delicious soup and pistou

rainy day soup and pistou: see earlier photos

this soup is one of my all time favorites. it is warm, delicious and really a healthy meal to both entertain with or make in bulk and freeze. the pistou is a very common french and classic italian way to top soups, breads, pastas, crackers, etc. in this soup it is a really nice way to contrast the soup and highlight with the fresh herbs used in the stock...


soup ingredients:

1 28 oz can diced organic tomatoes
1 15.5 oz can of organic white beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, diced
10 oz baby spinach
6 oz chopped mushrooms
1 carrot, sliced or diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 potato, diced
1 small head of broccoli
1/4 c. fresh basil (set some aside for topping)
1/4 c. fresh parsley (set some aside to top!)
4 c. of low sodium veggie stock
2 c. of water
the juice of 1 lemon, set aside
1 tsp. salt & 1/2 tsp. black pepper


directions:

add the diced potatoes to a medium high heated pot with a dash of olive oil and salt and pepper. let the potatoes get a nice crispy coating on them and begin to cook through for about 7 minutes. add the onions with a dash more of s&p. after the onions begin to caramelize add the garlic, can of tomatoes, mushrooms, celery, etc. and the rest of the ingredients along with the lemon juice, veggie stock and 2 cups of water.
add another tsp. of salt and 1/2- 1 tsp. of black pepper. let the soup come to a boil and then reduce the heat and let simmer for at least 25 minutes, but the longer it goes the better it will taste!

pistou ingredients:

1 c. of organic peas, thawed and drained
1/2 c. fresh organic basil
1 clove of garlic
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 c. olive oil
salt&pepper to taste

add the peas, basil, garlic, salt and pepper and lemon juice into the food processor or blender and blend. while the processor is still on slowly add the olive oil until the ingredients come together. you may need to stop once or twice to scrape the sides of the bowl. set this aside to chill. it will last for days in the fridge and is great with pasta, crackers, soup, basically anything.



enjoy.

delicious (and nutritious ) salsa and guacamole.

salsa and guacamole are two of my all time favorite homemade snacks... healthy, light and delicious during the summer, and perfect for any movie night in... making them yourself saves so much money, since the ingredients are so inexpensive, and again you can control what you do or DON'T want in it... (especially all the preservatives, pesticides on the vegetables, fertilizers, etc.)

i have been making it myself for about 5 years and i have always played with the recipe but i think i have FINALLY discovered my favorite recipe for both... so here they are.

salsa ingredients:

1 medium onion, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, diced
1-2 Chipolte peppers (I always use 2, I like it with a little extra kick!)
1 28 oz can organic diced or whole tomatoes in juice (low sodium)
1 15.5 oz can organic black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15.5 oz can organic super sweet corn, drained
3 limes, juiced, set aside
1 handful of cilantro or parsley
1 SUPER RIPE peach, or mango, *depending on the season you can leave this out, but during the summer there is literally nothing better than a throwing a ripened peach or mango in to contrast with the peppers.
salt&pepper to taste, of course :)

directions:

add the onion, garlic and chipolte peppers into the food processor or blender and pulse until finely chopped. Add the can of tomatoes, lime juice, peach/mango salt and pepper and pulse a couple times (depending on how chunky you'd like it). Add in the drained black beans, corn and cilantro and stir together.

I usually make this to serve immediately so I have a bowl and then entire Tupperware container for the future. The salsa usually stays good for up to two weeks as long as you keep it in the fridge.


Guacamole ingredients:

3 avocados, halved and put into a small mixing bowl
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
juice of 2-3 limes, add to avocados
handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
salt&pepper to taste

directions:

add all the ingredients together and with a fork or potato masher, mash together. The lime juice will keep the avocados from turning green and will keep nicely in the fridge for a few days. The longer the ingredients marry together, the more delicious they will taste :)



serve with your favorite chips, tacos, quesadillas, etc. but, most importantly, enjoy. :)

rainy sunday night.

we took a little field trip to trader joe's today. (thanks again andrew) :)
today was freezing and I promised Colin I would make him whatever he wanted... "soup"...
I wanted grilled cheese to go with it but I had no moz, cheddar or anything that would do and so I made a little pea pistou.

it was warm and delicious and exactly what I needed tonight, a night in with the family. :)


recipes to follow. please enjoy :)

delicious VEGAN veggie burgers!

so nicole and i were bored the other day, and starving as well... lately we have talked a lot about the fact that "veggie burgers" are almost the only veg option when going out to larger, chain restaurants. unfortunately, to no surprise they are usually gross (that goes for store bought brands as well), and PACKED with sodium (sodium is my new and latest obsession)...

so we came up with this recipe, took it for a test run and we LOVED it! Its absolutely perfect for making a batch (usually amounting to about 8 burgers) and freezing them for later!

keep in mind that most of these ingredients are interchangeable... anything you have around the house will usually work as long as you have the binding agents (potato, breadcrumbs, flour, etc.)

we made a cool and creamy avocado spread, pico de gallo, and sliced some fresh veggies on top to match the southwestern theme, but of course you could do fake-bacon burgers with fries or baked potatoes... possibilities are ENDLESS :)


ingredients:
1 potato
1 zucchini
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
3 carrots
1 beet
1 can of black beans (drained)
1/2-3/4 c. of panko breadcrumbs
cumin, paprika, cayenne to taste
salt&pepper to taste as well...

box crate the potato, zucchini, onion, garlic and carrots into a big mixing bowl. add the beans and spices and mix together.

add the breadcrumbs in and mix together.

form into flat patties (about the size of a kaiser roll) and coat in extra breadcrumbs for extra crunch (this is also what will keep the patties from falling apart in the pan).

place into Tupperware laying sheets of wax paper in between them to prevent them from sticking and freeze!

IF you are cooking them immediately:
in a medium skillet heat a couple tbs. of olive oil on med-med high.
saute for about 7 minutes on each side and serve to your liking....


enjoy.