Spicy Pumpkin Soup

Toby saw this soup on the table and said “oh no, are we having pumpkin stuff all week??” Ha! This soup was easy to make, and the onions and ginger cooking make the house smell so good! I tweaked this recipe a little (see recipe). It was good! And once again, thanks to my handy dandy immersion blender! Don’t know what I would do without it! It also helped me dice that onion up in like 15 seconds! Toby (of course) added hot sauce to his. This one’s a keeper!

rating: 7.5

Spicy Pumpkin Soup
From the Sept. issue of All You magazine)

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger (I used ginger from a tube)
1 small jalapeno chili, seeded and finely chopped (I omitted)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp lime zest (I used a splash of lime juice)
1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
1 13.5 ounce can light coconut milk, shaken (I used regular coconut milk)
4 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth (I used veggie broth)
salt

1. In a pan, warm oil over medium-low heat. Saute onion and ginger until soft, 8 minutes. Do not let brown. Add jalapeno and garlic; cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.
2. Stir in lime zest, pumpkin, coconut milk, and broth. Bring to a boil. reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt. Remove from heat, let cool slightly, then puree in a blender. Serve hot.

Pumpkin Swirl Squares

It’s pumpkin season, people. This little monthly free circular that I get had a whole 2 pages of pumpkin recipes, and I decided to start with this one. I had already started making it when I read further down that I needed a jelly roll pan. I don’t have one (and I had to google it to find out that I didn’t have one). So I improvised with a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. It worked ok. I would have liked the “frosting” to have been thicker, but these are good nonetheless. It’s really like little pumpkin cake squares with a tiny bit of creamy cream cheese on top. And this recipe does make alot. I packed up half to go give to my neighbor across the street!

rating: 8

Pumpkin Swirl Squares
(from the Sept./Oct. 2008 issue of Virginia Home & Family magazine)

16 ounce can pumpkin
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
8 ounces cream cheese, softened

Combine pumpkin, 1 1/2 cups sugar, oil and 2 eggs, mixing until well blended. Combine dry ingredients. Add to pumpkin mixture and blend well. Combine cream cheese with remaining sugar and egg, mixing until well blended. Spoon pumpkin mixture into greased and floured 11 x 10 x 1 inch jelly roll pan. Spoon cream cheese over pumpkin batter. Cut through batter with knife several times for marble effect. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool and cut into squares. Makes about 2 dozen.

Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup

Well, that is what the recipe is called, but that’s not what I made. I didn’t have any wild rice, so I used white rice. I also tweaked it a bit: I used canola oil instead of sunflower, I omitted the celery, and I did not add any sherry or wine. I think this would have been fine as it was, but at the very end I decided to add some fat-free half-and-half that I had leftover from another recipe. The verdict? It was good! I think I could have added even more mushrooms and more rice, and it would have been even better. It was a dreary day here, so it was a perfect night for soup. We also had some hot yeast rolls.

rating: 8

Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup
(from the Winter 02-03 issue of Veggie Life)

1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tsp sunflower oil (I used canola)
2 garlic cloves, minced
12 ounces fresh wild mushrooms- such as chanterelle, morel, porcini, shiitake, portobello, and/or oyster- cleaned and sliced (I used button, portobello, and oyster)
1 carrot, diced
1 rib celery, diced (I omitted)
6 cups vegetable stock
1/3 cup wild rice (I used white rice)
1 tsp thyme
1/4 cup sherry or red wine (optional)

1. In a large pot over medium-high heat, saute onion in oil until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, mushrooms, carrot, and celery. Cover and cook until vegetables are softened, about 3 minutes.
2. Add stock, rice, thyme, and sherry or wine, if desired. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice is very tender, about 1 hour.

Basic Quiche

I’ve made quiche before. Many times, actually. I found this recipe that I had saved from way back, so I thought I would try it out. I did tweak it a little. Gruyere is such a strong cheese, so I added a little bit of mild cheddar to it. I used fat-free half-and-half as well. The verdict? It was good. Not Oh My God good. But good. I would use this recipe again and maybe change the cheese, leave out one of the onions, and maybe add mushrooms or something. It’s a good recipe to have on had. I served this with a green salad.

rating: 7

Basic Quiche
(from the November 2005 issue of Real Simple Magazine)

1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, diced
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
4 eggs
3/4 cup half-and-half
8 ounces Gruyere, grated
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 store-bought frozen piecrust in a tin

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large skillet, over medium-low heat, heat the oil. Add the onions, 1/2 tsp of the salt, and 1/4 tsp of the pepper. Cover and cook until the onions are softened, 5-7 minutes. Add the parsley and cook, covered, for 2 minutes more. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs and half-and-half. Stir in the Gruyere, nutmeg, the remaining salt and pepper, and the onion mixture. Place the piecrust on a foil-lined baking sheet. Scrape the egg mixture into the piecrust; it will be very full. Bake until the filling is set and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

Variation on a Grilled Cheese

I have this one page that I tore out of Real Simple magazine a couple of years ago that shows you different ways to do a grilled cheese. I picked one of them and made it for dinner last night. It calls for focaccia, but I couldn’t find any at the store, so I just used sourdough. Really, I’ve made this one before except for the roasted red peppers, so it’s not THAT much of a variation. But- it was good. Toby even liked the peppers, and he normally doesn’t like them. We had these sandwiches with some potato chips and a green salad.

rating: 8

Mozzarella, Roasted Red Peppers, and Pesto on Focaccia
(from the October 2004 issue of Real Simple magazine)

It really doesn’t GIVE you a recipe, but instead says:

Snag the focaccia from the nearest bakery, the pesto and peppers (in a jar) from the grocery store. Add a bottle of Chianti and mangia.

Cauliflower and Bechamel Gratin & Green Bean Casserole

That’s right, TWO recipes tonight! And…they both sucked! I thought tonight we would just have a nice plate of veggies, and then I would have leftovers to munch on all week. Nope. The first recipe I made, the green bean one, just took so many pans and dishes to make! My kitchen is a mess! It ended up being ok, but it wasn’t good enough to go through that process again! The 2nd one, the cauliflower, was just not good. The cauliflower ended up being too crunchy, and the sauce was too rich. I could hear my arteries screaming. We also had some potato pancakes…thank goodness for those! I made plenty of those, so we all ended up being full. Whew.

rating: Cauliflower- 3

rating: green beans- 5

Green Bean Casserole
(from a recipe card titled “Grandma’s Kitchen”)

1 1/2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
3-4 tsp dry ranch-style salad dressing mix
1/4-1/2 tsp white pepper
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 1/4 lb fresh green beans, cooked until crisp-tender
1 cup fresh bread crumbs, toasted

1. To make white sauce, melt butter in small saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour; cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Using wire whisk, stir in milk; bring to a boil. Cook, whisking constantly, 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in dressing mix and white pepper; set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray medium skillet with nonstick cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until tender. Remove half of onion mixture; set aside.
3. Add mushrooms to onion mixture remaining in skillet and cook about 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Combine mushroom mixture, green beans and white sauce in 1 1/2 qt. casserole. Combine bread crumbs with reserved onion mixture; sprinkle over casserole. Bake, uncovered, until heated through, about 20-30 minutes.

Cauliflower and Bechamel Gratin
(from the Spring ‘03 issue of Veggie Life magazine)

1 large head cauliflower, cut into bite-size pieces
4 ounces reduced-fat Swiss cheese, or vegan equivalent, grated

Bechamel
1 tbsp butter, margarine or vegetable oil
2 tbsp unbleached white flour
2 cups low-fat milk or lite soy milk
1 tbsp Dijon-style mustard
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper

1. Blanch or steam cauliflower until tender but still firm, about 10 minutes. Keep warm while you make the sauce.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until mixture is smooth and bubbling, about 2 minutes. Do not let mixture brown. In a large measuring cup, combine milk and mustard. Pour into saucepan, whisking constantly. Cook until sauce begins to thicken, about 10 minutes, whisking frequently. Reduce heat to low and simmer a few more minutes, whisking occasionally. Season to taste with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
3. Preheat broiler. Transfer cooked cauliflower to a 2-quart capacity shallow baking dish. When sauce has sufficiently thickened, pour over cauliflower. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Broil 4 inches from heat for 3-5 minutes, until golden brown.

Mexican Potato Sausage Casserole

Toby bought some (faux) Chorizo the other day, and I had to find a recipe that uses it. I found this one on allrecipes.com, and we tried it last night. It was good! But it was spicy! I forgot that chorizo has such a kick to it! Toby really liked it, and plans on munching on leftovers all week. This recipe takes no time at all to assemble (it’s just the cooking time that takes so long). I will make this again (but only for Toby). We enjoyed this casserole with a green salad.

rating: 8.5

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mexican-Potato-Sausage-Casserole/Detail.aspx?prop31=4

Fairy Godmother Rice

I was looking for a side dish to make on allrecipes.com, and I came across this strange-sounding dish. I really wanted to make something using these thin homemade egg noodles we bought recently in a Turkish store. This dish uses them, and it sounded easy. When I started making the recipe I got a little confused…they call for uncooked instant rice, but then it just says egg noodles. I didn’t know if I should cook them beforehand or not, so I did (I figured if they DIDN’T want you to cook them, they would have said “uncooked”, like the rice). I did not add the water chestnuts, and I used just 2 “shakes” of the soy sauce. Oh, and I used only 1 packet of the dry onion soup mix. The verdict? This dish is good! And for some reason, it has a little bit of a spicy kick to it! I can’t figure out where that comes from (maybe the dry soup mix)? Toby couldn’t get enough of it. It was so different, having the texture of the rice AND the noodles. This is something easy to make, and I will make it again. And sorry, Mommy brain again- no pic. We had this rice dish with Quorn sandwiches and some jazzed-up green beans.

rating: 8.5

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fairy-Godmother-Rice/Detail.aspx?prop31=3

Herbed Potato Soup

As I was making this soup, I was wondering if it was going to turn out bland. Yep. I added more salt and pepper than it calls for, but it still needed something. Toby added alot of hot sauce to his. It was really easy to make. I don’t know what would add some zip to it- maybe adding some veggie stock at the beginning? Oh well.

rating: 5.5

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Herbed-Potato-Soup/Detail.aspx

Polenta and Vegetable Casserole

I bought a tube of polenta at the store, and was trying to think of how to use it. I finally just searched on allrecipes.com and found this recipe. Several comments after the recipe said that they omitted the salsa because it would have been too watery with it, so I did the same. I also left out the eggplant, since Toby hates it. I added alot more mushrooms (in fact, a whole container of them!). Still- this dish had no flavor. Toby added alot of hot sauce to his and said that that helped it. I just didn’t care for it at all. Oh well, back to the (polenta) drawing board.

rating: 3

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Polenta-and-Vegetable-Casserole/Detail.aspx