Zucchini Spinach Soup

Hello friends,

Had a wonderful weekend with lots of fun cooking. Neighborhood Pizza night in the alley, we were so creative with the 7 pizzas we made. Then yesterday I had some beef cappacio in the freezer that I was serving with garlic aioli, but needed something else. Discovered baby spinach, zucchini and potatoes all fresh from the CSA, found this non dairy delicious zucchini spinach recipe, my additions were fresh herbs from my garden, but not necessary to add if you don't have them. Some herbs you could use would be basil, oregano, thyme, sage, a little dried would be good too. I like to take advantage of using my fresh herbs while I have them. The cilantro however is not an addition, an ingredient that is needed and adds so much flavor. This soup could be eaten at room temp or chilled as well. Hard to eat hot soup if it's 100 degrees outside. Add a fruit platter and some crusty bread and you and a delicious, healthy summer time meal.

Ok, COOK ON............Love Elaine

Zucchini Spinach Soup

Ingredients Serves about 6

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
big pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups potatoes (2 medium) cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 1/2 cups zucchini (2 medium), loosely chopped
4 cups vegetable stock
4 cups fresh spinach leaves, loosely packed
1 cup cilantro, loosely chopped
one lemon

Directions

In a large, thick-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. When the oil is hot (but not smoking) add the garlic and onions and saute for a few minutes along with pinch of salt - just until they soften up a bit. Stir in the potatoes and zucchini. Add the stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes are soft throughout, roughly 10-15 minutes.

Stir in the spinach, and wait for it to wilt, just ten seconds or so. Now stir in the cilantro. Puree with a hand blender until smooth. Whisk in a big squeeze of lemon juice. Now taste, and add more salt if needed. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and serve. (I used greek style yogurt)

Corn Cakes

Michael and I spent the weekend in Manzanita, on the Oregon coast. Visited a little restaurant called "Bread & Ocean". They served little corn pancakes with the lamb burger, (so much better than fries). They were so good, I thought to myself, as soon as I get home I'm going to make these. This recipe worked quite well and they were just wonderful. I added 3 cloves of garlic when I sauteed the corn & veggies. You could also add some chopped spinach or kale for added nutrition. Right now is the time to try these because of the fresh corn available!!! Do it and COOK ON.............

Corn Cakes

You can whip up these little gems in just 20 minutes, any time of day or night. They can be a breakfast or light supper in and of themselves, or a first course or side dish for a more complex meal. 


Ingredients

2 tsp. butter


1/4 cup finely minced red bell pepper


2 cups corn


1/4 cup minced scallions


1/2 cup cornmeal


1/2 cup unbleached white flour


1 tsp. baking powder


1/2 tsp. baking soda


1/2 tsp. salt


2 eggs


1 cup buttermilk


Oil or butter for the pan 


Directions

Melt the butter in a small skillet. Add the bell pepper and corn, and sauté over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the scallions and set aside. 

Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Make a well in the center. 

Beat together the eggs and buttermilk until frothy. Pour this and the corn mixture into the well in the center of the dry ingredients, and stir briefly until everything is combined. Don't over-mix. 

Lightly grease a hot skillet or griddle with butter or oil, and fry the corn cakes for about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden. Serve hot. Makes about a dozen 4-inch corn cakes

Note: I put a little maple syrup on them, applesauce or sour cream would be excellent as well.

Certo Strawberry Freezer Jam

Hello dear foodies, I'm been away for awhile, the summer has just got away from me. I've made some incredible strawberry freezer jam, it is quite simple, does not require regular canning processing and you put the sweet little jars right in the freezer and defrost as needed. I made 12 pints which should be enough for Michael & I and Kirstin's family. I'd like you all to try this recipe at least once, it will take about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours beginning to end with clean up.

The strawberries are out now and so sweet. I just use the recipe on the Certo pectin box, the secret is to be picky with the berries, make sure they are ripe, a little over ripe is fine too. Go berry by berry as you cut and put each one in the bowl, this is the most time consuming part but will payoff 10 times in the flavor of the jam.

Here is the recipe right out of the certo box.

2 pt strawberries

1 lemon

Discard stems and crush strawberries.

2 cups crushed strawberries

2 TBSP fresh lemon juice

4 cups sugar

1 pouch CERTO

Makes 4 cups (I always double this recipe, but I make each batch individually)

Wash and rinse plastic containers with tight fitting lids. Use 1 to 2 cup size containers.

Prepare fruit, for berries, crush 1 cup at a time, using a potato masher for best results.

Measure exact amount of prepared fruit into a large bowl.

Measure exact amount of sugar into separate bowl. (reducing sugar or using sugar substitutes will result in set failures)

Stir sugar into prepared fruit. Mix well. Let stand 10 minutes; stir occasionally.

Stir pectin into lemon juice. Stir constantly until sugar is completely dissolved and no longer grainy, about 3 minutes. (a few sugar crystals may remain.)

Pour into prepared containers, leaving 1/2 inch space at top for expansion during freezing; cover. NOTE: Mason now carries plastic jar w/lids for freezer jam, I still like the glass pint jars, just keep about 1/2 to 3/4 inch from the top to allow for expansion)

Let stand at room temperature 24 hours until set. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks. Otherwise, store in freezer for up to one year. Thaw in refrigerator

Let me hear from those of you who make this wonderful little jam. COOK ON.........

Pesto

My CSA has begin, such a joy. Every Friday I pick up a basket of fresh harvest. This week there was a giant bouquet of Basil. Oh my, the smell filled my kitchen, I felt like I was living in an herb garden. To keep the basil taste fresh and wonderful I made a batch of fresh pesto, served it with sauteed chicken and garlic bread. Still licking my lip and tasting that pesto hummmmmmmmmmmm. I will give you the pesto recipe, I took the chicken, marinated it in a squirt of lemon juice and some Italian dressing for a couple of hours, cut it up sautéed it just until cooked through, threw a little pesto on it turned off the stove and let it sit with the pesto on it for about 20 minutes Cooked the fresh pasta, (so much better than dry, truly worth the extra money). Tossed pesto on it and threw in the chicken with it's cooking juice and the pesto it has sat in, heat it through before throwing into the pasta. OH, MY so good.

PESTO

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup Olive oil

3 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts

3 garlic cloves, finely minced

Place basil leaves in small batches in food processor and whip until well chopped (do about 3/4 cup at a time). Add about 1/3 the nuts and garlic, blend again.
Add about 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese; blend while slowly adding about 1/3 of the olive oil, stopping to scrape down sides of container.

Process basil pesto it forms a thick smooth paste. Repeat until all ingredients are used, mix all batches together well. Serve over pasta. Basil pesto keeps in refrigerator one week, or freeze for a few months.

Banana Pancakes by Tamra Davis, "give me something good to eat"

I highly recommend the cookbook by Tamra Davis, "Give me something good to eat" available on Amazon.com. It is a wonderful collection of recipes that are healthy, some are vegan, non-dairy and also carnivore. Some of the recipes have a little addition to make them alsodelicious for adults, what a great idea. The banana pancakes are so good, the only difference I made was I added the banana when the pancakes were poured in the pan, (in case I didn't use all the batter I wouldn't have banana slices in it). I also added blueberries instead of banana to some of them. They are so good and have a small amount of sugar and just good ingredients. Big people will love them too, you don't have to have kiddies in the house to enjoy these easy and delicious recipes.

Banana Pancakes

(For 2 adults and 2 kids)

1 1/2 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon sugar

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon oil

1 banana sliced

Butter and maple syrup

Mix the wet ingredients together until blended. Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Mix the wet and the dry together. Add the sliced bananas. Stir them in.

Put a small amount of butter or oil in a large frying pan. let it heat up evenly and start to pour pancakes. Make sure there is banana in all the pancakes. When the pancakes start to bubble, turn them over. Take a peak first to make sure the underside is cooked until lightly browned. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

Tamra Davis website is 222.TamraDavisCookingShow.com

I made these pancakes for Ocean and Lana this morning, they absolutey loved them, Ocean ate 4 - 3 sausage and Lana ate 2 and 1 sausage, little Michael Phelps usually eats twice what Lana eats.

COOK ON...................

I made this the other night and got a few inquires, I thought I'd share it with you. It is a rather low/fat/cal version. Not the traditional Mexican Posole (can be high in fat) but with the toppings, the soul of the soup is the same and gives a satisfying feeling. So do try this, make sure you serve it with warm tortillas and include all the toppings, it is integral to the Posole. If you have any questions contact me at ecbadgee@aol.com. It really is simple to make, this is my personal recipe so I had to create it on paper, hope it is clear and concise for you. COOK ON........

Chicken Posole

Ingredients Serves 8

3 Lbs boneless skinless thighs, (remove fat and cut into chunks)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 celery stalks, diced

2 carrots, sliced

4-6 garlic cloves smashed & chopped fine

1 can diced green chilies (if you prefer hotter you can do a can of diced jalapeno)

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 1/2 tsp thyme

1 1/2 tsp basil

2 bay leaves

1 tsp Menudo mix spice (optional)

1 large can hominy

2 quarts chicken broth,

Toppings:

sliced radishes (soak in cold water for 1 hr, removes some heat)

Cilantro, 1 bunch chopped

1 lemon or lime sliced

3 green onions chopped

Extra hot sauce

Saute chopped onion in olive oil for 5 minutes, then add celery & carrots, saute another 3 minutes, add garlic, oregano, thyme basil and menudo mix, saute 1 minute. Add broth, hominy and bay leaves. Let simmer for 15 minutes then add chicken chunks, done when chicken is cooked and tender.

Serve in bowl with squirt of lime or lemon juice, cilantro, radishes, & onions. Serve with warm tortillas.

Pot of Pinto Beans

The other night Michael and I went to another of our favorite little places for BBQ, Podna''s http://podnahspit.com/ All the BBQ of course is fantastic, even have BBQ trout WOW. They have several wonderful sides, corn bread, cole slaw, collar greens but my very favorite is the pinto beans, they are soft, creamy with so much flavor I just LOVE THEM!. I decided there must be a Mexican somewhere in that kitchen, hey well if they can do so can I, so I started yesterday by soaking two pounds of fresh pinto beans. This morning I drained and rinsed them. Added them to a big old pot and added water several inches above the pinto line. Let them boil and put them in the crock pot, I think they cooked about 2 hours, then I added a chopped onion, 6 diced garlic cloves, spices included cumin, oregano, espasote (helps w/the easiness) menudo mix, 2 bay leaves, thyme and some basil, be free they will just add to the flavor. They have now been cooking about 4 hours, I took about a cup to a cup and a half, pureed them and returned them to the pot (this is what makes them so creamy), stirred well then added salt and pepper to taste. You don't want to add the salt too early or your beans will never get tender. OH my they are so good, I can't wait till dinner. I'm going to be serving them with a cheese and avocado quesadilla and sliced catalope for a refresher. Try this dish, it is so satisfying to the soul. You can also add some meat to your quesadilla or make bean & cheese burritos. It's all good. So COOK ON...........