Sunday's Soup/Autumn's Harvest Carrot Soup

The Labor Day holiday marks the unofficial end of summer here in the U.S. All the children will be back in school. And soon, summer will fade into our memories. But, one of the loveliest delights of early fall is all the fresh vegetables that are in abundance at the farmer's markets. For someone who loves vegetables, I am like a child in a candy store :) I could easily buy more than I can possibly use. 

This week has been a bit trying, so a holiday is just what I need, a little time to slow down and just not feel that I have to be on high speed for a day or so. With that comes the desire for a pot of soup. I especially like making big pots of soup this time of year, and freezing them in smaller batches that can be taken out of the freezer for lunch and a light dinner. The soup I'm sharing today will be enjoyed this evening, and then make its way into the freezer. I'm calling it an Autumn Harvest Soup as it just looks like fall to me with its rich orange color. The ingredients are simple, carrots, fennel, granny smith apples, and a sweet yellow onion. 

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I began by sauteing the chopped onions and the chopped apples together.  

Added the carrots.

Then the chopped fennel along with the vegetable broth, thyme, and 2 bay leaves. The mixture was brought to a boil and the heat then reduced to a medium, and allowed to simmer until the carrots were tender, about 20 minutes. 

I saved the fronds of the fennel and chopped it a bit.

Once the carrots were tender, I used an immersion blender to puree the soup. When it was nice and creamy, I added the fennel fronds. The result is a soup that is a mix of savory and slightly sweet. Not dessert sweet, but vegetable sweet.

Autumn Harvest Carrot Soup
downloadable recipe

ingredients;
5 pounds carrots, washed, skinned and sliced
1 large sweet Vadalia yellow onion chopped
1 large bulb fennel chopped
2 large Granny Smith Apples chopped
8-10 cups vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon thyme
Reserve fronds from fennel and chop 
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
salt and black pepper to taste

directions;
Heat oil and butter in large pot. Add onions and apples. Saute until onion is tender. Add carrots and stir well to combine. Pour in 8 cups of vegetable broth. Add chopped fennel, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce to medium heat and cook until carrots are tender, about 20 minutes. 
Remove bay leaves. Using an immersible hand mixer, blender, or food processor, blend soup mixture until creamy. Adjust the thickness of the soup if needed by adding more vegetable broth. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Mix in reserved fennel fronds.
Serve and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy the soup if you give it a try!   

Rhonda

Sunday's Soup/Cabbage Confetti Soup

A few years back, I read a book about the nutrients and vitamins contained in vegetables and why we should eat them at a certain time of year. I was blown away by cabbage...of all things. Did you know that while the cabbage seems to be similar to lettuce, it's actually related to broccoli, kale, and cauliflower? Who would have thought? Not me! It's packed with vitamin C and K, helps to improve digestion, and also has an anti-inflammatory response in the body, so it helps to protect against infection, such as colds. Cabbage has also been found to lower blood pressure as well as cholesterol. Pretty amazing for this simple vegetable. So, eating cabbage at this time of year is especially great. It may actually help ward off a nasty cold :) 

I decided to call this soup Cabbage Confetti Soup, as it is rather colorful, with celery, carrots, fire roasted tomatoes, green and yellow split peas, and finally cabbage.   

Begin with 1 large yellow onion, and 1 cup of chopped celery. Saute under tender. 

Add 1 cup of green, and 1 cup of yellow split peas. If you would rather, you can choose one or the other. Split peas are pretty much...split peas. I just like the added color :)

Add in 2 large sliced carrots, 1 large can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, 6 cups of chopped cabbage, 12 cups vegetable broth, 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of celery seed, 2 teaspoons of dried thyme, and 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary. 

Bring everything to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until split peas are tender. Serve and enjoy!

Cabbage Confetti Soup

ingredients;
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion chopped
1 cup celery chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
2 large carrots sliced 
6 cups chopped cabbage
1 cup yellow split peas
1 cup green split peas
1 28 oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
12 cups vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt and black pepper to taste

directions;
Begin by heating oil in large soup pot. Add onions and celery and saute until tender. Add garlic and continue to saute for another minute, stirring so as not to burn garlic.
Add split peas, cabbage, carrots, canned tomatoes, vegetable broth, bay leaves, celery seed, rosemary, and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until peas are tender, about 30 minutes. 
Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Add in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.

The soup may be served as is with a nice piece of warm, crusty bread. You may also serve it over a bed of wild rice, a delicious addition. 

The soup freezes well, so have some now, and save some for later. Another idea is to freeze in small batches for lunches.

I hope you enjoy the soup, and I hope that it will help to ward off those nasty winter time colds :)
Enjoy!

Rhonda

The Guacamole Can Swim!

The board for the Haute Couture Club of Chicago met at my house yesterday to plan out our upcoming year, and of course, I could not let them go without lunch!

Whenever I entertain, I do my best to try and have items that will satisfy diet restrictions. That of course can be a very tricky thing. In order to try and provide something that everyone could eat, I had the loveliest heirloom tomatoes that I sliced, sprinkled with a little dried oregano, and some sun-dried tomato infused olive oil. I made my favorite fruit salad, mango, peaches, and cantaloupe. Finally, I made one of my favorite tuna salad recipes. This recipe has no mayonnaise, yogurt, or sour cream, so anyone who may have an egg or dairy issue, I'm in good shape. Well, I'm in good shape as long as they can eat tuna!!! 

The recipe is super simple. I take 4 avocados and mash them well.

The mashed avocados are then mixed into 4, 4 oz. cans of drained tuna. I always get tuna in water, and I try and get the best quality tuna.

A small onion is chopped and added to the mixture. 

And finally, 1 bunch of cilantro is finely chopped. Really turns the mixture into a bright green goddess concoction. 

When I am not serving this to guests, I usually chop up a jalapeno pepper and add it to the mix. In the end, the salad is basically guacamole with tuna!

When making the salad, be sure to save the avocado seeds in case you have leftovers. The avocado seeds will help keep the avocado from turning dark. The salad will store well for 2-3 days in the refrigerator.  

The salad can be served on a bed of greens, or on a hearty piece of bread with greens. 

The Goddess of Greens Tuna Salad

ingredients;
4 medium avocados mashed
4 4oz, cans of good tuna
1 small white onion finely chopped
1 bunch fresh cilantro finely chopped
salt and black pepper to taste
1 finely chopped jalapeno (optional)

directions; 
Mix all ingredients. 
Serve as a sandwich spread, or over a bed of greens. If serving over a bed of greens, drizzle with a little olive oil.
Save the avocado seeds to store with leftovers.

Enjoy!

Rhonda

Nutty For Fall/Lentil-Nut Loaf

What a wonderful week I had! The sewing expo was a blast, a lot of work, but a blast. So many lovely compliments on my classes. 

After talking and standing on my feet for 3 days, I need a comfort day, a nice hot bath with lots of Epsom salts for my tired body, and a lentil-nut loaf to feed my soul.

This nut loaf recipe is something that I have been making for years. I absolutely love it! It's chuck full of protein, eggs, nuts, and lentils. Variations can be made. Shredded carrots make a wonderful addition, as does chopped and sauteed kale or spinach. 

The recipe is below. If it sounds good, just click on "printable recipe" and you'll be good to go!  

Lentil-Nut Loaf
printable recipe

ingredients;

2 cups cooked lentils
4 cloves garlic minced
3 stalks celery chopped
1 large onion chopped
1 cup bread crumbs
2/3 cup oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped pecans
6 eggs beaten
1 tablespoon dried basil
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
Salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook lentils according to package directions.
Saute onions and celery until tender. Add minced garlic and saute for about a minute longer. 

Mix in lentils, basil, thyme, sage, salt, pepper and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add bread crumbs, oats, walnuts, pecans and mix well. 

Add lentil mixture and stir well. Add diced tomatoes. 

Grease 2 loaf pans and divide lentil-nut mixture between the 2 pans.

Place in preheated oven and bake for 1 hour, or until set. 

Slice and serve with sauteed mushrooms or your favorite tomato sauce. 

What I especially enjoy is that the recipe makes 2 loaves, so I have one for now, and one for later. Wrap well and store in the freezer until you're ready for the second loaf. 

I also make open face sandwiches out of the loaf. A little vegan mayo on a slice of good bread, some greens of your choice and a slice of tomato, and you'll have a wonderful lunch!

Hope you enjoy the loaf as much as I do if you give it a try :)
Rhonda 

A Healthy Harvest/Wild Rice and Havarti-Stuffed Acorn Squash

Fall is truly one of my favorite seasons, the spectacular colors, the cooler temps(although we're having a heat wave here in Chicago at the moment), and the abundance of fresh produce. My heart begins to sing when I walk into my market and see all the beautiful squash piled high like a mountain of abundance.

I'm one of those crazy people that will actually sit down and read a recipe book. I may never make a dish from the book, but I enjoy exploring new possibilities. 

A friend of mine shared a magazine with me that is published by the Colorado Mountain Parks Electric Company. A skinny little magazine, but it's packed with lots of great information, and best of all, fabulous recipes. Since I love squash, the featured recipe in the September issue caught my eye,

Wild Rice and Havarti Stuffed Acorn Squash

Halves of acorn squash stuffed with wild rice, spinach, pistachios, cranberries, and chipotle. 

The squash is brushed with melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, 

And baked for 45 minutes. They already look great!

While the squash bakes, the rice mixture is made, a combination of wild rice, spinach, cranberries, pistachios, and chipotle in adobo sauce. Sounds strange, but the peppers are the perfect compliment. 

The rice mixture is then topped with shredded havarti cheese. 

  
The squash are returned to the oven for another 15 minutes or so. 

The next step is a bread crumb topping that includes chopped pistachios. 

The final step...take a bit and say YUMMMM!!!

You can find the recipe HERE. If this looks good to you, check out the creator's website, Half Baked Harvest. Teighan is a celebrated chef who has been featured on The Food Channel, HGTV, O Magazine. Her first cookbook was just published earlier this year. You can find it HERE. Her book is all about living a simple life, eating seasonally, and using non-processed whole foods. I think you'll enjoy her site. 

I'm off to enjoy my squash :)  

Sunday's Salad/Vegetable Slaw with Blackeyed Peas and Roasted Sunflower Seeds

A friend of mine will come for lunch or dinner, sit down to eat, and more often than not ask, "Is this recipe on your blog?" My response will typically be, "No." And then she'll ask rather emphatically, "And why not???

So today, in honor of my friend :), you are getting a very simple recipe that I love, but would typically think it to be too mundane to post.

Here in the U.S., we have a store called Trader Joe's. The environment is kinda happy hippy for lack of a better description. What I especially like is that a healthy lunch can be had with just the combination of a few ingredients, and even easier, because all the preparation has been taken care of. With that said, everything for this salad can easily be prepared as well.

I purchase a bag of broccoli slaw, pretty easy to find these days. A container of chopped vegetables. This is a combination of chopped broccoli, carrots, jicama, green and purple cabbage, radishes, celery, and green bell pepper. Of course, you can add or delete depending upon your taste if you are chopping your own vegetables.

I love Melissa's steamed blackeyed peas, but a 14 oz. can of blackeyed peas that have been rinsed and drained will work just fine. 

And finally the dressing. I like the Asian Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette, but any dressing would actually work, depending upon your taste.

Not pictured above is 1 last ingredient, 1/2 cup of toasted sunflower seeds. With the combination of the peas and the seeds, the salad is chock full of protein. If you would like, 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa would make a nice addition and add more protein.   

Couldn't be easier, just dump everything in a bowl, stir and enjoy. With a lot of salads like this, it's advised to allow the salad to sit so the flavors can intermingle. I never wait, I dump, stir, and serve!
If you would like a printable recipe, you can find it HERE.

Last winter, I tried out a cottage cheese pancake recipe that I found at A Garden For the House. These pancakes have become an absolute favorite in my house. I made a batch this morning, and my husband literally stood over the stove waiting with anticipation!!!

Rather than strawberries, I did a mixture of peaches and blueberries. My husband said that he thought he liked the mixture better than the plain strawberries. I had 6 peaches and about 2 cups of blueberries. Added 1/2 cup of sugar and then poured the fruit and sugar mixture into a baking dish and roasted at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.

A note on skinning the peaches...
I boiled a pot of water and then placed the peaches in the boiling water for just about a minute or so. The skins are then quite easy to remove. 

So, I think my friend will be happy ;) And hopefully you as well! The salad is really quite nice and makes a great lunch during the week. 
Enjoy!
Rhonda

Sunday's Soup/Squish Squash Yellow Squash Soup

When I was growing up we ate tons of yellow squash. It grows well in a hot climate with sandy soil, so it was a vegetable that we had in abundance. There was squash casserole, sauteed squash, boiled and mashed squash, succotash, but never soup. Even with all I ate, I still love the mellow flavor, so I thought I would experiment a bit and I was really quite happy with the outcome.

The result was a creamy soup with lots of flavor. 

Squish Squash Yellow Squash Soup
printable recipe

ingredients;

6 large or 8 medium squash chopped
1 large Spanish onion chopped
1 yellow bell pepper chopped
3 large cloves garlic chopped
2 leeks chopped, white portion only
1 tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups coconut milk
1/4 cup parmesan cheese shredded
1 poblano pepper seeded and chopped (optional) 
salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pot. Add onion, leeks, yellow bell pepper, and poblano pepper. Saute until tender. Add garlic and saute another minute to bring out the flavor of the garlic. 
Add squash, vegetable broth, thyme, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cook until squash is tender, about 20 minutes. 
Using a hand held mixer, or blender, puree the soup mixture until smooth. Add coconut milk and parmesan cheese. Return to heat and heat until soup is warmed through. 

Serve and enjoy!

If you would like, the soup can be topped with fresh chopped chives, a little extra shredded parmesan cheese, and roasted pinenuts.

Not much is better than a nice warm bowl of soup in my hands :)

Enjoy!

What's For Dinner?

One of the exchange organizations that we used when we hosted students began just after World War II. Their hope was that the world would be brought together through exchange students. Since we have hosted students from many countries, my ears always perk up whenever I hear of a disaster in a country in which they live. But today, my eyes are upon Texas. The area that is being hit so badly is where I am from. I have friends there who are struggling. It breaks my heart, and I wish I could do more than pray. Hopefully the worst is over.

From time to time, I will cook chicken for my husband. He is always quite grateful :)

This past week, I made a dish that will work well if you have a vegetarian and non-vegetarian home. I'm calling it;

Ying and Yang Layered Pesto Dinner 

First, begin with the sauce.

Saute a large chopped onion, red bell pepper and garlic until translucent and tender.

Once the vegetables are tender, add a 28oz. can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, crushed red pepper to taste, and a 1/2 cup of  nice chardonnay. Bring to a boil and allow the wine to reduce for approximately 15 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for about another 20 minutes. Puree with a hand held mixer, or place into a blender to puree. Return to pot to keep warm. 

Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Drizzle a little olive oil over the breasts. Place on the grill and cook on each side until cooked through, approximately 3-5 minutes per side.

Turn off the fire on the grill if you have a gas grill. If not, remove breasts to a plate. Top with pesto. If you have removed the breasts to a plate, cover with foil to keep warm.
You can find my pesto recipe HERE. 

Cook quinoa according to package directions. I just happened to have black quinoa. 
Place a layer of quinoa on each plate.

Top the quinoa with the sauce.

Add a layer of spinach on top of the sauce. I like to use frozen spinach that I have cooked in the microwave. It's easy and takes no time at all to prepare.

If you are vegetarian, top the spinach with some pesto and roasted pine nuts. 

For the non-vegetarian, top it off with the grilled pesto chicken. 

Super easy, and super good!

Ying and Yang Layered Pesto Dinner
printable recipe

For Sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 28oz. can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1/2 cup chardonnay
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence
salt and black pepper to taste

Heat oil in pan. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add chopped red pepper. Saute until tender. Add garlic and saute an additional minute. Add tomatoes, wine, herbs de Provence, crushed red pepper, salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and allow wine to reduce for approximately 15 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer and cook an additional 20 minutes.

Using a hand held mixer or blender, puree sauce. Return to pot to keep warm.

Purchase desired number of chicken breasts to serve.

Sprinkle salt, black pepper, and garlic powder over chicken breasts. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Place on grill and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Remove from heat and top with pesto.

Meanwhile, cook quinoa according to package directions. Amount will depend upon how many you will be serving. Use package directions to determine serving size.

Cook a 10 oz bag of frozen spinach in a microwave safe covered dish for 3 minutes. Stir. Return to microwave and cook an additional 4 minutes.

Place a layer of quinoa on each plate. Add a layer of the sauce. Top the sauce with spinach. 

*For a vegetarian dish, top the spinach with pesto, and roasted pine nuts.

*For a non-vegetarian version, top the spinach with the pesto topped chicken.

Serve and enjoy!

This dish is not only great for a weekday dinner, guests would love it too! 

Sunday's Salad/Fennel, Apple and Blue Cheese Salad

What a week, a week filled with good things, bad things, sad things, and very little blogging things. But, the good out weighs the bad, and the bad is behind me, so happily, I move on! 

This time of year is such a joy for me, my tomatoes are coming in and I have tons of basil, so tons of pesto. Nothing better than an open face pesto sandwich. Makes my mouth water just to think about it. All I do is toast a great piece of bread, spread it with a mound of pesto, and then add a layer of my fresh tomatoes. A little salt and pepper, and it's luncheon heaven :)

Another favorite item, other than soups, are fun salads. I have fallen in love with fennel! Earlier this past week, I had purchased fresh fennel. As I was looking in my refrigerator, thinking about what I might like to make, the thought of pairing an apple with the fennel and then tossing it all with mixed greens sounded perfect.  

I placed about 3 heaping cups of mixed greens in my salad bowl, and topped them with a thinly sliced red delicious apple. 

I then added 1 bulb of  fennel which I sliced. Please do not follow my lead, chop the fennel, it'll be easier to eat and much more enjoyable.

I then added 1/2 cup of crumbled blue cheese, and 1/2 cup of toasted chopped pecans.

Now, the dressing I made, was simple and fabulous. A friend gave me a bottle of blood orange olive oil, and a bottle of tangerine balsamic vinegar.
   

I used 1/3 cup of the oil and 2 tablespoons of the balsamic vinegar, whipped it together and then poured it over the salad. 

HEAVEN!!!

The nice thing about the oil and vinegar is that they are available to order. For those of you who live in or near Chicago, they have stores on Wells St. here in Chicago, and another in Evanston. 

If you would like to order the oil and vinegar, you can find them HERE, and HERE. Well worth the investment. 

Fennel, Apple, and Blue Cheese Salad
printable recipe

3 heaping cups fresh mixed salad greens
1 red delicious apple thinly sliced
1 bulb of fennel chopped
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans

For the dressing:

1/3 cup blood orange olive oil
2 tablespoons tangerine balsamic vinegar

Whip together, pour over salad, toss and serve.