Minestrone Soup

Wow, I have not added recipes in a long time. I have been pretty busy, but I promise to get caught up soon on my recipes. I have a few more to add, so stay tuned in the next few days.

One reason I was too busy to post recipes was because I went Home to Michigan partly for a historical conference and partly to see family. Due to being busy socializing or learning, I ended up eating out every day. Since Paul and I do not eat out more than once a month, this was a bit too much for me. I came home feeling fat and craving fresh vegetables. So I searched through some potential recipes that I have wanted to try and found this Minestrone Soup at allrecipes.com. Other than a sprinkling of cheese, there is nothing but healthy stuff in this soup.

What I loved: There are SO many veggies in this soup! I felt so healthy and the colors were beautiful. :)


Ingredients:
*Olive oil
*1 onion, diced
*3 cloves of garlic, minced
*3 medium carrots, diced
*3 stalks of celery, diced
*2 yellow squash, diced
*6-8 cups of vegetable broth
*3 potatoes, skinned and diced
*Huge handful of spinach, cut into strips
*1 cup of orzo pasta
*1 can (15oz) of diced tomatoes
*handful of fresh basil leaves, cut into strips or minced
*3/4 cup of parmesan cheese
*salt, pepper, spices of your choice, and extra parmesan for the topping

Directions:
1) Heat up oil in a large soup pot. Saute onion and garlic until tender.
2) Add the carrots, celery, and squash. Saute for approx. 5 minutes.
3) Add the broth, potatoes, spinach, pasta, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil.
4) Lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until potatoes and pasta and tender.
5) Stir in basil and parmesan. Season to taste.
6) Pour into bowls and top with more spices and cheese. Enjoy!


Comments:
*I wrote 6-8 cups of broth because it depends how you like your soup. If you like it more stew-like, only use around 6 cups of broth. If you like a more clear, broth look, add 8 cups. I like my soup to be clear, so I added 8 cups.

*It's hard to say how much spinach to add. What I did was go for equal portions of all of the veggies. I put the carrots, celery and squash on one plate, potatoes on another plate, and spinach on a plate as well. With the display of veggies in front of me, I added enough spinach to make it a good balance with the rest of the veggies. Sorry I cannot be more exact.

*I think next time I make this soup, I will add more tomatoes. I might add one of those cans of diced tomatoes that have spices with it. If anyone does that, let me know what you think!

Chicken and Bean Enchiladas

This past week, I was craving mexican food and both Paul and I were craving protein. Human bodies are so cool: if you listen closely, it tells you what nutrients you need.


Since Paul and I hang out pretty much all the time, we have this creepy habit where we say the same thing at the same time. This time it went like this:
*We were watching a TV show
*We looked up at each other.
*We both said at the same time: "I am really craving protein right now!"

It's a weird but awesome experience to say the same random thing at the same time as someone else. Anyway, since we both desired protein, I mixed multiple enchilada recipes from all over the internet to come up with a protein-rich meal that satisfied all of our cravings. It made 10 enchiladas.

The best compliment one can get about food: I told Paul that the meal had to last two days. So I was going to have 2 enchiladas for dinner and he was allowed to only have 3. Paul said: "Don't worry, Cris. I am not that hungry. I am only in the mood to have two." About 15 minutes later, Paul sheepishly got up and got the third enchilada... :) I will definitely be making this meal again!

What I love: Green chilies make an appearance again! I also enjoyed the taste of cilantro on the top combined with the many beans in this recipe. Yum!


Chicken and Bean Enchiladas

Ingredients:
*2-3 cups of shredded cooked chicken
*1 (4oz) can of green chilies
*1 (15oz) can of red beans, drained
*1 (15 oz) can of pinto beans, drained
*1.5 cups of shredded pepper jack cheese
*1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
*cumin and cayenne pepper
*1 onion
*1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
*olive oil
*2-3 cans (15 oz each) of enchilada sauce
*1/2 cup of sour cream
*10 flour tortillas
*optional toppings: cilantro and more sour cream

Directions:
(1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
(2) In a large bowl, mix chicken, green chilies, beans and 1 cup of pepper jack and 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese, and spices. Set aside.
(3) Cut onion in half. Chop both parts of onion but keep separated. Heat olive oil in a skillet pan. Add half of the chopped onion and the garlic and saute until golden. Add the enchilada sauce and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Whisk in the sour cream. Add approximately 1/2 of the sauce into the chicken mixture bowl.
(4) Spread approx. 1/4 of the sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 oven proof glass dish. Warm up the tortillas in the microwave so that they are easy to work with. Fill each tortilla with a heaping amount of the chicken mixture. Roll and place seam-down into the glass pan. Top with remaining sauce and cheese.
(5) Bake until bubbly, about 20 minutes. Top with remaining onion and optional cilantro. When on plate, top with optional sour cream. Enjoy!


Comments:

*I apologize that I did not give specific amounts for the ingredients. I love having heavily stuffed enchiladas, so I went a bit crazy on the amount of ingredients. It turned out that it was too much toppings and I had enough extra for two more enchiladas (but no room in the dish) at the end. I suggest just eyeballing the ingredients. It's never bad if you have extra at the end...in my opinion at least.

*For the chicken, I used a rotisserie chicken. That way, I didn't have to cook in the kitchen even longer. I love using rotisserie chickens! I had extra left over, and we used that in another meal (coming soon to this blog!). They are so handy to use for meals!

*You can probably use whatever kind of cheese you want. I liked the idea of using pepperjack and sharp cheddar. It was a great blend of spicy and tangy. Mozzarella would probably work nicely too if you want a milder taste.

*I used one large can of medium-spicy red enchilada sauce and 1 small can of mild red enchilada sauce. I had a hard time finding spicy enough sauce at my local grocery store. Use what you prefer. They had spicy green enchilada sauce but I have never had that before and it scares me a bit... If you enjoy the taste of green enchilada sauce, please let me know! I would love to know what it tastes like from an experienced person.

Vegetarian Soup

The other day, I had a killer headache that just would not go away. When I have these type of headaches, there is only one kind of food that I want: clear broth soups with a spicy kick. This soup was perfect for these needs.

In many ways, it is a "typical" vegetable soup, but it becomes unique with a spicy touch, avocado, and green chilies. I really liked this soup. It made so much soup, that I froze leftovers. The next time I am sick or have another one of my headaches, I will eat that leftover soup. It's also perfect for a gloomy, rainy day. Ahh, it was so satisfying. :)

Once again, I found this recipe at allrecipes.com but I changed it a bit and made it my own.

Vegetarian Soup

Ingredients:
*olive oil
*1 package (1 pound) frozen pepper and onion stir fry mix
*1-2 cloves garlic, minced
*cumin (1 tbsp, approx.)
*1 (28 ounce) can of diced tomatoes
*2 (4 ounce each) cans of diced green chilies, drained
*1-2 chipotle peppers with adobe sauce, chopped (add adobe sauce from can as well) (optional)
*4 cans (14 ounce each) vegetable broth
*1 can of corn, drained
*1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
*salt and pepper and cayenne pepper (added to your preference of taste)
*shredded cheddar cheese
*avocado, peeled, pitted, diced
*cilantro (optional)
*sour cream (optional)

Directions:
(1) Heat olive oil in large soup pan. Add stir fry mix, garlic and cumin until tender (approx. 5 minutes).
(2) Mix in tomatoes, chilies, chipotles (optional). Stir and heat. Add broth and spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, and simmer about 30 minutes.
(3) Add corn and beans to soup, stir and heat until warm. Pour into bowls. Top with cheese, avocado, and cilantro (optional) and sour cream (optional). Enjoy!


Comments:
*If you want to make it with fresher ingredients, instead of the stir fry, use a few different colored peppers and an onion. The stir fry mix just cuts down on the time it takes to get the veggies tender.

*If you want to make it vegan, just don't add the cheese at the end. This is a very nutrition-packed meal for those vegans out there.

*I like to dip bread of any kind into this soup. Paul liked dipping tortilla chips. Go crazy! Be creative! And let me know what you prefer! :)

*If you want a spicier soup, add more green chilies, chipotles, cumin, and/or cayenne pepper. Alternatively, if you want it more mild, do the opposite.

Seafood Spaghetti

Okay, I promise this meal is AMAZING even if the picture isn't very good quality. I had two hungry guys (Paul and our friend Rick) trying to eat and they were in no mood to wait for me to make a pretty dish of food for a picture.

I was going to retake the picture the next day, but there were NO leftovers! A great clue to how delicious this meal is... :)

This recipe came from my Aunt Roxanne. Once upon a time, our family ate dinner at their house. She made this fantastic meal and our family begged my mom to get the recipe. My mom made it occasionally and then I made sure to get the recipe from her when I left home for college and married life. I LOVE this meal and Paul is a big fan as well. Apparently, Rick is as well, as he told me: "I must be over from now on whenever you make this for dinner..." Yay for compliments on making fantastic meals! :)

What I love: there is no sauce for this spaghetti and yet it still tastes great! The seafood and feta cheese mixed together are also delicious.

Seafood Spaghetti

Ingredients:
*1/2 onion, chopped
*olive oil
*1-2 cloves garlic, minced
*1 bag of cooked shrimp, with the tails taken off
*1 package of imitation crab legs, chopped
*1 package of scallops (optional)
*1 package of feta cheese with tomato and basil
*1 package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
*1 package of spaghetti
*dill weed
*salt
*Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1) In a large pan, saute garlic and onion in olive oil. When tender, add shrimp and scallops (optional), salt and dill weed (2 pinches).
2) Drain and thaw spinach. Squeeze out all of the water. Add the spinach to the pan. Add the crab and some of the feta cheese.
3) Boil noodles according to the box. Drain. Return to pot and add the shrimp mixture.
4) Put on plates, top with parmesan and additional feta and salt. Enjoy!

Comments:
*Seafood can be expensive. To avoid making an expensive meal, I keep my eye on seafood prices every time that I go grocery shopping. Whenever something is on sale that goes in this meal, I get it. For example, last week, shrimp was 'buy one get one free' so I have shrimp stocked up for the next time that I make this meal. *I only add scallops every other time that I make this meal. Paul does not care for them very much but I LOVE them. This is our compromise. It tastes great with or without them.

Meatless Tacos

I once took a history graduate class on "The History of Food". In this class, the professor brought some kind of historical dish every week for us to try. When we were learning about the history of the tortilla in Mexico, the professor brought tortillas, black beans, cilantro, and green onions to class. I didn't think I would like it because (1) It seemed like odd ingredients for tacos (2) There were so few ingredients (3) I had never had cilantro before and family members (and Paul) had always told me that it was disgusting.

However, I tried it anyway and I fell in love with that simple-ingredient meal! I loved it so much that I started making it for dinner. However, as previously mentioned, Paul is not fond of cilantro. He doesn't really complain about meals, but I knew something needed to be done to make us both happy. I found a "Meatless Taco" recipe on allrecipes.com that was also very simple. I then combined the two ideas and soon came up with my own meatless taco recipe.

My recipe for meatless tacos is SO good! So light and refreshing! Optionally spicy! So healthy! It is a bit more complex than my previous meals, but only because there are more parts. The fun thing about this meal is that you can add other items or exclude items depending on your taste preferences. That is what is fun about tacos! :)

I hope you enjoy my Meatless taco recipe. If you have a meatless taco recipe that you use and feel like sharing, please email it to me!

Ingredients:
*tortilla shells
*shredded cheese or warm queso (your choice)
*1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
*salsa (optional)
*sour cream (optional)
*my "greens mix" (see recipe and picture below)
*my guacamole (see recipe and picture below)

Directions:
(1) Warm up tortilla shells. Put on toppings of choice. Enjoy!


My "Greens Mix" recipe:

Ingredients:
*spinach leaves, chopped
*6-8 green onions, chopped
*cilantro, chopped (add as much as you desire)
*1 fresh jalapeno pepper, diced really small (optional)


Directions:
(1) Add all these greens together and mix thoroughly. Depending on your preference, add more or less spinach to the ratio. I like a spicy greens mix, so I add 1 jalapeno pepper. If it is too spicy, I add more spinach, etc. This "greens mix" makes a great, pretty, crunchy, healthy, perfect addition to tacos!


My Guacamole recipe:

Ingredients:
*5 avocados
*1/2 white onion, chopped
*4 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
*1 clove garlic, minced
*lime juice
*1 dollop of sour cream
*1/3 packet of guacamole spicy spices (in mexican aisle of most grocery stores)


Directions:
(1) Cut avocados in half. Gently press a sharp knife into center of avocado pit and twist. This should easily detach the pit. After removing the pit, use a small spoon and "gut" the avocado halves. Add all the avocado to a large bowl. Add the white onion, garlic, and lime juice (a few drops at first...you can always add more later). Use a vegetable masher and mash these ingredients to a smooth consistency.
(2) Add the chopped tomatoes to the mix. Mash together, but leave tomatoes chunky.
(3) Add the dollop of sour cream, spice packet (about 1/3 of a packet), additional lime juice if needed. Mix together and taste test. Too bland? Add more spice packet, lime juice, and/or garlic. Too bold? Add more sour cream. Perfect? Eat quickly before the husband devours it all. ;)

Tomato Basil Soup

Ah yes, time for another soup recipe! :)

I have been craving simple soups with salads on the side lately. And this soup fit my desires perfectly, since there are only 6 ingredients! My stomach and mind have been SO happy since I made this soup! I don't think that I will ever be able to make Campbell's tomato soup in a can ever again after making this healthy soup!

Paul and I got our protein for the day by having spinach salad topped with hard boiled eggs, etc. After the salad, we ate this soup and they really go perfect together! This soup made enough for 8 servings and I was sad when we finally finished it off. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com but I changed some things to make it taste better (in my opinion).

What I love: The fresh taste, the creamy texture, the fresh basil, the crusty bread dipped into the amazing soup...mmm...

Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients:
*2 cans (28 ounces each) crushed tomatoes
*18-20 ounces of chicken broth
*18-ish fresh basil leaves, minced
*3 tsp. of sugar
*1.5 - 2 cups of whipping cream *OR* half and half
*6 tbsp. butter
*optional spices such as: pepper, paprika, salt, etc.

Directions:
1) In a large pot, bring the tomatoes and broth to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
2) Add basil and sugar. Let it simmer for a few more minutes. Reduce heat to low, stir in cream and butter. Cook until butter is melted. Add spices of your choice.
3) Enjoy with salad (optional) and bread (optional)!

Comments:
*Make sure to really mince the basil! I chopped into long strips, but while eating the soup, I kept wishing that the basil had been minced into smaller pieces. I will be doing that in the future.

*Make sure to let the sugar simmer into the soup for more than a few minutes. The sugar stops the tomatoes from tasting too acidic. I made the mistake of adding the sugar and then adding the rest of the ingredients and then eating it. The first day, the soup was WAY too acidic tasting, and I didn't want to eat it anymore. The next day, the soup had "settled" and it was amazing from then on. So if your soup is tasting too acidic, let it simmer some more and think about adding some more sugar.

*The comments on allrecipes.com for this recipe suggested that if you use fresh canned tomatoes, the acidic taste isn't an issue. So if you use fresh canned tomatoes, you might not need to use as much sugar in your soup. Keep that in mind! (Note to self: grow my own tomatoes someday and then can them!)

*I think that the next time I make this soup, I will use one can of crushed tomatoes and one can of diced tomatoes so that my soup has more texture. If anyone does this, let me know if it tastes as good as I imagine!

Vegetarian Baked Pasta

When pasta is on sale at the store, but you are sick of eating just normal 'pasta and sauce', what do you do? I decided that the solution to this problem was to make a lasagna-type pasta bake. It was a great idea! :)

This was the first time that I used this recipe, and I will be using it again! It was SO good. While it was more time-consuming than just 'pasta with sauce', it made up for it by tasting delicious and making plenty of food. We ate this for three days straight, and there was STILL leftovers, so I froze them for later. I will make this recipe the next time we have guests over for dinner, because I know that it will feed everyone there. Makes 8-10 servings.

What I love: The distinct, unique twist of using gorgonzola cheese made this meal amazing and NOT boring tasting! Also, the portobello mushrooms combined with that type of cheese was heavenly.

Ingredients:
*1 pound of penne pasta
*olive oil
*8 ounces of portobello mushrooms, sliced
*dried basil
*oregano
*1-2 cloves garlic, minced
*2 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
*1 (28 ounce) jar of spaghetti sauce
*shredded mozzarella cheese (approx. 4-5 cups)
*5-6 ounces of crumbled gorgonzola cheese

Directions:
1) Boil lightly salted water in large pot, then add pasta and cook until al dente (approx. 8 min.), then drain. Pour ice cold water over the pasta to stop it from cooking more. Set aside.
2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 x 13 pan with spray.
3) Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Add basil, oregano, and garlic and cook for another minute. Add tomatoes and spaghetti sauce, stir and heat just until warm.
4) Pour some of the sauce mixture on the bottom of the 9 x 13 pan until bottom is just covered. Combine remaining sauce and pasta together in the large pot. Place one-third of the pasta/sauce in the pan. Top with approx. 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and then with half of the gorgonzola cheese. Repeat for a second layer.  Put the final layer of noodles in the pan and top with remaining 2-ish cups of mozzarella cheese.
5) Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cheese is browned. Serve and enjoy!

Comments:
*I strongly recommend using portobello mushrooms and not 'normal' mushrooms. The texture of portobello makes people think that there is meat in this recipe. It is also the best tasting mushroom with gorgonzola.

*I found an 8 ounce container of sliced baby portobello mushrooms at the store. It was perfect for this recipe! If you can find something like that, use it. Otherwise, sliced normal-sized portobello mushrooms into long, thin strips or chop up in whatever size you like.

*The next time I make this, I am thinking that I will use white wine instead of olive oil to saute the mushrooms. I think that sounds really good...if anyone tries it that way, let me know what you think!