Noodle Soup!

I made soba noodles the other night for dinner and have been thinking of a way to use up the leftover noodles.  I could think of nothing better than soup.  I'm a huge soup fan, especially for a weekend lunch.  They're so easy and quick to put together.  Plus, I can use it as a way to use up leftover veggies.  I went with Asian inspired flavors today, but the nice thing about soup is you can do whatever you want!

1 qt vegetable stock (look for low sodium)
1-2 water
1 carrot, peeled and julliened
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 -2 cups fresh spinach
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ginger, minced
3 T soy sauce (use low sodium here too)
4 oz soba noodles, cooked to package directions or use leftover noodles if you have them

In a stock pot add all ingredients (except the spinach & noodles) and bring to a simmer.  Cover until veggies are tender and add the spinach.  Put noodles in bowls and ladle the broth over noodles.  

That's it!  Super easy, delicious, and satisfying.  :o)

Best Ever Pretzel Dip

That's right, I said it.  Best. Ever.  This is super easy to put together, and you probably already have the ingredients on hand.  So without further adieu.....

3 T Red Raspberry Preserves

3 T Spicy Brown Mustard

1 1/2 T Agave Necter

1/2 t Garlic Powder

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy.  That's it!! 

I only made half of the recipe because Little Miss Scarlett will eat the whole thing if it's there.  :o)  I think this could make a great glaze/sauce for tofu too.  I haven't tried it yet, but I might need too soon!

She approves!

Southern Lovin'

I'm a Southern girl at heart.  Growing up in North Carolina, I think that every family gathering involved greens and something fried.  Even to this day, if you're at one of my family's holiday dinners you can count on eating some greens, usually collards.  Although I was raised on these dark leafy veggies, I didn't start to appreciate them until recent years.  It was probably when I joined our local CSA and was introduced to the winter session.  This included sometimes 3 bunches of greens per share.  If you weren't familiar with greens before, you would be within a week or two!  Now, I love them and nutritional benefits are like no other.  So that's a plus.

Here's an easy and healthful recipe that I found from the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart website.  Lots of great ideas there, so check it out!

1 cup vegetable broth or water
3 cups drained cooked or canned beans (I used 1 can of red kidney and 1 can of black)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 bunch of your green of choice, mine was kale
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste 

Tabasco sauce, to taste

Apple cider vinegar

Combine beans, broth or water, and garlic in a large saucepan. Place chopped kale on top of beans and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until kale is tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in oil, salt, black pepper, and Tabasco sauce to taste.  Drizzle with vinegar, just the way we did it in the South!  :o)

I served mine over garlic-y couscous and topped with the easiest fried okra ever.  Hey, I said we always had a green and something fried, right?  The okra isn't even a recipe it's so easy, but here's what I did...

Chop fresh okra, put in a bowl, and cover with cold water.  Sit in the fridge for an hour.  Drain the okra and toss in cornmeal (I seasoned the cornmeal with salt, pepper, and paprika).  Fry in batches in half an inch or so of oil.  Drain on paper towels and you're done. 

Enjoy!!

A Chai High

I know it's still 100°+ outside, but that doesn't stop me from getting all giddy over a nice cup of hot chai.  If you haven't had it before, I will pretend I don't know you on the streets.  No, not really, but you really should try it.  It's creamy, sweet, and exotically spicy.  If you haven't made it before, you will probably need to pick up the ingredients since they're aren't your normal pantry items.  Remember, exotically spicy.  But, don't let that stop you; believe me, it's worth it.  The spices will last forever, so you will have a cup of chai at your fingertips for long time to come.  This is the recipe that I've been using, but feel free to play with it.  

2 cinnamon sticks

4 whole cloves

8 cardamom pods

6 black peppercorns

a few slices of ginger

1 T loose black tea (I think I used darjeeling, but you can use whatever you'd like)

6 cups water

Put all of the ingredients except for the tea in a pot and bring to a low boil.  Once boiling, add the tea and turn the stove down to low.  I used one of the metal mesh steep-ers (I have no idea what they're really called, but that sounds good to me).  Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes if you like it weak, or 10 if you like it strong.  Strain into mugs and add your favorite non dairy milk (I love almond) and sweeten with agave nectar.  This will be about 4 servings.  I left it on the stove all day and kept going back.  In my opinion, it just gets better the longer it sits!

I added a bit too much milk here, but you get the idea

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!!

Not so French Onion and Mushroom Soup

Hello friends!

So the other night the hubby went out on a "man date" for his fantasy football draft.  Yep, it's that time again!  So I decided to use this time to myself to make something that I wouldn't make for him - mushrooms.  The guy hates them, and it's just sad.  I love them, all of them.  Anything and everything about them.  The hubby, he will only refer to them as "fungus".  Those poor, tasty bites get no respect from him!  :o)

I was in a comfort mood and nothing sounded better than curling up on the couch watching chick shows and enjoying a big, steaming bowl of soup.  The first thing that came to mind - french onion.  I've never made it before, because to be quite honest, I was intimidated.  I wasn't sure I had enough tissues in the house for all of the tears I would cry from chopping all of those onions.  Also, it's traditionally made with beef stock which isn't up my alley. 

Now, I know what you're thinking.  I thought she said she wanted mushrooms?  Remember how I said I was intimidated from all of the onions?  Well I decided to cut the amount of onions in half and replace it with an array of mushrooms!  It came out so good that I ended up having 3 bowls......yep.

3 large onions or 4 medium ones, sliced

2 portobella caps, sliced

1 lb button mushrooms, sliced

1 pkg dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted and copped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1-2 T flour

1/2 -1 cup wine (depending on your tastes)

5 cups veggie stock

1 bay leaf

1 t dried thyme 

1 T Worcester sauce (check your ingredients, some are not vegetarian)

olive oil

salt and pepper

1/2 t dried dill - optional  (I love dill with mushrooms, so I used it here.  Totally optional.)

In a large pot, saute onions in olive oil on medium heat until golden.  This can take about 30 minutes, but don't try to rush it.  Add your mushrooms, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, Worcester, and salt.  Cook down until the mushrooms a dark and tender.  Add your flour and stir until you can't see it any more.  Add your wine and allow it to cook down for a few minutes.  Add your stock, cover, and lower the heat.  Simmer for as long as you like, until you're happy with the flavor.  I think I kept mine on for about 15 minutes or so.  At this point I added the dill.  I waited until the end to keep the flavor fresher.  Once you pour it into bowls, top with a cheesy baguette - I melted mozzarella Daiya on some toasted sourdough.

Enjoy!!