Minestrone Soup

it has actually been cold here in southern CA.  Yes it's all relative, but 32 degrees in the morning (yes that was the temp this morning) is truly COLD for us! BRRRRRRR). The saving grace is that  it does warm up to the 60s this time of year. And we can get crazy heat waves - like the 80 degrees forecast for early next week.  I don't like it when it gets that warm in the winter, especially during the holidays.  I want this time of year to feel brisk outside and I want to wear a jacket when I go outside.  I want to make a fireplace and curl up on the couch with the dogs. I love this time of year when I can settle down with a hot bowl of soup and be totally content.  It doesn't take much!

This recipe is a definite winter comfort food, made even better because the Ninja Cooking System did all of the hard work!

There were quite a few fresh herbs in this recipe so rather than hand chop, I used one of my favorite kitchen tools - the Kuhn Rikon Pull and Chop.  The two blades inside are VERY sharp (yes I found out the hard way!) and they easily mince herbs that are not always simple manage.  You can see how the herbs went from garden fresh to recipe ready.

Straight from my garden

 Ready for chopping

Mission accomplished - perfection!

MINESTRONE SOUP

Adapted from Cooking Classy

4 cups low sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups water

1 cup red wine (optional)

1 (15 oz.) cans petite diced tomatoes

3 stalks celery, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

1 yellow squash, chopped

1 1/3 cups pasta (ditalini, shell, orecchiette - I used the latter)

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 (15 oz.) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz.)  cannelini (white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz.) can cut green beans, drained

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

I Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley

1 Tbsp. fresh chopped basil

1 tsp. fresh lemon thyme leaves
2 tsp. fresh chopped oregano

1 tsp. fresh chopped rosemary

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp. sugar

salt and pepper, to taste
shredded parmesan cheese to garnish or Sargento Italian cheese mix

Add stock, water, wine, tomatoes, celery, carrots, onion, parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves and sugar to the crock pot/slow cooker.  I used my Ninja Cooking System and it was perfect. Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook on low for about 7 hours.

When the vegetables are softened after the 7 hours, add the zucchini, yellow squash, pasta, garlic, kidney and cannelini beans and cook on high 30-40 minutes or until the pasta is done.  Add the chopped spinach and green beans and cook a few more minutes until heated through.  Serve warm topped with the Sargento Italian cheese mixture or Parmesan cheese.

Another look at the minced herbs and all of the yummy ingredients ready to become soup.

So satisfying and soooooooooooo good!

And since I had chopped extra rosemary, I decided to do a bit more and make a delicious loaf of garlic rosemary bread to go with the soup.  The aroma from this baking bread will have you swooning!

Stay tuned for that recipe to come soon!

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My New Favorite Short Rib Recipe

It was time to start using up meat in my freezer and try some new recipes for main dishes. It is often a challenge to figure out what to fix for dinner and not have to eat it for a week because I made so much!!  I am pretty good about putting my "Seal A Meal" to work and saving servings for future busy days.   I keep index cards clipped on my refrigerator listing what meats are in the freezer and have a separate one for cooked entrees so I don't forget I have things ready to go if I don't want to cook or don't have time to do it. That system works pretty well for me - most of the time!!

I don't eat a lot of beef, but every now and then I just crave it and the short ribs had been calling out to me for awhile, so I decided to borrow a recipe from Framed Cooks to make a delicious meal of Mustard Short Ribs.  All I can say is............. Ohhhhhhhhhh  Myyyyyyyyyyy Goshhhhhhhh!!!! These were fabulous.  I love the way the coarse mustard melted into the beef  broth and the meat and created such an unexpected yet rich flavor.  And the sour cream blended with the grainy mustard and fresh garlic chives added a tasty cool complement to the tender, juicy short ribs.

The ingredients were relatively simple and straightforward as you can see from the linked recipe above.  I followed her recipe pretty much, just changed the potatoes using what I had, and added my favorite seasoning, the Borsari from King Arthur Flour, decreasing the salt, but still adding the pepper called for.

OOPS - forgot to take the ribs out of the fridge and add them to the photo!!

Once again I put the Ninja Cooking System to use to brown the ribs before letting the slow cooker setting take over.....

Can't you just hear the sizzle??? Then add the onions, potatoes, carrots and garlic on top.... The beef broth and coarse ground mustard smell  incredible over the ribs and that wonderful scent fills the whole house as the day goes on and made my stomach growl hours before it was time for dinner! And finally it was ready.  I actually hesitated adding the sour cream and mustard to the ribs. They smelled and tasted - (yes I cheated and tested them!) so good already - what could that sauce add?  Well let me tell you - it was  a true surprise to experience those flavors take this dish from wonderful and yummy to downright fabulous!!!!  This makes my mouth water just posting the photo. You have to visit Framed Cooks and try this recipe - it's a keeper!!  Enjoy!

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Italian Bean and Bacon Soup

I have an addiction to cookbooks.  I love trying new things.  I like to push myself out of my comfort zone - just a little.

This time of year I tend to do a lot of crock pot or pressure cooker cooking .  I love the smells that both evoke, although I am probably more partial to the crock pot because I can start it in the morning - run out and do my volunteer work and come home to not only a hot meal but a home that smells like my personal chef had been working all day !! (well a girl can dream...)

This recipe was perfect for a blustery day - yes we do have a few of those in sunny California!!
I really like the "Eat More of What You Have " cookbook by Marlene Koch.  I will be cooking more and more of her recipes as time goes on. I am really trying to cook and eat healthier.Some days that task is easier to accomplish than others...She also has another one called "Eat More of What You Love".  I have tons of recipes earmarked so stay tuned.  She uses Splenda in her recipes requiring sugar, but I plan to use Truvia as I like it  better, so we will see how that works!!
 


ITALIAN BEAN AND BACON SOUP

1/2 pound dry Great Northern or small white navy beans
*3 slices center cut bacon, cut crosswise into 1 " pieces (I used hickory smoked bacon)
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and sliced very thin
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4" thick
4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth ( I doubled it to 8 cups - it was too thick without it!)
1/2 cup heaping pearl barley (probably heaping the 1/2 cup is what soaked up all of my broth!)
4 sprigs fresh rosemary. plus 1 Tbsp. coarsely chopped, divided
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
** Borsari seasoning to taste
***8 cups loosely packed, stemmed Swiss Chard leaves, chopped

*I cooked double the bacon called for to use for garnish and cooked it crunchier - YUM
**This is from King Arthur.  It is a wondrous blend of sea salt, kosher salt, fresh garlic, fresh basil, fresh rosemary,  black pepper, and nutmeg.
***I used a combination of 6 cups baby spinach leaves and 2 cups Swiss Chard

1.  Pick over the beans, rinse, soak overnight, and drain.

2.  In a small skillet or the Ninja Cooking System, cook  the bacon over medium heat, stirring often for two minutes, just until the fat starts to melt..  Add the onion and garlic, stirring often and reducing the heat, if necessary, for 3-4 minutes or until the bacon is lightly crisp and the garlic is fragrant and turning golden at the edges.  At this point it will smell sooooo good!

3.  Add the carrots, celery, chicken broth, 2 1/2 cups water, barley, rosemary sprigs, salt and pepper.  Cover and cook for 6-7 hours or until the chard is tender.

4.  Remove the rosemary stems.  Add the chard and/or spinach leaves (discard chard stems) and chopped rosemary.  Cover and cook about 45 minutes more or until the chard is tender.
 
Adapted from from "Eat More of What You Love" by Marlene Koch

 This was relatively healthy (if you ignore the bacon - but why would you?!?) - and was quite filling.  I added a little Parmesan cheese on top as I love cheese melting and gooey on the top of hot soup!!

I guess I need to redefine "healthy"! Pin It Now!

New Favorite - Spicy Chili!!

It was cold here last week.  I know - a girl from southern California doesn't know what cold really is right?  And I can't argue that so let me try again - it was cold for our part of the country!  30s at night and 50s during the day - that is seriously freezing weather for us!  So what tastes better when you are shivering??  A nice hot pot of chili!  I blew it and should have taken photos of the ingredients and more of the prep, but I am still learning how to do this right - bear with me please.

This recipe was inspired by Monique at Ambitious Kitchen.  Here is her recipe for Pinto Bean Chicken Chili.  It looked great, but I had ground turkey to use up and wanted to add in my growing supply of dried beans so I made a lot of changes.  I was hoping I could not go too wrong throwing in what I wanted to use and I was right!!  But she gets credit for the inspiration.

It also was fun to pull out my Ninja Cooking System..  I LOVE this NEW appliance.

Yes I am a kitchen gadget junkie - just ask my kids. On second thought, please don't!  It won't be nice!!! LOL  But I did just got one for my daughter because I love it so much......

So it was so easy to saute the onions and garlic and brown the ground turkey on the STOVETOP function and then switch it over to SLOW COOK (low)  and set it for 8 hours. (you can set if for any time you desire and then it will keep it warm once it hits that time.........)  It is my new favorite appliance.  Never fear - I change favorites depending on the weather, my mood, and if it did what I wanted it to (vs. doing what it is supposed to do!!)  Agreed??

I know you aren't supposed to take the lid off - but it smelled TOO good!!

So  here is my recipe thanks to Monique.  I really do want to try hers with the chicken breasts as I am sure it is fabulous!

PINTO BEAN TURKEY CHILI
(adapted from Ambitious Kitchen)

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2-3 fresh Roma tomatoes
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3-6 tablespoons Penzey's  Spice Chili 6000** (a great blend of heat!)
• 1-2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1-2 teaspoons salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1/2 pound dried pinto beans
• 1/2 pound dried black beans
• 1 pound package frozen petite white corn
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes in juice
•  2 1/2 + cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1-2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon                          
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more to taste 

 ** If you don't have a favorite chili seasoning blend, use a combination of chili powder, cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper (depending on how "hot" you like it!)

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CROCK POT OR NINJA COOKING SYSTEM

1.  The night before, soak the dried pinto beans and dried black beans in water overnight.  You can soak them together but some of the pinto beans will be a lovely shade of purple in the morning!!  That was an interesting surprise!!  Rinse several times and drain before using in the morning.(once cooked the purple disappears!!)
2.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet or Ninja Cooking System, over medium high heat until nice and hot.  Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté until the onion is soft and translucent, abut 6-8 minutes.  Add the garlic and the ground turkey and cook until the turkey loses its pink color. Then a  Then add the seasonings and red pepper flakes, the canned tomatoes, drained dried beans, tomato paste, chicken broth and frozen corn. Stir well and let cook for about 8 hours on low.

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