Minestrone Soup

Today was a cold day, and I was craving soup. However, I was low on groceries. I made minestrone with what was in the back of the refrigerator produce bin---and it turned out to be delicious.

pasta pot full of veggie broth
pinch Italian seasoning
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, diced fine
1 cup frozen chopped spinach
8 oz dry egg noodles
2 onions, diced fine
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
few grinds of fresh pepper
pinch of salt

Before I get to the recipe, I have to talk about one of my most favorite things. Trader Joe's makes these little packets of concentrated vegetable broth. They come in a small green box. Inside are a dozen tubes of...vegetable syrup? Basically, that's what it is. Really concentrated, thick broth. You add 1 tube to 1 cup of water. They save sooooo much cabinet space, are very light to carry, and are perfect for backpacking meals. Also, they have amazing flavor and are low-sodium. Can you tell how much I love them?
So anyway, that intro is just to say--when I made this recipe, I used a pasta pot full of water with 4 or 5 packets of broth mixed in.

1. Bring the broth to a simmer. Add a small pinch of Italian seasoning ground between your fingers. As the broth is heating, dice the celery, then add it to the pot.

2. Dice the carrots, and sautee them in a tablespoon of olive oil. (Don't skimp on the olive oil, it's the only fat in the dish.) While the carrots cook, dice the onions and garlic.

3. When the carrots are "al dente", add them to the pot, and saute the onions and garlic in the pan. When the garlic and onions are translucent, add them to the pot along with the frozen spinach, and bring the pot to a boil.

4. Add the egg noodles and cook according to package directions. (Mine only took 4 minutes.) Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with grated Parmesan.

P.S. This was so good that after we ate the whole pot for lunch, I turned around and made another batch before the stove cooled down. Now that is a good recipe.

Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup

This is another recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking. I'm now 2-for-2 with their recipes, and I'm excited to try more.

In a crock pot, add:
1 pound chicken (I used frozen chicken breasts)
1 large can black beans (is that the 28 oz can? I can't remember)
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups frozen corn
1 (16oz) jar salsa
1 1/2 tsp cumin

Cook on high for 4-5 hours.

At the very end of cooking, I shredded the chicken and stirred in the 3/4 can of fat free refried black beans that I had taking up space in my fridge. The recipe doesn't call for them, but I couldn't think of another way to use them.....they ended up thickening the soup nicely, so I think I'll add them next time as well.

Serve with:
shredded cheese
avocado
sour cream
chopped cilantro

Sooooooooooooo delicious. (And also with minimal effort. Which, for me, is a necessary bonus).

Ham Ricotta Rolls-ups

O.k. I made these up last night so I figured I needed to write the recipe down before I forgot it.
These all started because I had cresent roll dough, ham, and ricotta cheese I needed to use up, so I figured I would put them together. The filling is very similar to the filling in Lisa's spinach calzones. Oh and as a disclaimer, I didn't measure anything. Sorry.

Ingredients:

Ricotta Cheese (about half a container)
Mozzarella Cheese (to taste)
1 egg white
Frozen Spinach- a handful (Thawed)
Italian Seasoning-to taste
Garlic Powder-to taste
Ham-(chopped into small cubes)
2 cans refrigerator crescent roll dough
Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs

Mix the first seven ingredients. Unroll the crescent dough and lay out the triangles. Put the filling on the triangle and wrap them up. Take the wrapped up rolls and dip them into the bread crumbs. Cook at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy.

Insanely Easy Vegetarian Chili

I haven't posted in a long time but I actually cooked tonight. I got this recipe off Allrecipes.com. It was really good! Very hearty. Half way through making it my husband figured out it was vegetarian and asked for meat so I added some ground beef. :) I almost got away with it! I didn't add the green pepper or mushrooms because I didn't have any, and instead of the can of tomatoes I used a whole bunch of fresh ones. I served this with baked potatoes.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 3/4 cup chopped carrots
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh mushrooms
• 1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with liquid, chopped
• 1 (19 ounce) can kidney beans with liquid
• 1 (11 ounce) can whole kernel corn, undrained
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions, carrots, and garlic until tender. Stir in green pepper, red pepper, celery, and chili powder. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes.
2. Stir in mushrooms, and cook 4 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, kidney beans, and corn. Season with cumin, oregano, and basil. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium. Cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

PREP TIME	25 Min
COOK TIME	30 Min
READY IN	55 Min

Serves about 8

Tortilla Soup

(It's my rip-off of California Pizza Kitchen's recipe)

Ingredients
2 cans of corn
2 cans of cream soup (I use mushroom, but any is fine)
2 cans of chilies (not jalapenos)
tortilla chips, crunched into medium chunks (stale ones are fine)
blender

Put one can of corn in the blender and blend until smooth. Put the blended corn, the unblended, undrained corn, cream soup, and chilies all in a pot and heat up. Add a little water if it's too thick. Serve hot with crushed tortilla chips on top. Soo easy, and a good recipe to use if you have unexpected company because it's super fast.
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Soup and a sandwich

This isn't really a recipe as much as it is a...well, whatever it is. As you all know Liz, there is a probable chance you met her in Utah. And also a chance you ate at Zupas whilst in Utah. And also a chance you crave it fortnightly like I do. So, I came up with this to satisfy said cravings.
Soup:
Safeway (Vonns/Carrs) sells a "Tuscan Tomato Basil Bisque" soup in their deli. Really good. And really close to Zupas, just a touch spicier (not too spicy; my toddler liked it). If you are eating soup to be healthy, do not eat this soup. Maybe you have a recipe for a similar soup and you would prefer to make it yourself; I don't.
Sandwich:
White hoagie rolls
Cream Cheese
Turkey
Muenster cheese
Tomato
Sprouts
Avocado
Grill the sandwich until golden brown. I used a George Forman Grill (that's right, that's how I roll) and it worked great.
Partake in the beauty that is faux-Zupas. Enjoy.

Chicken Salad

1 1/2 c. chicken, cooked and cubed
1 c. pineapple tidbits, drained
1/2 c. slivered almonds
1/2 c. diced celery
1/2 c. sour cream
1/3 c. mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. seedless green grapes, cut in half


Mix sour cream, mayonnaise, and salt together. Add remaining ingredients and chill. I like to eat this as a roll or croissant sandwich.