today

Today is a soup kind of day. Yes- April 30th in Minnesota means soup weather.

I have been obsessed with this soup ever since a friend brought me a bowl of it. If you have the book "A Homemade Life" the recipe is found on its pages, otherwise this is a great adaptation (and the recipe I have pasted below.) I usually add some cannelini beans as well and it is also one of those soups that tastes better the longer it sits in your fridge.

Tomato Soup with 2 Fennels

from "A Homemade Life," by Molly Wizenberg

~serves 4-6 (generous helpings)~

~takes about 40 minutes~

ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed and thinly sliced (save some of the fronds for garnish)

4-5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme

2 28 ounce cans whole or chopped tomatoes

water

3/4 teaspoon salt

sugar, to taste

pepper and vinegar, to taste

- in a dutch oven or soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. add the chopped onions and fennel, and sautee for 5 minutes.

- add the garlic, thyme and fennel seeds. cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5-8 minutes.

- if using whole canned tomatoes, crush them in a food processor, with your hands, or however else you'd like. if using pre-crushed, no need to crush further. in any case, add the tomatoes and their juices to the pot and stir everything together.

- fill one of the now empty tomato cans with water and add to the mixture.

- turn the heat down, and let the soup gently simmer, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes.

- when the fennel is very tender, and the tomatoes have reduced to make the soup taste full-bodied, it's done! add salt and pepper to taste. if the soup is too acidic for you, a pinch of sugar will mellow it out. if you want a little more bite, add a small splash of red wine vinegar.

- ladle into soup bowls, and top with a pinch of fennel fronds, and a dollop of yogurt or sour cream (optional, of course!).

- serve, very hot, preferably to a table of your best friends.

Enjoying this

I bought this cookbook a few weeks ago. I love using my crockpot but am sometimes frustrated by all the "Crockpot Cookbook Recipes" that call for cream of mushroom soup, cheese soup, etc. as the base for the food. It seems to me like most crockpot recipes border on unhealthy so I was delighted to find this cookbook which offered lots of fresh ideas.

And did I ever tell you about this website? They sell the most amazing beans. I know it sounds crazy but they melt like butter in your mouth. They are a little pricey but their shipping fees are a flat rate so you can really order a lot. (or if you live in the Mpls. area they sell them at Surdyks and The Wedge and possibly more places I am not aware of.) Their products beat canned beans, (or $0.80 dried beans) hands down. I have found the best way to cook them is a very simple process.

1) Soak the bean of your choice overnight in your crockpot

2)Turn them on the next morning when you wake up and cook them throughout the day. By mid-afternoon they will be nice and tender and you can use them as you please.

They also have a great blog with lots of delicious bean recipes.

And I better stop there. I love beans, really love them and I can sit and extol their virtues all day. But in the interest of my readers (sparse though you may be) I will just remind you , like I do my 6-year-old, that beans are really good for you and give you big muscles. (if I believed in using smiley faces I would have put one right there.)

Just can't get enough.........

I "discovered" beets two summers ago. before that I always turned up my nose at tham. Now I just can't get enough and I even, *gasp,* eat them right out of the can!!!!











Warm Golden Beet Salad with Greens and Almonds



1 bunch beets, both tops and roots


Olive oil


Salt and freshly ground black pepper


4 cloves garlic, minced


4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled


2/3 cup toasted almond slivers

Heat the oven to 425°F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan or cake tin with a big square of foil, large enough to complete enclose the beet roots. Lightly rinse the beet roots to remove any really clumpy dirt and pat them dry. Place them in the foil square and lightly drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Fold up the foil and crease to seal. Bake the beets for 60 minutes or until they can be just pierced with a fork. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, chop the beet greens into bite-size ribbons. Discard the stalks between the roots and where the leaves start, but chop the leaf ribs along with the leaves. Rinse thoroughly to remove all traces of dirt and grit. In a large skillet, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat and add the garlic. Cook on low for about 5 minutes or until the garlic is golden and fragrant. Add the chopped leaves and stir to coat with the garlic. Cook on medium-low for about 10 minutes or until the leaves are soft and tender. Remove from the heat.

When the beets are cool, rub them with a paper towel to remove the skin. Then chop into bitesized pieces and toss with the cooked greens, goat cheese, and almonds. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or cold. (This also makes an excellent pressed sandwich filling, especially with some extra goat cheese)








Recipe and picture here.

Love these!

Do you like Ginger?

I found a little box of these at Target last week and I have been enjoying them ever since.

I have eaten alot of birthday cake over the past few weeks, but when I haven't been eating birthday cake I have made a conscious choice to eat much healthier, and I feel this candy is a good little treat. Not to mention ginger is so good for you!

A new lunch recipe

The last two weeks I have made a big bowl of this to take for lunch every day.

It may sound a little weird to some of you but it is sooooo good. And if you are short on time, you can by fresh, peeled, sliced sweet potatoes at Trader Joe's, and then the whole recipe will only take you a few moments to make.

SPICED SWEET POTATOES AND CHICKPEAS

1 Cup Dried Chickpeas/Garbanzos ,soaked in water overnight

3 Large Sweet Potatoes, peeled (about 3 lbs)

¾ Cup Finely Chopped Yellow Onion

1 tbsp. Olive Oil

1 tsp. Cinnamon

2 tbsp. Honey

2 tsp. Fresh Nutmeg

1 tbsp. Fresh Grated Ginger

1 Garlic Clove, minced

1 tsp. Salt

1 Lime Zest and Juice

Fresh Ground Pepper

3 tbsp. Fresh Thyme, leaves removed

Oven to 425’

1. In a medium pot, bring 3 cups of water to a boil, add the soaked beans. Gently boil for about 50 minutes until the beans are cooked through. Drain.
2. In the meantime, prepare the peeled potatoes. Cut off the ends and chop them into one inch cubes. Try to make them equal in size, shapes can vary. Put them in a large bowl.

3. In a small bowl, whisk the lime zest and juice, oil, garlic, salt, honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Pour the mix over the big bowl of potatoes, stir. Add the drained garbanzos, onions, 2 tbsp. of the fresh thyme and gently fold to cover everything in the spice mixture.

4. Spread the goods evenly onto a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 425’ in the upper third of the oven for 35-40 minutes, gently stirring halfway through for consistent browning.

5. Let cool a bit before serving, sprinkle fresh pepper, squeeze of lime,taste for salt and sprinkle remaining thyme on top.

I also used canned chickpeas and went a little lighter with the cinnamon and nutmeg. The original recipe also calls for butter but I am avoiding that these days.

(the original recipe and pictures can be found here.)

Dreams

What do you dream about?

I dream about things like this.

I know I am weird.

However if you are weird like me you may enjoy watching these video's on You Tube.

Last I checked I was still dreaming. That is still my faithful Kitchenaid blender on the counter.

No, you don't need to rub your eyes. You are seeing clearly. Yes, that is me. I just rolled out of bed and I was making a green smoothie for breakfast. Jane bought that blender for me at Christmas a few years ago and I still have it. Sometimes I make the motor smoke, but it is still working!

Back to the green smoothies, we have all been drinking them. Poor Aidan. I have been practically pouring them down his throat along with his daily vitamins.

Because I also dream about how amazing it would be to make it through a month without a sick child.

I mean, I love all the extra snuggles and time at home, but I miss getting out and doing things.

Right now he is getting over strep again. And we are continuing our healthy green smoothies and breakfast and hopefully next month we will have a better report.

And speaking of dreams.........I hear Blendtec is at Costco this week.

Gotta Go.