Artichoke Soup with Fresh Mint

If you want a Kermit colored deliciously fresh soup, look no further. (Although Jim said it looked like mashed peas and baby Gerber food).  I always see the first 5 minutes of At Home with Giada after the Barefoot Contessa. The other day she started making artichoke soup. As a lover of Spinach Artichoke Dip, I thought this sounded perfect. And it was. Except that I couldn't find frozen artichoke hearts at Jewel. Then I couldn't find them at Fresh Market. But FM did have whole artichokes. So I went home and attempted to extract the hearts. How hard could it be right? Wrong. I don't know how the Evil Queen from Once Upon a Time does it, because I could NOT get the stupid hearts out. After I was covered in the fuzzy insides of the artichoke, I gave up. I did a quick google search of what artichoke hearts looked like, I saw a bag with a Trader Joe's label. I hopped in the car, rocked out to some Wings and headed out to Trader Joe's and there they were. Right in the frozen food section. FM, Jewel, you lose this round. All hail Trader Joe's!

As far as the nutritional value of this bright green soup, according to the ever reliable Wikipedia, artichokes are high in antioxidants and are excellent diuretics. Plus spinach is nutrition magic.  I decided to put eat sourdough bread with the soup. But the soup was so savory and lemony that the sourdough bread was too much. If you don't really like lemon, don't put the lemon juice on. And make sure you stir the lemon into the soup. The madre came up and stuck a spoon in the soup immediately after I squeezed the lemon. I wish I had the camera ready so I could have gotten a picture of that pucker face.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, plus extra, as needed
• One 12-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
• 1 packed cup fresh spinach (about 1 ounce)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
• Lemon wedges

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, onion, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper. Cook the vegetables until just tender, about 4 minutes. 

2. Add 2 cups broth and the artichoke hearts and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the artichoke hearts are tender, about 12 minutes.

3. Put 1 cup of soup in blender, and blend until smooth. Keep adding 1 cup to the blender and blending until smooth. Add the spinach and chopped mint with the last cup. Return the puree to the same saucepan. Mix in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Warm over low heat, thinning with the additional broth by 1/4 cupfuls if the soup is too thick. Ladle the soup into bowls. Squeeze a lemon wedge over each bowl of soup before serving.

Katie's Notes: This recipe is pretty straightforward. Serve with your favorite bread!

Pistachio Crusted Eggplant Cutlets with Homemade Fries

*UPDATE* I made this dish yesterday, and proposed some changes to make it better.  I made the changes I suggested today, it made ALL the difference in the world! With thicker steaks, and a thinner spread of sauce, the dish was perfectly balanced, not too savory, not too sweet. Just right as the golden haired girl of fairy tale legend would say.*


Too, any leftover sauce can be used to make a sweet sauce pizza. On French bread, pitas, or pizza dough, really any bread-type food, cover it with the sauce then put some of your favorite cheese (Dairy or soy) and put under the broiler or bake it. Yuuuuuuuuuuum.

I found this recipe in Vegetarian Times magazine. I decided to give it a try as a sort of meat-and-potatoes alternative, so I paired it with homemade fries.  You could really serve it with whatever you want, pasta, rice, quinoa, whatever your heart desires.

I really enjoy all the ingredients in the mixture. However, I think it was a little bit too sweet for my liking, or I needed to make the eggplant slices a little thicker to balance the sweet sauce. Also, the structural integrity of the eggplant wasn't great at that thickness. I recommend making them 1/2 inch thick. (I'm making it again tomorrow with the leftover eggplant and sauce, so hopefully making the cutlets thicker will work out better.)

The potatoes are delicious. It's a way to get your French fry fix without the risk of eating them at a restaurant and not knowing what kind of fatty oils (Or animal products.........) they put in. Use whatever cooking oil you like, I like Smart Balance or soybean oil. I got the recipe from an episode of Barefoot Contessa (Ina, I love you so much, please don't ever change). 

Serving size: 2-3 people

• Ingredients
• 1 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
• 6 oz. oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
• 2 jarred roasted red peppers, drained
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 medium eggplant (1 lb.), peeled and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (6 to 8 slices each)
• 1 potoato
• cooking oil of choice

Directions


1. Preheat oven to 375°F, and coat baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. Blend pistachios in blender or food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to plate or shallow bowl.

3. Add sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and garlic to blender or food processor (no need to rinse),  and purée until smooth.

4. Spray 1 side of each eggplant slice with cooking spray, and place sprayed-side down on baking sheet. Spread 2 Tbs. sun-dried tomato mixture on each eggplant slice, and sprinkle with 1 Tbs. ground pistachios. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until eggplant is tender and pistachio topping is browned and crispy.


5. While the eggplant is baking, heat up whatever oil you choose in a pot on high heat. Peel and cut up the potato into "fry" shape (Or whatever shape you have your heart desires). Soak them in cold water for 30ish seconds. THEN THOROUGHLY DRY THEM. Hot oil + H2O= painful splattering of hot oil that WILL BURN YOUR SKIN. Put the DRY pototoes in the oil and fry them until desired brownness (I like a nice golden brown). Make sure you stir them occasionally so they don't stick to the bottom of the pot. When they're done cooking, pull them out, drain off the excess oil, and lightly salt them with fresh ground sea salt.


Katie's Notes: Other than making the cutlets thicker, no notes! This recipe is very straightforward.

Pineapple Fried Rice

Shawn Spencer would be proud of me.

This month, Vegetarian Times had pineapple as their 1 food 5 ways. I saw the pineapple fried rice and thought one word: Yes. Looked at the ingredient list and saw more of my favorite things: red pepper, red pepper flakes (really anything red pepper I love) green onion, soy sauce, garlic. I rushed out to Joseph's (which finally reopened a little big ago since that STUPID storm that caved its roof in this summer!!) and got a pineapple.

I love the mix of sweetness from the pineapple and the heat from the red peppers. I'm not the biggest fan of the texture of pineapple, but the flavor is so delicious. This recipe is reaaaaalllly good. Mahalo Vegetarian Times for this recipe!

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups low sodium vegetable broth, divided
1 cup long grain brown rice
1 1/4 cup diced fresh pineapple, divided.
1 T low sodium soy sauce or tamari
1/2 t red pepper flakes
2 T toasted sesame oil
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 small carrot, finely diced (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup finely diced red bell pepper
5 green onions, thinly sliced (1/3 cup)

Directions
1. Bring 2 cups broth and rice to a boil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 40 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

2. Blend 1/2 cup pineapple, remaining 1/4 cup broth, soy sauce and red pepper flakes in blender until smooth. Set aside

3. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add carrot and bell pepper, and saute 3 minutes more. Add remaining 3/4 cup diced pineapple and cook 3 minutes more. Add cooked rice to skillet and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add blended pineapple mixture and cook 3 minutes more, or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in green onions; season with salt and pepper if desired.


Katie's Notes: Make sure you use the low sodium versions of the products. If not, you're going to overload on sodium. Make sure you eat it HOT, it does NOT taste as good lukewarm.

Spinach Enchiladas

This recipe was brought to my attention by the Madre. It was featured on the Today Show by chef Christy Vega. Her specialty: Meatless Mexican.  I love Mexican, I love meatless food, and now I love spinach enchiladas.


Spinach is very nutritious, as are most leafy green veggies. Cilantro is very high in antioxidants. Many people don't like cilantro, the taste or smell. Fortunately for those, the cilantro is cooked in this recipe and then blended in with over flavors, so it isn't overpowering in taste or smell. If you really hate it, you can leave it out. This recipe makes it easy to remove or add any flavor you want. If I were making these for just me, I'd probably put some Sriracha into the tomatillo sauce. But the Padre and the Madre are not fans of spicy food. You could easily veganize it by substituting your veg cheese of choice and omitting the sour cream.

I served mine with Spanish Rice. I wasn't super hungry, so I didn't want too many sides. But a nice glass of iced tea was perfect on this 55°F January day in NE Illinois.

Ingredients
Spanish rice
1 package corn tortillas
12 oz fresh spinach
1/2 sliced onion
1 T chopped onion
8 large green tomatillos
2 cups water
1 bunch cilantro
1 T cilantro
1 t. granulated garlic
1 t. salt
1/2 avocado, plus more for serving
1 oz. sour cream
6 oz shredded cheese (I used Monterey Jack)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Then cook Spanish rice according to package directions.

2. In a deep pan, add water, tomatillos,  sliced onion, bunch cilantro, salt and garlic. Cook until it boils for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool for 5 minutes. Pour everything from the pan into a blender and blend well.

3. Next, add the avocado, sour cream and T of cilantro. Blend until creamy.

4. IN a separate flat pan, add oil, T chopped onion, shredded cheese and 2 oz of tomatillo sauce from blender. Cook 2-3 minutes. Then add spinach, continuous stir until it's dark green. Set aside

5. Warm the tortillas how you prefer (With or without oil). Lay the tortilla flat and add 3 oz of spinach mixture down the middle. Roll the tortilla, place in a baking pan. Repeat until all tortillas are rolled and placed in the baking pan.

6.  Cover with the tomatillo sauce. Add a little cheese down the center on top of each tortilla. Bake in oven for several minutes until the cheese is melted. Serve with Spanish rice, slices of avocado and a touch of sour cream.


Katie's Notes: When boiling the tomatillos, they will start to lose their color. I recommend turning them once during the boiling, so they discolor evenly. I used minced garlic, since I don't know what granulated garlic is, and I think fresh is always better. Also, this recipe kept calling for ounces. I used 2 T for 1 oz. But, you can play it by ear. I think the filling needs a little bit more tomatillo sauce than I put in. Finally, the chef highly recommends using corn tortillas instead of flour. She says that flour ones get really soggy and fall apart more than corn tortillas.

Cauliflower 'n' Cheese

This recipe proves that cauliflower is a lot more than broccoli's hot blonde cousin. It's essentially mac 'n' cheese, but cauliflower instead of macaroni. I was a little hesitant going into it since I've never really had cauliflower. But, I trust Vegetarian Times magazine (this was the cover recipe this month) and was thrilled with the results, so was the madre. Even Sophie took a good long sniff.

Cauliflower is low fat, low carb and much less starchy than macaroni. I also found that it has a nice texture to it, other than the smoothness of macaroni. Sorry Yankee Doodle, I'll be sticking cauliflower in my hat from now on. (And yes I'm aware that it was actually a feather that he called macaroni.) Plus, cauliflower is high in fiber and vitamin C. Boiling the cauliflower does make it lose some nutrients, but if you keep the boiling time to 5 minutes, you don't lose too much. Also, the recipe has you put some of the cooking water back in, so bonus nutrients! Score!

Before serving, I topped mine off with minced green onion along with freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Delish.  Caul i the flower of my eye! (Call it, cauli, get it?)

Ingredients 
1 large cauliflower head, cut into medium florets (8 cups)
2 T butter or margarine
3 T all purpose flour
2 cups low fat milk
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
*1/2 cup nutritional yeast*
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 egg yolks
!1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs!

* THIS IS NOT LEAVENING YEAST THAT YOU USE FOR BAKING*
!You can make breadcrumbs but tearing bread into pieces, then throwing it into a food processor and whirring it into breadcrumbs!

Directions


1, Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring large pot of salted water to boil ( Remember, according to every Food Network chef ever, flavor starts in the pot!) Add cauliflower florets and boil 5-7 minutes, or until just tender. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid, and set it aside.

2. Melt butter in same pot over medium heat. Whisk in flour, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Whisk in milk, garlic, and reserved cooking liquid, and cook 7-10 minutes, or until sauce is thickened, whisking constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in cheese, nutritional yeast, cayenne pepper and egg yolks until cheese is melted. Fold in cauliflower.

3. Coat a 13x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread cauliflower mixture in baking dish, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Spray breadcrumbs with cooking spray. Bake 30 minutes or until casserole is hot and bubbly and breadcrumbs are crisp and brown.


Katie's Notes: I didn't have any nutritional yeast, and at 9pm, I didn't feel like putting on real pants to go to the grocery store, so that didn't make it into my version. I made a half batch of this dish and found that I needed more flour than 1.5 T, so I added another 1/2-1 T. I also used a full clove of garlic for my half batch. I love garlic, I don't think you can ever have too much of this low-fat delicious flavor.

Spicy Vegetarian Chili

Super Bowl Sunday? Super Bowl of Vegetarian Chili! This recipe was the cover recipe of January's Food Network Magazine. It's spicy and has 1/3 the fat of it's meaty counterpart.  It takes a little while to make, lots of chopping and 1.5 hours of simmering.

This recipe called for 1/2 cup of coffee. I do not like coffee. I LOVE the smell, but I do not like the taste. It's bitter and gross. But, I deferred to the chefs at Food Network Magazine and trusted them. Boy, was that a mistake. The first taste of chili was very bitter. I highly recommend eliminating the coffee and adding more tomato something (soup, sauce, paste, etc.) Even my mom, who should really have an IV for direct coffee injection into her bloodstream, wasn't a fan of the coffee taste. The aftertaste, however, is sweet, sweet spiciness ( I mean sweet in the "awesome" sense, not the actual "sweet" sense." Chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, chipotle chili peppers?  Yes, please.

I'd absolutely make this chili again, just minus the coffee. Hopefully next year I'll be eating it while watching the Bears win the Superbowl!


Ingredients
2 T EVOO
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 medium carrots, finely chopped
Kosher salt
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 T chili powder
1 T ground cumin
2 t. ground coriander
2 t. dried oregano
1/2-1 chipotle chile pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
1 T tomato paste
2 corn tortillas, torn into pieces
1/2 cup brewed coffee
1 28 oz can whole plum tomatoes, crushed by hand
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
2 15 oz cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 head cauliflower
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
Toppings: Cilantro, sliced scallions, reduced fat cheddar cheese, or plain low fat Greek yogurt

Directions


1. Heat the EVOO in a large saucepan or Dutch oven or medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell peppers, carrots and 1/2 t. salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the carrots begin to soften, 8 minutes.

2. Add the garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, coriander, chipotle, tomato paste and tortillas and cook, stirring, until the tomato paste is brick red, about 4 minutes (add water if the mixture begins to stick.)

3. Add the coffee and simmer until almost completely reduced, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, cocoa powder, beans and 2 1/2 cup water and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook stirring occasionally until the chili thickens slightly, about 1 hour 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, trim the large stems off the cauliflower and coarsely grate the florets. About 10 minutes before the chili is done cooking, stir in the grated cauliflower. Cook 10 minutes, then remove from heat. Stir in the  the chopped cilantro and season with salt. Add some water if the chili is too thick. Ladle in to bowls and add whatever toppings you like.


Katie's Notes: I recommend a chunk of French bread to accompany the chili. I'm not a big fan of tomato chunks, so I didn't put in the plum tomatoes.  I also didn't use cilantro. I also accidentally forgot to add the other 15 oz can of beans. Whoops. This is why I'm not a professional chef.

Open Faced Cucumber, Spinach and Hummus Sandwich

This open faced sandwich is perfect for a light lunch or afternoon snack. Hummus is a classic source of protein for vegetarians and spinach has a very high nutritional value. Spinach is rich in antioxidants, folic acid, iron and calcium along with many many other nutrients and vitamins. Cucumbers are mostly water. (but the skin keeps this vegetable up to 20 degrees cooler, so it's perfect for summer lunches.)

This sandwich is so easy to make, a 5 year old could do it. You can add however much or little of the ingredients as you like. You can toast the bread or leave it untoasted. You could make it a closed sandwich by putting another piece of bread on top. You could cut it into fourths for a delightful tea time sandwich that would make the Queen proud.

My Aunt Nancy inspired this sandwich. We had it with untoasted bread, hummus cucumber and lettuce. I switched out the lettuce for spinach, since spinach has such high nutritional value.

Ingredients
Bread
Hummus
Baby spinach leaves
Cucumber

Directions
1. Take whatever kind of bread you like and toast it to your desired crispiness level.
2. Top said toast with however much hummus you like.
3. Top said toast and hummus with a layer of baby spinach.
4. Top said toast, hummus and spinach with thin cucumber slices. (I like to peel the cucumber)
5. Eat.

Katie's Notes: Toasting the bread means it doesn't travel too well. I recommend not toasting it if you'll be taking it to work or school.

Thai Spicy Eggplant with Sweet Basil

photo from vegetariantimes.com

This recipe is one of my all-time favorites. It's spicy, sweet and delicious. I found it online trying to recreate a dinner I had in a Thai place in San Francisco (Siam Lotus in the Haight) with my favorite French-speaking ginger and the Spaniard. Every time I make this dish it fills the house with a savory smell of simmering eggplant, onion and red pepper.

This dish is a little spicy, but not very hot, perfect for people who aren't into super spicy food. But it still has a kick for those that like their food like Sofia Vergara: full of flavor and delicious. It's also completely free of animal products, perfect for when the vegan friend comes to dinner. Check out my comments on the actual cooking process at the end.

I got it from Vegetarian Times, a cooking magazine for vegetarians, and a great resource.  http://www.vegetariantimes.com/

Thai Spicy Eggplant with Sweet Basil

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
1 cup jasmine rice
2 T vegetable or peanut oil
1/2- 1 t. crushed red pepper
3 baby eggplants cubed into bite sized chunks
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 T white vinegar
3 T dark soy sauce, like Tamari
2 T brown sugar
20 fresh leaves basil, shredded or torn.

1. Cook jasmine rice according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, heat a deep skillet over high heat. Add oil and crushed red pepper and let sizzle for 10-15 seconds. Add eggplant and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.

3.Add onion, bell pepper and garlic. Stir fry for 3 minutes more. Add vinegar and soy sauce. Sprinkle with brown sugar and toss for 1-2 minutes more.

4. Remove pan from heat, add basil leaves and toss to combine with veggies. Serve over hot cooked rice.


Katie's Notes: I like to use Tamari in place of soy sauce. It's smoother, and there are gluten-free versions available. I like to use less onion than recommended. I'm not a big fan of heavy amounts of onion in dishes. I don't know if this is always the case, but I've noticed that many Thai restaurants serve the rice in a separate rice bowl, or in a ball on the side of the dish. Many Thai restaurants also serve a simple, small salad on the side as well.