Tortellini, White Bean, and Spinach Soup

I saw this recipe in Cooking Light, and thought it sounded like a hearty, simple soup.  I couldn't help but tweak it, because basically I don't know how to not tweak recipes...  And, I know Mark doesn't like artichokes, so I made a few minor adjustments...  It was delicious and easy...  AND around 280 calories a serving!  Can you beat that?

Tortellini, White Bean, and Spinach Soup

Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
2 c chopped onion
1/2 c chopped red pepper
2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 tsp dried basil
3 tsp minced garlic
2/3 c water
1 (16 oz) can small white navy beans, rinsed and drained
3 c chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 (8 oz.) bag prepared four cheese tortellini
1 1/2 c coarsely chopped spinach
1/4 c grated fresh parmesan
salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat.  Add chopped onion, bell pepper, Italian seasoning, basil, and garlic; saute 5 minutes or until tender.  Add the water, beans, broth, and tomatoes and heat through.  Turn heat to low.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, and add prepared tortellini.  Boil for 10 minutes and drain.  Add the tortellini to the soup, and then add the spinach.  Cover and return heat to medium high until soup is heated through.  Add salt & pepper to taste.  Sprinkle parmesan on top.

Serves 6.  Enjoy!

Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups

A little over a month ago, I saw these delicious little breakfast delights on Pinterest and knew they were a "must pin".  The recipe comes from The Girl Who Ate Everything originally, and is so perfect, you do not need to adjust a thing.  They are amazing!

NOTE:  This recipe is for 6, but you just can make as many or as few as you want.  You just select your quantity, and then you need that many pieces of bacon, bread, and eggs...

Ingredients:
6 slices of bacon, uncooked
6 slices of bread (I've had great success with whole wheat white bread.)
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese (I've varied the type of cheese, and I never measure it...)
6 eggs
salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Spray the cups of a muffin tin with cooking spray.

Cook your bacon in a frying pan for about 5 minutes, so that it is partially cooked, but not crispy.  Transfer to a paper towel lined plate when finished.

While the bacon cooks, cut out circles  in each piece of bread using a cookie cutter or a drinking glass turned upside down.

Here's where it gets a little tricky.  I have the best results when I push the bread into the muffin cups to shape them gently, but then I take them back out.  Wrap the bacon around the muffin cup, and then replace the shaped bread inside the bacon.  I kind of shimmy the bacon up a little and shape the bread to the inside of the bacon on the sides and into the bottom of the tin.

When you've got your cups ready, sprinkle cheese on top of the bread.  Then, crack one egg over each piece of bread.  I do this over the sink, with the muffin tin just to my right.  You may not want to use all of the egg white, so it's easier to crack the egg and let a little of the white run out into the sink and then pour the egg into the cup.  You can use the whole white, but it sometimes bubbles over the bacon when you do that.

Bake until eggs are cooked through to your liking and the bacon is crispy.  We've found 15 minutes is perfect if you don't use the full white and you like your eggs with a little bit of run in the yolk.  Run a knife around the outside of the bacon in the muffin cups, and pop them out.  I use a fork on one side, gently sliding between the bacon and the tin, and a knife on the other side to pull them out...

Salt & pepper for seasoning, and enjoy!  We love these.  They are the perfect breakfast bite!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Sauteed Lentils

What did I find on Pinterest this week?  I found The Sprouted Kitchen, and the recipe for Sauteed Beluga Lentils + Butternut Squash.  Jackpot!  We got butternut squash in our CSA last week, and I was looking for something different.  I didn't make it exactly according to the recipe, though I admit the recipe there looks a LOT prettier than what I came up with.  But, I had green lentils on hand, and fresh farm yellow onion...  So, I made some adjustments based on what I had on-hand.  I also made it for half the size, because it's just the two of us here...  So, here's what turned into delicious!

Ingredients
2 c Butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 Tbsp curry powder
1/4 Tbsp oregano
1/2 Tbsp brown sugar (I used Sugar Twin, a substitute that turned out to work.)
salt & pepper, to taste

1 c cooked green lentils, drained
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp dried basil
4 Tbsp dried parsley
1/2 small yellow onion
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
Grated parmesan/romano, to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450F.  Combine the cubed squash, olive oil, oregano, curry powder, and salt & pepper in a bowl and mix to coat the squash evenly.  Spread in a single layer, with as much space as possible, on a shallow baking dish.  Roast on the top rack for approximately 30 minutes, or until the edges get brown and crispy.

While the squash is cooking, place the olive oil and minced garlic in a pan over medium heat.  Stir together and allow the garlic to crisp up in the hot oil.  Add the lentils, basil, parsley, and yellow onion and stir to allow even coverage of oil and herbs to the lentils.  Continue to stir occasionally, and saute about 10 minutes, or until the lentils are heated through.  Turn off the heat, but continue to leave them in the warm pan until the squash is finished roasting.


Remove the squash from the oven and set aside.  Take the lentils from the pan and place them into a bowl.  Add the apple cider vinegar and dijon mustard.  Stir.  Place the squash chunks on top, and then add some grated parmesan/romano on top of the lentil mixture.  Serve and enjoy!  Serves 4.

It's delicious.  I can't tell you how amazingly full of great flavor this was.  Mark loved it, even though he came into the kitchen while I was cooking it and said "What is that?" in reference to both the lentils and the squash.  The recipe says you can do this with ANY squash.  I happen to have another in the fridge, so I think I might go get another variety of lentils and try again with new lentils and new squash.  If it was this amazing with what I had on hand?  YUM.

I'm already looking forward to leftovers.

Crisp Lentil Salad

Ingredients
1 c brown lentils
3/4 tsp kosher salt
4 c water
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/4 c red onion, chopped
1/4 c red pepper, chopped
1/4 c green pepper, chopped
1/4 c yellow pepper, chopped
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions
Bring the water, lentils, and about 3/4 tsp of kosher salt to a boil over medium high heat.  When you've reached a rolling boil, reduce the heat and simmer over medium-to-low heat for approximately 30 minutes when lentils are done. Drain the water from the lentils.

Stir in the vegetables and the vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper.  Chill a few hours, it actually gets better as the lentils soak in the liquid.  Serves 6.  Very fresh, crisp, and tasty with a nice nuttiness from the lentils.

Roasted Corn with Lime, Parmesan and Chili

Have you had the street corn at Milagro in Webster?  If not, get there and eat it...  I sometimes dream about that corn.  I decided to go searching for something slightly similar to make with dinner, but I have an issue...  Mark won't eat anything with white, creamy condiments included (mayonnaise, sour cream, cream cheese, ranch dressing, etc.) so I had to find something similar that didn't include any of those things.  That's tough...

I landed on this recipe for Roasted Corn with Lime, Parmesan and Chili from Food52, though I still had to substitute yogurt for sour cream and mayonnaise...  It would have been better with the sour cream and mayonnaise, but it was good with the yogurt if you have a similar situation...

Roasted Corn with Lime, Parmesan and Chili (Food 52)


Ingredients
3 medium ears of corn
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
1 Tbsp mayonnaise, at room temperature
1 Tbsp sour cream, at room temperature
1/4 c milk, at room temperature
juice of one lime, plus wedges for serving
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan
generous pinch of cayenne pepper

Instructions
Heat the oven to 400 F.  Shuck the corn and cut the kernels from the cobs (see tip posted yesterday....), tossing them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Spread the corn kernels evenly on a large rimmed baking dish and roast in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, scraping and turning over the kernels once or twice, until they're tender and lightly caramelized.

Put the corn back into the bowl and mix in the mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, lime juice, parmesan and cayenne.  Taste and adjust any of the seasonings to your liking.  Serves 2

See?  I swear we eat these things with meat...  :)

Pickled Okra

When I was looking for a recipe to make canned Brandied Peaches, I found the recipe I ended up using at Food & Wine, courtesy of Linton Hopkins.  Those peaches were amazing.  So, now if it's pickled, brined, or canned, I think I'll just turn there first...

Which is where I found the inspiration for spicy pickled okra, again, courtesy of Linton Hopkins...  I didn't follow that recipe exactly, because I already had pickling spice on hand it's comprised of most of what goes into his recipe...  So, I'll write this post on how I made it, though I would recommend going to his recipe for the real deal.

Spicy Pickled Okra


Ingredients
1 lb okra, trimmed (which apparently means slicing off the top of the caps and anything else to make them fit)
8 small red dried chili peppers
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 Tbsp pickling spice
1/2 c cider vinegar
1/2 c water

Instructions
Pack the okra, chili peppers, and garlic evenly into two sterilized pint jars.  You'll have to stuff them a bit to make it fit.

Combine the pickling spice, vinegar, and water in a medium saucepot and heat to a boil over high heat.  When liquid mixture is boiling, turn off the heat and use a ladle to transfer the liquid over the okra in the pint jars.  Leave 1/2 inch at the top for head space.  Wipe the mouth of the jars and place the lids and rings on top to close.

Place both jars into a large stockpot and cover with water.  Bring water to boiling and the continue to boil the jars for 10 minutes.  Remove the jars from the pot and let cool to room temperature.

Makes two pints, and they'll be good for a year...  If you wait that long to make a bloody mary with them...

Squash Spaghetti

I have made this one a couple times and each time I do something different, and love it. This version is my favorite but you can easily adapt the recipe for your own preference.

Ingredients:
2 squash, cut in half and seeds removed
LOTS of tomatoes, sliced
Bell pepppers, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese

On a foil lined baking sheet place the squash so the "skin" side is on the bottom. Lightly cover each half with olive oil, and bake in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes

Let the squash cool, and then take a fork and shred the inside. These are your "noodles." Then in a large sauce pan on medium heat saute the tomatoes, peppers, and garlic using a little bit of olive oil. After a few minutes add your squash noodles and then serve warm with Parmesan cheese. If you are not an olive oil fan, you can use any type of sauce and add any of your favorites!