Red Bell Pepper Soup

My husband and I are both coming down with nasty colds right now, so soup was the obvious choice for dinner tonight.  This soup is packed with Vitamin C, which will hopefully help us kick this illness to the curb.  It also happens to taste fantastic. 

Bell peppers are remarkably underrated.  They come in most of the colors of the rainbow, and they house an incredible depth of flavor.  Red bell peppers in particular are sweet and slightly sharp at the same time.  There's a lot more to them than their beautiful color.

This soup really showcases the glory of the red bell pepper.  Thanks to a little bit of rice, it has a nice creamy starchiness when it's pureed.  It's incredibly comforting and somehow refreshing at the same time.  It's exciting to find such a great red pepper soup that doesn't involve roasted red peppers, but the bell pepper in its unadulterated form.

Red Bell Pepper Soup

adapted from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple food

serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS:

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 large onion, thinly sliced

1 large red bell pepper, halved, seeded and thinly sliced

salt

1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped

leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme

2 cups low sodium veggie or chicken broth

1 cup water

2 tablespoons short grain brown rice

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

pinch red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Heat the oil in a heavy soup pot over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and bell pepper and season with salt.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the veggies are softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.

2.  Add the garlic and thyme and cook for an additional 4 minutes, stirring often.

3.  Add the broth, water, rice, and vinegar.  Raise the heat to bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and partially cover the pot.  Let simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender.  

4.  Puree the soup with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender or food processor, until completely smooth.  Season to taste with salt and red pepper flakes.  Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Tangelo Broccoli Beef

The season for tangelos is drawing to a close, but the ones that are still available are extremely juicy.  It seemed criminal not to attempt to use that excessive juice in a savory meal.  I just had to try it.

If you're not familiar with tangelos, they are the tart cousin of the orange - in fact, they are a cross between tangerines and pommelos.  They can be fairly sharp, almost unpleasantly so, in my opinion.  But they are so incredibly juicy that they definitely beat their citrus cousins in that category. 

Instead of a more traditional Broccoli Beef recipe, I thought I would combine that concept with a citrus sauce featuring our friend the tangelo.  The result is a slightly sweet, beautifully juicy (how many times can I use that word in one blog post?) and subtly unusual meal.  I threw in otherwise common ingredients for an Asian dish, to let the tangelo truly stand out.  The result was a quick and easy stir fry that is anything but pedestrian.

Use any cut of beef you like - I tend to go for leaner cuts, but anything would work here.

Tangelo Broccoli Beef

serves 3

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon canola oil

florets of 1 head of broccoli, cut into uniform pieces

3/4 lb. to 1 lb. top sirloin, visible fat removed, cut into 1/4" strips

pinch of salt

juice of 1 large tangelo (about 1/3 cup of juice)

2 teaspoons Sriracha or other hot chile sauce

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 scallion, thinly slice

toasted sesame seeds for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat.  Add the broccoli and cook, stirring constantly and shaking the pan on occasion, for about 1 minute, until broccoli is bright green.   Add steak and season with salt.  Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until most of the pink is gone from the beef.

2.  Whisk the tangelo juice, hot sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, cornstarch, and ginger together in a small bowl until well combined.  Pour over the beef and broccoli and reduce heat to medium.  Stir in the scallions. Continue to stir and cook until the beef and broccoli are coated in a tangelo glaze.  

3.  Serve with toasted sesame seeds if you like.  This is great over brown rice, but soba noodles would work nicely too.

Enjoy!

Veggie Hash and Eggs

There is something incredibly satisfying about eggs for meals other than breakfast.  This meal can, of course, be breakfast, but it is so easy to whip up that it's an excellent candidate for a quick after-work supper.  You take whatever veggies happen to be in your fridge, chop them up, saute them in olive oil, and fry up a couple of eggs to put on top.  Voila. 

I had some leftover cooked beets from the other night's salad, so I used those, as well as some spinach and zucchini.  I threw in some feta too, but this meal certainly didn't need cheese to complete it.  It's healthy, easy, and different enough that you can forget it is basically the easiest meal on earth.  Use whatever veggies you like.

It also would be excellent hangover food, if you happen to have had a bit too much to drink the night before.   Just sayin'.

Veggie Hash and Eggs

serves 1

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 cooked and peeled medium-sized beet, chopped into bite-size pieces

2 baby zucchini, chopped into bite-size pieces

2 cups loosely packed spinach leaves, coarsely chopped

salt to taste

1/4 cup cubed feta cheese

2 tablespoons chopped chives

2 large eggs

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the beet, zucchini, and spinach and saute until the spinach is wilted and the zucchini is getting tender.  

2.  Push the veggies to the side of the pan and crack the two eggs into the vacant space.  Fry them up - cook until starting to set, then flip with a spatula and cook on the other side, about 1 minute per side.  Toss the chives and feta with the veggies just before removing from the pan.

3.  Put the veggies in a bowl and top with the eggs.

Enjoy!

Crunchy Garlic Chicken

I crack jokes about it now, but when I was a kid, I actually liked Shake 'N Bake.  Now I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole, as I'm sure it is loaded with hydrogenated oils and whatnot.  Along came Jamie Oliver to teach me that you can make a home-made version that tastes absolutely fantastic!

Jamie's new TV show and book are all over the place right now, and his message is something I also feel passionate about.  He is all about teaching people the value of real, whole foods that are not processed and messed about with.  On top of that, he is teaching people that eating real food is actually easy and inexpensive, contrary to popular belief.  This recipe is a great example.  I made a few changes to make it healthier, but even Jamie's slightly naughtier version is still much better than pre-prepared chicken strips you might buy in the freezer section, or boxed bread crumb coatings that are loaded with junk.

This is a simple and incredibly flavorful recipe that will make your kids or picky husbands or wives very happy.  I made a simple potato-asparagus salad (simply boiled the potatoes, added the asparagus for the last minute of cooking, drained it all and tossed it with a simple vinaigrette) to go alongside and it was a wonderful meal.

Crunchy Garlic Chicken

adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution

serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

1 clove garlic, peeled

zest of 1 small lemon

6 plain whole wheat crackers

1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

leaves from 5 sprigs of fresh thyme

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons flour

1 large egg, beaten

2 skinless chicken breast cutlets, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Combine the garlic, lemon zest, crackers, olive oil, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste in a food processor.  Process until very fine.  Transfer to a bowl.

2.  Preheat oven or toaster oven to 450.  Sprinkle flour onto a small plate.   Dredge the chicken cutlets in the flour to coat completely, then dip them into the beaten egg to coat completely.  Finally dredge them in the cracker mixture until thoroughly coated (you may have to help out a bit with your hands).

3.  Place the chicken cutlets on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, flipping over about halfway through.  If the crumb mixture starts burning reduce heat slightly.  Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Roasted Beet Salad with Maple-Glazed Walnuts

I often get beets in my CSA bag, and I'll admit, I'm not always thrilled about it.  This salad has that magical something, though, that makes the beets much more appealing.  And that magical something comes in the form of home made maple-glazed walnuts.  Yum.

These nuts have a gorgeous sticky coating that tastes of rich maple syrup, with just a hint of salt to balance out the sweetness.  They compliment the naturally sweet beets very well.  The final component is a flavorful dressing studded with chives and freshly grated ginger.  Delicious.

This would make an elegant first course without any greens, or a great side salad with them.  If you're not a walnut fan, try it with pecans or hazelnuts. 

Roasted Beet Salad with Maple-Glazed Walnuts

adapted from Stonewall Kitchen Harvest

serves 3-4 as a first course

INGREDIENTS:

2 medium yellow and/or red beets

1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon butter

1/2 cup walnut halves

1 tablespoon real maple syrup

salt to taste

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

2 teaspoons minced fresh chives

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat toaster oven (or oven) to 400.  Wrap the beets in a piece of foil and roast in the center of the oven for 45-55 minutes, or until knife-tender.  Set aside to cool for a few minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2.  Heat 1 teaspoon oil and the butter in a small skillet over medium heat.  When it's melted, add the walnut halves and cook, stirring, for two minutes.  Add the maple syrup and salt to taste, and continue cooking and stirring for 3-4 minutes, until the walnuts are glazed.  Remove from heat.

3.  Whisk together the ginger, chives, vinegar, and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a small bowl.

4.  Peel the cooled beets with a paring knife.  Cut into thin slices.  Serve garnished with the walnuts and drizzled with the chive dressing.

Enjoy!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Gorgeousness, thy name is carrot cake. 

Today is Easter (in case you didn't know), and while my family is not religious in the slightest, we will take any excuse to get together and eat a lot of food any time.  Easter is no exception.  My contribution to the meal today is this fun and delicious (and reminiscent of bunny images, therefore holiday appropriate, in my opinion) carrot cake.  I found a yummy sounding recipe on the Pioneer Woman's recipe sharing site, Tasty Kitchen,  and tweaked it to be slightly more nutritious.

Next time I will tweak it even further, I think, cutting the oil in half and substituting applesauce for the remainder.  Still, you'd never know this was a whole wheat cake with (relatively) low fat frosting!  It has the delicious spices you expect from a carrot cake, the moisture and extra sweetness thanks to the carrots, and a load of personality. 

I chose to make this cake as an 8" square layer cake just for something a bit different, but you can also make it a round one, or bake it in a 13 x 9 rectangular baker.   And a note:  I found that the cake sagged a bit in the middle, which is something I'll work on correcting in the future - it was easily fixed with extra frosting in the middle!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

adapted from ginabe's Tasty Kitchen recipe

INGREDIENTS:

cooking spray

2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups grated carrot (about four carrots)

8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese (neufchatel), room temp

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temp

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

handful chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly spray two round or square cake pans, or a 13 x 9 pan with cooking spray.

2.  In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or by hand in a large bowl) combine sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla.  

3.  In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder.  Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just combined.  Stir in the carrot. 

4.  Pour the batter into the baking pan(s).  The pans should only be about half full (the cake will rise significantly).  Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for about half an hour, then turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

5.  Make the frosting:  beat together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla,  and powdered sugar.  Frost the cake (if doing two layers, there will be enough for the middle and the top).  Sprinkle with pecans.

Enjoy!

Lemony Spinach Pesto

This is another variation on pesto that is simple and tasty.  It's jam-packed with refreshing lemon flavor and will happily grace whatever meat, pasta, sandwich, or other edible material you choose to put it on.  I would recommend something a bit more interesting than plain pasta, though, as it can get a bit monotonous (but I feel that way about most pestos, so don't take it the wrong way!)

A big fresh bunch of spinach and a lemon join forces to make this fun and zippy sauce.  Grill up some chicken and slather it on, it would be great!

Lemony Spinach Pesto

adapted from Giada's Everyday Italian

makes 2 cups

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups (tightly packed) spinach leaves (about 2 ounces)

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

zest from one lemon

juice from 1/2 lemon (about 2 tablespoons total)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or a bit less)

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Puree the spinach, pine nuts, zest, and lemon juice together in a food processor.  With the food processor on, stream in the olive oil just until the mixture takes on a pesto-like texture, smooth and creamy but still somewhat textured.

2.  Transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste.  Use however you like, it will keep in the refrigerator for a day or two. 

Enjoy!