Spicy Summer Squash Soup

Over the weekend the unthinkable happened in this house.  I made soup and my husband who hates soup actually loved it and went back for seconds rather than finishing his chicken.  This never happens. 

We had a bounty of summer squash on hand from Brett’s stepdad who has quite the garden going this summer.  I must say that we both really enjoyed this recipe, and it will definitely be added to the rotation. 

I’m calling it ‘Spicy’ Summer Squash Soup because it does have some kick to it.  If you aren’t super into spicy I wouldn’t be afraid, it’s not too spicy. 

Ingredients: 

1 lb. yellow squash, sliced

1 medium white onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbs EVOO

2 cups vegetable broth

1 can Rotel, drained

8 oz. grated sharp cheddar cheese

2 tbs. hot sauce

1 tbs chili powder

Salt and pepper to taste 

Sautee squash, onion and garlic in a large nonstick pan with extra virgin olive oil. 

Add 2 cups broth and simmer until squash is soft. 

After squash has softened, blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

Slowly add in cheese, blending until it has melted completely.

Add in Rotel, hot sauce, chili powder and salt and pepper and enjoy! 

Souper Delicious- Corn & Vegetable Chowder

Please forgive my terrible puns, but this soup really was delicious!  I know it's freakishly warm here in the Southwest, but I'd make this soup anyway, and it would be the perfect warm-up for those of you in colder climates. 

Corn & Vegetable Chowder:
-2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
-1 med. red onion, diced
-1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
-3 garlic cloves, crushed
-2 medium diced potatos
-3 tbsp. all purpose flour
-2 cups vegetable stock
-2 1/2 cups milk
-1 cup broccoli florets (more if desired)
-2 cans corn kernels, drained
-2 cups grated cheddar
-salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot.  Add in onion, bell pepper, garlic, and potato and saute over medium heat for 5 minutes

Add in flour and stir until completely mixed, then add milk and stock

Add the broccoli and corn.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender

Stir in 2 cups cheese until completely melted

Season to taste and enjoy! 

Amazing Mac N' Cheese

I don't know if this particular version can technically be considered a mac n' cheese, since I didn't actually use macaroni noodles.  So call it what you like, either way it will still be delicious.

The Ingredients:
1 box pasta of your choice
1 can (10 1/2 oz.) Campbell's Cream of Cheddar Soup
2 cups (8 oz.) Shredded Cheddar Cheese (or any variety)
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup milk
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. garlic pepper
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground mustard

The Rules:
1.  Cook pasta until al dente
3.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl
4.  Transfer mixture to casserole dish and bake with foil cover at 400° for 40 minutes.

And you're done!  It's super easy and amazingly delicious.

Enjoy!

Salmon and Israeli Cous Cous Stir Fry

If you haven't before, you should check out Iowa Girl Eats.  It is one of my new favorite food blogs.  She has such great ideas and they are generally very healthy, and often vegetarian. 

Her recipe for Salmon and Israeli Cous Cous Stir Fry inspired me enough to try it out for myself.  It turned out really really well, and was a nice change of pace from the usual fish + vegetable + rice that we do at our house. 

I made mine a little bit differently with pre-packaged organic stir fry mix, but the end result was pretty much the same. 

You can head on over to this post for the recipe. 

Now, if anyone has any good recommendations for what I can do with the other 1/2 box of israeli cous cous and also the 1.5 dozen eggs that are hanging out in my fridge, I am definitely open to dinner suggestions!!

Tortellini Soup

We have a problem in our house where I love soup and could eat it every day of the week.  Brett unfortunately does not care for soup, so it's always a challenge to come up with soup recipes that he will actually enjoy.  Lucky for us, this is one of them:

Tortellini Soup

The Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 medium stalk celery, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 medium carrot, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 small onion, chopped (1/4 cup)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
6 cups water
2 extra-large vegetarian vegetable bouillon cubes
2 1/2 cups dried cheese filled tortellini
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, if desired

The Rules:
1.  In a 4-quart dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat.  Add celery, carrot, onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender.

2.  Stir in water and bouillon cubes.  Heat to boiling.  Reduce heat to low; stir in tortellini.  Cover; simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tortellini are tender.

3.  Stir in parsley, nutmeg and pepper.  Sprinkle individual servings with cheese if desired. 

The Dish:
Makes 5 servings.  280 calories per serving, 10 g total fat, 11 g protein. 

Recipe from Betty Crocker Easy Everyday Vegetarian.  Sorry folks, I don't get much credit for this one.  

Cream of Broccoli Soup

I have had many many many requests for my Cream of Broccoli Soup recipe. The trouble is, that it's not in a cookbook, it's in my head. So, this evening when I made this soup for dinner, I took the time to write down the ingredients and steps.


Ingredients:

-1 white onion
-2 celery stalks
-1 medium carrot
-2-3 cloves garlic
-16 oz. frozen broccoli flowerets, thawed and chopped into 1" pieces
-32 oz. vegetable stock
-4 tbsp. butter
-4 tbsp. flour
-1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
-1/2 teaspoon Lawry's salt or regular salt
-1/2 teaspoon garlic pepper or regular pepper
-Dash of ground nutmeg (optional)
-Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

1. Chop onion, celery stalks, and carrot and set aside in a bowl with 2-3 cloves minced garlic.

2. Make a roux out of 4 tbsp butter and 4 tbsp flour.

3. As the roux begins to thicken and bubble, slowly stir in 32 oz. of vegetable stock and bring to a boil.

4. Add in your onion, carrot, celery and minced garlic and boil over medium-high heat for approximately 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.


Mmmmmmm... I guarantee you it smells delicious at this point.

5. Add in broccoli, salt, and nutmeg. Continue to boil until broccoli is tender and cooked through.

6. Stir in 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream and simmer over low heat for an additional 5 minutes, or until hot.

7. Garnish with cheese if desired.

This soup is deliciously thick and hearty... perfect for chilly winter nights.

Enjoy!

Mmmmm... Chili

Tonight Brett & I decided to have chili one last night before the weather gets warm and we will want to avoid hot and hearty food in all its forms. This is by far the best vegetarian chili recipe I have ever found, and I thought it was too good not to share. For those of you who are fans of meat, this also makes a great base that you could add meat into.

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 tbsp. minced jalapeño pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz. can chili beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup canned corn
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, bell pepper, jalapeño pepper and garlic. Cook and stir for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Spoon vegetables into slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Cover and cook on low 4 to 5 hours. Garnish with cheese and sour cream, if desired.

Here is the delicious end result:


NOTE: I got a little over excited (or maybe just distracted) and dumped the veggies right into the crock pot without cooking them in the skillet first. While it isn't preferred, I just wanted to let you know that if you do it this way the chili will still turn out just fine. :-)

30 Days- No Repeats

I think that Rachael Ray has a book or a show or something with that title, and that was my goal this morning. Lately, Brett & I feel like we eat the same five meals all the time. Bound and determined to come up with 30 days of meal ideas without repeating a thing, I sat down this morning with a pad of paper and a stack of cookbooks.

An hour and a half later I had 12.

If anyone has any delicious, easy, and meat-free meal ideas please share!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Even though we were not able to be back in San Diego for Thanksgiving we still had a pretty good day. We went down to our neighbor's house for dinner, but being big fans of leftover Thanksgiving food, we decided to do our own Thanksgiving at home first. Here are some pictures from our day:

Brett's Delicious Turkey:







Some things never change, but I think my fingers may have gotten a little bigger:








My delicious home-made apple pie ready to go into the oven:







Ready to go to dinner:

Carne Asada

¿Cómo se dice "yummy" en Español?

This weekend we decided to introduce our friends Derek and April to Carne Asada. Neither of them had ever even heard of it, much less tasted it. We enjoyed a full feast of beans, really yummy Mexican rice, chips, salsa, and of course, carne asada. It was delicious and Derek and April are now big carne asada fans.

Here are the guys at the grill:


Brett & Amy: Bringing south of the border flavor to America's heartland since 2006. : )