Balsamic Tomato Soup with Baguette and Zucchini

Here is another delicious and easy meal for you that my family loves. Most of you got to try the soup at Kari and Darcie's little Farewell party at my house.

The bread I just bought (French Baguette). You definitely want a bread that's a bit crunchy for this soup. The zucchini I simply sliced and sauteed in some olive oil with salt and pepper and some finely chopped onions (1 small chopped onion and 4 zucchinis). Only sautee it long enough that it gets tender but still has a bit of bite (about 5-10 minutes).

The Soup:

Ingredients:

2 cans of whole tomatoes (28oz)
1 big onion
4-5 garlic cloves
5-6 oz of heavy cream or evaporated milk
1 cup of beef broth
3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of sugar

Directions:
1. Get out a 9x13 glass dish, and preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Drain tomatoes and put in glass dish, chop onion into big chunks, and sprinkle over tomatoes, peel garlic and also throw on top of tomatoes.
3. Mix together 1/2 cup of beef broth as well as vinegar, soy sauce, oil and sugar. Mix well and pour over tomato mix. Bake the whole thing for about  45-50 minutes.
4. Blend your baked tomatoes and add the cream and broth after you blended the whole thing. Enjoy the soup now with your crunchy bread and zucchinis.


I'd say the actual prep time for the soup as well as zucchinis is maybe 30 minutes at best...

Corn and Poblano Chowder

Voila, the result of my fist chowder. I have to say it was a rather traumatic experience including burning the food - twice, cutting my finger pretty badly, and splattering myself with chowder, and then burning myself as a result. But, if you skip all those incidents when you make this, you will have a very delicious chowder. The recipe may look a bit intimidating, but I really think it's not that time consuming or hard to make. The worst part is probably that you can't really leave the soup unattended for too long.

My main recommendation for this dish would be to chop everything that needs to be chopped BEFORE you start cooking! I think that was my downfall. And I wouldn't leave the soup unattended for too long. I left it for 10 minutes or so without stirring, and it burned pretty bad. Anyway, here goes:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of butter
2 medium sized onions - chopped
4 cloves of fresh garlic - minced
3 chili peppers - chopped finely, seeds and stems removed
5 tablespoons of flour

4 cups of frozen corn (you'll need about one big bag of frozen corn total
2 cups of vegetable broth

3 cups of vegetable broth
2 cups of cream
4 cups of cubed red potatoes (about 1/2-inch cubes, about 5 average size potatoes)
2 poblano peppers - chopped, seeds and stems removed
11/2 cups of diced carrots (about 3 big carrots)
11/2 cups of sliced celery (about 3 big ribs)
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups of corn

Directions:

1. Make sure you have all your veggies chopped, minced, whatever.
2. Blend 4 cups of corn with 2 cups of broth - make sure it's really well blended, so it's pretty much a smooth, thick liquid. Let it sit. You'll add it to your chowder later on.
3. Melt your butter, sautee onions, garlic, and chili peppers with it. Don't chop other veggies while doing it because you'll burn your onions, which will turn your chowder into a brown mess...
4. Slowly add your flour to your onion mix once everything is sauteed well. Mix everything well, and sautee the whole mix for a few minutes.
5. Now slowly stir in the remaining broth. Make sure you keep stirring while you do that so you don't get any lumps. Once you have it all in there and smooth, add your corn puree stuff. Mix in well, and bring it to a full simmer for a few minutes, then add the cream.
6. Now you'll add the potatoes and poblano peppers, and stir/simmer for 5 mintues, then add the carrots and celery, stir and simmer for 5 minutes, and then add the corn, and stir simmer for about 5 more minutes.
7. Once everything is in, you just want to stir the chowder regularly so nothing burns, and taste the potatoes to make sure nothing overcooks. Once the potatoes are tender enough you're ready to eat.

Sweet Potatoe and Spinach Gratin

This is also vegetarian, fairly easy, fairly cheap, and surprisingly yummy. At least I was surprised when I made it. Kari and Darcie both liked it. Sarah, you never got to try it.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of butter (you'll need a total of 4 tbls)
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 pounds frozen spinach, thawed and liquid pressed out

2 cups whole milk
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons of butter

2 pounds medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick rounds
1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6-8 ounces shredded Swiss cheese

1. Peel and slice your potatoes. In the mean time sautee your thawed, drained spinach with about 2 tablespoons of butter and your chopped onion in a frying pan. Season your spinach with some salt/pepper.

2. Make a bechamel (white) sauce by melting your 2 tablespoons of butter in a pot. Then whisk in your flower until it all gets lumpy. Then slowly add in your milk constantly whisking to get a smooth sauce. Then add some salt, pepper, garlic and a pinch of nutmeg to spice it up.

3. Get out a 9x13 or whatever-that-average-casserole-size-is dish, and cover it with a layer of sweet potatoes, some salt and pepper on the potatoes as well as some of your chopped parsley, then your spinach mix, then your white sauce, then sprinkle some cheese. Repeat the whole thing and make one more layer.

4. Bake the baby at 400 Degrees for about 50-60 minutes. Let it stand for about 10 minutes after you pull it out.

P.S. The orginial recipe layered this differently. I've never tried it, but you could. Basically you do the potatoes, then cheese, then spinach, then cheese, then potatoes again, cheese, spinach, and then the bechamel sauce. I think I didn't do that because I didn't have enough room or something. Also, you can stretch your sauce by simply adding more milk, and then a bit more flour if it gets too runny...

Bean and Rice Salad

I told Kari about this recipe the other day, so I'll just post it here. It's pretty cheap, healthy, yummy and vegetarian.

1 can of black beans
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of corn
2 chopped avocados
2 chopped bell peppers (I used red and yellow but whatever you like/can afford works I'm sure)
5-6 chopped tomatoes
1 small red onion chopped up
2 cups boiled rice (I use instant brown rice - healthier) mostly cooled
1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro

3 limes

Throw all of that stuff in a bowl, and don't forget to drain your beans and corn before you do that. Then squeeze in the juice of the 3 limes, add some olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. You could also add a bit of crushed red pepper to add some kick, if you so wish. Mix well. Tastes best right after. Serves about 5 I'd say.

Arugula Salad

1 Box of Arugula
1 chopped Avocado
1/2 can of corn
1 cup of crumbled feta cheese
1/2 of a hothouse cucumber, sliced and halfed (or you can use one whole funky, short normal cuc)
4 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 chopped onion if you like - I usually left it out since Kari and Henry are opposed to fresh onions

Throw all that in a bowl, and mix it. Done.

For dressing I'd usually just pour some olive oil and balsamic vinegar over my salad and then some salt and pepper.