a little of each

A family's cookbook

Creamy Carrot Soup March 27, 2013

Filed under: Soups and Salads — alittlemoreofeach @ 8:21 pm
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Adapted from a Stoneyfield Farm Yogurt recipe.

 

Ingredients

2 Tbl olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

¾ cup onion, diced

1 Tbl ginger, peeled and grated

3 cups carrots, peeled and chopped

4 cups vegetable stock

2 Tbl rice

1 cup plain lowfat yogurt

2/3 Tbl cornstarch

salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions

Using a small stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add ginger, onions and garlic and sauté until onions begin to soften. Add carrots, stock and rice, and simmer for 30 minutes or until carrots break apart easily. Using a blender or food processor, puree the soup until smooth or only partially, depending on your preference. Return the soup to the pot, and heat over medium heat. In a small bowl, combine yogurt and cornstarch and blend until well-mixed. Stir this mixture into the soup, being careful not to bring the soup back to a boil. Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with a dollop of plain yogurt.

 

Potato Leek Soup (Potage Bonne Femme)

Filed under: Soups and Salads — alittlemoreofeach @ 8:18 pm
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Ingredients

2 Tbl butter

1 cup leek, cleaned white and light green parts, sliced

3 cups chopped onion

5 cups diced potatoes

2 quarts boiling water

1 lb shredded cabbage

1 clove garlic, minced

2 ½ cups light cream

¾ cup chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions

Heat butter in a large soup pot. Add leek, onion and potatoes. Sauté about five minutes, stirring frequently. Add boiling water. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Add cabbage and garlic to simmering mixture. Return to boil and simmer 20 minutes. Add cream and parsley and heat to serving temperature. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 

Yellow Squash Soup

Filed under: Soups and Salads — alittlemoreofeach @ 8:16 pm
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Adapted from “Weight Watcher’s” recipe. Serves four.

This is cheap, quick, and healthy. Oh, and it’s really tasty!  I didn’t puree the soup however, as I like my soups with a little more substance to them, and I recommend this recipe that way.

Ingredients

1 Tbl butter

1 ½ lbs fresh yellow squash, sliced and quartered

1 cup Vidalia onion, chopped or a few shallots, diced

1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth

½ cup milk

1 ½ tsp chopped fresh thyme

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2 Tbl freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat; add squash and onion. Cover and cook 13 minutes or until vegetables are very tender. Transfer squash mixture to a food processor; puree until smooth. Return squash mixture to saucepan. Stir in broth and next four ingredients; cook, uncovered, over low heat until thoroughly heated. Serve one cup of soup with fresh Parmesan sprinkled on top.

 

Tomato, Dill and White Cheddar Soup

Filed under: Soups and Salads — alittlemoreofeach @ 8:11 pm
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Serves six

We prefer this soup only partially blended.

 

Ingredients

2 Tbl olive oil

3 cups chopped leeks

4 (28 oz) cans diced tomatoes with juices

4 ½ cups chicken broth

6 Tbl chopped fresh dill or 2 Tbl dried

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

½ cup light sour cream

4 oz chilled sharp white cheddar

 

Directions

Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add leeks and sauté until tender, about six minutes. Add tomatoes and their juices, broth, chopped dill and cayenne and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until tomatoes are very soft, about 20 minutes. Working in batches, puree soup in a processor until smooth. Return to pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Season with salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in sour cream. Garnish with cheese and dill.

 

Mexican Tomato Lime Soup

Filed under: Soups and Salads — alittlemoreofeach @ 8:06 pm
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Ingredients

3 gloves garlic minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1 Tbl vegetable oil

6 cups tomato juice

2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced

1 large lime, juiced

3 Tbl fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Tabasco, to taste

2 cups tortilla chips

1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated

 

Directions

In a soup pot on low heat, sauté the garlic and cumin in the oil for a minute. Stir in the tomato juice, fresh tomatoes, lime juice and cilantro. Bring to a simmer and continue to cook for several minutes. Add Tabasco to taste. Place tortilla chips in soup bowls and ladle soup over them. Top with grated cheese and some more fresh cilantro.

 

Gazpacho

Filed under: Soups and Salads — alittlemoreofeach @ 8:02 pm
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Ingredients

¼ lb day old French bread, cubed

Water

1 ½ cups cucumber, peeled and diced

1 green pepper, seeded and diced

2 cloves garlic

2 tsp salt

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup wine vinegar

2 lbs ripe tomatoes, cubed

Directions 

Soak bread in cold water, turning once.  Squeeze out excess water.  Combine cucumber, green pepper, garlic, salt oil and vinegar in a blender.  Blend until smooth.  Add half of the soaked bread and continue blending until smooth.  Add tomatoes to the blender with the remaining bread.  Blend.  Add salt and vinegar to taste.  Chill.  Serve garnished with croutons, chopped crisp bacon and/or sour cream

 

Mushroom Artichoke Soup

Filed under: Soups and Salads — alittlemoreofeach @ 7:55 pm
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Adapted from a Better Homes and Gardens recipe. Makes ten servings.

This vegetarian soup is surprisingly hearty. Adam and Jenn substituted baby portabellas for the shitake.

Ingredients

1 lb. fresh brown mushrooms, sliced

1 lb. fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

1 cup thinly sliced shallots

2 large carrots, sliced

¼ cup butter

3 Tbl all-purpose flour

½ tsp dried thyme, crushed

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp crushed red pepper (optional)

2 14-oz. can chicken broth

2 14-oz. cans artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

¼ cup oil-packed dried tomatoes, drained and chopped

1 bay leaf

1 cup half-and-half or light cream

green onions, cut in thin strips

Directions

In a 6-quart Dutch oven cook mushrooms, shallots and carrots in hot butter about 15 minutes or until mushrooms are tender; stir occasionally. Stir in flour, thyme, garlic powder, salt, black pepper and, if desired, crushed red pepper. Add broth all at once. Cook and stir until soup is slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in artichokes, tomatoes and bay leaf. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir in half-and-half; heat through. Discard bay leaf. Top with green onions.

 

Favorite Vegetable Soup

Filed under: Soups and Salads — alittlemoreofeach @ 7:53 pm
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The best thing about this soup recipe is anything goes.  Everyone has their own version depending on their own tastes. I don’t add the nutmeg. Robin and Adam add sweet potatoes. And everyone agrees that fresh corn really adds something.

 Ingredients

3 medium leeks (with 1 inch of green left on)

4 medium carrots

3 medium parsnips

2 Tbl minced garlic

2 Tbl unsalted butter

2 Tbl olive oil

4 cups vegetable broth

6 red new potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes

8 ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, or 1 (28 oz) can plum tomatoes drained

¼ cup coarsely chopped parsley

1 tsp dried tarragon or thyme

1 tsp ground nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Directions 

Trim, clean and finely dice leeks, carrots, and parsnips. Combine in a bowl with garlic. Melt the butter with the oil in a large, heavy pot over low heat. Add the diced vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 10 minutes. Add the broth and potatoes; cook, covered, over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Uncover and cook 15 minutes more to enrich the broth.

 

Citrus, Mango, Avocado Salad

Filed under: Soups and Salads — alittlemoreofeach @ 10:26 am
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I’ve recently become aware that I really like grapefruit.  And from a most unexpected source: my six-year-old daughter. As a child myself growing up in Florida, I found grapefruit to be worthless abominations that were Not Tangerines.  They were bitter, full of seeds, bitter, not tasty, bitter, and made a rotten fruit mess of the backyard. I will admit to a certain thrill and eewww-factor when a mushy grapefruit got pulverized by the lawn mower.  So, see? No love lost.

But then one day during this past year, Adeline tried a grapefruit, and, yes, it did have a healthy topping of powdered sugar, but she tasted it, liked it, and then proceded to devour the whole thing, including the juices, with abandon and impolite sucking noises.   I eyed the other half of the fruit and thought, heck, don’t I always encourage them to try things? Shouldn’t I pony up to this grapefruit?

So I did.  And wow, it was wonderful!  Tangy, fresh, sweet, and, yes, still slightly bitter, but not unpleasantly so.  I ate that sucker, Adeline happily drank the juice, and my worldview of grapefruit was changed.

When I saw this salad on Pinterest (love me some Pinterest – yes!!), I thought, let’s go for it!  When I saw the recipe was from Lauren Conrad, I thought who? what? why…?  (Seriously, who is this person, and why is she a thing?)  When I served it to my seder guests, I was a bit nervous.  When they loved it and went back for seconds and thirds, I knew we had a keeper recipe.  Thanks, Lauren Conrad, whoever you are!

 

Citrus, Mango, Avocado Salad

adapted from Lauren Conrad

Serves 8

 

Ingredients
2 grapefruit
2 navel orange
2 avocado
2 mango
bag of baby spinach
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup real maple syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

  1. Segment grapefruit and orange by removing both ends, cutting off all the peel, and cutting each segment of fruit between the white membranes. Do this over a bowl to save the juice that will spill out.
  2. Slice avocado and mango into large dices.
  3. Gently mix avocado and mango with citrus.
  4. Mix reserved grapefruit juice with maple syrup and oil.
  5. Plate baby spinach topped with a heap of the fruit mixture.
  6. Drizzle dressing on the salad, then top with sliced almonds.
 

Cucumber and Melon Salad December 24, 2012

Filed under: Sides,Soups and Salads — alittlemoreofeach @ 10:31 am
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Mint leaves.

Mint leaves. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients (serves 8)

  • 1 medium English cucumber(s), thinly sliced
  • 1 1/2 cup(s) fresh radish(es), thinly sliced
  • 1/4 medium honeydew melon, cut into thin slices
  • 1/2 cup(s) mint leaves, fresh, cut into thin ribbons
  • 1/4 cup(s) fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp sugar

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl; chill for at least 2 hours.

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