Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

Do you need an easy weeknight meal right about now?  I know I do!  What is it about the 2 weeks before Christmas that makes normal life so scattered?  It couldn't be the crafts still left to make, presents yet to be bought (and wrapped!), cookie exchanges to attend, or anything like that, could it?

This is, hands down, my new favorite tomato soup. It's incredibly tasty and super quick to whip up.  I made this soup last year, and we liked it really well, but using the fire roasted tomatoes in this soup really makes it something else!  I also love the hidden protein component in the soup -- it makes it creamy and fills you up more!  All it needs is some toast, corn muffins, mini-quiches, or just a chunk of hearty crusty bread to go with it and you're set.  You could even add some (3 cups) cooked brown rice to it to make it stretch.

I got the original recipe here and tweaked it pretty well to fit us.

Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup
makes about 8 cups

• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup sliced carrot
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes, with juice
• 2 cans white beans (kidney, great northern, or chickpea), rinsed and drained
• 2 TBLS fresh chopped basil, packed (1/4 cup packed leaves pre-chopped)
• 1 tsp salt
• pepper and extra basil to taste
• optional: 3 cups cooked brown rice

-- Saute the onion, celery, carrot and garlic until tender.

-- Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 5-10 minutes to let the flavors really get to know eachother.

-- Take off heat and CAREFULLY with an immersion blender, puree until smooth.

Also -- this is the last post until after Christmas (and maybe New Years!).  I have crafts still left to be make, gifts to be wrapped, cookies to bake for that exchange, and little boys to make memories with!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Fabulous Flapjacks

Our family loves these pancakes.  They are hearty and delicious.  They are also an open canvas -- add fruit, nuts, or even chocolate chips!  I got the base of this recipe from a woman with five precious little girls, who got it from a friend, who got it from who knows who. They are our favorite flapjacks, indeed, and our go-to recipe when a cold morning hits and there's time to whip them up and enjoy them!

Fabulous Flapjacks

makes 10-12 pancakes (1/4 c batter each)  

Serving suggestions: maple syrup, jam, PB, apple butter, fresh fruit

What you'll need:

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup quick oats OR old fashioned oats - just pulse them a couple times in the food processor
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk (almond or regular)
• 1/3 cup applesauce, unsweetened OR vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, beaten OR 2 flaxseed meal (add 1/4 cup water to wet ingredients)
• 1 tsp vanilla

What you'll do:

• Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl.
• Combine all wet ingredients in a separate (larger) bowl.
• Add dry to wet and combine until all moist.
• Let sit 3-5 minutes to let oats absorb some of the liquid.
• Spoon 1/4 cup of batter onto a hot (medium heat) lightly oiled skillet.  Let brown each side for about 3 minutes until done.

NOTES:

The flaxseed pancakes won't "bubble" like a normal pancake, so check it with a spatula, they are still fluffy, but a little more crumbly.

Red Lentil Chili with White Sweet Potatoes

This chili was surprisingly good.  I have to admit, as I was putting it together it seemed so simple.  Too simple, almost.  But I continued making it, and adapting it to my tastes, and I'm delighted to say that it all worked out.  Really well. After my first bite, I couldn't get enough.  I think I had an entire second helping and then some more.  I try to give all the leftover to Scot to take to work, and it was  hard to know I didn't get any leftovers!  Just another excuse to make it again, right?

We have enjoyed this a green vegetable of some sort on the side, along with a salad -- but I can envision roasted cauliflower going great with this!

You may wonder at the use of white sweet potatoes in this recipe.  I can find them easily at my supermarket, and it's not a fancy one, but some may find it a hard item to locate.  If that's the case, use a regular sweet potato.  The only reason I stuck the white in there was because I had them on hand, and I figured the color contrast would be nice.

I got the original recipe here and tweaked it pretty well considering the original recipe is for a pressure cooker and I don't have one of those.  It's also supposed to go over a potato -- my way just seemed simpler.

A note, though, on the sweetener.  I think the original author wanted to use the dates as a sweetener -- great idea, but it wasn't enough for me (or maybe my dates were small compared to hers!), but I would use what the recipe says and then taste and adjust the sweetness.  For me, that meant adding a solid TBLS of brown sugar.  I think molasses would have worked really well, too.  Or, in future, adding just another (smallish) date or two.  It's all personal preference.

Red Lentil Chili with White Sweet Potatoes

feeds 4-6

• 1 lg red bell pepper
• 4-6 Medijol dates (see note)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 15oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 3 cups broth/water
• 1 1/2 cups dry red lentils
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 2 TBLS apple cider vinegar
• 1 TBS oregano
• 2 tsp basil
• 2-3 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp liquid smoke (opt)
• 1-2 TBLS (to taste) of brown sugar or molasses if needed.  
• 4 cups 1/2 in cubed white (or yellow or orange) sweet potatoes (nuked slightly if you need this to come together really fast on the stove top)

-- With a food processor, puree bell pepper, dates, garlic, fire roasted tomatoes, and 1/2 cup water together until smooth.

-- Add everything (including tomato puree) into a crockpot.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours until lentils are all cooked and potatoes are soft.

-- [Stovetop] Saute onion in pot on the stove.  When tender, add everything else.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes until lentils are tender and potatoes are cooked through. 

Note on dates: I would suggest starting off using just the 4 dates and adding the sugar/molasses if you find the chili needs more sweetness.  If you did end up wanting it sweeter, the second time around making the chili, try using all 6 dates.

Autumn Quinoa

This is one of my favorite fall quinoa dishes.  It's simple.  It's slightly sweet.  It's perfect paired with the cauliflower soup I posted a few weeks ago.  It makes a bit, so you can either serve it to a ton of people as a side dish, in a bowl as a main dish, or, you can bake some acorn squash and stuff this inside!  (And I've done it and love it that way!)  There's just something killer about the combination of pumpkin, orange, and cinnamon that I love.

This does not take very long to make.  For me, it's trickier than most of my quinoa dishes because I don't use the rice cooker for it and actually have to pull a pot out to cook it on the stove top, but as long as you stir it occasionally, it will come out perfectly.  Creamy and full of flavor!

Autumn Quinoa
serves 6 main

• 1 cup diced red onion
• 1 cup pure pumpkin pure (canned)
• 1 1/2 cup orange juice
• 2 cups broth/water
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp powdered ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cup dry quinoa, rinsed well
• 1 cup craisins or raisins

--  Saute onion until soft and translucent

-- Add liquid and pumpkin and stir until combined

-- Add spices and quinoa.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20-30 minutes until quinoa is done and liquid is absorbed. (Stir occasionally!!)

-- Stir in raisins and season with s&p to taste

Cran-Apple Crisp & Cran-Orange Relish

This crisp will be gracing our Thanksgiving dessert table this year.  Oh wow.  It's perfect for any gathering, or plain old day, this Harvest season!  I have played around with the combinations of the crisp -- using only apples is the best way to go, followed by a mix of pears and apples (lessen sugar to 1/3 cup if you use pears!), and all pears coming in last.  Still good, but not fabulous like the apple versions.

We enjoy this  a la mode, but feel free to drop a scoop of pure vanilla ice cream on top!

Cran-Apple Harvest Crisp

Serves 8

What you'll need:

• 6 cup peeled and chopped Granny Smith apples (sometimes I sub a cup or two of honeycrisp or pears)
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• ¼ c white sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 TBLS cinnamon

Crumble Crust

• ¼ cup flour
• ¼ cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 3 TBLS chilled butter OR coconut oil

What you'll do:

• Preheat the oven to 350 and lightly spray a 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray
• Place the apple chunks, craisins, sugars, and cinnamon in a large bowl and stir until the apples are well coated.  Pour into the baking dish.
• In a smaller bowl, combine the flour and oats.  With a pastry cutter or fork, cut in chilled butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.  
• Pour the crumble crust mixture on top of the apples, spreading evenly.
• Bake uncovered for 1 hour.
• Let stand for 5-10 minutes

And now for one of my all-time favorite additions to any holiday table. This cranberry orange relish is simple and delicious and comes together in a snap with the help of a food processor!

Cranberry Orange Relish

(makes 3 cups)

What you'll need:

• 1/2 cup pecan halves (opt)
• 12 oz bag of whole cranberries, rinsed
• 1 orange OR 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup sugar

What you'll do:

• If using the pecans, place those in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Empty into a medium-sized serving bowl.
• Dump the cranberries into the food processor and pulse until finely chopped (be sure to leave some texture - the goal is not to puree).  Empty into the serving bowl.
• If using orange juice, pour it into the serving bowl now & skip the next two steps.
• Use a fine grater on the orange peel until you have 1/2 tsp of zest (the goal is to scrape off just the orange part as you grate--the white pith has a bitter flavor).  Empty zest into the serving bowl.
• Discard remainder of orange peel & any seeds, then place segments of fruit in food processor and puree.  Empty the puree into the serving bowl.
• Pour sugar in serving bowl and stir until dissolved.
• Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Note:  Cranberries freeze exceptionally well, so I buy an extra bag while they are in season and freeze for later use.

Time Tip:

• Make this a whole day ahead

Mashed Potatoes Two Ways

With Thanksgiving just a week away, our thoughts wander to the festive table we'll sit down to.  And the mashed potatoes we'll likely pile on our plate.  Personally, I was never one for mashed spuds -- I'm more of a stuffing girl -- but that all changed when I started using different types of potatoes (and adding in squash) to make the mashed potatoes a little more interesting.  I'm still a stuffing girl, but these piles of mashed goodness give stuffing a run for its money!


First up, mashed potatoes meets butternut squash!

This twist on simple mashed potatoes gives the side dish more nutritional heartiness.  It's also a no-think recipe with the use of the crock-pot!  We love the added hint of garlic and could easily eat these once a week!  For budget reasons - please wait until you find a good deal on the butternut squash if you can, and if you can't find one small enough, just cook and freeze the rest for another recipe! (You can also find already peeled and cubed butternut squash in the freezer section of most supermarkets.)

Butternut Mashed Potatoes

Serves 8-10 (5 cups total)

Active time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hrs

Total time: 3 hrs 20 minutes

Serving Suggestions:  Along side lentil loaf with a green salad or roasted asparagus.

What you'll need:

• 4 cups diced (1 in) red or new potatoes, washed, skin on
• 4 cups diced (1 in) butternut squash, peeled
• 5 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3 TBLS olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp crushed dried rosemary

What you'll do:

• Place everything in a crockpot, cover, and cook on high for 3 hours. Stir occasionally.
• Mash until almost everything is creamy.
  
  
  
  

Next up, sweet potatoes fit for your Thanksgiving table, or a Wednesday night supper!

Usually people think mashed sweet potatoes go hand-in-hand with the holidays.  These, though, are so subtly spiced you can serve these any time of the year (but especially during the holidays)!  Feel free to half the recipe to accommodate for a simple supper.

Simply Spiced Smashed Sweet Potatoes

Serves 12

Active time: 15 minutes

Cook Time:  15 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

Serving Suggestions: Eat this lovely side dish with a dinner like lentil-loaf along with some green beans.

What you'll need:

• 8 cups peeled and chopped sweet potatoes OR unpeeled for a more rustic and nutritious texture
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

What you'll do:

• Cook your sweet potatoes either in the microwave, in the oven, or in a pot of boiling water, until they are soft and tender.
• Transfer potatoes to a mixing bowl and add remaining ingredients.
• Mash until smooth and ingredients are all incorporated.
• Add a little water if they are too dry.

Slightly Glazed Carrots & Seasoned Red Potatoes

Thanksgiving is 10 days from today, people!  Do you know what you're having?  Here are two suggestions if you're looking for easy and healthy sides to fill the table out.

So incredibly simple and oil free!  A lot of times, glazed carrots and gooey and sticky, and I just don't like that.  These babies and just ever so slightly glazed.  The glaze gives them just a little oomph for a special dinner if needed, or, if you have kids (or a husband) who isn't fond of carrots, maybe this will be the turning point without compromising on health.

I got the idea over here, but tweaked it pretty well.

Slightly Cider Glazed Carrots
serves 4-6 sides

• 1 lb baby carrots (3-4 cups)
• 2 TBLS packed brown sugar
• 1 TBLS apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp paprika 

-- Cook or roast carrots.  Drain if needed.

-- Mix remaining ingredients together until sugar dissolves.  Simply pour over carrots and stir to coat well.  You can also heat it all together in a small sauce pan (preferred if there is time). 

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These red potatoes are such that you could eat them in the summer next to a burger, or next week alongside your turkey (or stuffed acorn squash).  My boys love these, and since I buy white potatoes so rarely, this is my preferred way to eat them when I do buy them for another recipe (read: soup) and have leftovers. Like most dishes involving balsamic vinegar, they're even better after a few days.  I've even eaten these cold, and they're fabulous!

Seasoned Red Potatoes

Serves: 6 (1 cup portions)

Active time: 3 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total time: 13 minutes

Serving Suggestions:  With pretty much any main dish that you would serve potatoes with.  Grilled chicken, green beans, and/or a small bowl of soup.  

What you'll need:

• 6 cups small cubed red potatoes
• 1 TBLS olive oil
• 3 TBLS balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp crushed spices: thyme, basil, and oregano are our favorite OR Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

What you'll do:

• Boil, roast, or microwave potatoes until “fork tender”.  
• Meanwhile, combine all other ingredients in a small bowl.
• Once potatoes are done, drain if necessary, and place in serving bowl.  Pour "sauce" over the potatoes and stir to coat.

Alternative: Add 3 cups chopped and cooked green beans (12 oz frozen bag).  Increase Balsamic Vinegar to ¼ cup and herbs to 1 TBLS.  Salt and pepper to taste.