Quick Dinner: Veggie Soup Base

Looking for a way to use up some turkey leftovers? Try my quick dinner veggie soup base. I normally bake some foccacia during the time it takes to make the soup base.

The secret ingredient is a German seasoning called Seitenbacher Vegetarian Vegetable Broth and Seasoning. I found it at Rainbow People whole foods grocery store in Juneau. Silly me for rationing my one small bottle when you can go buy loads of it on amazon right here. It is cheap, ~1$/ounce, light weight, and vegetarian making it perfect for backcountry travel or the urban hiker who has to hall their groceries for blocks (yup, that is me on both accounts).

Vegetarian Broccoli Soup Base - perfect for Thanksgiving leftovers

Inspired by GP's Detox broccoli and arugula soup recipe, I blogged it here.

Makes 2 servings (multiple 4-6 times to make enough for freezing)

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic minced

1 onion chopped (any kind you have on hand)

1 head broccoli chopped (including the thick stems)

2 1/2 cups water + Seitenbacher (according to directions for amount of water)

1/4 tsp course salt

1/2 lemon juice

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Once onion is soft add your water and Seitenbacher. Bring to a boil, turn down heat, and simmer until the broccoli is soft (~20 minutes). Purée with an immersion blender in the pot or transfer to a regular blender (be careful blending hot liquid and don't fill the blender more than halfway full). Freeze all your extra soup base in tupperware or ziploc bags (lay flat on cookie sheet until frozen to have stackable units).

Now comes the fun part. Clean out your fridge and add whatever looks good, e.g. brussel sprouts. After Thanksgiving we torn up some turkey and threw in some mini tortellini (the dried kind from Trader Joes). Simple. Your done. Enjoy!

photo credit: Cayenne 06.22.10

Sunday Supper: Fried Eggplant and 3-minute Swiss Egg Tapas

Cayenne & Carob's Sunday Supper: Fried Eggplant and 3-minute Swiss Egg Tapas
I had no idea what I was going to make for sunday supper and relied on finding something beautiful and tasty at the La Jolla Farmer's Market. It was the eggplant that spoke to me and later caused me to take every cookbook down off the kitchen shelf to find the perfect, easy recipe. I indeed found a great recipe!

Fried Eggplant and 3-minute Swiss Egg Tapas
By Cayenne and inspired by Fried Eggplant with Garlic and Egg Recipe from Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain by Penelope Casas

1 eggplant, slice four 1/4-inch slices (for 2 people)
coarse salt
white flour for frying eggplant
sunflower oil for frying
2 soft- or hard-boiled eggs
4 garlic cloves
1 onion
handful of cremini, brown, button mushrooms
1 orange bell pepper
handful of fresh parsley
pinch of dried thyme
Eggplant: First slice the eggplant and sprinkle with salt and let sit in colander for 30 minutes (water will seep out). Wrap uncut eggplant in plastic wrap and save for later in the week.

3-minute Swiss Egg: Bring water to a roaring boil, add salt, and gently drop fresh eggs into water. Turn your timer to 3 minutes or if you have my timer 5 minutes. Remove eggs from water and set in a bowl to cool.
Sauteed onions and vegetables: I was very liberal in altering the recipe to use what I already had in my fridge. I actually make this dish again later in the week for another friend and switched things to make it more of a main dish.

If you are making an appetizer just saute the onion for a few minutes and add the orange pepper. When the onion is almost done, add the garlic and mushrooms. Once the mushrooms are nice and shriveled turn off the heat and add the thyme and parsley.

If you are making this as a main dish beef it up by adding Israeli couscous mix from TJ's which I started right after I had the eggplant draining. The mix cooks in about 10 minutes and you can time it to finish at the same time as the eggs. For even more sustenance I sauteed sliced fingerling potatoes and a few leaves of sliced swiss chard with the veggies and onions.

Frying the Eggplant: Set your eggplant slices on a clean towel and blot dry. Heat up about 1/2 to 3/4 inches of oil (I used sunflower oil) until it pops when you flick a bit of water in it (like one drop of water). Place the eggplant on a plate and sift flour over it, turn over and do the same thing to the other side. Gently tap excess flour off and place in hot oil. Fry approximately 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels as you continue frying the rest of the eggplant.

Plating: Start by layering the eggplant slices on your plate and sprinkling with salt. Pile on the veggies and top with the 3-minute Swiss egg. Enjoy immediately.

I really loved this dish and I have to fess up to hating eggplant before this most recent Sunday Supper (seeing a theme here). It was easy, took less than an hour to make, and has a stunning presentation. One of the most important elements is the 3-minute Swiss egg. The recipe called for a hard boiled egg. Due to a fluke of not remembering how to cook a hard boilded egg and the fortuitous advice of my friend who was visiting (yes, she lives in Switzerland) - the 3-minute Swiss found its way to the top of my fried eggplant. The egg white was a touch runny so I made the decision on my second run-through to cook it 1 minute longer. Bad. Idea. Keep the 3-minute Swiss egg because it really makes this dish.

photo credit: Cayenne 08.23.09

Sunday Supper: Ina Garten's Wheatberry Salad

Cayenne & Carob's Sunday Supper: Wheatberry Salad

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll tell you that I did not cook this entire dish on Sunday. In fact, I did not even cook the entire thing myself. TEB cooked the wheatberries on Wednesday night in preparation for making Ina Garten’s wheatberry salad for an outdoor picnic on Thursday evening. Turns out we had plenty of other food so opted not to make the salad. So there was a bowl of cooked wheatberries staring at me Sunday morning and I decided to adapt the recipe to be slightly heavier and suitable for a main dish or lunch.

It took TEB 2 hours of simmering and several additional cups of water to cook these nutty wheatberries. The best technique seems to be to taste-test them every 30 minutes or so. Since we cooked them a day before we were going to use them, TEB left them al dente figuring they would cook the rest of the way when reheated.

I altered this recipe according to what was left in the fridge from my CSA delivery the week before. I added swiss chard and garbanzo beans for some color and to make the dish more filling. I measured nothing, which is how I like to do things. I mixed the ingredients until the proportions looked pretty. This dish is beautiful and tastes good too. If you can split up the cooking, like we did, then wheatberry salad is a perfect leftover. But the otherwise 3-hour cook time for a salad is pretty ridiculous.

Wheatberry Salad
Adapted by Cayenne from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Family Style Cookbook

1 cup hard winter wheatberries
Kosher salt, to taste
1 ½ cup finely diced red onion (1 onion)
6 tablespoons good olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 scallions or green onion, minced, white and green parts
1 red bell pepper, small diced
1 carrot (optional), small diced
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 can garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed
5-7 leaves swiss chard, destemmed, chopped, save all parts

Place the wheatberries and 3 cups of boiling salted water in a saucepan and cook, uncovered, over low heat for approximately 45 minutes, or until they are soft. Check every 30 minutes and I had to cook them approximately 3 hours. Drain. The wheatberries can be made a few days ahead, just reheat after initially cooking to al dente.

Saute the red onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat until translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Before the onions are done add the chopped chard stems, cook for 2 minutes. Add the garbanzo beans and chopped chard leaves, cook for a few more minutes. Turn off the heat and add the remaining 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar.
In a large bowl, combine the warm wheatberries, red bell pepper, carrot (optional), 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the pepper. Add all the warm sauteed stuff. Allow the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes for the wheatberries to absorb the sauce. Season, to taste, and serve at room temperature.

photo credit: Cayenne 08.16.09

Quick Dinner: Steamed Artichokes

My childhood friend's dad gave me some tips on cooking artichokes when I was up in Alaska. Artichokes were in season in May so I went directly to the local Fred Meyers to pick up some of these large green domes. First I picked out 2 fresh green stocks. At home I took some kitchen scissors and cut the pointy tips off before slices them in half length-wise. I laid these face up on a steaming platform in a shallow wide pan that had a lid.
Bring the water to a boil and added big dollops of salted butter. I skimped on the butter and ended up adding another round similar to that pictured above, near the end of the cooking process. Then you cover these pretty ladies, turn down the heat, and let them steam for about 50 minutes. Once the leaves come off with a gentle tug, dinner is served. Add a big garden salad and you have one easy quick dinner, plus lunch for the next day.

photo credit: Cayenne 05.25.09

Quick Dinner: Mom's Stirfry with Cheese

I eat weird food and this mostly comes from the fact that mom cooks us all kinds of strange stuff when we were growing up. Last night she made stir fry, which was excellent, and included her own little twist - adding Tillamook cheese on the top. Apparently, I only vaguely remember this, we used to love cheesy stir fry as kids. She used to plate the stir fry up on brown rice, top with yellow cheese and soy sauce, then cover it for a few minutes so the cheese gets all melty.

Mom's Cheesy Stir Fry

Sesame oil
Sunflower oil
Chopped green onions
Broccoli florets and chopped stems
Sliced baby carrots
Chopped asparagus
1 can chickpeas
Sliced yellow squash
Pine nuts
Grated yellow cheese
Soy sauce

This recipe does not need measurements and the ingredients are very flexible - just look in your fridge and grab the veggies already in there. Alter your amounts of oil as you go and depending on how many veggies you have. Prep all the veggies before heating up your pan. Things go fast once you start stirring in veggies.

1. Start by heating a few tbsp of sunflower oil and sesame oil in a skillet or wok
2. Once hot, add the onions, cook for a few minutes
3. Stir in the broccoli and carrots
4. Once the broccoli and carrots are al dente, add the asparagus and chickpeas
5. Add the squash when the asparagus is almost done (if the skillet looks dry add a bit more sesame oil)
6. Stir in the pine nuts and drizzle with soy sauce, turn off heat, leave pan on burner
7. Grate cheese

Plate first with brown rice, then a pile of veggies. Top with grated cheese and cover for 1 minute.

Thanks Mom for teaching me that cooking is fun and an adventure. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.

photo credit: Cayenne 05.10.09

Quick Dinner: Potato, Leek and Bacon Soup

Potato Leek Soup
from: The Kitchn, go check out their post for a nicely styled picture.

cube 3-4 russet potatoes
2 1/2 cups of sliced leeks
enough water to cover potatoes and leeks

Simmer until the potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and let cool. Once cool blend the entire mixture and top with fresh, crispy bacon or thyme.

Variation:
Saute 3-4 slices of bacon, remove the bacon from the pan and dump in the potatoes and leeks (follow recipe as above). Give a quick saute and near the end throw in a few tablespoons of freshly chopped sage. Follow directions as above.

photo credit: Cayenne 03.11.09

Quick Dinner: Curried Butternut Squash Soup

My CSA, J.R. Organics, provided the recipe and the squash for my first stab at a squash soup. The final product was tasty and I'm looking forward to the 3 servings I stowed in the freezer. 1 pot = 3 dinners! Check out the recipe on the CSA website.

Curried Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
adapted (twice-removed) from the Silver Palate cookbook

3 Tablespoons Unsalted butter
1 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup sliced leeks*
4 Teaspoons curry marsala powder
3 pounds butternut squash* (~2 medium-sized squash)
2 sweet apples*, cored and chopped
4 cups vegetable broth (I used no-chicken broth)
salt and pepper, to taste cayenne pepper, to taste

1. Cook the onion and leek in the butter over a low heat until tender
2. Add the curry powder, cook for a minute (might need to add a splash of broth)
3. Add the stock, squash, and apples
4. Cover and bring to a boil
5. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook, covered, until the squash is tender
6. Puree by your favorite method and return to the pan
7. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper
*items from biweekly CSA

photo credit: Cayenne 01.15.09

Quick Dinner: Sauted Sage, Squash, and Shitake Mushrooms

I knew one day soon I would start writing a post and think "maybe I have already posted this recipe." Well, it happened today. I posted Squash Pasta 01.21.08 and now I have a little update with pictures! Here is a recap of the ingredients, see link above for more detailed recipe: 12 ounces pappardelle or fettuccine pasta; 2/3 stick butter, divided; 2 cups 1/2-inch cubes butternut squash; 8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps sliced; 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage; 1 5- to 6-ounce package baby spinach; 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided.

I want to highlight a substitution using an ingredient that came in our CSA box last week - tatsoi the leafy green pictured above. The leaves are similar to bok choy but a quick google search revealed that it was an Asian salad green that is often eaten raw. Since there were a few notes saying that it tasted like bok choy I decided to use it in place of the spinach (I often substitute spinach with kale). I also added a few fresh, organic items from my local farmers' market, like the sage and shiitake mushrooms.

I threw the entire saute over a pile of Harvest Grains Israeli Cousous (for something else with HGIC see the Fig, Chicken and Israeli Cousous recipe here). The fall colors really make this plate up beautifuly and it is easy.

photo credit: Cayenne 11.16.09

Quick Dinner: Vegetarian Chili

These are the perfect beans for the navajo taco recipe I posted a few weeks ago.

Chili Sin Carne
adapted slightly from 1,001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes, 2nd Edition by Sue Spitler

12 ounces frozen vegetable protein crumbles
1.5 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper (red pepper works just fine too)
2 cloves garlic, minced (double the garlic)
1-2 tbsp (ancho) chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 cans (14.5 ounces) of chopped tomatoes, undrained
1 can (6 ounces) reduced-sodium tomato paste
3/4 cup dark beer (or water but the beer makes it 100x better)
1 tbsp packed light brown sugar
2-3 tsp unsweetened cocoa (or mexican cocoa)
1 can (15 ounces) red kidney beans (or black beans), rinsed, drained
Salt, black and cayenne pepper to taste

Optional Toppings: cheddar cheese, green onions, and sour cream

1. Saute veggie grounds, onions, bell pepper, and garlic with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil until veggies are tender.

2. Add ancho chile powder, cumin, oregano, and cloves. Cook a few minutes longer or until fragrant.

3. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, beer, brown sugar, and cocoa to soup mixture. Heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer, covered for 1 hour.

4. Stir in beans. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon into bowls or on navajo fry bread, added toppings.

**Make a double or triple batch and freeze the left-overs in plastic freezer bags or tupperware. TEB made a 6x recipe and we ate chili out of the freezer for the next 8 months.

photo credit: TEB 11.10.08

Quick Dinner: Rabbit Pasta

I have been eating Annie's "rabbit" pasta since middle school. It was one of those easy-to-prepare foods that my mom let us cook when we were home alone. It sustained me through my high school swim team days and I turn to it now when I need something quick to cook.

All I do it follow the instructions on the box, substituting the milk for soymilk, and make sure to add in some additional ingredients to make it seem like my dinner did not come out of a box. Here are my favorites: Peace Pasta, Shells & White Cheddar, Shells and Real Aged Cheddar, and Alfredo Shells & Cheddar. See a full list of all Annie's Homegrown products here.

Now these are not dairy-free and Annie's does not have any vegan products, but substituting soymilk definitely helps on keeping the dairy levels low. I have a couple of favorite combos that all start with any of the above pastas.

1. broccoli and peas (fresh or frozen) - I always keep frozen veggies expressly for this purpose

2. tuna and broccoli - tuna can be a life-saver so I keep a couple of cans of chunked tuna in water in the pantry

3. chopped kale (or spinach) and edamame succotash - fall and winter months bring loads of kale in my CSA box. Since I cannot consume all of it fresh I braise or steam it, package it in plastic sandwich bags, and throw it in the freezer. Edamame succotash is a mix of edamame beans, corn, and roasted red peppers (pick some up at Whole Foods or Trader Joes).

N.B. I tried an Annie's SKILLET pasta mix the other day. Even with some serious tweaking - cooking up some onions, green peppers, and vegan protein ground meat - it was terrible. So bad in fact that TEB said even he would not even taste it. I was more willing to give it a try, probably b/c I put time into making it. It was bland and mushy. I ended up throwing the whole thing out.

Quick Dinner: Fig, Chicken, and Israeli Couscous Salad

I picked up the September Martha Steward Living magazine at the airport the other day, after I had read all the old New Yorker magazines I had brought along. We tried the Fig, Chicken, and Barley recipe this week and it was delicious despite the fact that we had to tweak the recipe to what was in the pantry. I balked at the idea of simmering the barley in the chicken stock for 40 minutes, which does not follow my quick dinner rules. I used Harvest Grains Israeli couscous from Trader Joe's. It is a new favorite and contains a base of large pearl couscous mixed with orzo, dried garbonzos, and quinoa.

Add 6 cups water, some chopped onion, sprigs of fresh thyme, 1 halved seeded spicy chile, 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns, and 2-4 crush fresh garlic cloves to a medium, yet deep, pan. Bring contents to a boil.

While waiting for the stock water to boil get the couscous going on another burner. Follow the directions on the back of the Harvest Grains package, cooking time is ~10 minutes. You should end up with about 3 cups of whatever whole grain you choose to use.

When the stock water is boiling, add 1 package organic, free-range, vegetarian-fed chicken (I am still working on a good vegetarian substitute). Cook for ~8 minutes. Slice through the fattest piece to make sure the inside is not pink. Place all pieces of chicken in a bowl and put in the freezer to cool or if you live in Alaska put outside for ~10 minutes.

The salad: In a medium bowl add the couscous, 1/4 cup fig-balsamic vinegar (I used regular balsamic but recommend using the fig), 4 scallions or green onions chopped, 2 tablespoons good extra-virgin olive oil, a few pinches of salt, freshly ground black pepper. Take the chicken out of the freezer. If cool enough pull apart into bite-sized pieces and add to bowl, mix well. Add 1 pint of fresh, quartered figs. Good for dinner and for lunch the next day.

Quick Dinner: Pasta with Raw Tomato Sauce

The farmers' market was full of heirloom tomatoes. I bought a pint of baby heirlooms just so that I could make raw tomato sauce with them. This is my favorite quick dinner and even though I have been making it all summer I was reminded to blog about it in the August 2008 Domino magazine. I boil up some penne rigatoni (the kind with the small ridges because the cheese sticks well to it) and then I dress it with extra virgin olive oil, some salt and pepper, and fresh torn basil from my patio planters. I then either chop up some roma tomatoes or if heirlooms are in season then use the baby ones cut in half. I normally make this per plate so I can add as many tomatoes as I like. Then I shave off (using a good potato peeler) big hunks of fresh, block parmesan over the whole thing. Picture above from Domino Magazine, see recipe here.

Quick Dinner: Cabbage Salad

This cabbage salad recipe is so good that I have made it twice in the past week. I first made it for an asian-inspired dinner while we watched the opening ceremonies for the olympics. It went well with boiled potstickers. The salad is easily reinvented with buckwheat soba noodles, garbanzo beans, and tofu for dinner or lunch later.

Cabbage Salad
found via The Kitchn and built off their modifications from this recipe.

In a large bowl mix:
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 to 3/4 cup sliced and slivered almonds
1 head cabbage, cut in long strips
1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Dressing (add ingredients straight into a small mason jar so you can shake and store in the same container)
1/3 cup safflower oil
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1-2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Shake up the dressing, taste, and adjust the sesame oil or soy sauce as needed. To be honest I only measure the oil and rice wine vinegar so the sesame oil and soy sauce are just approximations. Pour dressing over cabbage and stir well. You can eat it immediately but it gets even better if you wait 30 minutes and is still good days later for a cold lunch. My mother used to make something very similar but with crushed up ramen noodles. I don't normally buy ramen noodles so just eliminated them from the recipe and I think I will keep it that way.

photo credit: cabbage by tina manthorpe

Quick Dinner: Nordic Smorbrod

Summertime is always busy in a more relaxed and fun way than the other 9 months of the year. With a mix of yoga, tennis lessons, and spinning going on during the week I get home later and don't really feel like turning on the stove to cook dinner. The smorbrod, a Scandinavian open-faced sandwich, is perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner. All you need is some knäckebröd (Swedish crisp bread), cheese, fresh veggies, or some deli meat. I often go with the vine-ripened tomato, Wisconsin extra-sharp white chedder, and thin slices of salami or proscuitto. You can add whatever you have in your fridge. If you cannot find knackebrod then use ak-mak or wasa hard crackers that you can find at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods.

Read a bit more about making smorbrod here.

photo credit: bistro set from American Country; caviar and egg smorrebrod by nosuchsoul

Quick Dinner: Brussels Sprouts, Peas, and Soba Noodles

Last week, before leaving for Seattle, I was doing some pantry cooking trying to make it to Friday without going to the grocery store. I found a basket of fresh brussel sprouts in the fridge and went online looking for recipes. I'm a new convert to the eating of brussel sprouts. A friend brought over dinner this past year and she had roasted brussel sprouts. I have long shunned brussel sprouts, something about the smell while cooking. I tried the roasted, soft, carmelized brussels and immediately wanted to make some myself. My first brussel sprout recipe I found on 101 Cookbooks by Heidi Swanson, Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts Recipe. I followed her recipe exactly and only improvised at the end when I threw in some frozen peas, chopped garlic, and buckwheat soba noodles. I added shavings of parmasean and manchego before serving. This was a perfect one-pot-dinner and made for a great cold lunch the following day.

photo credit: roasted brussel sprouts by ddot

Quick Dinner: Orange Glazed Seitan Stir-Fry

Glazed Seitan Stir-Fry
Vegetarian Times, 01.01.2007

**prep everything and have it right next to your wok before beginning.

The Seitan:
3 Tbs. maple syrup
3 Tbs. orange juice (freshly squeezed)
1 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbs. toasted sesame oil
1 12-oz. pkg. seitan, drained and shredded

The BIG Stir-Fry
3/4 cup cashews
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. sesame oil
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips (about 1 cup)
1 cup frozen shelled edamame
1 Tbs. minced ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 Tbs.)
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
6 Tbs. orange juice
1 Tbs. arrowroot powder

Directions:

1. To make the glazed seitan: Combine syrup, juice and soy sauce in small bowl.

2. Toast cashews in the dry wok until fragrant.

3. Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add seitan, and stir-fry until golden (mine never turned much darker than the original). Add maple syrup mixture, and simmer 3 minutes, or until seitan is coated with glaze. Transfer to bowl. Wipe out skillet.

3. Heat 1 Tbs. sesame oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper and edamame, and stir-fry 2 minutes.

4. Move vegetables to sides of skillet, and pour remaining 1 tsp. oil in center. Add ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes, and stir-fry 1 minute. Stir in 2 Tbs. water, Glazed Seitan and cashews. Cover, and cook 2 minutes, or until pepper is tender.

5. Combine orange juice and arrowroot powder, mix well. Stir into vegetable mixture. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat, and serve over white or brown rice.

Quick Dinner: Chickpea, Kale, and Cauliflower Soup

Why does it seem like kale is ALWAYS in season in southern California!?! My CSA box was overloaded with kale all through the fall and now we are stilling getting it since the weather has turned more spring-like. Any kale I don't consume after a week in the fridge, I steam really quickly and freeze for later use. I do hope that I can use it later when we find ourselves sans kale, otherwise one day I will open the freezer to find it filled with nothing but this dark leafy green. I have received green kale, purple kale, and dinosaur kale but there are many other varieties (see pictures on RecipeTips).

Desperate for a new kale recipe I tried the Chickpea Hot Pot Recipe from 101 Cookbooks. I just happen to have all the ingredients in my fridge and entire soup came together in about 30 minutes. Note, I used an entire head of cauliflower and kale (see ingredient list below). The flavor is simple and the broth thick. It reheats beautifully and the entire pot was got in just 2 days.

Chickpea, Kale, and Cauliflower Soup
click on over to 101 Cookbooks to see the entire recipe.

1 large yellow onion, chopped (I used pearl onions)
a splash of olive oil
a couple pinches of salt
2/3 cup uncooked bulgur
1 14-ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup orange juice
1 head of cauliflower, trimmed into small trees
1 head kale or chard, destemmed and cut into thin ribbons

olive oil for finishing drizzle
red onion, chopped for garnish

photo credit: curly kale by Rosina

Quick Dinner: Spicy Sausage Calzones

I am putting this recipe in the "Quick Dinner" category with a caveat; spicy sausage calzones only become quick after you have made it more than once and if you double the sauce recipe so you can eat spaghetti one night and use the leftover sauce for the calazone filing another night. 2 meals out of 1 sauce - Now this is a good idea.

Spicy Sausage Calzones (or Calzoni)

1/2 Pound hot Italian sausage
26 Ounces beef pasta sauce
1 Cup fresh mushrooms—sliced
1/2 Cup green pepper—chopped
1/2 Cup onion—chopped

2 Packages refrigerated reduced fat crescent rolls
1 Egg beaten
1 Tbsp water
1 Cup mozzarella cheese—shredded

Preheat oven to 350º

Brown sausage in a large sauce pan. Add 3/4 cup pasta sauce, mushrooms, green pepper, & onions. Simmer about 10 minutes, remove from heat, and then add cheese.I use Pillsbury Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls. These come in a strange refrigerated tube that pops when you open it. You unroll the dough to find a sheet with perforated triangles. I find that the easiest thing is to break the dough into rectangles composed of 2 triangles and place on a cookie sheet. Seal the perforations by pinching the dough together. (each tube makes 2 calzones) Spoon the sauce mixture onto the middle of each rectangle and roll the edges together as you might do with a pie crust. Mix egg & water in bowl, brush on the rectangle crescent rolls.

Bake about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Prepare the next batch of calzones while the first is in the oven.

Makes 4 servings. Before freezing, calzones can be wrapped in saran wrapped and another layer of tinfoil.

photo credit: calzones TEB 02.12.08; Pillsbury website

Quick Dinner: Vegetarian Tacos and Guacamole

I am working on a huge project right now (think the culmination of 5 years of work). I must be focused and spend the majority of every day writing in coffee shops. I must also eat. In this Quick Dinner series of posts I am literally sharing with you what I've been eating this past month. The meals are low maintenance and easily reheat for a week. Earlier this week I made tacos and we are still eating tacos for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast is a little weird but I'll post soon with a recipe for taco "meat" egg scramble.

Click here, here, and here to see the other Quick Dinner posts.

Vegetarian Tacos:
The base for my vegetarian tacos is vegetarian "ground meat." You can find it pretty much any ol' grocery store's freezer or refrigerated sections and you can buy it preseasoned for tacos. I normally buy plain grounds so that I can use it either for tacos or in a big pot of spaghetti. I always keep in the pantry some packages of taco seasoning.

Season your "meat" in a large sauce pan - just follow the instructions on your seasoning package. Transfer to a plate and heat a can of organic refried black beans (Amy's is my favorite brand) in the same pan. I added some Tabasco sauce when the beans are almost piping hot.

Fixings:
chopped green onion
extra sharp Tillamook chedder cheese
sliced black olives
chopped fresh tomatoes
lettuce
guacamole (see recipe below)

Pile the taco "meat" and fixings on a whole wheat tortilla and enjoy!
*If you don't want to eat the exact same thing everyday then have some chips on hand so you can make nachos later in the week.

Bad-Ass Guacamole:
From Aunt CF

4 Avocados
2 tbsp Mild (or Hot) Salsa (for those cilantro-haters out there my favorite is Trader Jose's Salsa Autentica from Trader Joe's)
3-4 roma tomatoes (deseeded)
1/4-1/2 of a red onion

Season to Taste -
Cumin (this part is tricky, you need approximately 3-5 tbsp)
Black or white pepper
Salt or garlic salt
Garlic powder (if you did not use garlic salt)
Juice from a couple of lemons or limes

Chop up 1/2 the avocados, all the tomatoes and onion
Mash the other 1/2 of the avocados
Add the salsa, seasonings, and lemon juice

servings ~ 4

photo credit: flickr.com member anple

Quick Dinner: Protein Fruit Shake

Sometimes I am looking for a really light dinner after having eaten a late lunch. Making a shake is easy and you don't need special ingredients. I keep all these things stocked in the fridge or freezer.

Protein Fruit Shake

Shake Base:
a few handfuls of ice ~1.5 cups of soymilk
vanilla flavored protein powder (follow directions on the package for scoop number)
~2 tbsp coconut sorbet (a little bit goes a long way)
1 frozen banana (peeled)

Choose Your Fruit: frozen blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, or acai juice
add ~ 1 cup of frozen fruit

You can adjust the thickness of the shake and add either more soymilk or juice to thin it out. This also makes for a good grab-and-go lunch when you are in a rush.

photo credit: acai berries from www.acaiberryjuice.org; fruit shake TEB 01.29.08