Roasted Veggie Soup

After having pasta last night, then leftovers for lunch and being out in the hot sun today, I wasn't up to cooking much of anything. I know, soup is a weird thing to want after being in the hot sun. However, salad wasn't an option because I wasn't going to run to the grocery store since I have to go in a couple of days for my big shopping trip. If produce kept longer here, I'd keep lettuce stocked. But it doesn't, so I don't.

I knew I had leftover bits of produce that needed to be used, so I went to work. I just sort of threw this together as I went with not much of a plan, just a general idea. It hit the spot perfectly, the Hub loved it, so did the kiddos so I'd say a job well done. I will keep this in the back of my mind in the future as it's a perfect way to use random veggies up.

I know this is pushing it a bit, however, I will submit this to Soup's On as well. Thanks to Alanna for hosting this event. Soup is one of my favorite foods so I am anxious to try out other blogger's recipes.

Roasted Veggie Soup

1 lb. carrots, sliced
1 bulb fennel, sliced
1/2 white onion, sliced
6 garlic cloves
1/2 red onion, sliced
7 c. water
5 tsp. Better than Bouillon
salt and pepper
half and half, if desired

Place vegetables on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast at 450º for 20 to 30 minutes. Heat water and Better than Bouillon in a pan until hot. Add roasted veggies to water mixture and here is where you would get your immersion blender, if you have one, or, if like me, puree in batches in blender until smooth. Season to taste and serve with a half and half if desired.

Thai Barbecue Chicken with Asian Slaw

This was the chicken that was forgotten. I forgot to marinate it, finally marinated it, and forgot it until two days later. Thanks to Mommy Brain. All the better though, because the flavors had longer to marinate. This was reallly good, but I really like Thai food a lot. My best friend sent me an Allrecipes
cookbook, actually four of them for Christmas. I was really excited since they are packed with recipes.

Obviously, this wasn't authentic Thai, but it was marinated in traditional Thai flavors: curry, turmeric, cilantro roots(or stems), ginger, garlic, and fish sauce. Before grilling(or in my case, broiling) you are supposed to brush with coconut milk, but I forgot. It is also supposed to be basted in remaining marinade, once again, I forgot. The chicken was still really moist and full of flavor. I honestly don't know how much of a difference it would've made. I will give it try again though because we really enjoyed this. This is the recipe if you are interested.

On side, served with was an Asian Slaw which we really enjoyed quite a bit. Instead of a typical dressing, it was dressed with rice vinegar, vegetable oil, peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, ginger and garlic. The Hubs claims he doesn't like slaw, but I don't believe him. This is something I will definetely repeat as well.

Rosemary, Parmigiano, and Pine Nut Breaded Chicken Cutlets with Fennel Slaw

What do you do when you forgot to marinate your chicken overnight for dinner? My answer was to just delay the meal until later and swap it out. I had originally planned to make this for lunch when my friend came over. This was much better suited anyway because it doesn't take a lot to bread chicken, fry it and chop some veggies and dress them.

These were good, tasted like your typical breaded chicken, this time in breadcrumbs(I used panko), parmigiano-reggiano, crushed red pepper, garlic, pine nuts, and lemon zest. I couldn't really taste to pine nuts and they are a bit pricey so that was a let down. The slaw was pretty good for a change with fennel, red bell pepper, carrots, red onion, and parsley. Overall, a perfect go to meal, and once again, just a method more than actual recipe.

Pear Upside-Down Spice Cake

I recently subscribed to Cooking Light after picking up a copy at the store and really enjoying it. I had a few of their cookbooks, but never really read the magazine before. Odd, I guess. After seeing this picture in the magazine I knew at least, I would enjoy it. The Hubs would still be questionable.

I really like the idea of upside down cakes and variations for some reason. I don't think I've ever done anything with pears other than peeling, slicing and eating them. So, this was rather exciting for me.

This was perfect since my pears weren't very ripe and needed to be cooked or baked in order to acquire some taste. The only tweak I did was use the old sour milk substitution for the buttermilk. Why? Because buttermilk is sold frozen here and many times is very past the expiration date so it's kind of scary. I have the powdered buttermilk but haven't always had success with it for some reason.



The cake was spectacular. Perfect for fall, if we had that season here. This will be repeated. It was dense, moist and had just the right amount of spice to it. The Hub thought it was apple and liked it better once I informed him that it was in fact pear. Even Camden liked it, so I think I'll keep this on file.

Pear Upside-Down Spice Cake
From cookinglight.com

Cake:
3 cups sliced peeled Bosc pears (about 3 pears)
Cooking spray
2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk

Glaze:
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare cake, arrange pear slices spokelike in bottom of a 9-inch cake pan coated with cooking spray, working from the center of the pan to the edge.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 7 ingredients (through cinnamon) in a bowl.

Combine granulated sugar and 5 tablespoons butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Add flour mixture and 3/4 cup buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Spoon batter over pears; spread evenly.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack. Loosen cake from sides of pan using a narrow metal spatula; invert cake onto plate. Let rest 2 minutes; remove pan.

To prepare glaze, combine 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon water, and juice in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until butter melts. Stir in brown sugar; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons buttermilk. Let stand 2 minutes; pour glaze evenly over cake.

Yield: 12 servings

Cream of Asparagus Soup

One of my gripes about asparagus is the fact that you have to trim it. I look at the pile of what could be consumed and it upsets me. Asparagus happens to be rather pricey overseas, I don't know how much it is in the States, however at $5-$6 a bunch I really hate to throw away those ends. I always have good intentions of saving them too, but forget and throw them down the garbage disposal. Not this time!

I saved the ends and put them in a bag for when I was wanting something other than sandwiches or leftovers for lunch. Today was the perfect day. It's not much to look at, but I assure you, it was packed with flavor.

The other day while browsing the soup aisle in the Commissary. I came across a new jar that was not there at my previous trip. I have heard about this from various blogs and decided to give it a try rather than buying the cans/cartons of chicken stock. At $3, it's a bargain since you only use 1 tsp. to equal 1 can of stock and it goes very far. Not to mention, the flavor is uncomparable.

I haven't ever participated in a blogging event before, but have always been interested. So, this sounds like a perfect way to get my feet wet. I am contributing this to Soup's On! at A Veggie Venture.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Trimmed ends from one bunch of asparagus, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
2 tbsp. butter, halved
salt and pepper
4 c. water
3 tsp. Better than Bouillon
3/4 c. half and half
1 tbsp. flour
nutmeg

Saute onion and asparagus ends in 1 tbsp. butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Once onion is softened, add water and Better than Bouillon, bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes, or until tender. Once asparagus is tender puree in blender until to desired consistency. Strain vegetable mixture in a sieve. In pan, melt 1 tsp. butter, add flour, salt, and pepper, to taste. Cook for a minute or two. Add half and half, heat through, grate in a bit of nutmeg to taste. Add strained vegetable mixture into pan and heat through.

Beef and Broccoli

I don't know why I ever really enjoyed take out. Many Chinese-American favorites are pretty easy to recreate at home. The added benefit is being able to make it healthier and tweak to desired taste.

This is super quick to throw together and leaves you with only a few dishes. My kind of meal on a weeknight.

Broccoli Beef
1/4 c. flour
1 can beef broth
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 lb. boneless round steak, sliced
1 tsp. chopped ginger root
3 cloves garlic, sliced
4 c. broccoli, chopped

In small bowl, combine flour, broth, sugar and soy sauce. Stir until sugar and flour are dissolved.

In a wok or large skillet over hight heat, cook beef, stirring constantly until browned. Stir in broth mixture, ginger, garlic, and broccoli. Bring to boil, then reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes, or until sauce thickens. Serve over rice.

Cream Sauced Pasta and Vegetables

As a newlywed anything that was not thrown into a casserole dish seemed somewhat fancy. Well not anything, but you get the idea. So, you can imagine, when I first made this recipe I thought I had hit the jackpot as did the Hub. Looking at it now, it is so simple. Back then, I used garlic powder in place of garlic cloves because I had this irrational fear of fresh garlic. I honestly thought it would manifest itself and take over the flavor of my food. It is funny to think about that now because we typically add extra garlic to a recipe. I think I also substituted zucchini for the asparagus because the Hub had an aversion to it after being fed canned asparagus his whole life.

This is perfect during the summer; or in our case, all year round, when you are not wanting something lighter and fresh veggies are at their peak.

Cream-Sauced Pasta with Vegetables
1 box penne, or other short pasta
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/4 lb. fresh asparagus, trimmed, and cut into 2 in. pieces
1 medium yellow squash, halved lengthwise, then sliced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 c. heavy cream
4 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

Cook pasta according to directions, drain. Keep pasta warm. While pasta cooks, in large skillet cook onion and garlic in hot oil over medium heat until nearly tender, stirring occasionally. Add asparagus, squash, salt, and pepper to skillet. Cook about 5 minutes more or until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Add vegetables to pasta. Add cream to skillet; bring to boiling. Boil gently until reduced to 3/4 cup. To serve, pour cream over pasta and vegetables; toss gently to coat. Stir in tomato.

Pancakes

Breakfast for dinner, a lifesaver for nights when you don't feel like cooking. I am not a fan of normal pancakes with just white flour. Something about wheat makes it seem a more practical choice for dinner. I adapted this recipe from The Joy of Cooking. Served with butter and whatever you wish to top it with(syrup, jam, peanut butter, etc.) and they are perfect. Only two bowls, a griddle, whisk, spatula and you've got a very quick clean up.

Whole Grain Pancakes
adapted from Joy of Cooking

1 c. sifted all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1. c whole wheat flour
1/4-1/2 c. wheat germ
2 tbsp. honey
1 egg
2 c. buttermilk
2 tbsp. butter

Sift flour with salt, baking powder, and baking soda in bowl. Stir in wheat flour and wheat germ. Combine and beat honey, egg, buttermilk, and butter and whisk into dry ingredients. Cook on hot griddle until bubbles form on top, then flip and cook until done.

Valentine's Day

We don't really do Valentine's Day. Somewhere in the past two years we decided it kind of ridiculous when nearly everyday is(and should be) Valentine's Day. However, I like to use any excuse to cook something special and out of the ordinary. We're not big red meat eaters, however, every once in a while we'll crave a steak.

This is on such instance. The store had some Black Angus tenderloins on sale and they looked good so I took them home not knowing what I'd do with them. I simply salt and peppered them, seared, then poured in a bit of balsamic vinegar and red cooking wine(which I know discredits me to some cooks, however, we don't drink so...), reduced to a sauce. Very easy and tasty.

I served them with Creamy Orzo which made for a low stress easy meal. I am glad I decided not to overdo it this year especially since the Hub was too groggy from being on night shift to really enjoy it.

Also, our toaster oven had sort of bit the dust, so The Hub triumphantly threw it out a few weeks ago. I say "triumphantly" because he LOVES to throw things away. I think it's an illness. Anyway, so Happy Valentine's Day to me!!! He bought me a Rival countertop Convection oven yesterday. SO fun! I had my eye on the Cuisinart, but when it got down to it, I couldn't see any difference other than the fact the Cuisinart cost a lot more and was digital/electronic. Anyway, I am happy.

Beef Sandwiches with Au Jus

These are really easy when you don't feel like cooking. Well, they are supposed to be easy if you live somewhere where the power is consistent. You throw a chuck roast in the slow cooker with cider vinegar, ground cloves, onion, garlic, and I believe that's it. Set it to go all day until tender and falling apart. Shred it and serve it on rolls. Sounds easy, right? NO! I had this for a day I didn't particularly feel like cooking and wanted little mess and stress.

Of course it didn't happen this way. The day I decide to use my Crockpot, which isn't often, and it seems everytime I use it I am reminded WHY I don't use it. I plug it in, good to go. I'm happy, ready to fill my house with the aroma of beef and onions all day. Thirty minutes later, my power goes off!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not wanting to let this go to waste, I called my friend Marie and asked if I could plug it in her house. She said yes, so I had to get in the car, load up the kids, load up the crockpot and take it over there. Tacky, I know, but I was really hungry.

Anyhow, it worked out in the end. Served with fruit salad, and french fries. The fries are super easy and so much better than frozen. Cut potatoes into 1/4 in. strips, toss with vegetable oil, cayenne, sugar, salt and pepper and bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Nice and normally easy.

What a day....

I didn't go to bed until 1:30 last night but as usual, woke up with the kiddos at 7 AM. Not so much fun. The Hubs arrived home from work shortly after I woke up and got cereal for him and Camden.

I was wanting something a bit more substantial. The other day I had my friend over for brunch and made a veggie fritatta, coffee cake, and chai tea. I also served some fresh fruit. In my haste to run to the store and cook I forgot to take pictures. Oh well.

I had some mushrooms left over from last nights(or tne night before?) dinner. So I decided to make yet another fritatta this morning. This one contained onion, potatoes and mushrooms. Just exactly what I needed and held me off until lunch time. These are super easy to make. Really an open faced omelet. I never mentioned that the Hubs bought me a set of Calphalon One pots and pans[and a rack for them!], the 10 piece set. I am really loving these. They are definetely the best pots I have ever owned and I don't see myself ever buying another set. Anyway, I say all this to say that they a great since you start the fritatta on the stove top and end in the oven. These are oven safe and my previous set was not.


Dinner was quick and easy, thank goodness because I wasn't feeling too much like cooking after lack of sleep and dealing with a rather emotional baby all day. We had Chicken Tenders with honey mustard sauce and a Spicy Chopped Salad. The recipe was in Rachael Ray's 365:No Repeats. It really isn't much of a recipe at all and as usual I didn't really adhere to it. I substituted panko for the plain breadcrumbs because I like their crunch better. This is more of a method of cooking, or whatever, and since I've done this before, didn't bother to read the recipe.

I did make the salad however, which was nice. As I have said before; growing up, salad was always iceberg, carrots, cheddar(cut into chunks), and ranch dressing. This salad had watercress, dill, parsley, cucumber, supposed to have radish, but the store was out so I used red onion. Very good. The suggested dressing was EVOO and balsamic vinegar. However, I used some of the honey mustard(equal parts mayo and mustard with 3 tbsp. honey) and made it into a dressing with a splash of vinegar and EVOO.



The Hub LOVED my Chai that I made for brunch a few days ago. I knew he wanted me to make it again but didn't ask not knowing if it was time consuming or not. I decided to make some after dinner while he and Camden watched a movie. Very easy, in a pot put 2 qts. of water, a 3 in. piece of ginger, sliced, 1 cinnamon stick, star anise, 2 cardamom pods(crushed), 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/4 cup of honey(sweeten to taste, really). Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes. After it simmers add 1/3 cup of black tea and let boil for a minute. Stir in 1/2 cup milk(or soy milk, your choice) and strain in a sieve or, I used my super cool Bodum Teapot press from the Hub. He has learned bring me gifts like that daily and he totally will benefit.

Curried Chicken Pot Pie

I can't believe that I used to not like the taste of curry. Being a newlywed I tried my Aunt's recipe for Chicken Divan which called for a teaspoon(a measly teaspoon) of curry powder and found it weird for whatever reason. These days I can't get enough of it Thai mostly, but also Indian.

That said, Chicken Pot Pie was one of my favorite foods growing up. Mostly raised on frozen Swanson pies with an occasional pie at a friends' house.

When I saw this recipe in The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook, I knew I had to give it a try. I mean, come on, it was combining two of my favorite things. An old comfort food and a new comfort food.

I wasn't crazy about the crust and found the method rather odd. I will probably just use a regular recipe for a pie crust from now on even though it would detract from the lightness of the recipe. I am not one to diet anyway. Instead of rolling it out and placing over, I cut it into hearts with a cookie cutter just to amuse myself.


Yum!!!! This is a meal all in one really but for some reason, I always feel like I have to have some side dish to merit food a meal. So I served a Berry jello salad which was good and gave a refreshing break to the hot pot pie.

Curried-Chicken Potpie

Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons ice water
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening

Filling:
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 cups diced peeled baking potato (about 12 ounces)
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 pounds skinned, boned chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
3/4 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
Cooking spray

To prepare crust, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Combine 1/4 cup flour, water, and vinegar in a small bowl, and stir with a whisk until well-blended to create a slurry. Set aside. Combine 3/4 cup flour and salt in a large bowl, and cut in shortening with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add slurry to flour mixture, and toss with a fork until moist. Press the mixture gently into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap; cover with additional plastic wrap. Chill 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400°.

To prepare filling, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add curry; cook 2 minutes. Add potato, onion, bell pepper, garlic, and chicken; stir-fry 3 minutes. Add broth and next 5 ingredients (broth through black pepper); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until chicken is done. Combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Stir in cornstarch mixture and cream cheese; cook 1 minute or until cream cheese is melted.

Spoon the filling into a round 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Roll the crust into an 11-inch circle, and place over mixture. Cut 6 slits in top of the dough to allow steam to escape. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly around the edges. Let stand 10 minutes.

Note: You can also make this in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish. When you prepare the crust, press the dough into a 6 x 4-inch rectangle, and chill. Roll dough into an 11 x 7-inch rectangle and place over the filling.

Yield: 6 servings

Trying to catch up....on life

Here are a few I guess, note worthy meals we have had the past week or so. I have done well just to get these on the table.


Dinner tonight was White Chicken Chili from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. This is probably one of the first(if not the first) cookbook I ever bought. It has always had pretty much fail safe recipes that I know I can count on. The Hub is a big fan of White Chili, so I figured this would be perfect for my much hectic life. You see, a pretty easy throw together meal though, right? Lazy housewife, throws together cans of beans and simmers till done. Thats what I thought.

However, the store no longer carries white beans, so yesterday was spent soaking beans and cooking them and preparing dessert. However, it did allow me to rest today, so I guess I still won? Served with cornbread (I just use the recipe on the container of cornmeal) this makes a very filling meal.


Being a bit of a glutton for punishment, I couldn't just make only chili and cornbread and call it quits. I had to do something else. But what? We often go to a buffet at the Guam Reef Hotel for dinner when we are craving seafood and they always have flan on their dessert bar. The Hub always gets it when he goes there. So, I decided to try my hand at making it.

This came from Cooking Light's Complete Cookbook and was super easy. I had a bit of trouble with the caramel part only because I didn't listen to my gut instinct. My head and experience told me not to add water to the sugar, however, the recipe did, so I listened. WRONG! At least I will know next time. I made it in a pie plate instead of the suggested rammekins and was very pleased with the results. Plus, being low calorie, how was I to complain?


Beef and Chicken Fajitas from Young and Hungryby Dave Lieberman. These were fantastic, quick to throw together, and easy. I plan to pass this recipe on to the Hub as one of "his specialties." We at thesed two days in a row and did not get tired of them. This makes a LOT! So be forewarned, have company of be prepared to eat these for a while.


I believe these were called Herb and Parmesan Chicken Tenders. They were in Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals 2 book and were fantastic. I wasn't crazy about the tomato sauce served over the spaghetti so I think I would either tweak or omit next time. The chicken was excellent though.


The next day I took the chicken from the night before and made subs out of it. Heated over in the oven and put on a whole wheat sub roll with ham, honey mustard, lettuce, and cheese. It was a somewhat knock off of a Chicken Cordon Bleu sub.


And last, Everything Lo Mein from Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals. This is a standby meal for when I am stumped as what to make. It is so much better than take out and a cinch to throw together. I omit the pork and just use chicken because we are not big pork fans.

And, that's it! Hopefully I can get into a better blogging rhythm soon.

Menu

I know there has been a major lack of posting lately. I haven't had a chance to blog, much less breathe.

It started out with an eye infection. I know, infection is probably a word that should not be mentioned on a food blog. Bear with me since I have had to "bear" with it for a week. I thought it was just my contacts, apparently not, seeing as how my poor son started to exhibit symptoms. Trip to the doc, antibiotic cream, okay, good to go. But no, two days later, after it clears up, the fevers start in. We treat the fever, after 4 days, it doesn't go away, so I schedule appointment. Now what? He's got an ear infection. Not to mention he also had to get his shots as well. So this has been three trips to the doctor and one dentist trip for me. Does it ever end?

I am glad to say Roman is feelin better and is finally letting Mommy breathe! He's very snuggly when sick, which is fun, just not when there are things to be done.

But I digress. Here is the menu for the next couple of weeks. I honestly can't remember when it was planned?

Thursday: Honey Chicken over Snow Pea Rice
Friday: Everything Lo Mein
Saturday: White Chili with Cornbread and Flan
Sunday: Veggie Thai Curry with Jasmine Rice
Monday: Jerk Chicken with Banana Fried Rice
Tuesday: Pizza, yay!
Wednesday: Curried Chicken Pot Pie with Berry Salad

Thursday: Baked Flounder with Couscous and Steamed Broccoli
Friday: Chicken Fingers with Spicy Chopped Salad
Saturday: Enchiladas with Mexican Rice, Lime Chili Buttered Corn and Tres Leches Cake
Sunday: Pizza
Monday: Shredded Beef Sandwiches with Sage Oven Fries and Fruit Salad
Tuesday: Pepper Liime Chicken with Steamed Rice and Fruit Salad
Wednesday: Steak(preparation undecided) with Creamy Orzo, Carrots, and Chocolate Souffle