Mushroom Soup

So I am on a pretty strict food plan right now, so anything I can eat that tastes great and fits in this plan makes me VERY happy! This soup fits both of these criteria. I will say…if you like mushrooms, you’ll love it! If you don’t like mushrooms, stop reading now.

Mushroom Soup

2 pounds sliced mushrooms
1 sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TB Olive Oil
2 TB Flour
6 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup red wine

Heat oil and saute mushrooms, onion and garlic until onion softens. Mix in flour, then stir in red wine and slowly add vegetable broth. Heat to boil, cover then simmer for at least 20 minutes. In my opinion, 20 minutes is enough, but the longer the better for full flavor. I simmered mine for almost 2 hours and it was fabulous!

Enjoy!

How to make 6 people happy? Serve pasta.

That seems to be the answer in our little world. I rarely go wrong with pasta, and with four kids, that is saying a lot. I have turned pasta meals into an art! We do pasta bars on a regular basis. The kids can choose their sauce and toppings, but we are still all eating the same meal (sort of). And since I regularly serve a child who loves their pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, Parmesan, pesto and olives, as well as a child who prefers plain pasta with butter and salt, being flexible and creative is a necessity.

The other night I made up a baked pasta and was happy with the results. 2 kids had seconds, 1 finished their first serving with no complaining, and 1 had some issues with the broccoli but was fine with the rest. Even the big boy was happy! Always a plus.

Remember, I made this for 6, so feel free to shrink it down!

2 16 oz packages of pasta (I used penne)
1 package of provolone chopped into pieces (I can’t find provolone unsliced, so I just bought it sliced and chopped it up. You could use shredded mozzarella or swiss, too.)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
bread crumbs
About 2 cups of small broccoli florets. I made them super small in hopes to make it more child friendly.

Cook pasta according to package. Meanwhile, make white sauce. Feel free to follow a recipe for this from any cookbook. I’ve made it so many times that I sorta do it by instinct now, so I know this might not be super easy to follow.

Melt 4 TB Butter in sauce pan over medium heat. Add 2-3 TB of Flour and stir to make a paste. Add 1 TB of minced garlic (you can use garlic salt too) then slowly begin adding milk. Start by adding about 1/2 cup and mix together with the paste. When it seems like most of the lumps are dissolved, begin adding more milk. Altogether, you should add about 2 cups of milk to the flour/butter mixture. Stir constantly while cooking over medium to high heat. It should begin to thicken after a few minutes. If it does not thicken, add more flour. Once it is to a point where it seems thick enough, remove it from the heat. Oh, and make sure you do all of this with a wooden spoon.

Pour sauce over cooked drained noodles and stir. Add cheddar cheese, provolone (reserve about 1/2 cup) and broccoli and mix together. Sprinkle in some salt, too. Pour half of noodles in the bottom of a baking dish. Layer with remainder of provolone. Top with remainder of noodles. Sprinkle bread crumbs across the top in a thin layer and dot with butter.

Bake at 350 until heated through, about 20 minutes or so.

Mediterranean Goodness!

I have always loved Mediterranean food. In fact, I once had a goal to learn to make dolmas. After some lengthy research I decided some things are meant to be store bought! I was very excited this year when I found out our Christmas Eve theme was Mediterranean! Perfect time to try out some new recipes.

After some digging around on the internet, I found a recipe for falafel that was highly rated and reviewed. It turned out to be just about perfect! I’ve made it twice now and it’s virtually fool-proof. I love falafel; it is one of the many items that make Mediterranean food so vegetarian friendly. This is from allrecipes.com and I highly recommend it:

Sean’s Falafel

1 (15 oz) can drained garbanzo beans
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
1 dash pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp baking powder
t TB olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs
oil for frying

in a large bowl mash the garbanzo beans until thick and pasty. I used a plastic potato masher. In a blender (I used a food processor) process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Add to garbanzo beans and mix.

In a small bowl, combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into garbanzo bean mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add the bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together. Form into golf ball size balls then slightly flatten.

http://vegiegirl.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php?post_type=post

Heat 1 inch of oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties in hot oil until browned, flip then fry on other side.

This makes about 15 falafel balls.

Then, mix up some super easy Couscous:

2 cups cooked couscous
1 Chopped cucumber
1 Diced tomato
1 Chopped small red onion
Juice of a lemon
Dash of Olive Oil
Fresh mint leaves (1/4 cup or so)
Salt
Mix all ingredients together. Add more lemon juice if needed.

To turn this into a meal, serve with:

Pre-made dolmas. They sell excellent ones at my local Fred Meyer in the section with the stuffed olives. At Market of Choice, they are in the deli section. And I’ve seen them at Costco as well.
Hummus
Tzatziki
Pita and/or flatbread
Crumbled feta
Caramelized sweet onion
Roasted garlic cloves and mushrooms
Stuffed Green Olives
Shredded Lettuce
Salad Dressing (You can find some fun greek salad dressings, or balsamic vinegar works well, too.)

This is a very fun meal for a casual group get together! Throw everything on large platters and let people make their own meals!

Jodi’s Version of Chicken Noodle Soup…

without Chicken or noodles!

There’s nothing like a good cup of Chicken Noodle Soup, especially this time of year. Cold nights + warm soup = perfection!

Being a vegetarian does not mean giving up this cold fighter. In fact, when you try this soup, I bet you won’t even miss the chicken! This recipe is also super easy and doesn’t take many ingredients. You could do all store bought vegetable stock or mix it up like I do. Personally, I find this to be a bit cheaper and just as flavorful. However, I wouldn’t recommend skipping the store bought vegetable broth and making all of the broth yourself.

2 cups of chopped carrots
2 cups of chopped celery
32 oz of Vegetable Stock
32 oz of water
16 oz uncooked orzo
Vegetable Bouillon (You can get this in cubes, I but I prefer Better than Bouillon.)
2 tsp dried parsley, 1 tsp salt, dash or two of pepper
Olive oil

In large stock pot, heat oil and add carrots and celery. Cook on Medium High stirring constantly for ten minutes.

Meanwhile, bring 6 cups of water to a boil, add orzo, and boil for 6 minutes. Drain.

Add parsley, salt and pepper to carrots and celery. Add vegetable broth. Follow bouillon directions to make 32 oz of vegetable stock and add to pot. (With Better than Bouillon, you add 1 tsp per 8 oz of boiling water.)

Bring to a boil. Add drained orzo. Reduce to medium low and cover. Let simmer until carrots and celery soften.

This makes pretty thick soup, which my kids tend to like more. You can substitute orzo with pasta. I’ve used elbow macaroni before, but I prefer orzo. Made this last night and it served 3 adults and 2 kids with some left over.

I like to serve with warm bread and salad. Enjoy!

Egg Sandwich with Marinara

I saw Giada De Laurentiis make this recipe and knew instantly that my kids would love it. I tweaked it a bit:

1 egg, fried
1 slice of rustic white bread
Marinara sauce, the thicker the better
Parmesan, shredded

Sprinkle the bread with the shredded parmesan and broil until beginning to brown and cheese is melted. Top the bread with warm marinara sauce. If you do this too early, you’ll end up with soggy bread, so try to time it so the egg and bread are done at the same time. Place egg on top of marinara, add a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and enjoy!

How easy is that?

Easy BBQ/Potluck Appetizer

I brought this dish to a friends house Memorial Day Weekend and watched as numerous children and adults polished off an entire bowl. I’m bringing it to another potluck tonight because it always seems to be a favorite, and it’s SUPER EASY! Can’t beat that!

1 can sweet corn, drained
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
About 1/2 cup chopped red onion, more or less depending on your preference
2 diced tomatoes, try to remove juice and seeds as much as possible
juice of one lime
drizzle of olive oil
drizzle of balsamic vinegar
salt to taste

Mix above ingredients and refrigerate for 2 hours or more prior to serving. I would not recommend refrigerating overnight.

Just before serving, dice two avocados and add, stirring to blend

Serve with tortilla chips! Enjoy!

(Variations: Substitute 1 chopped red pepper for tomatoes, use juice of lemon instead of lime, add feta cheese)

Caprese Pasta

I love the combination of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Throw it on bread, or just give me a fork, and I’m happy. Recently I discovered and AMAZING pasta at a local Italian restaurant, so I decided to try to make it at home. I’ll be honest, I’m missing something. The flavor of the original is sweeter and richer, I’m guessing that would be because they use cream, and I can’t bring myself to use cream when cooking. (Although I seem to have no issue eating it when I’m out!) But my version is still a satisfying second…

1 pound pasta (I use Penne)

1 sweet onion chopped

6 – 8 tomatoes chopped (I always pick tomatoes still on the vine, I think they are more flavorful)

milk, flour and butter

about 1 cup of  sliced whole mozzarella balls

Cook pasta in salted water, drain.

In large saucepan, cook onions on medium low in butter until softened and starting to carmelize. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until tomatoes have softened and lost their original shape. Add 2 TB of flour and stir through, breaking up any chunks with a fork. Add 3/4 cup of milk. Stir until heated through and beginning to thicken. Add more milk to make more sauce, add more flour to thicken. When sauce is thick, add mozzarella and heat just til the cheese begins to soften. Remove from heat.

Pour sauce over individual bowls of pasta. I find it better with this recipe NOT to add the sauce to all of the pasta. I like the cheese with some form still, and stirring it into the pasta will melt it completely.

Add salt as needed. Serve with warm bread, of course, and enjoy!

Vegetarian Foods

My brother called me last week and told me he and his wife were doing a cleanse…no meat, no sugar, etc. He said he was finding it difficult to come up with vegetarian meals. I gave him some ideas and it was like turning on a lightbulb. I think often when someone is used to preparing meals entirely around a meat they can’t think about cooking any other way, but if you step back and think about how many meals you eat without meat, you would probably be surprised. It just takes a little time to think about food differently.

We went to a work function for Aaron’s job last night and the secretary was kind enough to make sure there were vegetarian options for me. This morning Aaron made the comment that it is interesting how there can be meatless options that everyone eats probably without even realizing it. I would go as far as to say you could come to my house for dinner, not know we are vegetarians, eat a good meal and not even realize it was meat-free.

So, if you are trying to eat less meat, a healthy and often cheaper option, here are some meal ideas to get you started:

- Fried Rice, last week I made this with broccoli, carrots, onion, brown rice and egg. It was YUMM.

- Mexican…you can easily do almost all Mexican vegetarian. We eat a lot of enchiladas and burritos.

- Italian, same, most pastas can be done vegetarian, think lasagne, ravioli, fettucini alfredo, etc. And yes, marinara sauce comes meat-free and is also super easy to make.

- Taco Salad, another fave for us. We’ve also been doing nachos with toppings for Sunday night dinners lately. (I consider Sunday night a throw together meal…usually something fun and different than normal.)

- Breakfast…we love breakfast burritos for dinner, and if you want more substance, the only meat substitute I ever recommend (outside of vegie burgers) are Morningstar Vegetarian Sausage Patties. Chop them up and they are great in breakfast burritos. We also eat a lot of egg sandwiches. I love a fried egg with a sausage patty & cheese on an english muffin.

- Soups, again, substitute vegetarian broth for chicken broth and most soups are easily vegetarian.

- Pizza, yes this falls under Italian, but pizza is a great vegie dinner.

- Baked Potatoes with toppings…Trader Joe’s sells a great vegetarian chili without any fake meat. This is one of Aaron’s favorite meals.

Here are what I consider my staples…food I always have around so I can easily throw together a meal:

Tortillas, olives, cheese, beans, brown rice, pasta, vegetarian broth, frozen vegies, eggs, diced tomatoes, raw tomatoes, onions, tomato sauce/paste. I buy most of this in bulk at Costco.

Caprese Skewers

Cherry tomatoes
Mozzarella balls
Basil leaves
Foccaccia
Olive Oil
Skewer sticks

Cube the foccaccia into squares about 1″ by 1″. Slide a cherry tomato, foccaccia, cheese ball and basil leaf onto the skewer. Repeat. Drizzle with olive oil. Grill on medium heat for 3 minutes on each side.

These are AMAZING! A huge hit at our barbecue last week.

Tiny Cream Cheese Biscuits

I got this from a friend’s Southern Living recipe book and made them for dinner tonight. Okay, clearly they are not the healthiest little biscuit, but they are AMAZING! I am thinking these will be a holiday staple from now on, and I also think they would make great little tea biscuits with jam. Yummy!

1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter
1 cup self rising flour

Beat cheese and butter at medium speed with an electirc mixer for 2 minutes. Slowly add flour and beat at a low speed until combined. Fill mini ungreased muffin tin to the top. Bake 15-17 minutes at 400 degrees. Makes 18 mini muffins.