Red Lentil Soup

This soup is so yummy! It's also very quick and easy to make. The lemon and fresh herbs give it such a wonderful fresh taste, I could eat this year round. The picture doesn't do this soup justice, because it's pretty hard to take a sexy picture of lentil soup.

Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper [1]
• 1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper (or to taste)
• 6 cups vegetable stock [2]
• 1 1/4 cup red lentils [3]
• 1 cup peeled and diced carrots
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. of fresh lemon juice
• Chopped fresh cilantro and/or parsley

Instructions:

• Add oil to bottom of large pot and heat on high until hot.
• Add onion and garlic, saute until golden brown.
• Add tomato paste and spices, stir and saute for 2-3 minutes.
• Add broth, lentils and carrot. Bring to a boil and simmer, partially covered on low for 30-40 minutes.
• Using a blender, puree the about soup and add back to pot. You can also use an immersion blender. You want to soup to have some chunks.
• Stir in lemon juice.
• Ladle into serving bowls and garnish generously with fresh herbs.

Notes:

1. Can substitute chili powder
2. You can also use 6 cups of water and bullion. If you prefer, chicken stock can also be substituted.
3. The lentils will loose their redness as they cook

Baba Ghanoush

I love eggplant, and I love baba ghanoush, a lovely dip served similar to hummus, but with eggplant instead of chickpeas. It's also smoky and garlicky and just delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 large eggplant
• 1/4 cup tahini, plus more as needed
• 1 bulb, plus 1 minced clove of garlic
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, plus more as needed
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• salt, to taste
• oil olive
• chopped parsley

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Place a bulb of garlic on a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap tightly so that no oil can escape. Place into oven.
• Pierce the skin of the eggplants 4-5 times with a fork.
• If you  have a grill or gas stove, roast the whole eggplant, turning so that the skin turns black. If not, go to next step.
• Prepare a sheet tray by lining with foiling and coating with olive oil 
• Slice eggplants in half length-wise and transfer eggplant to baking sheet, cut side down
• Roast in oven until completely soft, about 20-30 minutes depending on size.
• Remove and let cool slightly. Scope out the roasted eggplant, discarding the skins, and place in a bowl.
• Using a fork, immersion blender, or food processor mash the eggplant.
• Add the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, cumin and mix. Add more tahini and lemon juice as needed.
• Drizzle with olive oil and chopped parsley. 
• Serve with pita chips, baby carrots, or sliced cucumbers.

Note: I like to make this at least a few hours ahead of time, or even the day before, so that the flavors have a chance to mingle. 

Whipped Cauliflower

Ahh, whipped cauliflower--some refer to it ask Faux Mashed Potatoes. But there are no such things as a fake potatoes. Potatoes are sacred to me, so don't even try to mess with them. Thanks.

While cauliflower can be prepared similar to mashed potatoes, and can be served in lieu of mashed potatoes, as a low carb option, this is a tasty dish all on it's own.  This is very simple recipe, but it gives a nice consistency and you can dress it up or down as you wish.

Whipped Cauliflower

Ingredients:

• 1 medium head of cauliflower
• 3-4 Tbsp. butter
• 2-3 Tbsp. half and half or heavy cream
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Clean and cut up the cauliflower, steam for about 10 minutes, until soft and tender--easily pierced with a fork.
• In a bowl with and immersion blender, add remaining ingredients and whip until smooth.
• Stir in any cheese, herbs, or other additions you wish.
• Serve while hot.

Nutella Ice Cream

I’m not sure how I got the idea for this one, but for some reason, I did, and I’m sooooo glad. The best part is, it is super simple with only two ingredients. Warning: this stuff is RICH! To illustrate this point: My brother, an ice cream fiend who basically doesn't eat ice cream for fear that he’ll eat the whole pint, heaped up a big bowl of this stuff like he was settling down for some Ben & Jerry’s or Häagen Dazs or something. About five minutes later he came back into the kitchen with a half-eaten bowl of this stuff, signed, “that is oohhh” as he patted his stomach. He then proceeded to put plastic wrap over the bowl  and put it in the freezer for later. Yes! I win. I defeated an ice cream junkie, sibling rivalry at it's best.

Nutella Ice Cream 

Ingredients:

• 1 14oz. can evaporated milk
• 1 ½ c. Nutella-I have used Justine’s Organic Chocolate Hazelnut spread and it was fantastic.

Instructions

• The night before, place freezer bowl of 1.5 quart ice cream maker in the freezer, or as instructed by the appliance instructions.
• For the mixture, whisk or blend the ingredients together until well mixed. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
• When everything is cold assemble, ice cream maker motor and paddle and get ice cream mix ready to pour, before removing ice bowl from freezer.
• Remove ice bowl from freezer and quickly add mix to ice bowl, attach paddle and bowl and start the ice cream maker.  Depending on ice cream maker it should take about 20-40 minutes to freezer the ice cream—the finished product will be soft. For harder ice cream, put in an airtight container and put in freezer for at least 30 minutes.
• Store in air tight container.

This is Nutella ice cream with a triple-chocolate brownie and whipped cream, if you can handle it.

OMGarlic Scapes!!!!!

So in my CSA share last week, I got 10 garlic scapes. If they hadn't been labelled, I wouldn't have even known what those green swirly things were. I didn't feel bad though, I split my share with my friend, she went to culinary school. A few days after we got our share and she asked me what I did with mine.

Luckily, I had already hit the Internet and discovered that garlic scapes are the green tops of the garlic plant. They're similar to green onions or chives; however, they they have a lovely mild, sweet taste of garlic.

I LOVE garlic and always have it around. What self-respecting Italian-American lives in a house where there is no garlic in the kitchen? Exactly. So, I was super-excited and have been enjoying them all week! I put them in an omelet. I whipped them into some cream cheese to schmear on a bagel. I made brushetta. I sauteed them with some zucchini. I tossed them in a salad. I put them in a chicken marinade. I made salad dressing.

I had my garlic and it was lovely. Because the taste was so mild, I used garlic in ways I normally wouldn't. Sometimes, my beloved garlic gets a little overpowering, especially when you don't cook it. I would never have mixed crushed garlic into cream cheese for my morning bagel. I would be unkissable for a day!!! The brushetta was my favorite--it just made it taste so fresh--and I don't usually get to enjoy the flavor of garlic in a salad, so that was very enjoyable. So I learned about another new vegetable and maybe now you have too!

I hope they put some more in my basket next week.

Sauteed Swiss Chard

I'm getting lots of leafy greens from my CSA so it's time to experiment... Here goes a Maria original!

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 large clove garlic, pressed
• 3-4 cup Swiss Chard, stems removed and chopped 
• 1 cup diced tomato
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can Canelli beans, drained and rinsed
• Crumbled feta cheese (optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in a large frying pan on medium heat.
2. Add garlic and onions, saute 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the Swiss Chard, cook for an addition 3-5 minutes, stirring occaisonally until chard starts to soften and onions are clear.
4. Add the tomatoes and beans and stir simmer 2-3 minutes, until ingredients are warmed thorough.
5. Serve with crumbled feta on top, or a vegan alternative.

Sweet and Sour Collard Greens

OMG!!! These are so delicious. Of course they are--they have bacon. Because they are a superfoody, green leafy vegetable, they kind need the flavor, but overall they are still pretty healthy.

Ingredients:

• 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. white flour
• 1/3 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. white vinegar
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• pinch of salt
• 2 c. collard greens, chopped with stems removed

Instructions:

1. Fry the bacon in a large frying pan, until crisp. Remove from pan, cover and set aside. Do not drain the bacon grease from the pan.
2. Combine the water, vinegar, brown sugar, pepper and salt and set aside.
   
3. On medium heat, whisk the flour into the bacon grease. Add the liquid mixture
4. Reduce heat to low and add the greens a handful at a time. Cover and steam for about 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently.
5. Serve with crumbled bacon on top.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

These are not the Brussels Sprouts you were made to eat as a kid, sitting in your chair until it was time for bed because you refused to eat them... Now, these are also certainly not the steamed veggies your nutritionist recommends but they aren't all bad at about 120 calories and 4g of fat per serving. Added bonus, every time I cook bacon my fire alarm gets tested. Safety first in the kitchen, I say! This is also a pretty dish since the sprouts turn a lovely brilliant green that glistens in the bacon... mmm... bacon! Oh, and please don't judge my dirty stove top, I just cooked bacon... mmm... bacon!

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

• 2 lbs. Brussels Sprouts
• 4 slices bacon
• 1/3 c. chopped onion
• 1 cup chicken broth
• black pepper

Remove the stem part of the Brussels sprouts, rinse in cold water and drain. In a large frying pan, cook bacon until crispy. Remove bacon and drain on paper towel. Drain the bacon grease from the pan, but don't wipe out the pan, you'll want some fat to fry the onions. Add the onions and saute for about 2 minutes, then add chicken broth and Brussels Sprouts and season with black pepper. Cover and simmer on low to medium heat for about 10 minutes until sprouts are tender. If there is any remaining broth, remove from pan with slotted spoon. Sprinkle with bacon and serve.

Sweet Potato Kale Soup

My body was craving something fresh and hearty and healthy. So I came up with this. It's a Maria original and I'm quite pleased with the results. I love me some kale and it's soooooo good for you, low in calories and high of antioxidant vitamins, and phytonutrients, as well as tons of fiber.

Sweet Potato and Kale Soup
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 cups chopped kale
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 quarts stock, vegetable or chicken
1 can garbazo beans, drained
2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. red pepper (optional)

Put all the ingredients in a crockpot for 4-6 hours on HIGH or 8 to 10 hours on LOW.

On the stove, put all the ingredients in a stock pot, bring to a boil and simmer 30 minutes or until potatoes are cooked.

Kielbasa Soup

This is one of my favorite soups. It's really hearty and has a LOT of flavor. If you like kielbasa and sauerkraut, you'll love it.I make this in a crock pot, but you could very easily make it on the stove in about an hour.

Kielbasa Soup

1 pound kielbasa, 1/2 inch cubes

2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock (or water and bouillon equivalent)

1 bag or 1 large can sauerkraut (drained)

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1/2 cup carrots, chopped

1 large potato, peeled and cubed

1 rib of celery, chopped (optional)

pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients in a crockpot for 4-6 hours on HIGH or 8 to 10 hours on LOW.

On the stove, put all the ingredients in a stock pot, bring to a boil and simmer 30 minutes. Basically, it's done with the potatoes are cooked.