French Onion Soup

Ok Readers, I am SO sorry I haven't been keeping up with posting recipes. My life has been chaotic lately, but tonight I have time. =)

I made this recipe last week. Yum. All I can say is yum.

I appreciate a good bowl of French Onion Soup. As simple as it looks, it has such a rich, robust flavor. Leftovers keep well, and it can be transformed into an easy side dish (as I will show later).

This was a spin on a Tyler Florence recipe. Even though cut in half, this made enough for both of us + leftovers.

(As pictured, this soup has mozzarella cheese, prosciutto, and couscous in it. Aaron doesn't like runny, brothy soups, so I added literally 1/2 c. of couscous to the entire dish and it kept multiplying. I love couscous.)

Ingredients in order of use:

1/4 c. butter

2 large vidallia onions, julienned 

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 bay leaf

2 fresh thyme sprigs

sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 c. red wine (see wine tip below)

2 Tbsp all purpose flour

1 qt. beef broth

Toppings of your choice: baguette, cheese, couscous, croutons, etc.

First, melt butter, then add onions and cook until almost caramelized. Add garlic and bay leaf, continue to cook, stirring constantly so garlic doesn't burn (maybe 8 min total for this step):

 

Red wine tip: this is a great way to control the sweetness or boldness of the dish. I am not a wine connoisseur by any means and I really hate wine to drink (except sparkling moscato- mmm). But for this dish, I used Marsala wine. It has a sweet, plummy flavor. The bottle I got was $3.99 at Kroger. I am certain it will be in our fridge for a while.

Add wine and thyme and continue to cook until wine is reduced by half.

Once the wine has reduced, sprinkle the onions with flour, stir to avoid clumps, and cook another minute or so. Finally, add beef stock.

Simmer for 20 minutes.

At this point, remove herbs:

Taste test here and see how much pepper or salt it needs.

I added 1/2 c. of couscous to that whole thing and it turned into this:

Unexpected, but nice.

I also made roasted asparagus. Easy enough! Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly drizzle olive oil and lemon juice over asparagus. Sprinkle with sea salt & fresh pepper. Roast about 10-15 minutes until desired texture. I like mine with a bite to it.

Final dish:

 I hope you give it a try! It's especially great for cold evenings or evenings when everyone gets home at a different time. Just keep the pot warm on the stove. Enjoy!

Salmon Two Ways

TGIF!!! It's been a very long day and I cannot wait to go to bed in a few minutes. On days like this, we usually find ourselves tempted to go out to dinner. Then we spend $30+ on one meal with innumerable calories and feel miserable for the rest of the evening. Tonight, I wanted to make something easy that was also going to be completely satisfying and relatively healthy. Aaron took a picture with his tablet, but it didn't do the meal justice.

Basically, I purchased a large (4-5 serving) salmon fillet from Kroger. It was in the frozen seafood section. Wild-caught, as always :)  I lined a cookie sheet with tin foil and then greased it lightly with olive oil so that the salmon wouldn't break apart when I served it. I put the whole salmon (frozen) on the cookie sheet and drizzled it with a little extra olive oil. I seasoned each half differently. On one half, I caked it with lemon pepper seasoning and extra lemon pepper. On the other half, I sprinkled it with fresh thyme, herbs de provence, pepper, and garlic powder. I roasted that at 450 for about 35 min. The whole thing was delicious, but especially the lemon pepper side. Looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

I also made herbed mashed potatoes. I HATE instant potatoes. Mashed potatoes are so easy to make and there are like 100 ways to make them. Tonight, I used organic russet potatoes (5), washed and cut in fourths. Boiled them for about 15-17 min (from room temp water). While that was going, I heated a small egg skillet over very low heat (3 out of 10) and melted 3 Tbsp butter with the leaves of 3 thyme sprigs, 1 tsp rosemary (dried), lots of pepper, a little salt, and garlic powder. When the potatoes were done, I drained them, added the butter and herb mixture, and started mashing. I added 2% milk until I got the consistency I was looking for.

It was so good! =)

Tomato Gnocci Dish

Six years ago today, my husband asked me to be his girlfriend. =)  I remembered a few days ago, but I was very busy at work today and completely forgot. He cleaned the house, went grocery shopping, and made dinner (tasks that fall to me 95% of the time).  He made this yummy meal tonight that doesn't really have a name:

 He's not one for measuring, so it was just eyeballed. Here's my best estimate:

1 1/4 c. gnocci (measured dried)
1/2 pint of grape tomatoes
1/4 c. sundried tomatoes (in oil), sliced
1/4 c. mozzarella & prosciutto, chopped (he bought a "loaf" of mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto at Wal-mart)
3 Tbsp dried basil (*fresh would be better)
Good extra virgin olive oil

Boil gnocci until they float to the top of the water, about 3 minutes, then drain and rinse with cool water. Add remaining ingredients to medium size mixing bowl. Coat with olive oil. Refrigerate. Serve cold.

This serves two people with no leftovers, which is much more economical for us because we usually let our leftovers go bad...

It was good and the best part was I didn't have to make it or clean up after it! =)

Enjoy!

Apples, anyone?

I went to an apple orchard festival with some friends today and left with a peck of apples. I got 17 apples in various varieties, including red delicious, golden delicious, winesap, granny smith, pink ladies, and Arkansas black apples. I am on a hunt for good apple recipes. I'd like to can something, preferably fried apples or apple butter. The rest, we can eat with peanut butter.

Today, I made "spicy" apple sauce. It was really easy!

4 apples (I used a mixed variety)
1 c. water
1/4-1/2 c. sugar (I used 1/4 c.)
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
Secret: pepper

Just simmer everything for 15 minutes, then mash. Serve warm or cold.

Pumpkin & Sausage Pasta

Looking for something out of the ordinary and perfect for fall? Look no further! This delicious pumpkin & sausage pasta sauce is earthy, slightly sweet, nutty, and perfect for 4 people as a main course. I mainly followed Rachael Ray's recipe, but I altered it slightly. Here's how I made it:


1 lb. bulk sweet Italian sausage (sweet is key to the flavor in this dish. It's not supposed to be spicy!)
1 medium onion, finely chopped (I used a sweet onion)
5 cloves garlic, minced (she called for 4)
1 c. canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 c. chardonnay
1 c. chicken stock (I used broth because I had it on hand)
1/2 c. heavy cream (I used whipping cream because it was cheaper)

and for the spices (clockwise, from top):

)

6 sprigs fresh sage (I piled mine and sliced it very fine, then turned it the other way and sliced it)
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg (she called for 1/2 tsp, but mine wasn't freshly grated)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 bay leaf


First, brown your sausage, then pile it on a plate with a paper towel to absorb the grease:

Add onion & garlic to the pan. Saute 3-5 minutes. Then add wine and spices/herbs. Allow to reduce by half.

We used an inexpensive ($4.98) chardonnay. It's disgusting. But it worked for this dish lol:

Then, add stock, cream, and pumpkin. Stir slowly until incorporated. Add sausage back to pan. Allow to simmer 15 minutes. When done, it should look like cheddar cheese sauce with sausage chunks in it.

We served it with mini bowtie pasta. I didn't get a picture of it on the plate because we had company over for dinner. I hope you give it a try! We loved it! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie

At only 50-some degrees today, we were in a fallesque mood to make something pumpkin. Pie it is!

I wish I took a picture of a slice of this pie with whipped cream and cinnamon on top... but we took it to a friend's house, so I didn't want to take pictures there.

This was the recipe on the back of the Libby's Pumpkin Puree can, but I added a little extra spices. I used a storebought graham cracker crust and have enough filling left over to make 2 more pies. Overall, I love this recipe. It tastes perfect and it's a cinch to make. I especially loved the compliments from our friends that it was the best pumpkin pie they'd ever had. Yay! The only thing that I didn't like (at first) was how runny the batter is. I guess it's supposed to be like that because it turned out great!

1  29oz can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling! They're different products.)
2  12.9 cans of evaporated milk
4 large eggs
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or make your own)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon   (these three + cloves are all in pumpkin pie filling

Pour into 2 graham cracker crusts. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 for 45 minutes. Allow to cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve warm or refrigerated.

Healthy Taco/Burrito Options

I love tacos as much as the next person. Unfortunately, tacos are often severely and unnecessarily high in fat, sodium, and chemicals. I understand that the FDA allows certain hard-to-pronounce chemicals to be used in the production of food, but really? We can't pronounce it and we don't know what it is, but we'll eat it? I'm not going to start an organic/all-natural diatribe here. Aaron and I often eat organic/all-natural food. One of our favorites is tacos. We have gone from making the Ortega taco kit a few years ago to making much healthier and even tastier tacos, now. Here are some ideas:

1. Make your own seasoning. Just read the ingredients list of a taco seasoning packet and this will be a no-brainer. This homemade seasoning is simple to make and tastes so much fresher than seasoning packets.
               1 Tbsp chili powder  (smokey, warm)
               1/4 tsp garlic powder (salty, herby)
               1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (spicy)
               1/4 tsp oregano (earthy)
               1/2 tsp paprika (sweetly warm)
               1 1/2 tsp ground cumin (smokey)
               1 tsp sea salt
               1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper (much fresher than pre-ground)
*Either add onion flakes... or add fresh onions to the meat.

2. Use healthy wraps instead of flour tortillas. This is a great way to watch the ingredients and add some flavor. Why eat plain tortillas? Spinach, sun-dried tomato, and whole wheat are good. This time, we used Jalapeno and Cilantro wraps.


3. Add some vegetables. We like spinach, bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes on ours because they fill you up without adding fat.

4. Use lean ground beef. I cannot stress this enough. I understand that some people have the philosophy of Well, the 80/20 kind is cheaper. Well, when you consider that you'll be clogging your pipes draining off all that fat, leaving you with less meat, maybe you'll reconsider.

5. Make your own refried beans (or substitute) sans lard. It's so easy! Use a can of organic cannellini, black, or pinto beans, rinsed and drained, and run them through the food processor with a little olive oil and chili powder.

I hope you found some interesting ideas! Enjoy!

Voila! Our healthy tacos.