Tomato Soup - I Think I've Got it!



Safeway Tuscan Tomato & Basil Soup

 Hot tomato soup and buttery, cheesy grilled cheese sandwiches, a perfect cold weather dinner combo. I love tomato soup done right and Safeway has a delicious Tuscan Tomato/Basil Soup with just the right amount of "kick". It's so good and a definite winner in our house. But I like homemade soup where I can add my favorite ingredients and more moderate amounts of cream (this soup from Safeway is very creamy). Anyway, I have been adjusting my tomato soup recipe for a while now and I think I've got it! Better than Safeways!

I  hope you enjoy it as much as we do:

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of dry tiny star pasta
1T olive oil
1 T butter
1 large carrot, chopped
1 celery stock, chopped
1 med onion finely chopped
1 can tomato sauce
1 can Italian style diced tomatoes
2 - 3 cups chicken broth
dash of cayenne pepper
dash of white pepper
additional fresh basil leaves (optional)
Half-n-Half
Heavy Cream

1. Melt butter with olive oil over med heat, once foamy, add carrot, celery and onion. Cook on med. heat for 5-7 min. stirring often, until soft. (Don't brown the veggies).
2. Empty Italian Style diced tomatoes into a bowl. Using a cuisinart or blending wand, break down the size of the tomatoes until they are just slightly chunky. This is to your preference. We like a little bit of tomato texture in the soup.
3. Add both the tomato sauce, the slightly pureed Italian tomatoes and approx 2 cups of chicken broth. Stir soup, turn heat to low, cover partially and let simmer for 45 min. Check and stir every 15 min. or so.
4. In a separate small pot, bring water to boil. Once boiling, add some salt and the tiny star pastas. Cook the pastas for 3 min. Drain and set aside. You are trying to slightly undercook the pasta stars.
5. Turn heat off under the soup. Add dash(es) of cayenne and white pepper according to taste. You may also want to add more broth at this point too.
6. Let the soup cool for approx. 20 min. We are letting the soup cool so that when we add the cream and half-n-half, they won't curdle when met with the piping hot soup. (I have learned this the hard way, many pots of curdly looking soup). 
7. Once the soup is cool, ladle some of the soup into a bowl. Add 1/4 cup of cream and 1/4 cup of half-n-half. Stir this mixture and then add to pot of soup.  (Sounds like an unnecessary step, but it's worthwhile. Goal is to slowly introduce cream products to the soup without curdling). Also, you can adjust amounts of cream/half-n-half to your taste.
8. Finally add your pasta stars and turn heat to low on a low burner.

Enjoy with crunchy bread or soft, chewy grilled cheese sandwiches.
Let me know if you try it and how it tasted!

Lime & Cilantro

I am over winter soups, roasts and casseroles. As we near the warmer months, our dinner menu evolves into simpler and fresher, summer inspired meals. Lime and cilantro are summer flavor musts. A bag of limes and a couple of bunches of cilantro may last a week in our house. You may have already heard of my abundant use of limes for tart and tasty cosmos. Here is one of my favorite dinner recipes using lime and cilantro:

Thai Chicken/Vegetable Noodle Dinner:
1 package cooked spaghetti (cook al dente and then chill)
2 chicken breasts (cooked, chopped and chilled)
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 chopped green onions
a ton of chopped cilantro
fresh squeezed lime to taste
dash of salt and pepper to taste
2 T natural chunky peanut butter
Trader Joes Spicy Thai Peanut Vinaigrette

In a large bowl, toss all ingredients together. Whisk peanut butter and vinaigrette in a separate bowl, pour over noodles, chicken and vegetables to coat.

When serving, I add a sprinkling of chopped peanuts and chopped green onions.

Carbs, protein and vegetables all in one dish. Lime and cilantro perfect this dish.

Baked Oatmeal

Three days a week I get up at the crack of dawn and join the Redmond Masters Swim group for a good hard swim workout. The same 3 days, I come straight home and whip up some sort of oatmeal breakie (translation-breakfast). To me, swimming and hot oatmeal go hand in hand. Right now, I am loving Baked Oatmeal from Quaker Oats (thanks for sharing it, mom). It is hearty and delicious, particularly when you add chopped walnuts, raisins or berries on top. Also, this recipe makes great leftovers. Simply refrigerate and reheat. Give it a try, this may become your new favorite.


Recipe and photo courtesy of: QuakerOats.com

Ingredients:

2 cups Quick Quaker® Oats OR 2-1/4 cups Old Fashioned Quaker® Oats, uncooked
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3-1/3 cups fat-free milk
1/2 cup cup liquid egg substitute with yolk or 2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Preparation
Heat oven to 350º F. Spray 8-inch square glass baking dish with cooking spray.

In large bowl, combine oats and granulated sugar. In medium bowl, combine milk, egg substitute and vanilla; mix well. Add to oat mixture; mix well. Pour into baking dish.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until center jiggles slightly. Remove from oven to cooling rack.

Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over top of oatmeal. Using back of spoon, gently spread sugar into a thin layer across entire surface of oatmeal. Return to oven; bake just until sugar melts, about 2 to 3 minutes. Set oven to broil. Broil 3 inches from heat until sugar bubbles and browns slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. (Watch carefully to prevent burning. It may be necessary to turn baking dish.) Spoon into bowls to serve.

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time Time: 40 min

Crunchy Banana Muffins

Because I have "karmacentric" ideas about food, I love this recipe for Crunchy Banana Bread. I believe in a plentiful pantry to nourish my family as well as a near obsessive desire to not waste food. This recipe uses that bunch of brown bananas, as well as the multiple bags of leftover cereal. You know, the stale crushed up remains that no one will ever eat.

Crunchy Banana Bread - Where's Mom Now That I Need Her Cookbook:

1/3 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 C. flake cereal remains (I use cornflakes, Honey bunches of Oats)
1 1/2 C flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
3 C mashed bananas
2 T. water
1 t. vanilla

Cream oil and sugar, beat in egg. Stir in cereal. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda, stir into cereal flake mixture. Combine bananas, water and vanilla. Stir into flour mixture. (Add 3/4 raisins or chocolate chips). Bake in greased muffins tin for 16-18 minutes at 350, until golden and springy on top.

This is my kids favorite after school snack!