Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato soup

2 red bell peppers, broiled whole, in the oven until blackened (turn to get both sides). After they're roasted, place in a bowl with a lid, and let them steam for about 10 minutes, so the skin will be easy to peel off. Remove the stem, seeds, and skin (optional...I like the flavor the burned skin gives to the soup). Rough chop it.
1 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
4 cloves minced garlic
a handful of sweet basil, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
2 teaspoons dried thyme, or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 teaspoons paprika
4 large tomatoes (I used green, red & orange heirlooms), chunked.
5 cups veggie broth
Salt & pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil +2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)

On med-high heat in a large pot, add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sautee the onion, carrot, and celery for a few minutes, then add the garlic, herbs & spices. Add the tomatoes & red bell pepper and veggie broth. Let this all simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the veggies are soft. Let it cool a bit and transfer it to a blender or food processor (will have to puree it in batches), or puree it in the pot with a stick blender. I strained the soup at this point, but it's not necessary (I like it extra smooth)! In a separate pan, heat up the additional olive oil on med-high heat, then add the flour to make a roux. Cook it for about 5 minutes or until it smells nutty and is light brown (keep stirring it). Add about 2 ladles of the pureed soup to the roux, whisking out the lumps, then quickly add it all back to the tomato soup. Whisk out any lumps and bring to a simmer. The soup should be finished at this point, but if you like it creamy, add 1/2 cup heavy cream just before serving. Garnish with fresh basil.

For the grilled cheese, I used slices of sourdough bread, swiss, provolone, muenster and sharp cheddar cheeses.

Rigatoni with Butternut Squash Puree, Brown Butter Sage & Shrimp

To make the puree, cube 1/2 of a butternut squash, 1 onion, 4-5 cloves of garlic (roasted is even better). Sautee in a bit of olive oil, then add about 3/4 cup veggie stock, cover with a lid and let it simmer until the butternut squash is tender. Puree in a food processor (let it cool down a bit first) or with a stick blender. Toss with rigatoni, top with Parmesan cheese, brown butter sage and pan seared shrimp (seasoned with salt & pepper, cooked in olive oil). To make the brown butter sage, on medium-high heat in a small skillet, melt 4 tablespoons butter, let it cook until it turns a light brown color and a nutty scent. Add a large handful of rough chopped sage to the brown butter, cook until crispy, but not burned.

Farmer's Market 9/24/2011

 

Another great day at the Farmer's Market! This time we brought home some herb plants; dill, Italian parsley and sage, butternut squash, bell peppers, zucchini, onions, corn, eggplant, heirloom tomatoes, sweet basil, cilantro, spring onions, golden russet potatoes, strawberries, grapes and yellow cherry tomatoes (Our best find were the organic yellow cherry tomatoes...a pint for $1.50!)

This weeks Menu will include:
Butternut squash puree with rigatoni, brown butter sage & shrimp
Butternut squash risotto
Eggplant and yellow tomato bruschetta
Veggie Shepherds pie
Pasta Salad (the 10 year old will eat this when I cook a crazy meal like risotto, or anything that contains cheese).
Vegetable stew with gnocchi
Some sort of coconut Thai noodle dish...still thinking on it.

Oh, and I made crepes for breakfast yesterday. Strawberries, Nutella, whipped cream sweetened with agave nectar. YUMMY!


that's all I have come up with so far! :)

Roasted Chili, Corn & Potato Stew

Alright, this was supposed to be a chowder, but I didn't have any cream, so it became a stew (really the only difference between a stew and a chowder, right?)

This stew is perfect for a chilly, Autumn day (it was 92 degrees here haha). The carrot and white corn add a sweet bite, the roasted chilies give it a smokey flavor and a bit of a kick. An overall comforting meal :)

1 yellow onion, finely minced
1 large Russet potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4-6 carrots (I used yellow & orange...whatever works!) cut the same size as the potato.
2 cups corn (fresh off the cob is wonderful)
2-4 Anaheim chili peppers, roasted, skinned, finely minced (or any kind of peppers you like...jalapenos, poblanos, etc.)
A large handful Italian parsley, rough chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp dried thyme
salt & pepper
5 cups veggie broth
3 tablespoons olive oil + 1Tbsp
4 tablespoons flour


In a large pot on med-high heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook the onion, potato and carrots until they start to soften a bit. Add the garlic, cumin, thyme. Add the broth and the roasted/peeled/finely minced peppers (I'm sorry I don't have a pic of the chilies...oops). , bring to a simmer and let it cook for about 10 minutes or until the veggies are done. In a separate pan, on med-high heat, add 3 tablespoons olive oil and 4 tablespoons flour, to make the roux. Whisk pretty constantly so the roux doesn't burn, but until it's golden and smells toasty. Add about 2 cups of the hot stew liquid to the roux, whisking until smooth, then add it all back to the stew pot. This will thicken it up a bit. Add the corn and the Italian parsley, salt & pepper to taste. You can also add a cup of heavy cream, if you like it creamy :)

Served with Focaccia. I had some leftover pizza dough from the other day, so I shaped it into a circle, rubbed olive oil and salt on top, then baked on 425 for about 20 minutes.

Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Roasted Figs & Fresh Ricotta

 

Sliced 2 red onions very thin, cooked on med-high heat in about 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Drizzled about 1 tsp honey to help them caramelize. Tossed in a few tsp fresh thyme, a pinch of salt some fresh ground pepper. Added 5-6 sliced fresh figs to the onions, let them cook a bit. Rolled out a home made pizza crust, brushed it with a little olive oil and sprinkled it with fresh thyme. Spread out the caramelized onions and figs onto the crust, topped with a little shredded mozzarella cheese, dollops of fresh ricotta, more slices of fresh figs, and a drizzle of olive oil. Baked until it was done. EAT! :)

Raspberry & White Peach Butter

Yet, another inspired recipe from the Smitten Kitchen. You would think I'm a stalker fan....

The recipe was for peach butter, which called for 4 lbs of peaches. I only had 3 large white peaches and some raspberries I froze a few weeks ago, so I halved the recipe and got 2 jars (one tiny, one medium sized). About 1.5 cups.

I used about 2 lbs of white peaches, 3/4 cup raspberries, juice of 1 small lemon, 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup water. The Smitten Kitchen link will explain the recipe better than I can, but it's pretty simple! By the way, after I pureed the fruit, I strained out the seeds out...

Ratatouille

 

I love ratatouille, and especially this recipe by The Smitten Kitchen. Instead of doing the tomato puree with garlic and olive oil, I used my leftover Farmer's Market Marinara from last night's dinner. Layers of Japanese eggplant, yellow squash, 2 different types of zucchini, red bell pepper, lots of fresh thyme and Italian parsley, salt & pepper and olive oil. I served it over roasted garlic mashed potatoes and a dollop scoop of CJ's home made ricotta (also inspired by the Smitten Kitchen, but we used citric acid instead of the lemon juice it calls for-it doesn't have a lemony flavor, which I felt over-powered the overall flavor). Nom Nom Nom!!!

Tofu Gyros

I want to share a few recipes that I love. We've started to eat less meat about a year ago, so I am always trying to find new ways of incorporating tofu into our diets, while still curing our cravings. I love Gyros. I love lamb. Nothing can beat a lamb gyro. Period. But this post is about Tofu Gyro's. And they're mighty tasty. As with any gyro recipe, it's all about the marinating, so it's a bit time consuming.

1 package extra firm tofu
Slice into 1/3 inch...slices. Get some paper towels and put the slices on there. Then put more paper towels on top. Soak up the tofu juice.
In a dish/container/pan/whatever device that will hold a bunch of tofu & marinade, whisk together:
the juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar,  1/4 cup olive oil, a pinch of salt, some black pepper, 1-2 tablespoons oregano (2 teaspoons if it's dried oregano), 2 teaspoons garlic powder (I use powder because fresh garlic will burn while it's baking), 1 tablespoon Greek seasoning. Lay the tofu slices in the marinade, baste it, (you can stack it if your container isn't big enough to lay it all flat). Let it soak up the marinade for at least an hour, basting it here & there.

In the meantime, you can make the Tzatziki:
1 cup Greek yogurt
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp dill
2-5 cloves of minced garlic (depending on how garlicky you like it)
1/2 cup shredded cucumber (I grate it into the bowl so the juice is in the sauce)
1 tsp dried oregano, or 1 tablespoon freshly chopped
a pinch of salt and some fresh ground pepper (or to taste).
mix it all up and store in the fridge for later. This makes a great veggie dip, too.

Back to the tofu...
There are a couple methods to cook the marinated tofu. You can bake it on 300 for 1-2 hours (basting it every 15 minutes or so) until it has a more firm texture. Or you can fry it in a skillet. If you want more of a crispy coating, take the marinated tofu and lightly dredge it in some cornstarch, then pan-fry it in a little bit of canola oil.

Serve the gyro tofu on some warm pita, naan or flat bread with slices of tomato, red onion, and cucumber and lot's of the tzatziki sauce!

Farmer's Market Marinara

In a medium sauce pan, heat up a few tablespoons of olive oil, throw in a chopped onion, a couple chopped carrots, a small zucchini, 1/2 of an orange bell pepper, 8 cloves of garlic...cook all of this until the veggies start to soften, then add a handful of fresh basil, oregano and Italian parsley, 4 large heirloom tomatoes (chopped, peels on), a couple glugs of balsamic vinegar, a glass of red wine (about 3/4 cup+), salt & fresh ground pepper. Let this all simmer, long enough to make your house smell divine, then puree it with a stick blender (I like my marinara smooth, but if you like it a bit chunky, just don't puree it all the way). I served it over some organic spinach & cheese ravioli with Parmesan on top. The picky kids devoured it with some Riccioli pasta.

The Farmer's Market

We've been making a weekly trip to the Farmer's Market. This week we picked up some zucchini,
Japanese eggplant, yellow squash, jalapenos, red & yellow bell peppers, Anaheim chili's, golden russet potatoes, black Mission figs, green beans, carrots, red onions, Italian parsley, local honey and a lavender plant!

This weeks menu will include:
Saturday: Farmer's Market Marinara served over spinach & cheese ravioli
Sunday: Ratatouille served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes
Monday: Pizza with caramelized onions, roasted figs and fresh ricotta
Tuesday: Szechuan Tofu & Green Bean Stir-Fry with brown jasmine rice
Wednesday: Lemon & dill Grilled salmon served over zucchini risotto
Thursday: Corn, potato and roasted Anaheim chili chowder

pickles

Refrigerator pickles are simple to make and so tasty! This is a great way to "get rid of" all of those summer cucumbers. My Aunt made some of these pickles a couple of weeks ago (I have been drooling over her picture-I am too far away to actually taste them), and they've been on my mind since then, so I had to give them a try. I couldn't find a recipe that I liked, so I revised a few of them to my liking. This will make about a quart of pickles/juice (2+ Mason jars).

In a sauce pan add:

3/4 cup white vinegar

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1.5 cups sugar

1 tablespoon pickling spice

1-2 teaspoons red chili flakes

pinch of salt

Bring all of this to a gentle boil, remove from heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

About 4 cups of assorted veggies:

Cucumbers sliced 1/8 inch thick

Bell pepper (any color will do)

Red onion

Jalapeno (I didn't add it, but I will next time!)

Using distilled glass jars & lids, pack the veggies into the jars...really, put as many as you can fit in there. Pour the hot pickling liquid into the jars so the veggies are covered. Screw the lids on and wait for them to cool down before putting into the fridge. I started munching on them about 45 minutes later, but they were even better the next day! They're sweet & tangy and the red pepper flakes give them a little kick. They'll be at their best for up to 2 weeks, and save the pickling juice...you can keep adding veggies and they'll keep pickling!  Happy pickling!