omitted these croutons)

   Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside.

   Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat and set aside.

   Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, celery, carrots and Worcestershire. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.

   Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in chicken broth and milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in potatoes.

   Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes. Stir in ground beef, cheese, salt and pepper, to taste. If the soup is too thick, add more milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.

   Serve immediately, garnished with croutons, bacon and chives, if desired.

Grilled tomato gazpacho

It's tomato time! I've been grabbing tomatoes fairly regularly at the farmers market now for the past few weeks. One time I even bought a whole box so I could experiment with some canning! Needless to say I've had a lot of fun experimenting with tomatoes this summer - there's been canned salsa, canned seasoned tomato sauce, yummy BLTs, salad, and then this grilled tomato gazpacho!

Gazpacho is a chilled soup made from raw vegetables and usually in a tomato base. I'd never made one before and I thought it would be the perfect thing to do with all my tomatoes. I thought it'd also be the perfect thing to serve when Patrick and I were working hard on an outdoor project two weekends ago. We prepped and stained our deck over a weekend and definitely needed refreshing meals when we ate. That was the plan anyway but staining the deck was a hard task and wore me out! So the gazpacho ended up being made on a Monday night... still tasty whether or not you've been working outside or inside all day!

Grilled Tomato Gazpacho from EatingWell

   Serves 6

Ingredients
2 lbs  ripe plum tomatoes
1 small red bell pepper
1 cucumber, peeled and seeded, divided
1/2 cup torn fresh or day-old country bread, (crusts removed)
1 small clove garlic
2-3 tbsp red-wine vinegar
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Directions
   Preheat grill to medium-high. Grill tomatoes and bell pepper, turning a few times, until they soften and the skins are blistered and charred in spots, about 8 minutes. [I used our grill pan] Transfer the pepper to a plastic bag and let it steam until cool enough to handle. Peel off the skin; cut the pepper in half and discard the stem and seeds.
   In the blender place half the pepper. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, core and roughly chop. Add the tomatoes, skins and all, to the blender. Add half the cucumber to the blender along with bread, garlic, vinegar to taste, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Add oil and blend until well combined.
   Refrigerate until room temperature or chilled, at least 1 hour.
   Before serving, finely dice the remaining cucumber and bell pepper; stir half of each into the gazpacho and garnish with the remaining cucumber and bell pepper.

We served the tomato gazpacho with a hefty fruit and cheese plate - crackers, mozzarella cheese, and apples.

Corn chowder with scallops

It's corn time! Fresh corn straight out of the fields is quite the luxury ... after you've shucked it, fended off all the hungry caterpillars, and gotten all the silks off the corn, that is. I had about 15 ears in the kitchen a few weeks ago and decided that I couldn't get it all into the meal plan so I put this corn chowder on the meal plan and put the rest in the freezer so I could save the corn bounty.

I used this Pioneer Woman Corn Chowder with Chiles as inspiration but kind of winged it as I went along. I snapped phone pics throughout the prep and will share them too. Everything I did was approximate so keep that in mind as you read through.

Corn Chowder with Seared Scallops

1. Begin by sauteing (about 3 strips) diced bacon. Once fat has rendered add in (1) diced onion and (1) diced and seeded jalapeno.

2. After the onions and jalapeno have softened add in (about 1/4 cup) chopped sun-dried tomatoes and (about 2 cups, blanched) corn.

3. Next add in (1 cup) chicken stock and (1.5 cups) whole milk plus salt and pepper. Mix (1 tbsp) cornmeal with a small amount of water and add to the chowder. This will thicken it.

4. Finally, top with seared scallops.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

A month or so ago Patrick and I were both feeling a little under the weather with spring rainstorms and fluctuating temperatures. Even though we weren't sick and the calendar displayed a spring month we both agreed that a pot of chicken soup would be exactly what we needed on that particular night.

This soup is great to make on a lazy afternoon or when you have some light housekeeping that keeps you around the kitchen. The first step in making the soup is cooking the chicken and then simmering that liquid down for stock which becomes the base of your soup. So you're warned - it's time consuming! But as anything in the kitchen that is time consuming and spends a lot of time simmering, the flavors will develop and it's amazing! You won't regret spending an afternoon making this chicken soup.

Started eating before we could take a picture in the bowl

Here's what we did [Inspiration from Pioneer Woman's Chicken & Rice Soup]

- Cover 2 bone-in chicken breasts with water (~1 quart) and bring to a boil with onion, carrot, celery scraps. Boil 8-10 minutes or until chicken is done. Once chicken is done remove from pot and place aside. After chicken has cooled remove meat and put bones / skin back into pot. Allow to simmer while rice cooks (45 minutes).

- While chicken is cooking, saute diced onions, carrots, and celery in a saucepan. Once all veggies have softened remove and set aside. Cook wild rice (1 cup uncooked) in now empty saucepan according to package directions (ours 45 minutes).

- Set cooked chicken (shred it or dice it) and sauteed vegetables in fridge until ready to use.

- After rice is cooked and stock has now developed flavor, remove everything from the stock (veg scraps and bones). Place cooked shredded chicken, sauteed vegetables, and rice into stock pot.

- Make a roux to thicken soup: In the rice saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter. When it is all melted, adding 3 tablespoons of flour whisking constantly. Stir until thickened and then add it to the pot of chicken broth. Stir well.

- Combine everything together in stock pot and simmer on low until ready to eat.

Tomato Soup for Two

We first shared this Cream of Tomato Soup on the blog almost four years ago. I don't crave tomato soup a whole lot but every now and then it's always nice to make this. I thought it was fitting to share again since it is something we continue to enjoy. Sometimes, as in this most recent time I made it, I'll cut the original recipe that served 4 in half so that it's perfect for us on a cold winter night. Below I'm sharing the perfect for two recipe! We served the soup with a sourdough loaf slice toasted with cheddar cheese.

Cream of Tomato Soup For Two from New Best Recipe
Ingredients
1 - 28 oz cans whole tomatoes packed in juice, drained, reserve juice
3/4 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 large shallots, minced (may sub 1/2 an onion)
1 tbsp tomato paste
pinch ground allspice
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
7/8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp brandy or dry sherry
salt and cayenne pepper

Directions
   Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Seed the tomatoes and spread in a single layer on the foil. Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar. Bake until all the liquid has evaporated and the tomatoes begin to color, about 30 minutes. Let the tomatoes cool slightly, then peel them off the foil; transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
   Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until foaming. Add the shallots, tomato paste, and allspice. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are softened, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Whisking constantly, gradually add the chicken broth; stir in the reserved tomato juice and the roasted tomatoes. Cover, increase the heat to medium, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, to blend the flavors, about 10 minutes.
   Strain the mixture into a medium bowl; rinse out the saucepan. Transfer the tomatoes and solids in the strainer to a blender; add 1 cup of the strained liquid and puree until smooth. Combine the pureed mixture and remaining strained liquid in the saucepan. [Or use an immersion hand blender.] Add the cream and warm over low heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the brandy and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Do you have a favorite tomato soup recipe?

Sweet potato lentil chili

Passing along a good vegetarian chili to warm your insides during this cold January! Patrick and I made this a few weeks ago; halved the recipe for about 4 servings so we could have dinner and lunch leftovers.

Sweet Potato Lentil Chili from Fannetastic Food blog
   Makes one large pot (5 quarts) — serves about 8 to 10*

Ingredients*
1 32oz container veggie broth (low sodium if possible)
1.5 C water
3 - 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes
1 16oz package dried lentils, rinsed
2 sweet potatoes, cubed
3 carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced (optional)
1 green pepper, sliced
1 to 2 cloves garlic, diced
Huge handful kale (optional)
2 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp pepper
Hot sauce (optional — to taste)

*We halved everything! And a few other "ingredients" notes - we substituted in chicken broth for the veggie broth, didn't add the celery, used red pepper instead of green, and used a Mexican blend spice in place of the cumin and chili powder.

Instructions
   Add the veggie broth, water, diced tomatoes, and rinsed lentils into a large pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it simmer for about 10 minutes (to soften the lentils) while you’re chopping the garlic, carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, and green pepper.
   Throw the garlic, kale, carrots, and sweet potato into the simmering pot, followed about 5 minutes later by the celery and green pepper and your spices.
   Let the mixture continue to simmer, stirring frequently, until it reaches the level of cooked consistency you prefer. This shouldn’t take long (maybe 5 to 10 minutes more) — just make sure the carrots, sweet potatoes, and lentils are soft.

Enjoy! Serve as is or top with extra marinara sauce, hot sauce, or salsa and cilantro.
Patrick topped with salsa and I added some crackers.

New spin on cornbread with potato soup

Patrick and I enjoy potato soup and corn bread. We usually wing it with how we prep the soup and try various flavor profiles to our liking. Bacon or pancetta, onions or leeks, and herbs are a few of the items we play around with.

Here's the first potato soup that was showcased on the blog. Then there was this one that was a bit more fancy. And most recently we posted a crockpot potato soup. We've gotten really comfortable with winging potato soup these days; it always changes a bit because it's an evolution of all the potato soups in our repertoire.

Since we've exhausted potato soups we're here today with a new spin on cornbread. It's from Smitten Kitchen and all from scratch. It features buttermilk and sour cream so a lighter fare than some other corn breads.

Smitten Kitchen's Sour Cream Cornbread with Aleppo
Adapted, barely, from Red Rooster Harlem via Marcus Samuelsson

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon dried aleppo flakes * We substituted red pepper flakes and paprika
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons olive oil
   *Aleppo is a Turkish bright red pepper flake with a mild-to-moderate kick and a bit of tartness. I bought mine from Penzey’s in Grand Central. If you don’t have aleppo, a regular red pepper flake, cayenne or hot paprika, in a much smaller quantity, would be a nice substitution. from Smitten Kitchen

Directions
   Preheat the oven to 400 °F. Generously butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan, or coat it with a nonstick spray.
   Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, aleppo and salt together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, sour cream, buttermilk and olive oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ones, mixing until just barely combined. Spread the batter in your prepared and bake for 22 to 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
   Serve in slices, toasted with honey butter ... or with potato soup!

Do you have a favorite cornbread recipe??

It's always Caturday

Watching the squirrels (and leaves fall)

Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup

While I was on bed rest for the wisdom teeth removal surgery I watched America's Test Kitchen on PBS. This slow cooker minestrone soup was featured and I knew it would be perfect for us to have now. I made it a few days after watching the recipe because it was a great option for needing softer foods.

The recipe does require quite a lot of prep before going in to the slow cooker but the soup is amazing! I debated halving the recipe but decided to make the full recipe with freezing intentions. We were able to put 3 two cup portions into the freezer so it worked out well.

Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup Adapted from Cook's Country & Lemons and Lavender blog
   Recipe from Cooks Country August/September 2010
Ingredients
1 cup dried medium-sized white beans, rinsed and picked over
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions chopped fine
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 cups water
2 cups loosely packed basil leaves, divided
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise, seeded and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 bunch Swiss chard, stemmed, leaves chopped
1/2 cup small soup pasta (I used Ditalini)
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions

   Cook Beans.  Bring beans and enough water to cover by 1 inch to low boil in medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until beans are just beginning to soften, about 20 minutes.  Drain beans and transfer to slow cooker.
   Saute aromatics.  Heat 3 tablespoons oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering.  Add onions and carrots and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add tomatoes and cook until pan is nearly dry, 5 to 7 minutes.  Stir in broth, water, 1/2 cup basil, oregano, and pepper flakes and bring to boil; transfer to slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low until beans are tender, 6 to 7 hours (or cook on high 5 to 6 hours).
   Finish Soup.  Stir zucchini, chard, and pasta into slow cooker and cook, covered, on high until pasta is tender, 20 to 30 minutes.  Stir in remaining basil (chopped if you’d prefer) and remaining oil.  Season with salt and pepper and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Pioneer Woman's Broccoli Cheese Soup & a Luncheon

About a month or so ago Patrick and I hosted another couple for a nice weekend lunch. You know by now that Patrick and I love a good brunch but since this was planned for 1pm I conceded that brunch was over by that time and I needed to plan a lunch menu. Since the weather temperatures were still fluctuating that weekend and we were in a chilly spell, soup seemed to be the perfect menu item! I decided on Pioneer Woman's Broccoli Cheese Soup paired with fresh bread croutons and a salad.

Pioneer Woman's Broccoli Cheese Soup by Pioneer Woman

   Be sure to visit her website hyperlinked above; as always her recipe posts contain step-by-step picture instructions!
   Serves 10 (I cut the recipe in half)
Ingredients
1 whole onion, diced
1 stick butter
1/3 cup flour
4 cups whole milk
2 cups half-and-half
4 heads broccoli, cut into florets
1 pinch nutmeg
3 cups grated cheese (mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, jack, etc.)
Small dash of salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Chicken broth if needed for thinning

Directions
   Melt butter in a pot over medium heat, then add the onions. Cook the onions for 3 to 4 minutes, then sprinkle the flour over the top. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute or so, then pour in milk and half-and-half. Add nutmeg, then add broccoli, a small dash of salt, and plenty of black pepper.
   Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender. Stir in cheese and allow to melt.

   Taste seasonings and adjust if needed. Then either serve as is, or mash it with a potato masher to break up the broccoli a bit, or transfer to a blender in two batches and puree completely. (If you puree it in a blender, return it to the heat and allow to heat up. Splash in chicken broth if needed for thinning.)
   We decided to puree the whole soup with the immersion blender; Patrick didn't want broccoli chunks. If you're not serving immediately I would definitely recommend adding in the chicken broth as it thickens the longer it sits.

We add some leftover French bread that we sliced, tossed with extra virgin olive oil and seasonings, then baked until brown and crispy. I chose to do this instead of serving the soup with sandwiches.

We had a salad too. The salad was romaine lettuce with tomatoes, carrots, parmesan cheese shavings, and a balsamic vinaigrette.

As always our hosted meals are serve yourself. We set everything out in the kitchen with appropriate plates and bowls and let everyone get what they want!

Our friends brought the dessert... a yummy pull apart monkey bread! Brunch doesn't usually have dessert so I guess hosting lunch isn't too bad after all.

Thai Turkey Chili

In the past few months you may have noticed a few meals with ground turkey popping up. There was one in the winter for turkey chili and just recently there were turkey burgers. After the turkey chili recipe was posted one of my hometown friends passed along this Thai Turkey Chili recipe. The flavor profile of the chili sounded delicious and I couldn't wait for us to try it.

I only had one small hiccup with getting this into the meal plan rotation. Whenever I wanted this chili I would need to plan an additional meal with ground turkey for that week! You see, we have some ground turkey in the freezer from Costco. And before we froze it we didn't quite realize how big the packaging was (almost 1.5 pounds)! Unfortunately since it's already frozen we can't refreeze them in smaller portions. So this means we have to thaw the turkey, cook all the turkey, and then save half of the browned ground turkey to be used in the following days! Whew! So much work for turkey!

For this particular Thai Turkey Chili to happen we made the turkey burgers mentioned above. With the thawed ground turkey, I put half into burger patties and then browned the second half to make the chili later in the week (just 2-3 days later). It all worked out but next time we have meat from Costco we will be more conscious of portion size before we put it in the freezer.

Without more discussion, here is the recipe!

Thai Turkey Chili from TODAY show and Chirstine Riccitelli
   Serves 6
Ingredients
20 oz package extra lean (99%) ground turkey breast
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1 tablespoon cumin*
1 tablespoon chili powder* We used a Mexican spice blend which had cumin and chili powder in it
1/2 teaspoon red hot pepper flakes
1 cup chopped green onions
2 cups shredded carrots
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1/3 cup soy sauce, reduced-sodium
1 - 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 - 15 1/2 oz can black beans, drained & rinsed
3 tablespoons peanut butter
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions
   In a large 4-6 quart size pot, cook turkey, garlic and ginger until turkey is no longer pink, stirring constantly to break up turkey. Once fully cooked, drain the liquid.
   Stir in cumin, chili powder and red pepper flakes. Then, add the remaining ingredients (except peanut butter and cilantro). Mix well and bring to a boil over high heat.
   Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 20-30 minutes until vegetables are tender.
   Now, stir in peanut butter and cilantro.
   Spoon into bowls and serve hot.

We really enjoyed the chili! A nice plus is it was ready in less than an hour from start to finish (no long simmering required). Thanks for sharing the recipe with us Elizabeth!

Spicy Mushroom Asian Soup

It happened again! I was watching ABC's The Chew and one of the chefs made something I had to try! I've made something from all the chefs now! I've made...
   Carla Hall's Seared Tuna Sandwich with Ginger Lime Slaw
   Clinton Kelly's Spinach Artichoke Dip
   Daphne Oz's Cauliflower Alfredo
   Michael Symon's Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust
and last but not least Mario Batali's Bananas Foster Crepes

This time it was back to Daphne Oz. It was a spicy Asian soup. The soup had all sorts of nutritional benefits to get you out of the winter blues. Mushrooms provide you with Vitamin D which makes up for a lack of exposure to sunlight; ginger has anti-inflammatory effects that help alleviate winter joint pain as well as aids in nutrient absorption; spinach has iron and Vitamin K which is great for bone health. With all these wonderful benefits I knew this soup would be a win-win-win... too many wins to count!

Daphne Oz's Spicy Mushroom & Noodle Soup from The Chew
   Time 30 min | Serves 4
Ingredients
Oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
1 Red chili, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 cup dried shitake mushrooms
2 quarts water
2 cups spinach
1 package rice vermicelli noodles (cooked to package instructions)

Directions

   Heat a medium sauce pot with a few tablespoons of oil. Add the onion and sweat over medium heat until soft. Add the garlic, ginger and chili and cook for 2-3 more minutes until fragrant and chili is slightly soft.

   Add the sesame oil, soy sauce, dried mushrooms and water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes or until mushrooms are rehydrated and flavors have infused the water. Strain out mushrooms, thinly slice, and then return to the broth. Adjust seasoning to taste. Add the spinach and remove from heat.

   Divide the rice noodles between heat proof soup bowls. Pour some simmering broth into eat bowl to cover noodles.
   Serve soup warm.

Patrick and I both enjoyed this and agreed we should have it again! Instead of water I used our homemade chicken stock which added another layer of flavor. One other thing we did differently was the greens. Earlier in the week we made Patrick's favorite stir fry and had leftover bok choy. I added the heartier light green parts of the bok choy to the soup when I added the onions. I also added in some carrots here too. Finally the bok choy leafy greens replaced the spinach.

Easy Clam Chowder

For some odd reason I had a craving for clam chowder a few weeks ago. I'm not really even sure why. I searched through our cookbooks and around the Internet for something fairly simply but something just wasn't quite right about anything I came across so I stitched together the pieces of recipes I liked and put this together. Who knew that I was making Patrick's first pot of clam chowder! As you can imagine he was a little apprehensive at first but by the end of the bowl he had come around to it and approved!

Easy Clam Chowder served with toast-y cheese-y croutons.

Easy Clam Chowder
   Serves 4
Ingredients
1 lb yukon gold potatoes, in a small dice
8 oz bottle of clam juice
10 oz can of clams, drained and juices reserved
1 onion, diced
1-2 slices of bacon, diced
2 cups stock
1 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp Old bay seasoning
1/2 cup half and half
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Directions
In a medium pot warm 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and fry [1-2 slices, chopped] bacon on medium heat. Once bacon is crispy add the second tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and then the [one, diced] onion. Saute until onion is translucent (4-5 min) then stir in [1 tbsp] flour. Continue stirring for 1 minute and then slowly whisk in [2 cups] stock, clam juice, and reserved clam juice from clams. Add [1 lb, diced] potatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. The smaller your dice, the quicker the potatoes will become tender.
   Once the potatoes are tender blend about half the soup. We used the immersion blender; you could remove about half the soup to a blender and blend; or you could take a potato masher and mash a bit throughout the soup. This starch from the broken potatoes will further thicken your soup. If you want a thinner soup with more whole potatoes then blend less (or not at all). You could also blend the whole soup if you didn't want potato chunks.
   Finally add the [1/2 cup] half and half and the clams to the soup. Serve immediately.

Next time I make this I will add celery and carrots with the onions.
For the croutons, we had whole wheat hoagies left over. I diced them and then tossed with olive oil, Italian seasonings, and parmesan and then baked in the toaster until cheese was melted.

Do you have a favorite clam chowder recipe??

Butternut Squash Lentil Bisque

I had some lentils on hand after making this dish with salmon. The salmon and lentils really come together in that dish. We've actually made it again since we first tried it. And it was even better the second time! I had originally purchased a 1 lb bag of lentils for that recipe and, after making it twice, still had almost half a bag of lentils left. So I decided to try the recipe printed on the bag of that bag. The recipe, as we made it, is listed below! It's got some interesting flavors in it; read on to find out what it is...

Butternut Squash Lentil Bisque
   Serves 3-4
Ingredients
1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped
1 apple, cored and chopped
1 onion, diced
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c apple juice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 c chicken broth
1/2 c lentils

Directions
   Heat squash, apples, onion, applesauce, apple juice, nutmeg, pepper, and 1 cup of the broth to boiling in 3 quart saucepan., stirring occasionally; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 20 minutes, or until the squash is tender.
   Place squash mixture in blender or food processor. Cover and blend on medium speed until smooth; return mixture to saucepan. Stir in lentils and remaining broth. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender.

We served with a grilled chilled sandwich.

Did you figure out what the interesting flavors are!? It's apple! The applesauce and apple juice really sweeten it up. I thought it was a little bit much for the bisque. I did like having the apple in it so next time would just substitute the apple juice for more stock or water.

Do you have some interesting recipes that call for apple juice?!

Sweet Potato and Spinach Soup

Even though our CSA has ended for the winter (it will start up again in April) we still have a few root vegetables (sweet potatoes) and winter squash (butternut) hanging around. When the CSA was ending we knew we would be travelling for the holidays and would need to be mindful of what items we were getting in our box. Our CSA offers pork products (ground pork and sweet Italian sausage are some of our favorites) that we will order and freeze. But we didn't want too much frozen pork so we opted for some sweet potatoes and butternut squash that we would be able to store and enjoy after the holidays.

So we've got a bunch of sweet potatoes hanging out in the laundry room! I asked Patrick for a suggestion to help with weekly meal planning. His response was "ground chicken soup" which led me to scratch my head and wonder what he was thinking! I decided to put "sweet potato" and just "chicken" together for a google search to find this wonderful soup! It was delicious and I think we're both looking forward to having it again.

Spicy Sweet Potato Chicken Soup from OrganicGardening.com
   Cook time 30 min | Total 45 min | Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ground curry powder (we omitted)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 carrots, sliced
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
32 ounces chicken broth, divided
7 to 9 ounces baby spinach
12 ounces cooked chicken breast, shredded (about 3 cups) (we used leftover rotisserie chicken)

Directions
   Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the onion for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Stir in the garlic, curry powder, and ginger. Cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.
   Stir in the carrots, sweet potatoes, and 3 cups of the broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or until the carrots and sweet potatoes are tender.
   Transfer to a food processor, working in batches if necessary. Puree the hot mixture until smooth. (We left everything in the pan and used our immersion blender.) Return to the saucepan and add the spinach and the remaining 1 cup of broth. Bring to a simmer.
   Remove from the heat. Divide among 4 bowls and top with the chicken (since we had leftover chicken from the refrigerator I put it in the soup pot to warm up a bit). Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper to taste.

Do you have any "out of the box" recipes for sweet potatoes?

Turkey Chili

Back in the middle of December Patrick had his holiday concert and his mom visited! You can read about it all here. We knew it was going to be a cold weekend. Since Patrick had his concert we knew we might be a little rushed for time on Sunday evening therefore I planned a nice pot of chili that we could have simmering on the stove. We started this late afternoon and it was just what everyone wanted on a cold Sunday evening before some classical music. Read on for the recipe and our impromptu chili bar.

Turkey Chili from the eat yourself skinny blog
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients (we halved everything)
2 lbs 99% fat-free ground turkey
1 yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes, no-salt added
1 (15 oz) can petite diced tomatoes, no-salt added
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp. hot sauce (I used Texas Pete)
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, no-salt added, drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 jalapenos, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
Pinch of pepper
1 packet Stevia
3 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp. oregano
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions
Drizzle olive oil in a large pot and saute onion and garlic until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add ground turkey and cook until crumbled and brown, draining excess liquid as necessary.
Add all the rest of the ingredients and cook on medium/low heat for about an hour. Enjoy!

For our impromptu chili bar, we ...

roasted some Yukon gold potatoes and split them up for the bottom of the bowl,

the potatoes were followed by ladle full of chili,

and everything was topped with your choice of avocado, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and sliced jalapenos.

What are your favorite toppings for chili?

Butternut Squash Soup

Happy 2013!!

I hope everyone is doing well. Patrick and I had quite the end to 2012; we celebrated Christmas with both families (Chicago to Murfreesboro in one day!) and then rang in the new year with friends in DC. Now that we've flipped the calendar into 2013 Patrick and I are getting down to business with wedding planning. Cake tasting, meeting with rehearsal dinner caterer, attending an open house at our reception venue with my parents, and listening to potential reception bands are all on our calendar this month!

In the meantime I'm still meal planning and figuring out dinner every night. As we speak we're waiting on a few kitchen upgrades to be delivered. Don't get too excited because they're nothing fancy; more like kitchen organizational upgrades. Can't wait to show you what it is though!

Today I'm sharing a recipe with you that we made a few months ago and used a butternut squash. Butternut squash was a staple on the CSA list and it seems like we were getting one every week. This was a great way to use one without cubing and roasting it (as was the gnocchi). I found the recipe on pinterest. The recipe originally piqued my interest because it had sundried tomatoes. Patrick loves these and for a while now has been purchasing them at Costco... so that means we usually have some on hand and in large quantities. But then I realized I had extra roma tomatoes and wanted to try a new recipe for oven drying them! So I'm sharing two recipes!!!

Recipe One: Homemade Roasted Roma Tomatoes from the make and takes blog

Click through the recipe title to go to the website

Here's my variation: Slice tomatoes into 8 wedges / tomato. Spread on cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, crushed garlic, and sugar. Mix everything around and then place the tomatoes cut side up. Bake at 200F for 2-6 hours. As you can see mine really started brown (depends how big your wedges are); I'd say these took about 4 hours. 

Proceed to use homemade roasted roma tomatoes in this yummy butternut squash soup!

Recipe Two: Sundried Tomato and Butternut Squash Bisque from the manifest vegan blog

Click through the recipe title to go to the website

1 butternut squash
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 leek, tough green parts removed, cleaned and sliced
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup sundried tomatoes (not in oil), soaked at least 1 hour and drained (I just used mine straight from the baking sheet)
2 c salted vegetable broth (I used chicken stock since it's what we keep in the fridge)
1 2/3 c low fat canned coconut milk (I used a regular dairy; keep in mind this was found on a vegan blog)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (I have a basic pasta sprinkle in the pantry I used with basic, thyme, and oregano)
salt and pepper to taste

   About 1 hour before preparing preheat your oven to 350 °F, slice your butternut squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Sprinkle the flesh of the squash gently with salt and then place face down on a baking sheet. Add about 1/4 cup water to the pan and cook 45- 60 minutes, or until the squash’s skin is tender enough to easily be pierced with a fork. (If you have another preferable way of roasting butternut squash, go with that.) While the squash is roasting, saute the garlic and leek along with the olive oil over medium high heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
   Once the squash is tender, transfer to a high speed blender (or use a good quality immersion blender or food processor) and puree along with garlic and leek, the sundried tomatoes, vegetable broth, coconut milk, and cumin. Add a little more broth if you prefer a thinner soup. Blend until completely smooth, about 10 minutes. Warm gently if needed over medium heat until desired temperature is reached. Salt and pepper to taste.

We served this with a side mixed greens salad and rosemary sourdough bread. Delicious! The tang of the sundried tomatoes really adds a lot to the soup.

Taco Soup

One day Whitney and I went to check out the Penzeys store in Cameron Village in Raleigh. They have an exciting selection of all kinds of spices. We picked out three on our visit: pasta sprinkle, pumpkin pie spice, and the focus of this post, a bold taco seasoning. The store has little recipe cards on a lot of displays to help inspire you, and that's where we found the recipe for this. It was pretty good, and definitely comforting on a cold fall day, but the spiciness was a little intense. I'm not sure whether I would bother to make this again vs. just preparing regular tacos.

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
2 cans (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (14.5 oz.) corn, drained (or kernels from 3-4 ears corn)
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
1-3 teaspoons taco seasoning
1 container (16 oz.) salsa of your preferred heat level

Garnishes:
1 cup tortilla chips, crumbled
1 cup shredded cheddar, jack or mozzarella cheese
½ cup sour cream

In a soup kettle, brown the ground beef or turkey and drain any fat. Turkey won’t really get brown. Add the black beans, corn, tomatoes (with the juice), taco seasoning and salsa. Water may be added to make it a little soupier as desired. Cook over medium-low heat for 20-30 minutes. Serve with garnishes.
Serves 8-10.

Mmm beef and beans and tomatoes and stuff

Taco soup, prior to serving and garnishing