Sausage and Vegetable Soup

6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 6 ounces italian sausage (about 2 medium sausages, casings removed)
• 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 carrots, diced ( I pulsed the carrots, celery, and garlic in a food processor together until diced)
• 3 stalks diced celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• ¾ teaspoon dried thyme
• 3-4 small red potatoes, chopped into ¼”- ½”  pieces
• Two 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes
• 2½ tablespoons tomato paste
• 6-8 cups chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 15 ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 15 ounce cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 2½ cups orecchiette pasta, cooked al dente
• 3 handfuls fresh spinach leaves
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons fresh store-bought pesto
• About 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• Kosher salt and pepper
• Optional: Sour batard, sliced and toasted for serving.

Instructions

1. Add the sausage to a large heavy bottom pot, and cook over medium-low heat until lightly browned, stirring occasionally, but leaving the sausage in small chunks.
2. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, potatoes, and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat until the vegetables begin to soften, about 8 minutes.
3. Push vegetables to the side of the pot and add tomato paste to the cleared area. Cook the tomato paste, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir to combine the tomato paste with the vegetables in the pot.
4. Add the canned tomatoes, 6 cups of chicken broth, bay leaf, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoons pepper.
5. Cook on medium-low uncovered for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
6. Discard the bay leaf. You can make this part of the soup in advance and refrigerate it or freeze it after this step.
7. When you’re ready to serve, add the beans and cooked pasta to the soup and heat through. If the soup is too thick, add some more chicken broth.
8. Add the spinach, stirring to combine, and cook until the leaves wilt.
9. Add the white wine and pesto, and stir to combine. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
10. Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and a side of sour batard toast.

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Shrimp and Veggie Fettuccine with Cauliflower Alfredo

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
• 1 large head cauliflower, chopped into florets
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• ¾ cup whole milk
• ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus (optional) more for serving
• ½ pound of shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 4 cups spinach
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• ¾ pound fettuccine (or pasta), cooked according to directions.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a large pot, steam the cauliflower for about 8 minutes, until soft when pierced with a fork.
2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and add the garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until just fragrant.
3. Combine the steamed cauliflower, cooked garlic, vegetable broth, milk, and parmesan cheese in a blender or food processor and purée until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
4. In the same pan you cooked the garlic in, add the shrimp and sauté for 2 minutes over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and spinach and continue cooking until the spinach melts, and the shrimp is cooked completely through.
5. Add the sauce to the pan with the shrimp and veggies and cook until heated through, stirring to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
6. Toss the sauce with the cooked fettuccine and serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese on the side.

 

Enjoy it!

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Black Bean and Veggie Pizza

INGREDIENTS

Mexican pizza

• 8 large (7-inch) corn tortillas
• 2 14.5-ounce cans organic refried black beans
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 14.5-ounce can whole black olives, sliced
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• ½ bunch green onions, sliced
• ¾ cup shredded light monterey jack cheese
• Avocado cream, to taste (recipe below)
• Optional: salsa for serving.

Avocado cream

• 1 ripe avocado
• ½ cup greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 large clove garlic
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste.

INSTRUCTIONS

Mexican pizza

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F with a pizza stone (or a large baking sheet) inside.
2. Working in batches, lay as many tortillas out as possible on the pizza stone without overlapping and bake for 10 minutes, or until just crispy. Repeat until all tortillas are crispy.
3. Meanwhile, heat the black beans, paprika, cumin, and cayenne over medium heat until smooth and pliable (it doesn't need to be heated all the way through, just enough to make it easy to spread).
4. Divide the black beans among the crispy tortillas (about ⅓ cup per tortilla), and use a rubber spatula to spread the beans out evenly to the edges.
5. Evenly the olives, red onion, tomatoes, and bell pepper among the tortillas.
6. Sprinkle 1.5 tablespoons of shredded cheese over the top of each pizza.
7. Bake the pizzas for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the toppings are cooked through. My pizza stone holds only 4 pizzas at a time, so work in batches if needed.
8. Before serving, dollop or swirl avocado cream over the pizzas, to taste, and sprinkle sliced green onions on top. (To swirl it, I put the cream in a Ziploc bag and cut off the tip!).
9. Optional: serve with a side of salsa.

Avocado cream

 1.Toss all the ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth. You'll likely have leftover cream that you can dip chips in too!

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Noodles & Veggies

INGREDIENTS

8 ounces linguine, uncooked

3 1/2 cups water

1 medium bok choy or 3 baby bok choy (about 1/2 pound), sliced (about 3 cups)

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

2 medium carrots, cut into coins (about 1 cup)

1 small yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced

3 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and minced (about 1 tablespoon)

1/4 cup Tamari-style soy sauce*

3 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoon brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (add more if you like more heat)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 medium Napa cabbage, thinly sliced (about 4 cups, loosely packed)

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

To a large and heavy pot over high heat, add the linguine, water, bok choy, bell pepper, carrots, onion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, and salt.As soon as the mixture comes to a boil, set the timer for 9 minutes and cook, tossing constantly with tongs, taking care to make sure the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. Once the 9 minutes is up, the veggies should be tender, the pasta cooked through, and it should have a saucy consistency, with most of the liquid having evaporated.Remove from heat and add the cabbage and vinegar, tossing until cabbage wilts, about 30 seconds.

Serve, topping individual bowls with cilantro, peanuts, scallions, and toasted sesame seeds.

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Chicken Noodle Soup

4 - 5 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped (1 3/4 cups)
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 4 stalks celery, chopped (1 1/4 cups)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth (3 - 15 oz cans)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/4 tsp celery seed, finely crushed*
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups uncooked wide egg noodles
• 3 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• Saltine crackers or parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)

Instructions:

• To a slow cooker, add chicken (un-cut), diced carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Drizzle olive oil over top then add in chicken broth, water, thyme, rosemary, celery seed, bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook on low heat 6 - 7 hours.
• Remove cooked chicken and allow to rest 10 minutes, then dice into bite size pieces. Meanwhile, add egg noodles and parsley to slow cooker. Increase temperature to high, cover and cook 10 minutes longer (or until noodles are tender). Stir in lemon juice and toss in cooked, diced chicken. Serve warm with saltine crackers or top with Parmesan cheese if desired.

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Broccoli Soup with Cheese

Serves: 2 big bowls

INGREDIENTS

·         one bunch of fresh broccoli [enough for a few cups of chopped tops]

·         2 cups vegetable [or chicken!] broth

·         ½ cup of sharp cheddar cheese, plus extra for topping [freshly grated]

·         1 heaping cup of regular gouda cheese [freshly grated]

·         1 cup of shredded carrots [or a little extra!]

·         1 small white onion [about ⅔ cup or 1 cup, chopped]

·         2 large cloves of garlic, minced

·         1 cup half and half [or heavy cream], room temperature

·         3 TBSP all purpose flour

·         3 TBSP butter

·         1 bay leaf

·         ¼ tsp garlic powder

·         ⅛ tsp allspice

·         ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg

·         ⅛ tsp dried basil

·         ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper

·         ⅛ tsp salt [will vary based on salt content of your stock/broth]

·         a few cranks of freshly ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1.    First the veggies: Chop them! Dice the onions super small, mince the garlic, an shred the carrots if you didn't buy pre-shredded. This can all be done ahead of time and stored in the fridge for later. For the broccoli, chop ⅔ of it into tiny florets [just cut off as much stem as you can and it'll fall apart in the pot] and then take the remaining ⅓ and give it a rough chop so you have a few large pieces to add to the soup. Totally optional!

2.    Add your veggie broth to a pot on medium-high heat, add your ⅔ of your broccoli [about 2 cups of florets] as well as your onion, garlic, carrots, and bay leaf. Simmer on medium, covered, for about 15-20 minutes or until the veggies are tender.

3.    Once the broth is done, start your roux: In a large pot, melt 3 tablespoons of butter on medium heat, whisking constantly. Once melted, slowly add 3 tablespoons of flour as you continue to whisk.

4.    For a thicker soup, use an extra tablespoon of each. I skipped it. Remove from heat and slowly pour in the broth from your veggie mixture [its okay if some of the veggies jump in along side it!] and stir to incorporate.

5.    Next pour in the veggies and slowly stir in 1 cup of room temperature half and half.

6.    Return to the burner on very low heat, uncovered.

7.    Spoon out the bay leaf and season with the above herbs and spices, adding a little extra of whichever you like to taste. I personally adore the pinch of nutmeg in this soup but feel free to leave it out if it's just not your cup of tea! The soup is great both ways! Depending on the saltiness of your broth, you might skip the salt entirely or prefer to add a bit more. Taste and tweak as needed after adding your cheese.

8.    Once the soup has warmed back up, stir in the grated cheeses [slowly and in small batches] and remove from heat immediately.

9.    That extra broccoli you left on the side? Blanch in boiling water, steam in your microwave, or basically cook it however you'd like, then stir that green goodness into your completed soup for great texture and an extra burst of broccoli.

10.  Garnish with a little extra grated cheddar and a sprinkle of parsley and even a pinch of spicy red pepper flakes if you'd like! Anything goes!

Enjoy it!

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Skinny veggie lasagna

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups chopped veggies of your choice
• ½ chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 12 uncooked oven-ready whole grain lasagna noodles
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Chop the veggies. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil over medium high heat. Add veggies and saute until tender. Set aside.
2. Whisk egg into ricotta cheese and stir in fresh spinach.
3. Pour a little sauce in the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Top with 4 lasagna noodles,1/2 cup ricotta mixture, ½ of the veggies, and ¾ cup sauce. Repeat; top entire pan with noodles, remaining sauce, and mozzarella cheese.
4. Cover and bake for 40 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove foil and bake for 10 minutes more or until cheese is bubbly.

NOTES

For my veggies, I used broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and red peppers. Check the lasagna at 30 minutes and add ¼ cup vegetable stock if the lasagna looks too dry.   

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