Zuppa Toscana

Original recipe here

This is a hearty soup for my carnivorous husband. It's supposed to be very similar to the Zuppa Toscana at The Olive Garden. Mmmm...The Olive Garden...I want some bread sticks now.

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 ounce) package smoked sausage
• 2 potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 cups kale - washed, dried, and shredded
• 2 tablespoons chicken soup base
• 1 quart water
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. Cook sausage according to packaging. Cut links in half lengthwise, then cut at an angle into 1/2-inch slices.
2. Place onions and bacon slices in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear. Remove bacon and crumble. Set aside.
3. Add garlic to the onions and cook an additional 1 minute. Add chicken soup base, water, and potatoes, simmer 15 minutes.
4. Add crumbled bacon, sausage, kale, and cream. Simmer 4 minutes and serve.

Serves: 6

Swiss Chard with Black Beans and Feta Cheese

Original recipe, here.

I needed to find something that used Swiss chard and this is what I came up with. It actually turned out really well. I served it over rice, with some grilled chicken (for my carnivorous husband) and some fresh cantaloupe.

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Ready In: 40 min

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice
  
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 bunch Swiss chard - rinsed, stems removed and cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 small tomato, chopped (or 1 can diced tomatoes)
  
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons feta cheese

Directions:

1. Cook rice according to package directions.
   
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8 or 9 inch square baking dish.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add Swiss chard, cover and cook for 4 minutes. Uncover and mix in the black beans, tomato, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Cover and continue cooking until the chard is wilted, about 4 more minutes.
4. Transfer the chard to the baking dish and dot with goat cheese, pushing it down into the dish.
5. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the goat cheese is warmed.
6. Serve over rice.
   

Serves: 4

Quick Quiche

Original Recipe, here.

Way back when Jeff and I were newlyweds, I made him quiche for our one month anniversary. It took FOREVER and didn't turn out so well (although I did make a smiley face on top and that was cute). After that and making this, I don't know if I'll ever tackle "real" quiche again. Especially since THIS is SO quick and SO easy and SO tasty. I definitely need to make this again.

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 35 min
Ready In: 50 min

Ingredients:

• Diced tomato, spinach, chopped/cooked ham, blanched/chopped broccoli (whatever you have on hand!)
  
• 4 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
2. Line bottom of pie plate with cheese and other "fixings." Combine eggs, butter, onion, salt, flour and milk; whisk together until smooth; pour into pie pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, until set. Serve hot or cold.

Serves: 6

Tossed Salad with Citrus Dressing

Original recipe, here.

Quite possibly my favorite salad of all time...at least so far. This picture really doesn't do it justice.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 cups torn fresh spinach
• 1 small can of mandarin oranges
  
• 2 TB thinly sliced radishes (or kohlrabi)
  
• 1 whole avocado, peeled and sliced
• 1/4 c feta cheese
• 1/4 c toasted walnuts, chopped
  
• DRESSING:
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 Tb honey
  
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. In a salad bowl, toss the spinach, oranges and radishes/kohlrabi. In a separate container, combine the dressing ingredients; whisk until blended. Serve with salad. Refrigerate any leftover dressing.

Serves: 8

Quick Collard Greens and Beans Risotto

Original recipe here

So far this is my favorite way to eat collards. Not that I have tried a TON of recipes, but I could eat this over and over again!

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ready In: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped fresh collard greens
• Enough water to cover greens
• 1/2 Tb salt
  
• 1 cup chopped onion (about 1 large)
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tb Olive Oil
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 2 Tb all-purpose flour
• 1 (15.5-oz.) can cannellini beans (or other white beans), rinsed and drained
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup Brown Rice
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper (same as one packet of crushed red pepper from Papa Johns)
  
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add 1/2 Tbsp. salt, and stir until dissolved. Add collard greens to pot, and cook 2 minutes or until wilted. Drain greens in colander; rinse with cold water. Drain and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.

2. Sauté onion and garlic in hot oil in pot over medium heat 3 to 4 minutes or until tender.

3. Whisk together 2 of the cups of chicken broth and flour; add to pot, and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, in a separate pot, start cooking the rice in the remaining cup of chicken broth. Add cannellini beans, 1/2 tsp. salt, pepper, and collard greens. Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.

5. Reduce heat to low, and stir in rice and red pepper. Simmer, stirring frequently, 10 minutes or until greens and rice are tender. Remove from heat, and stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

4. Sprinkle each serving with remaining 1/4 cup cheese, and garnish with parsley, if desired. Serve immediately.

Serves: 4

Chicken Broccoli Hot Pockets

I took the recipe from here.

I took this from my friend's food blog. It looked to good not to try. I made the puff pastry myself, below. Not a "healthy" dish (LOTS of butter in my pastries), but definitely tasty.

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• 3/4 c broccoli or broccoli florets, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 T butter
• 1 T all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c half and half
• 1 c cheddar cheese, grated
• big pinch of ground mustard
• dash ground thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 c cooked chicken, chopped
• 1 well beaten egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 ℉.
2. Blanch the broccoli in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and set aside.
3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour. Cook the flour while stirring for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the half and half. Cook while stirring until thick and bubbly. Turn the heat to low and whisk in the cheese. Once the cheese is melted in, stir in the mustard and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Stir the broccoli and chicken into the sauce.
4. Using a rolling pin, roll the puff pastry dough out to make it into a little bigger rectangle. Cut into 4 rectangles. Put 1/4 of the sauce into the middle of each rectangle. Fold over to make a triangle and press the edges together to seal (you may need to stretch the dough a little). Place on a prepared baking sheet. Brush each turnover with beaten egg.
   
5. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the heat down to 350 ℉ and bake another 10 - 15 minutes until golden brown. Let cool a few minutes before serving as the filling will be really hot.

Serves: 4

Next time I might try adding some new spices/flavorings for fun. My husband suggested jalapeno! We'll see about that...

Puff Pastry

Original recipe here.

My friends posted a recipe on their food blog showing how to make little hot pockets. The recipe called for puff pastry (which can be found in the freezer aisle) and so I decided to try to find a recipe to make some from scratch! This is the result. The whole process takes a while (with a lot of stopping and starting), but it is a lot easier than I thought it would be!

Prep Time: 1 hour and 40 min

Ingredients:

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups water, or as needed
• 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature (That's A LOT of butter, but it helps it "puff." Some people suggested using less. I may try that next time)
  

Directions:

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Gradually stir in water until the dough holds together enough to clean the sides of the bowl. You may not need the full amount of water. Shape into a flat ball, and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes.
2. Place the butter between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound into a flat disc using a rolling pin or other heavy object. Refrigerate (or freeze) until firm, about 20 minutes.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a large rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Place the disc of chilled butter in the center and fold the two ends over it so that it is completely encased in dough. Roll out the dough again, taking care not to let the butter break through the dough, to about 1/2 inch thickness. Fold into thirds. This is the first ''turn''. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll out into a rectangle again. Fold into thirds. By this time the butter is starting to warm up. Place the dough on a baking sheet and mark it with two pokes from your finger (two turns). Wrap in plastic and refrigerate (or freeze) for at least 30 minutes.
4. Repeat this rolling, folding and turning two more times, then refrigerate (or freeze) until firm. Repeat two more times for a total of 6 ''turns''. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate or freeze. The dough is now ready to roll out and use in any recipe calling for puff pastry. Roll the dough out as thin as 1/4 inch to make pastries. Bake in a preheated oven of at least 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) to get the maximum puff from your pastry.

Makes: 24

Look at those flakes!