TOMATO VEGGIE SOUP

We have already had frost a few times this fall and the yellow leaves are starting to fall; that means its SOUP time!! This recipe is a wonderful use for all of those extra garden veggies you have this time of year. Tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, onions, celery and anything else you can think of to add to the soup; this recipe is very versatile (and yummy).

1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 1/2 cups water
2 large tomatoes (I used a ton of cherry tomatoes)
1 (15 ounce) can ro-tel tomatoes with juice (I use mild)
4 cups beef  or vegetable broth  (not bullion)
1/3 cup uncooked barley
1/4-1/2 teaspoon black pepper (I like 1/2 teaspoon)
2 cups chopped zucchini
1 can rinsed and drained kidney beans (or your favorite bean)
pinch of red pepper flakes if you like heat (optional)

Spray a large soup pot with vegetable spray and sauté the onions, celery and carrots until the onions turn soft and a little sweet.

Put the undrained can of rotel tomatoes

PLUS the two fresh tomatoes into the food processor and blend until smooth, then add to the pot.

Add everything else to the pot and simmer SLOWLY for 45 minutes, that's it; just stir it once in a while.

I'm SURE this could be easily done in the crockpot as well.

ENJOY !!

Pearl Couscous Salad with Chicken and Grilled Peppers

Couscous salad with roasted chicken and deliciously tender, smoky and colorful grilled peppers.

Today's recipe is another of my super healthy, picnic dish ideas to make your outdoor meal memorable. Perfect to take along at the park or at the beach, or great idea for your next barbecue or casual party. I made this Israeli couscous salad yesterday for lunch for my family day at the beach. It was a huge hit with my husband and the kids!
I had some left over roasted chicken from the day before, which wasn't enough for another meal, but plenty to add to the couscous. If you don't have leftover chicken, you can always use a fresh chicken breast, marinate it with rosemary and garlic, cut it thin, and quickly grill it. Just like I did in my couscous salad with chicken and zucchini.
To make this couscous salad a complete, one-dish meal, I add some organic yellow, red and orange peppers that I roasted in the oven: this won't take too much time, nor much work and it's so easy to clean up. Here is my step-by-step, super easy recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 peppers (I used red, orange and yellow)
• 1.5 cups of cooked chicken (about one chicken breast)
• 1.5 cups of couscous (I used Israeli pearl couscous)
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 lemon, juice
• 6-7 leaves of fresh basil
• salt 

Preparation time: 40 minutes

Directions:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Roast the peppers by placing them on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil for easy clean up, in the upper part of the oven. Remember to turn them over every 8 minutes or so. Leave in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the skin all around is dark and soft. Remove from the oven and wrap the peppers in the foil for 5-10 minutes. This way they become soft and juicy. And easy to peel!

Step 2: While the peppers are in the oven, cut the cooked chicken in small cubes.

Step 3: Cook the couscous following the direction on the box. I simmered the couscous for about 11 minutes in salted water. Drain the couscous and run it under running water to cool it off.
Step 4: Unwrap the peppers, peel them (should be very easy!!) and cut in small cubes.

Step 5: In a large bowl, mix together the couscous with the chicken and the peppers. Season with a few tablespoons of olive oil, lemon juice and basil leaves cup in pieces.

Enjoy!!

EASY OVEN BROWN RICE

We've been trying to eat healthier lately, and "nutrition empty" white rice has been replaced by brown rice at our house.

Before now, I have only had moderate luck making brown rice. Not only do you have to babysit brown rice on a burner for 40-ish minutes, but the end result can be a little crunchy, (or worse yet), it can be gummy and sticky. Then, of course, there is the dreaded layer of rice that always cements itself to the  bottom of the pan (insert frown here).... not fun!!

Well, my cooking friends, your brown rice "issues" are over!! This super easy method will give you fluffy brown rice every time (with every grain cooked) and NOTHING sticks to the pan....super easy!!

 

This recipe makes three cups of cooked rice, which is a lot of rice for smaller families. So, I divide the leftovers into 1/2 cup or 1 cup portions and I freeze it. This way you can have brown rice ready in a flash for a weeknight meal (or to add to soups, etc.)

1 1/2 cups brown rice
2 1/2 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter 
1 teaspoon kosher salt (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375° and spray an 8" x 8" baking dish with vegetable spray.

Put the dry rice in the prepared baking pan.  Heat the water, butter and salt until it just comes to a boil, then pour over the rice and stir everything just enough to get the rice to an even level in the pan. Then cover the pan with aluminum foil.

COVER PAN TIGHTLY

I use heavy duty aluminum foil and crimp the edges tight on all four sides. It is important that you trap the steam in the pan.

Bake at 375° for one hour. After an hour, remove the pan from the oven and take off the foil. Fluff the rice with a fork and that's it!!

 

 

If you aren't going to eat the rice as soon as it comes out of the oven, make sure you still remove the foil so that the condensation doesn't drip back into the rice.

ENJOY !!

Pears and Ricotta Tart

Soft, fresh and moist ricotta and pear filling, over a crumbly, sweet and lemony crust

Happy Friday!
I made this ricotta and pears cake last weekend for some friends that came over for dinner. But I've been so busy that it took me a whole week to write down the recipe and post the pictures. This generally doesn't happen, but it's the beginning of the school year and I'm swamped with volunteer work and keeping up with the new schedule.
Anyways, this tart came out really good: a crumbly sweet and lemony crust, covered with a deliciously soft and moist filling made with ricotta cheese and pears. Yummy!
Note, I used canned pears in pear juice, because much juicier than the fresh pears I found at the store. You are welcome to use fresh pears as long as they are ripe and soft.
And one more thing: for the crust you are only using the yolks of the eggs. Don't throw away the whites!! You can always make some super quick almond cookies, like I did. Or some crispy meringues! Enjoy :-)


Ingredients: to make an 11 inch round tart
For the crust:

• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup (150 gr) of sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks (6 oz, 170 gr) of unsalted butter softened 
• 1/2  teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 3 tablespoons of milk
• 1/2 lemon, zest
• 2 1/2 cups (400 gr) of all-purpose flour 

For the filling:

• 8 oz (225 gr) ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup (100 gr) of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/2 lemon, zest
• 3 small pears, I used canned pears (15 oz can)

Preparation time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Directions:
Step 1: In large bowl mix the egg yolks and the sugar until well blended.

Step 2: Add butter, vanilla extract, zest of half lemon, milk and salt. Mix well.

Step 3: Add the flour, one cup at the time. Blend until the flour is all mixed in.

Step 4: Grease an 11 inch tart pan with butter and flour. Place about 3/4 of the dough (the rest will be used to decorate the top) in the pan and press it to the bottom with a spoon or your hands. Make it as flat as possible. Work with your fingers around the edge to make it even. Remove any extra dough. Prick the dough with a fork.

Step 5: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C). In a large bowl, blend the ricotta cheese with the sugar.

Step 6 : Mix in the milk, eggs, rest of the lemon zest and vanilla extract.

Step 7: Pour the ricotta mixture onto the crust, and decorate with the pear cut in slices. If you used canned pears, remove all the juice.

Step 8: With a rolling pin, roll the rest of the dough and cut it in thin long strips. Place on top of the tart as shown in my picture.

Step 9: Bake for about 45 minutes until slightly golden on top.

Let the tart cool down before removing from the pan. Sprinkle with powder sugar if you like.
Store in the refrigerator... unless there's no leftover :-)

Enjoy!

   

  

PERFECT BLUEBERRY CREAM MUFFINS

This muffin is sweet, moist, light, full of flavor and pretty to look at (I love muffins than have nice rounded tops). They are very quick and easy to make and they freeze well; what more can you ask for?

 

BLUEBERRY CREAM MUFFINS       MAKES 24

3 large eggs
1 + 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 + 1/2 cups sour cream
1 + 1/2 cups blueberries

In large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until well combined. Leave mixer running and drizzle in the vegetable oil, stir in vanilla.

In another bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Add this dry mixture (to the egg mixture)alternately with the sour cream (I added it in thirds).

Gently fold in the blueberries.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners and fill about 3/4 full (I use an ice cream scoop). 

Bake in preheated 400° oven for 20 minutes (my electric oven takes 23 minutes).

* Adapted version of recipe found on Allrecipes.com

Classic Italian Spaghetti with Clam Sauce

Impress your guests with this delicious, classic Italian spaghetti with clams. Quick and easy.

My absolute favorite seafood pasta!

I hope you had a super fun and relaxing holiday weekend.
Mine was really great! Perfect weather, great company, lots of beach and pool time... who can complain, right?!?
For tonight, I propose an ocean inspired, Italian seafood dinner: Spaghetti with clams. Very popular dish in Italy and in Italian restaurants. And my absolute favorite seafood pasta!
It's really fast (less than 30 minutes!!) and quite easy to prepare. All you need is white wine, fresh (organic) Italian parsley, garlic and peperoncini to make it spicy. And, of course, fresh clams! I'm always skeptical of shell fish, so I only buy clams at the fish market, and not my regular grocery store. This way, I'm always sure they are top quality, fresh and super clean. Note, if you buy the clams in the morning for dinner time, like I always do, don't leave them in the closed package or bag. They might die without air. So, as soon as you get home, open the bag, place the clams in a large bowl  (with ice if possible), and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook them.
Here is the recipe. You really can't go wrong with this!

Ingredients: for 4 people

• 2.5 lb of manila clams, super fresh!
• 1 bunch (about 1 oz) of fresh Italian parsley
• 1 cup of white wine
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 hot peppers (peperoncini)
• 3 tablespoons of plain bread crumbs
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste
• 12 oz of spaghetti 

Preparation time: about 20 minutes

Directions:
Step 1: Clean the clams under running water. Scrape the shells if necessary. Place the clams in a pot with two garlic cloves crushed. Cover the pot and place it over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.

Step 2: Bring another large pot with salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti as directed on the box as soon as the water starts to boil.

Step 3: In a large skillet, saute' two minced garlic cloves with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the hot peppers.

Step 4: Take all the clams that opened from the pot and add to the skillet with the olive oil and garlic. For about half, leave the clams in their shell, and the other half remove from the shell.
If you have clams that did not open, cook them in the pot, covered, for one extra minute. Add to the skillet if the clams are now open, or discard if still close (it means they were dead, and most likely not safe to eat).

Step 5: Filtrate the water left by the clams with a sifter and add the liquid to the skillet. Throw away the sandy bottom.

Step 6: Add the white wine, bread crumbs and chopped parsley to the skillet. Let evaporate the alcohol, and cook for about 5 minutes. Adjust with salt if necessary (it shouldn't be!).

Step 7: Drain the spaghetti al dente and toss in the skillet with the clams for about a minute, mixing well. Serve immediately sprinkling with some more parsley if you like.

Buon Appetito!