Zuppa Toscana

♫ ♪ "Oh the wind is lashing lustily
And the trees are thrashing thrustily
And the leaves are rustling gustily
So it's rather safe to say...
That it seems that it may turn out to be
It feels that it will undoubtedly
It looks like a rather blustery day, today
It sounds that it may turn out to be
Feels that it will undoubtedly
Looks like a rather blustery day today" ♪ ♫

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day

It's been a rather blustery day today in the AV and all day long it's felt like a soup kind of day. While at the grocery store in search of all things green, I found some really beautiful and vibrant red chard. I couldn't wait to use the chard in some form for dinner and this soup came to mind.

I wouldn't call it a copy cat recipe because it's not exact, but this soup is loosely based on the soup by the same name at that Italian-American restaurant we all know and love with the grapes in it's logo. Which is really an odd choice for their logo considering the name speaks of olives in a garden. ;)

What You'll Need:
1lb. sausage
1 large baking potato, diced into bite size pieces
½ large onion, diced
1 large garlic clove
2 cups swiss chard or kale, chopped (vein removed)
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
2 Tbs flour
salt and pepper to taste

What You'll Do:
Break up the sausage and place in a large sauce pot over med-high heat.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage begins to brown.

While the sausage is browning, chop and dice the onion.
Add to the sausage.
Add minced or freshly pressed garlic clove.
Cook, stir occasionally, until the onion begins to soften.

While the onion and sausage are cooking, chop the potato and add to the pot.
Stir to incorporate and cook for 1-2 mins over med-high heat and reduce heat to low.

While the potato is cooking, wash and chop the chard, removing the vein.
Stir all ingredients and add the chicken broth and 1 cup of milk.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, make a 'slurry' with 1 cup of milk and 2 Tbs. flour.
You can use a 'blender cup' or just blend it together in a cup using a fork or small whisk.

Increase heat back up to med-high and add the slurry to the soup.
Bring to a boil.
Once the soup reaches a boil it will thicken slightly.
Cook and stir for 1-2 mins until soup is thick and bubbly.
Serve hot!

Thai Noodles

Actual conversation:
"What do you want for dinner?"
"I don't know, what do you want for dinner?"
"I don't know."
"What do we have?"
"I don't know."

How many times a week does that conversation take place in your home? It happens A LOT in mine! Sometimes I am just uninspired.. and tired of the same old thing. Sometimes I don't know what to make and I go to the pantry for inspiration and just come up short. But sometimes... sometimes I find something like peanut butter that inspires me! I saw the peanut butter and thought Thai! I went to the computer and found a recipe that looked easy enough and went to work.

I made a few changes (like I always do)... add this, eliminated that.. and the dish that resulted was AH-mazing! The kids loved it and everyone went back for seconds. ºÜº

What You'll Need:
1 box of Fettuccini or Linguine noodles
2 Tbs. oil
1 lb. Chicken breast (I used 4 small breasts)
2 cups shredded cabbage
½ cup shredded or julienned carrot
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped green onions
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup chicken broth or water
2 Tbs. sesame oil ( you can substitute vegetable oil as well)
½ tsp chili sauce (such as Sriracha)
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

How to Make It:
Heat 2 Tbs oil in a large sauté pan over med-high heat. Once the pan and the oil are hot, and the chicken breast and cook until done, about 5 mins on each side. Remove from pan and set aside. Lower flame to medium and add the veggies. Stir fry until the cabbage begins to soften. Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, chicken broth or water, sesame oil, chili sauce and peanut butter to the pan. Mix and stir until all ingredients are incorporated. Lower the flame to low. While the sauce is simmering, chop the chicken into strips, add to the pan and stir. Add the noodles are stir until coated well with sauce. Serve immediately.

Jambalaya

 Hey, it's only a week late.. sigh. Life gets busy and homework and dishes and laundry and so many other things try to steal my time. Last week was Mardi Gras and we had a delicious pot of Jambalaya to celebrate. We don't observe Lent in our home, but it was fun to commemorate an old Louisiana tradition like "Fat Tuesday" by making a Cajun dish even my grandma Ruth would love.
Of course, like most of my cooking, I didn't follow all the rules of an authentic Jambalaya ...I added "a little bit of this, a little bit of that" to mix it up a bit and I omitted the ham hock (personal choice.. and a funny story! Let's just say that 4+ hours of cutting up hundred of pounds of ham roasts once, ruined ham for me. I can't stand the smell or the taste of it anymore). I also added tomato bisque soup to closer resemble a jambalaya I had at a restaurant.  That being said, there as many variations on jambalaya as there are for gumbo, or even chili. Each family typically has it's favorite recipe. This recipe isn't a family recipe, although I wish I had my grandma's jambalaya recipe. This is a "Smack Yo' Momma" take on a traditional recipe by Eula Mae Doré, a well known Cajun cook in Louisiana who worked for the family that created and produces Tabasco brand hot sauce. Eula Mae is the 'Cajun Julia Child' in my eyes.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs oil
1 chicken breast
1 lb beef hot link sausage, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 - 15oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of tomato soup (or preferably tomato bisque soup if you can find it)
1 tsp Cajun seasoning (if you don't have any on hand you can use 1 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper)
½ lb. cleaned, deveined shrimp, tails removed
½ lb. langostino or crawfish (I found these at Trader Joes... absolutely delicious! Tastes like lobster)
½ cup chopped green onions
1 tsp-Tbs hot sauce such as Tabasco (I used Sriracha... it's my favorite)

Directions:
Heat oil in large sauce pot. Add the chicken breast once the pan and the oil is hot and cook until done. Set chicken breast aside.
 Add sausage pieces to pot and cook and stir until heated through and just beginning to brown. Remove sausage and set aside.
Add onion, bell peppers, celery and garlic to the pot scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits.
While onions and peppers are cooking, chop the chicken breast and return the chicken to the pot. Add the cooked sausage as well. Stir to combine.
Add the diced tomatoes and stir.
Add the chicken broth, soup and seasoning. Bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Add the shrimp, langostino, green onions and hot sauce. Stir. Cover and simmer 2-3 minutes or until the shrimp is cooked.
Serve over rice.

Chocolate Vegan Cupcake

Cocoa's from the earth, right? Ok, great... then these surprisingly moist and delightfully chocolatey and delicious cupcakes are "Daniel Fast Friendly!"

Ingredients:
1 cup soy, almond or coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the milk (soy, almond or coconut) and the vinegar and set aside for a few minutes to curdle.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt until combined.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the  sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add the milk and vinegar.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared cups, filling each about 2/3 full.

Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Let cool completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting with dairy-free frosting of choice.

Vegan Cupcakes

Like I mentioned in my previous post, my daughter (and some friends, I'm finding as well) are "Daniel fasting." This recipe is a great solution to the snack or sweet cravings during a fast. NO animal or dairy product whatsoever!

The original recipe is just a basic vanilla cupcake recipe, but it's easily adaptable to create a Carrot Cupcake or even CHOCOLATE. YUM!




Ingredients:
1 cup soy or almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1¼ cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbs corn starch
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup oil (such as grape seed or olive oil)
¾ cup sugar
1 Tbs vanilla extract


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Place the tsp of vinegar into 1-cup measuring cup. Pour soy or almond milk over the vinegar and set aside for a few minutes to allow to curdle.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, mix the milk, vinegar, oil and vanilla extract. Add to dry ingredients and mix until no lumps remain.

Fill cupcake liners two-thirds full and bake for 20-22 minutes.




Variation:

Vegan Carrot Cupcakes

Increase the flour to 1½ cups
Increase baking powder to 1 tsp
Add 1 tsp nutmeg and 2 tsp cinnamon to the dry ingredients.
Add ½ cup shredded carrot and ½ cup nuts (such as pecan or walnut) to the prepared batter.


Frosting option:
What's a cupcake without frosting? You can easily make a vegan frosting option by using 1 Tbs of coconut oil, 1 cup of confectioners flour (or more to desired consistency) and 1 tsp of soy or almond milk. Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract if desired. Blend together in a small mixing bowl until smooth.

Pumpkin-Apple Curry Soup

My daughter recently began a "Daniel Fast" in which you eat only items 'from the earth.' Fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed grains. Technically, you're not supposed to eat any animal product, such as meat and dairy items. It's been a bit of a challenge to feed her and help her keep her commitment to the fast when she is so stinkin' picky! We've made a compromise a couple of times and allowed a dairy item here or there in order to make something she'd actually eat.
While trying to come up with ideas for her, I remembered having made this soup for my husband after he had a tooth pulled. It has a smooth texture, a 'sweet and sour' quality because of the apples,  and just a hint of curry.
We love curry and Indian spices in this house, so this soup is always a hit. I've added other veggies to this recipe before and even added chopped, cooked chicken once and the family still loved it. When adding other veggies like carrots or even chicken, I don't puree the additions. I add them after pureeing the soup.

You can also make the serving size smaller if you're cooking for one or two. Just divide the ingredients in half. It will make about three nice size bowls of soup when reduced.

Ingredients:
4 apples - peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces (Not Granny Smith... choose a sweeter, red apple like Macintosh or Fuji)
1 Tbs butter (Use olive oil for a "fast friendly" option)
1 small yellow onion - finely diced
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbs curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 - 15oz can pumpkin puree (NOT the pumpkin pie mix! I made that mistake once... did not turn out so good!)
4 cups chicken broth (if you'd like to keep the recipe vegan or "fast friendly" use vegetable broth)
1 cup water (to thin soup as necessary)
1 tsp sugar (optional)


Directions:
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Add onion, garlic, curry, and cumin; sauté, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes or until onion just begins to soften.

Stir in apples and sauté, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until the apples are soft.

Add the pumpkin and broth. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Puree soup with a hand-held mixer or in a food processor or a blender.
**(Caution: Soup will be hot! Hold the lid of the food processor or blender as the heat can cause the lid to burst!)
Return soup to saucepan; reheat, covered, over low heat.

Cucumber Bread

Yesterday's post for Cucumber Dip was a solution for some cucumbers that were on the verge of getting lost in the abyss of the veggie drawer. I grated two cucumbers and still had plenty of cucumber left over after making the dip. When I looked at the bowl of grated cucumber it reminded me of zucchini and I had a thought. Why not use this just like zucchini and make some bread?! Sure... Why not?! What's the worst that could happen? I'd end up throwing the cucumber out if I didn't use it anyway... So why not give it a shot?
I modified my banana bread recipe a little bit to accommodate for the extra moisture in the cucumber and it worked! It not only worked, it was moist and delicious!





Ingredients:
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Measure one cup of grated cucumber. Squeeze out the excess water and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until combined. One at a time beat in the eggs.

Add the cucumber and blend. Add the milk and vanilla and blend.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Mix on low speed until combined.

Spread evenly into greased muffin, bread or bundt pans.

Bake muffins for 25 mins and bread or bundt for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.