Vegetable Soup

I have been lazy about posting on my blog lately.  I partly blame this on the fact that I have not been doing much in the kitchen besides making sandwiches or throwing together something that is super quick and not worthy of a blog post.  Does anyone really want to learn how I go about making a piece of toast or a box of macaroni and cheese? Highly doubtful.

I am trying to lay off of cooking comfort foods since my cravings for comfort foods have diminished lately. I was going to make a minestrone soup but decided to forgo the pasta, since I've been eating pasta by the truckload in the preceding months, and go with a strictly vegetable soup.  You cannot get much healthier or tastier than this soup. Plus, like all of the rest of my dishes, this dish is easy to make with a minimal prep time.  You can be the judge of what the ratio of each vegetable is in this soup based on your likes and dislikes. The good thing about preparing vegetable soup is that you can mix and match with pretty much any vegetables that you like. If you don't like squash then don't use it. I think  mushrooms would be a wonderful addition to this soup as would the addition of a starch like potatoes, rice, or pasta.

Ingredients
32 ozs chicken stock (if you want to go all vegan or vegetarian you can use vegetable stock, or if you plan on using a slow cooker you can use water)
1 large can of whole tomatoes in juice
1 large zucchini sliced in rounds (I used 3 little guys)
1 large yellow squash sliced in rounds (I used 3 little guys)
2 to 3 cups of spinach, swiss chard or kale
1 red onion chopped
3 stalks celery chopped
2 carrots chopped
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 can of cannelloni beans (white beans) rinsed and drained
green beans (canned or fresh)  used canned and just drained, rinsed and threw in
olive oil
Italian seasoning

Instructions
In large pot, saute the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in olive oil until the onion is translucent. If you are using slow cooker, saute the vegetables in a separate pan and move over to slow cooker once onion is translucent. Add chicken stock and remaining ingredients.  I added an additional can of water. Do remember that the vegetables will shrink so don't add too much as far as liquids go. I cooked the soup on med heat for 4 hours in the slow cooker and added grated Parmesan reggiano to finish this off. If you are preparing this dish on the stove top simmer the soup until the vegetables are tender between 35 and 45 minutes.

I served this with garlic bread.  This is a good dish because it is easy to freeze.  I made a huge batch of this soup and froze the rest.  The next time I don't feel like making dinner the soup is ready to go.

Pesto-Crusted Pork Roast

We bought a pork roast the other day with the intent of trying it out in my infrared cooker.  I was preparing to use the infrared cooker but the cut of meat looked really good and I found this awesome looking recipe in Guy Fieri's cook book so I decided to prepare my pork roast traditionally, in an oven and roasting pan instead.  Aaron loves everything Guy Fieri. I can watch a couple Diners Drive-Ins and Dives and then I am done for awhile.  I went through the rest of Guy's cookbook today and found a couple of good recipes that I will try in the near future and share on my blog.

I was excited about this recipe because this is my first time preparing a cut of meat that has been "brined." The process is actually relatively simple and the meat wasn't overly salty, which I was afraid of.

I made Aaron mashed potatoes to eat with his pork roast and I had a salad with mine.  I love the pre-made salad packets.  I literally have to open a bag and my salad is ready to go, no washing, chopping, etc. required.  I don't know if it is just me who feels this way but sometimes by the time I have prepared the main dish, I don't want to cook any more. I prefer my sides to be quick and easy.

I would double the amount of vegetables that the recipe calls for, to put in the pan with the pork roast.  The pork was delicious, flavorful and moist, but in my opinion the vegetables stole the show because they soaked up all of the flavor as the meat roasted above them.  This is another example of setting the meat on vegetables instead of a rack when roasting (see my pot roast post). The recipe says to cook the meat b/w 2.5 and 3 hours but I checked my roast at 2 hours and it was done, so I recommend checking your temps periodically.  Make sure you have a gallon sized zip-lock for the brine and some kitchen twine for the roast. My local grocer didn't sell kitchen twine, so I asked the butcher and he cut me off a good section for free.  I have enough to use for the next time I need to "tie something up."

I am definitely making this one again.


PESTO-CRUSTED PORK ROAST
Ingredients


Brine
1/4 cup smashed garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/3 cup kosher salt

Pork
One 3 to 4 pound bone in pork loin (I used boneless)
1/2 cup prepared basil pesto (I used Classico brand that I bought at Frys)
2 teaspoons red chili flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt plus extra for seasoning
1 tablespoon black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 cup cup of roughly chopped carrots
1/2 cup smashed garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil


- Combine the brine ingredients in a resealable 1 gallon plastic bag(or large bowl)  filled 1/3 with water. Add the pork to the brine mixture and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours (max 8 hours)
-Remove pork from brine and rinse under cool water, pat dry with paper towels
- Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees
- if using bone in pork roast, using sharp knife, slice between eye of loin and bottom of bone.
- combine pesto, chili flakes, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well and spread mixture evenly on inside of loin.  Carefully roll the loin back up and fasten it with kitchen twine.
- In a large roasting pan, place, onions, carrots, and smashed garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place pork roast on top of the veggies and "tent" the pan with heavy duty aluminum foil.  Roast between 2 1/2  to 3 hours or until meat thermometer in the middle of the meat registers bw 145 and 150 degrees
- pull meat out and let rest "tented" for 15 to 20 min
- remove kitchen twine and slice into 1 1/2 inch slices
- drizzle pan juices over the tops and serve with cooked vegetables.

Tilapia with white wine, lemon, butter and capers

We were planning on trying our hand at homemade pizzas for the first time for dinner tonight.  We are the proud owners of a couple of pizza stones that have been sitting in the pantry for a long time and that need to be put to use.  Aaron, with all of the best intentions in the world, went to the store and bought everything that one would need to make a pizza, with the exception of the yeast. We're going to make pizza tomorrow night instead.

I did a quick search of the fridge and freezer and found some frozen tilapia, lemon, capers, butter, and white wine. Voila! I did not use a recipe on this because it is very easy to throw together. Plus, these are some of my favorite staple ingredients that I combine often.  I will give you approximate measurements and a description of how I prepared the meal. Because I was not planning on cooking this meal tonight, I did not really feel like coming up with a complicated side.  I used microwaveable instant brown rice.  The dish is relatively healthy depending on how much butter and cream you add to the sauce.  You can increase the amount of white wine or stock and decrease the amount of butter and skip the cream for a healthier option.

If I would have planned this dish out before hand, I probably would have prepared some baked zucchini with Parmesan or grilled asparagus.

3 tilapia fillets (thawed, obviously fresh is better)
the juice of 1 lemon
approx 1/2 cup white wine (you can substitute chicken stock if you don't have white wine)
a few tablespoons of butter
a splash of cream
a tablespoon of capers
salt and pepper
4 - 5 cloves of garlic minced
olive oil


Salt and pepper your tilapia fillets. Add olive oil to a pan over med heat  and then add the tilapia fillets.  Cook for approximately 3 minutes on each side or until the fish is flaky. Remove the fish from the pan and set aside.  Add the minced garlic to the pan along with the butter.  Allow the butter to melt and the garlic to cook for a couple of minutes.  Add the lemon juice and white wine and bring to a boil for a  minute or so, add the remaining ingredients and cook for a couple of minutes. Plate the tilapia and serve the sauce over the top. You can serve this with veggies, rice, orzo, pasta or polenta.

Psuedo Cookin

Aaron and I received an infrared cooker from the Sharper Image for Christmas.  This is the first time I used this thing and I think that I am in love. I decided to roast a whole chicken in it and I was so happy with the results.  The chicken was definitely superior to a rotisserie from the grocery and was just as tender and delicious, with a nice crispy skin as a roasted chicken from a fine dining establishment.  I kept mine simple with garlic, salt pepper, and a little butter to protect the skin from burning.  You can use olive oil to baste if you prefer. I used a 5 lb chicken and placed it on the rack breast side down for 30 min at 350 then flipped it over onto its back and re-basted twice in 20 min increments for another 45-50 minutes. That was that and it was delicious. The cool thing about this not greasy. It's hot enough to seal the skin so all of the natural juices from the meat of the chicken do not escape.  I also used it to make sweet potato fires, which came out crispy and delicious.  I am a sucker for a good sweet potato fry, so to get some that aren't actually fried but taste like they are fried and are still super healthy is quite alright in my book.

I feel like I just appeared in an infomercial but this thing is so user friendly and produces such great results that I am only slightly embarrassed of my rant.

Italian Sausage and Mozzarella Baked Ziti

I haven't blogged for a while, primarily, because I haven't really been cooking due to the holidays. I haven't been to the grocery store since I got back from Taos, so I needed to throw something together with what we already had in the fridge and pantry. Not the healthiest (the way I cooked it) but this is a super good and super filling dish.  You can easily make this into something healthy without sacrificing any of the taste by substituting whole wheat pasta,  chicken sausage, and low fat ricotta. Another good thing about baked pasta dishes like this is that you can add a variety of ingredients to make it your own and suit your tastes. Next time I plan on adding in lots of extra veggies, ie bell peppers, spinach, zucchini etc. We are eating this with a green salad and that's it, no need for additional carbs or bread since this dish has plenty already. We'll have enough for dinner tonight and left overs tomorrow and then some.  It only took me about 40 minutes from start to finish to make this dish and most of the time was spent baking the dish, plus cleanup wasn't too bad which is something that I love. 

Ingredients

Olive oil 

1 large onion diced

2 garlic cloves minced 

3/4 lb. sweet Italian pork sausage, removed from its casing and crumbled (I used Italian Sausage without the casing)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 

1/4 cup dry red wine 

35-oz. can whole plum tomatoes, chopped, with their juice 

1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano (from about 6 large sprigs) (I used dried)

1 cup fresh ricotta cheese

1 cup freshly grated mild pecorino cheese (I used romano but you can use parmesian or any salty italian cheese)

1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I used dried parsley)

1 lb. dried ziti (I used rigatoni)

1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes (I usedt the type that come in little balls)

white mushrooms quartered

Instructions

Heat the oven to 425°F. Lightly oil a large, shallow baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

In a large skillet, heat about 2 Tbs. olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and crumbled sausage and sauté until the sausage starts to brown. Season with salt and pepper. If the sausage gives off a lot of fat, pour off most of it, but leave a little to add flavor to the sauce. Add the red wine and let it boil until it's almost gone. Add the tomatoes with all of their juices and cook, uncovered, at a lively simmer for about 10 minutes. The sauce will thicken slightly. Add the oregano and taste for seasoning.

In a large bowl, mix the ricotta, about half of the grated romano, and the parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook the ziti (rigatoni) until al dente. Drain well and toss it with the ricotta mixture until well coated. Add the sausage and sauce and mushrooms and mix again. Add the mozzarella and toss gently. Pour everything into the baking dish and sprinkle the remaining romano on top. Bake uncovered until lightly browned and bubbling, about 20 minutes. Serve right away.