Organic Alphabet Soup

This Organic Alphabet Soup has got to be the EASIEST soup you can make. With only 3 ingredients and about a half hour of your time, you are well on your way to make a delicious, quick and filling lunch or dinner you and your family are going to love!

Minestrone Soup and a Giveaway

January is National Soup Month and it couldn't have come at a better time. Here in NJ, as is in most of the country, we've been experiencing extremely frigid temperatures. So what would be better than a nice, hot bowl of soup to warm your soul. This week, I'll be sharing a new soup recipe each day. And to start, here is one of my all time favorites, Minestrone.

Sauteed Spinach with Dried Cherries

I just love spinach; especially this time of year when it helps boost your immune system with all of it's vitamins and minerals. But when making it as a side dish, you have to purchase quite a bit  to get enough to serve everyone as it shrinks a lot when cooked. I prefer using baby spinach leaves; which are generally tender and a little sweet versus the larger spinach leaves; which tend to be more bitter. Whatever type of spinach you are preparing, remove the spinach from the heat as soon as the leaves start to wilt as they will continue to cook and you want them to be bright green in color.


When making spinach as a side dish, I generally make this Sauteed Fresh Spinach with Garlic, but was in the mood to try a little something different. I had some leftover dried cherries laying around from when I made the Baked Brie, so I added some of those. The cherries gave the spinach a nice, mildly sweet flavor that went well with a pork dish I'll be sharing with you tomorrow. ~Enjoy!


Sauteed Spinach with Dried Cherries
Prep Time: 5 minutes  Cook Time: 3 minutes Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 20oz. Fresh Baby Spinach
• 1/2 c. Dried Cherries

Directions

1. Rinse and dry spinach; then remove any large stems. 
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat; then add the spinach and dried cherries. 
3. Saute until the spinach has wilted; approximately 2-3 minutes. 

Nutrition Facts per Serving

Calories 94, Carbs 13.2g, Fat 2.3g, Protein 3.7g, Fiber 4.4g, Sugar 6g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into Calorie Count and may not be 100% accurate.

Top 15 Side Dishes

I'll be taking the next couple of days off to prepare for our Thanksgiving feast and spend time with family and friends, so I compiled a list of the 15 Most Popular Side Dish recipes on the blog. Stop back on Monday for a post you won't want to miss where some of my blogging friends and I will be giving away a $600 Visa Gift Card just in time for your holiday shopping.

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving from my kitchen to yours! 

Roasted Butternut Squash with Sun Dried Tomatoes

Butternut squash is a type of winter squash that is orange in color, similar to pumpkin, and has a sweet nutty flavor. It's not something I've ever made before. In fact, I don't even remember eating it growing up. The first time I had it was when my mother made Butternut Squash Soup a few years ago and I loved it. This year, I decided to try to make the squash myself and wanted to use some of my favorite flavors like garlic, sun dried tomatoes and fresh rosemary, and roasting this squash seemed like the best plan.

Butter Roasted Carrots & Parsnips with Oregano

I'll admit it. Until a few years ago I never even tried a parsnip; which looks like a cream colored carrot. The parsnip was originally planted by the Romans and used as a sweetener before cane sugar, but wasn't introduced in the United States until the nineteenth century. You can eat the parsnip raw; however, it is more commonly consumed cooked, and is especially high in potassium.

Tomato Gratin

If you or someone you know has a garden, then I'm sure you have been or will about to be inundated with tomatoes. September is the "last hurrah" of tomato season here in NJ and every year, my in laws grow more tomatoes than they know what to do with. Lucky for me, I get them to experiment and cook with their overabundance. Some recipes I create are healthy. Others not so much. I guess I'm just having one of those "I don't care what I eat" weeks after yesterday's Beef Stroganoff. Anyway, this recipe for Tomato Gratin certainly falls into this category, but man is it worth it! 

Tomato Gratin

Prep Time: 10 minutes  Cook Time: 25 minutes  Total Time: 35 minutes    Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 6 Large Roma Tomatoes, sliced 1/4" thick
• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 c. Asiago Cheese, shredded
• 1/4 c. Fresh Basil, chopped
• 1 c. Italian Flavored Breadcrumbs
• 3 tbsp. Butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Layer tomatoes in an 8"x8" oven safe baking dish; then top with garlic and drizzle with oil. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven. 
3. In a small bowl, combine the cheese basil, breadcrumbs and butter. Mix until it is crumbly; then sprinkle on top of the tomatoes. 
4. Place the dish back in the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are lightly browned. 

Enjoy! 

Nutrition Facts

Calories 340, Carbs 19.4g, Fat 23g, Protein 11.3g, Fiber 2.1g, Sugar 1.3g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into Calorie Count and may not be 100% accurate. 

Tomato Gratin Shopping List

Eggplant Fritters

About two years ago, I had my first fritter while vacationing in Greece. They were made with zucchini and I loved them so much, I even made my own version upon my return and added the recipe to my cookbook. Before leaving for vacation, I was trying to clean out my refrigerator and realized I had an eggplant in there that I never got a chance to use. I do that all the time. I go to the farmers market. Purchase so many fruits and vegetables that I can't possibly eat in one week, then go on a cooking frenzy trying to use them all up in different ways before they go bad!

So I decided to make these Eggplant Fritters. I really liked them, but the kids...not so much. Though they didn't eat them right out of the frying pan; which really wasn't a fair assessment as these do taste much better when eaten right after frying. You could also bake these if you wanted to save some of the calories and fat, but you wouldn't get that crispiness that comes from frying them.

Eggplant Fritters

Prep Time: 15 minutes                Yield: 8

Cook Time:  8 minutes                Serving: 1 each

Total Time:  23 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 Medium Eggplant (approx. 1 1/2 c grated)
• 2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
• 1 tbsp. Fresh Basil, chopped
• 1 Plum Tomato, small dice
• 1 Scallion, chopped
• 1 Egg
• 3/4 c. All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1/2 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Kosher Salt, to taste
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Rinse eggplant under cold water, remove the top and bottom and grate the eggplant using a hand grater or food processor with the grater attachment. 
2. Place the grated eggplant in a clean dishtowel and squeeze out any extra liquid; then add to a bowl. 
3. Add the garlic, basil, tomatoes, scallions, egg, flour, and baking powder to the eggplant and mix well. If the mixture is still a little too wet and won't form a small ball without falling apart, gradually add a little more flour. 
4. Heat the oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium to medium-high heat. 
5. Using a kitchen soup spoon, scoop out the eggplant mixture and place in the hot oil. Repeat for all fritters and flatten them down using the back of a spoon or spatula. 
6. Cook 3-4 minutes per side until they are lightly brown and have fluffed up a bit. 

Nutrition Facts

Calories 158, Carbs 13.7g, Fat 10.6g, Protein 2.7g, Fiber 2.9g, Sugar 1.8g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into Calorie Count and may not be 100% accurate. 

Enjoy! 

Eggplant Fritters Shopping List

Spinach, Mushroom & Brie Stuffed Tomatoes

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Such is the case with these Spinach, Mushroom & Brie Stuffed Tomatoes. I first experimented with these about 2 weeks ago because I had a small piece of Brie, a handful of spinach and some ripe tomatoes that needed to be used up. The recipe was AMAZING and the family devoured them. However, sometimes my photo skills aren't quite what I'd like them to be and this is the photo I wound up with. I made them too late in the day and the natural lighting was gone as it started raining. And, they just didn't look appetizing. I tried. I really did.

So being a food blogger, what did I do? 

I made the ultimate sacrifice and made them again of course. Just for you. 

Oh who am I kidding...I was happy to make them again! 

This time, my preteen had her friend over for dinner so I had her as an extra taste tester as well. She started out with half because she wasn't sure she would like them, but then quickly returned for the other half. That speaks volumes in my book! I told you...AMAZING!

The first time I made this recipe I used Roma tomatoes, which are my preference. However, they didn't have hearty ones this time around at my local market, so I used a standard, round garden tomato. I also had to purchase more Brie, so I'll have to use that up in a new recipe next. Any suggestions or requests?


Spinach, Mushroom & Brie Stuffed Tomatoes
Prep Time:  15 minutes                     Yield: 4
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes                Serving: 1 each
Total Time:  30-35 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 Fresh Garden Tomatoes
• 1 c. Mushrooms, small dice
• 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 Scallion, chopped
• 1 c. Packed Baby Spinach, washed, stems removed and torn into smaller pieces
• 1/2 c.+/- Italian Breadcrumbs
• 2 oz. Brie Cheese, small dice
• 1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Place your tomatoes on a flat surface, slicing a thin slice off of the bottom if necessary so it sits flat; then take a sharp knife and cut a circle in the top of the tomato. Remove the inside and even out the inside of the tomato shell. 
3. Chop the tomato pulp and place in a bowl; then add the mushrooms, garlic, scallions, spinach, breadcrumbs and cheese. Mix well. (You may need to adjust your breadcrumbs if the mixture is too dry/moist, it depends on how much tomato pulp/juice each tomato yields). 
4. Stuff the tomato mixture into the tomato shells and place in an oven safe baking dish. 
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the breading is lightly brown. 

Enjoy! 

Nutrition Facts

Calories 164, Carbs 16.8g, Fat 8.6g, Protein 6.3g, Fiber 2.2g, Sugar 1.3g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into Calorie Count and may not be 100% accurate. 

Enjoy! 

Spinach, Mushroom & Brie Stuffed Tomatoes Shopping List

Shared on Thursday's Treasures 8/8/13

Ratatouille Panzanella Salad

Since I made my first Panzanella Salad with roasted fennel & Heirloom tomatoes back in May 2012, my youngest has been asking me to make it again. It was one of her favorite salads; however, I try not to eat too much bread (especially when it comes to eating salads!). Last week while I was grocery shopping, they had some day old bakery Multigrain bread for a fraction of what it would normally cost and I decided that I would experiment with another panzanella salad.

For this version, I used the base recipe for my Roasted Vegetable Ratatouille recipe; especially since all of these vegetables are in abundance right now. I roasted garden fresh eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, garlic and tomatoes, mixed in the multigrain bread then gently tossed the salad with a light Lemon Chardonnay Vinaigrette. This salad was wonderful and encompassed all of the flavors of a typical ratatouille. My family really enjoyed it and for me it was a toss up which version I liked best.

Ratatouille Panzanella Salad
Prep Time:   20 minutes                 Yield: 6 cups
Cook Time:  25 minutes                  Serving: 1 cup
Total Time:  45 minutes

Ingredients
For the Ratatouille Panzanella Salad

• 1 lb. Loaf Multigrain Bread
• 2 c. Eggplant, skin on and diced
• 1 Medium Zucchini, skin on and diced
• 1 c. Sliced Mushrooms
• 1/2 Red Onion, diced
• 2 Cloves Garlic, chopped
• 2 Plum Tomatoes
• 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Prepared Lemon Chardonnay Vinaigrette

For the Lemon Chardonnay Vinaigrette

• 1 Lemon, zest and juice
• 2 tbsp. Chardonnay Wine
• 1/4 c. Canola Oil
• 1 tbsp. Fresh Rosemary, chopped
• 1 tbsp. Pecorino Romano Cheese, grated

Directions
For the Ratatouille Panzanella Salad

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Cut the bread into cubes, place on a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray
3. Bake for 5-10 minutes; turning once, until they are brown. Remove from oven and cool. 
4. While the bread is in the oven, add your eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, onion, garlic and tomatoes to baking sheet; then drizzle the olive oil on top. Place in the oven with the bread and bake for approximately 15 minutes; turning once. Remove from the oven and cool. 
5. Add the bread, vegetables and prepared Lemon Chardonnay Vinaigrette to a bowl. Toss to coat and serve. 

For the Lemon Chardonnay Vinaigrette

1. Add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk together until well blended. 

Enjoy! 

Nutrition Facts

Calories 260, Carbs 23.9g, Fat 16.2g, Protein 7g, Fiber 5.5g, Sugar 4.4g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into Calorie Count and may not be 100% accurate. 

Enjoy! 

Ratatouille Panzanella Salad Shopping List

Shared at Carole's Chatter 10/18/13

Shared on Thursday's Treasures 8/1/13

Sesame Roasted Cauliflower

Every time I purchase a new head of cauliflower, I try to find other ways to experiment with it. I have to say that roasting is my all-time favorite way to prepare and consume it as it really takes on a wonderful flavor. This time I added in some sesame oil and seeds to give it a little different flare and it was extremely tasty.

Broccoli Rabe with Chorizo

Broccoli rabe (also spelled broccoli raab) or otherwise known as rapini is a green, leafy vegetable that is know for it's bitter taste that have buds that resemble broccoli, but do not form a head. You can eat the leaves, buds and stems and is mainly used in Italian and Portuguese cuisines. 

My hubby is a HUGE broccoli rabe fan; however, the girls and I don't care for it. So every once in a while I just buy some for him and I'll usually saute it with a little garlic and olive oil or my Aunt Bonnie will make some extra when she's making it for her family and save some for him. Since he also likes it mixed with sweet Italian sausage or pasta, I decided to mix it in with some sauteed Portuguese chorizo and he LOVED it!

Broccoli Rabe with Chorizo

Prep Time:  10 minutes                       Yield: 4

Cook Time:  8 minutes                        Serving: 1/2 c.

Total Time:  18 minutes

Ingredients

• 7oz. Chorizo, peeled and sliced into 1/2" slices
• 1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
• 1 Bunch Broccoli Rabe
• Kosher Salt, to taste
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Directions

1.  Heat oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat; then add in your chorizo. Saute about 2-3 minutes per side until lightly browned. 
2. Cut the head broccoli rabe into 1"-2" pieces, removing the stems; then rinse under cold water. Drain well.
3. Add the garlic and the broccoli rabe to the pan and saute until the vegetable has softened yet is slightly firm; approximately 3 minutes.  A good indication is when it turns bright green. Season with salt and pepper. 

Nutrition Facts

Calories 271, Carbs 3g, Fat 22.8g, Protein 13.9g, Fiber 1.6g, Sugar .2g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into Calorie Count and may not be 100% accurate. 

Enjoy!