Cheddar-Broccoli-Potato Soup

It's been a year and a half, so maybe I should post a new recipe.

If you're like me, you may love the concept of cheddar broccoli soup but find yourself overwhelmed by the cheddar-y-ness of it and giving up after one bite. Or maybe, like me, you keep trying, and just pick out the broccoli, sadly and pathetically shaking off as much of the broth as you can so you can have your precious broccoli untainted.

Whichever scenario you pick (I vacillate between the two), you're left unsatisfied.

I hear you. Which is why I altered the recipe from Our Best Bites. (What? I never EVER post their recipes, what is even happening?...Yes after a year and a half break, that is still my favorite cookbook and likely always will be.)

Here's what we do - we cut the amount of cheddar down from 4 cups to 2 cups, and instead of using sharp, we use medium.

Try it. Trust me. If you have found yourself bummed out by broccoli cheddar soup in the past, I think this is your solution. I feel it in my gut.

Also, the potatoes really add something. Go ahead and put in extra. Your picky kids who only want potatoes - ever - will thank you.

So, here's my recipe (adapted and changed from the original Our Best Bites version):

Ingredients: 

1.5 tablespoons butter
1 cup diced onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
1 large baking potato, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes (I never have large baking potatoes on hand, so we just eyeball it. I think last time my husband did 3-4 smallish to medium size potatoes and it was perfect)
4 cups of broccoli florets and stems
3 ounces cream cheese
2 cups low-fat milk
6 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups shredded medium cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons fresh or 1 tablespoon dried parsley

Directions:

First, do your prep work. Recipes never include these steps and it's messed me up a time or two. Peel and chop that potato, dice that onion, chop that broccoli if you're doing it fresh (I always do frozen).

1. In a large stockpot, heat the butter over medium-high heat. When hot, add the diced onion. Saute for 1 minute, then add garlic. Saute 1-2 minutes longer or until onions are tender.

2. Add the chicken broth and potato and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the broccoli. Continue to simmer with the pot covered for about 5 more minutes or until both potatoes and broccoli are tender.

3. While the soup is simmering, combine cream cheese, milk, and flour in a blender and process until smooth. When potatoes and broccoli are tender, add the milk mixture to the pot. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese and parsley.

Tip: Serve in bread bowls or with breadsticks!

Finnish Summer Vegetable Soup

Soup in summer? I know. It's hot. I get it. I don't think I've made soup even once this summer. Maybe you want to deviate a little from the skillet or maybe you just really love soup and want a good summery one...well here you go:

Finnish Summer Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

2 small carrots, sliced
1 medium potato, cubed
3/4 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1 cup fresh or frozen cut green beans
1/4 small cauliflower, separated into florets
2 cups fresh spinach, cut up
2 cups water
2 cups milk
1/4 cup whipping/heavy cream
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Dill weed

Directions:

1. Heat water, carrots, potato, peas, green beans, and cauliflower to boiling in 3 qt saucepan; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until vegetables are almost tender, 10-15 minutes.

2. Add spinach; cook uncovered about 1 minute. Mix 1/4 cup of the milk with the flour; stir gradually into vegetable mixture. Boil and stir 1 minute.

3. Stir in remaining milk, cream, salt and pepper. Heat until just hot. Garnish with dill weed.

The first time I made it, I took one look at the finished product and wasn't too sure about that. It was, however, surprisingly delicious. The potato really adds something, and the broth is flavorful, and the dill is just right. My husband and my son are always surprised how much they like it, too. We all sit around eating soup in summer with pleasantly surprised little looks on our faces. I invite you to do the same.

Vermicelli with Lemony Green Vegetables

It's summertime! You may be cooking with the harvest from your garden, enjoying someone else's harvest through Bountiful Baskets, or raking in garden goodies from a kindly neighbor. Or maybe you're just enjoying all the stuff that's in season from the grocery store.

And since we all like to cook on the skillet and avoid the oven as much as possible in the hot summer months, here's a satisfying skillet dinner by which you may put all those wonderful garden spoils to use:

Vermicelli with Lemony Green Vegetables

Ingredients:

1 package (7 ounces) uncooked vermicelli
4 cups mixed bite-size pieces green vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, Chinese pea pods, green beans, zucchini)
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1/2 cup milk
1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, cut into cubes and softened
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste




Directions:

Cook vermicelli as directed on package; drain.
Cook vegetables in margarine or butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender, about 7 minutes; toss with lemon peel.
Remove vegetables; keep warm.

Heat milk and cream cheese in skillet until smooth and creamy; stir in cheese, salt, and pepper. Toss with hot vermicelli. Serve vegetables over vermicelli and, if desired, with lemon wedges and coarsely ground pepper.

*My notes: I usually use whole wheat spaghetti, since it's what I have on hand. I don't always use the full amount of lemon peel - it can be kind of strong, especially if you are sensitive to lemon flavor, which I kind of am and my husband really is. I like to add just enough to flavor it a little, without feeling like I'm eating one of those LemonHead or Warhead candies. (Did your mouth instantly start watering when you read those candy names?)

Really, all the crisp, fresh veggies just make this dinner rock.

**Recipe found in my old Betty Crocker Vegetarian Cooking book.

Black Bean and Sweet Pepper Tacos

We all need to have a few quick, easy, healthy, tasty dinners in our repertoire. We deserve it! Life be crazy! This is one of mine - a go-to when I need dinner done in ten minutes, but I still want it to be healthy and yummy. We also deserve recipes we don't need to worry about following perfectly. I never actually follow the amounts for this one. And it's summer, and who wants to turn on the oven in the summer? Skillet all the way.

(I think we can all agree that vegetarian meals are prettier than meaty ones.)

Black Bean and Sweet Pepper Tacos

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil (I never measure the olive oil, and you could probably skip it and just sautee in water if you want to be extra healthy)

1 16 ounce package frozen stir-fry peppers (I use fresh peppers - I grab a couple from the store based on which ones are on sale - usually the green and red. Or if we have one of those bags of small sweet peppers for snacking and they're on their way out, I just use them up.)

2 cloves garlic, minced (Garlic is one of those ingedients you can almost always add more of, especially if you have the big jar of minced garlic in liquid)

1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 teaspoon sea salt (I just sprinkle a little on, or omit it altogether)

2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice (I just take that little squeeze bottle of lime juice and squirt it around the pan a few times)

6-inch corn tortillas, warmed (I heat them on the stove, with or without oil, or if I'm pressed for time, in the microwave)

Shredded cheese for topping

(I also add brown rice mixed up with a little olive oil and Creole seasoning when the tacos are done.)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until peppers are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir in beans and salt; heat through. Remove from heat and stir in lemon or lime juice.

2. Lay tortillas flat and divide pepper mixture among tortillas. Top each with cheese and serve.

*You won't find that your life is changed or your taste buds have never experienced a love like this before. It's a fairly simple-tasting dinner, which is why I add extra garlic and cook up some minute brown rice while the peppers are cooking and then add in a drop of olive oil and sprinkle in some Creole seasoning - I find adding the rice w/Creole helps give some flavor to the tacos and adds a little more oomph so I don't have to eat a billion tacos to feel full. So like I said, this isn't the most exciting dinner you ever had in your life, but it's easy and good and we all need easy and good sometimes.

Crispy Quinoa Sliders, Homemade Fries, and Fry Sauce

This is one of my favorite dinners. And it just seems perfect for summertime.

Thanks to my friend Laura for sharing it with me.

I think the original source's writer describes it humorously and perfectly, so I will just link you there:

How Sweet Eats: Crispy Quinoa Sliders

I quite enjoy her post. And for reference, recipe below:

Crispy Quinoa Sliders

YIELD: MAKES 12 SLIDERS (BUT ALSO DEPENDS ON THE SIZE OF YOUR BUNS)

PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 20 MINUTES

TOTAL TIME: 45 MINUTES

ingredients:

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup freshly grated provolone cheese
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped carrots
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg + 1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
12 multigrain slider buns or dinner rolls
2 avocados, sliced for topping
1/2 cup chipotle mayo, for topping

directions:

Add quinoa and stock to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover, cooking for 15 minutes or until can be fluffed with a fork. You can do this ahead of time or even the night before (and store quinoa in the fridge) so the quinoa can cool.

While quinoa is cooking, slice the green onions, chop the carrots, mince the garlic and grate the cheese. Place it all in a bowl, then add panko and mix. Coarsely chop the chickpeas and add to the bowl. One quinoa is finished cooking, add it to the bowl and mix well until incorporated. If needed, let cool or place in the fridge for a few minutes to cool. Add in beaten egg + egg white, salt, pepper and mix well. Form into patties (I really squeezed a handful of quinoa together and smoothed it into a round, it may take some squeezing and form to get the patties to stick) that fit the size of the buns you have. <- this will differ!

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. Once hot, add 5-6 quinoa patties and cook until deeply golden brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Gently flip and cook 5 minutes more. Remove and continue with remaining olive oil and patties. Serve with sliced avocado chipotle mayo!

My notes:

-I've said before that for most recipes, cheese is interchangeable, and it's true that I usually use cheddar for this recipe because it's what I have on hand, but the couple of times I've use provolone, I do think it tastes better.

-If you forget or don't have the green onions, it'll still be good.

-I don't use slider buns (or even make them slider size). Just whatever buns I have. We like those thin ones you can get at Costco, multi-grain.

-I have never used the chipotle mayo. And just those two words together make me shudder a little.

-For condiments and toppings I just do ketchup or even just the avocado is enough. We like to top these the way you top any burger - lettuce, spinach, pickles, etc.

-Sometimes they don't form patties very well, but as the original blogger explained, they're so good and versatile, I don't think it matters. I can eat this stuff plain with a fork or spoon.

-This freezes excellently. I freeze the leftovers and when it comes time, I just thaw it and cook it on the stove in one giant pile of mush (instead of trying to form patties) and then scoop some out to put in a sandwich.

-Depending on how you cook them, they may or may not be crispy. I cook them slowly on a medium heat and that helps them keep a patty shape. My hubby cooks them at higher heat to get it done faster, which leads to an awesomely crispy outside, but then they kind of crumble and don't stay in a patty form very well. Just play around with it. No matter its shape, it'll taste good.

Homemade Fries

Our Best Bites (what? I never reference them) has recipes for regular fries and sweet potato fries. I usually do some sort of combination of both. If you want the actual recipes, here they are:

French Fries

Sweet Potato Fries

What I do: 
Slice up some potatoes and sweet potatoes and toss them with some olive oil, cumin, oregano, coriander, parsley, salt, and pepper; then bake them on a cookie sheet at 425 for however long it takes.

My favorite part is that they are delicious and taste like french fries, but they are healthy. And my toddler loves them.

Fry Sauce:

This is probably the hardest part of this whole thing. Mix up ketchup and mayo together and then get dipping. 

I know, I know...I ask too much.

Mexican Lasagna

I'm short on time today, so it's fitting to post this quick and easy recipe that you can make when you're short on time, too.

Back when we were meat-eaters, this was one of our favorite dinners. There wasn't a single time we made it for company (and we made it for company a lot) that they didn't ask for the recipe (and sometimes they'd call me to get the recipe again every time they made it...yes I'm looking at you, Rory).  It was one of the few meals we really missed when we stopped buying and cooking meat. And then, one day it hit me: I can just make it without the meat. And so it goes. And now our tummies are abundantly happy. 

Ingredients:

Corn tortillas (you need 9-12)

Taco seasoning

Two cans refried beans

1 can black beans

1/2 can corn (or do I like do and eyeball with a few handfuls of frozen corn)

Salsa dobs (any salsa works, but when I want it to be REALLY tasty, I get a mango salsa or a peach pineapple - something like that)

Sour cream dobs

Grated colby jack cheese (I usually use cheddar because that's what I have on hand)

Directions:

In a 9x13 pan, layer tortillas (you can cut them in half and go 3 by 3, or if you are really short on time just lay them down whole - 2 rows of 3), refried beans, taco seasoning, black beans, corn, salsa dobs, sour cream dobs, cheese. REPEAT. Bake 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees to warm through. Let stand 5 minutes.

*I've never tried freezing this, but I assume it would freeze well.

*This is a great option for taking dinner to a neighbor who just had a baby or something. You can prepare it ahead of time and just leave a note for them to pop it in the oven for 20 minutes whenever they are ready to eat it. That is exactly what I did today.

***(If you really want to try it with the meat, cook a pound of ground turkey or ground beef on the stove and add the taco seasoning then. You would layer it right after the refried beans. Now that I omit the meat, I just sprinkle the taco seasoning between the refried bean and black bean layers.)

Spinach Enchiladas

Once upon a time, in 2011, it was Mother's Day, and I was pregnant with my first (and thus far, only) child.

Yes, go right ahead. "You glowed!" "So radiant!" I'll take it. I have not glowed or radiated since, and I suspect I won't glow or radiate through any subsequent pregnancy, because I will have a little person (or persons) I have get to take care of, whilst pregnant. 

That first pregnancy is where it's at.

So what I'm trying to say is, my sweet husband, Ryan, cooked for me that Mother's Day, and it was delicious, so without further ado:

Spinach Enchiladas

(This is the first thing that pops up when you google "spinach enchiladas." They'd go to the ends of the earth for you, they say...and then they only get as far as the top of the search results list.)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spinach-enchiladas/

Ingredients:

1 tbs butter

1/2 cup sliced green onions 

(If you don't have enough green onions, it doesn't matter.)

2 cloves garlic, minced 

(Does anyone ever really stick to the recommended garlic amount? Can you really have too much garlic?)

Spinach 

(Recipe calls for 10oz frozen, thawed, drained and squeezed dry, but we have only ever used fresh spinach, and it's delicious. As I've said before, you weren't going to get through that Costco bag in time anyway. And we always add more than we think we'll need. Just chop up a bunch of fresh spinach, and then you don't have to squeeze it dry or anything.)

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

 (Or whatever you have. I think we used cheddar last time. A friend once told me: cheese is cheese. I have found that in most recipes, you can just use whatever cheese you have on hand.)

10 (6-inch) corn tortillas

1 19oz can enchilada sauce 

(If your can is smaller, like the classic 15oz variety, that's fine, you don't need a whole 19oz.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).

2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; cook for a few minutes until fragrant, but not brown. Stir in spinach, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat, and mix in ricotta cheese, sour cream, and 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese (or whatever cheese you use). 

3. In a skillet over medium heat, warm tortillas one at a time until flexible, about 15 seconds. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the spinach mixture onto the center of each tortilla. Roll up, and place seam side down in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over the top, and sprinkle with remaining cup of Monterey Jack.

4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until sauce is bubbling and cheese is lightly browned at the edges.

If you want a yummy side dish to go with it, we always have Near East Mediterranean Curry Couscous when we have this dish.

Yes, you might think that "Mediterranean curry" and "enchilada" don't belong on the same table spread. Totally different ethnic flavors. But it works. Or maybe I just think it does, because that's what hubby made for me that Mother's Day, and sometimes food becomes sentimental. Regardless of the why, we only ever eat these enchiladas with a side of this particular couscous. And it works. And we love it. And I've never actually cooked these enchiladas. It's sort of a tradition now that when we have them, Ryan makes them. Which makes them taste that much more delicious. 

I posted this recipe because we just had it this week. It literally just struck me this very moment that Mother's Day is this weekend. So maybe pass this recipe along to your hubby with a wink and a nudge.