Italian Vegetable Soup

Tomato-based vegetable soup with italian inspired seasoning and vegetables

 

 Makes: 12 cups

 Ingredients:

300g carrots, peeled and sliced

400g celery, sliced

200g green pepper, coarsely chopped

10 oz mushrooms, quartered

10 oz zucchini diced (~1 medium)

6 oz (~1/2 medium) eggplant

1/2 white onion, coarse chopped

40 oz (2.5 lbs) tomatoes; peeled, seeded and pureed

28 oz (1.75 lbs) crushed tomatoes

8 cloves garlic, minced

2T balsamic vinaigrette

1T dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp rubbed sage

1/2 tsp salt

6 1/2 cup water

Directions

* Chop and prepare ingredients as above

* Combine tomatoes with 6 Cup water, oregano, rosemary and sage in soup pot.  Place on medium heat and simmer.

* At same time, heat 2T balsamic vinaigrette in saute pan.  Add carrots, garlic, celery, pepper and onion.  Saute until tender.

* Add vegetable mix to pot with tomatoes

* Deglaze saute pan with 1/2 cup water.  Add remaining vegetables - eggplant, zucchini and mushrooms to pan.  Siummer approximately 10 minutes or until tender

* Add vegetables to pot with tomatoes and continue heating to boiling.Once boiling reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes. 

Pepper Slaw

Ingredients:
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 cubanelle pepper
1 anaheim pepper
1 medium white onion
2 cups shredded cabbage
2T basalmic vinegar

1. Thinly slice peppers and onions.  Shred cabbage.
2. Mix in large bowl and toss with vinegar

Even better when allowed to sit for 24 hours in the refrigerator before eating...

Asian-Inspired Mushroom Soup

 

Makes 12 cups

29 cal/cup

Ingredients:

8 cup water

300g minced mushrooms

250g sliced mushrooms

200g sliced carrots

2 clove garlic minced

1 tsp crushed garlic

1/2 medium onion thinly sliced (50g)

6 cup shredded cabbage

2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 T soy sauce

14oz yam noodles

Directions:

Place all ingredients except noodles in large soup pot and bring to a boil stirring occasionally.  

Simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add noodles and simmer for additional 2 minutes.  

Crab Spring Rolls

Ingredients:
8 Cups shredded cabbage
100g Shredded Carrot
4oz crab meat cooked and drained
75g diced mushrooms
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried cilantro
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp chili powder
~12 spring roll wrappers

Servings: ~12
37 cal each

Directions:
1. Shred or chop all ingredients and mix in large bowl

2. Spoon ~50g of mixture into center of spring roll wrapper and fold.  Place on non-stick or foil-lined baking sheet.

3. Bake in oven at 425F for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Mango Sorbet

A great treat that would have been great for hot summer days.  Just enough spice to be a little tangy and keep the palate interesting; not too sweet but just enough to take down the tartness of the mango a little for my taste.

 

Makes: 3 Cups

55 cal per 1/2 cup serving

Ingredients:

2 mangos (450g)

1/2 cup splenda or white sugar

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground cumin

Directions: 

- Peel and remove core from 2 mangos. I left some pieces of the peel behind because I like the red and greed speckles in the sorbet.  Chop into approximately 1" pieces. 

- Place all ingredients in blender or mix with immersion blender until smooth

- Pour into freezer safe container and place in freezer.  

- Remove from freezer and mix every 30 minutes until firm

Pumpkin Sweet Potato Gnocchi

A twist on sweet potato gnocchi with the addition of pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices.  I topped it here with a warmed pumpkin butter which amped up the pumpkin but doesn't really let the gnocchi flavor itself shine through.  Also delicious with a browned butter sauce which lets you get more of the pumpkin flavor in the gnocchi.  This did also require a great deal more flour than sweet potato gnocchi traditionally would because the pumpkin was so wet but still worked out just fine.

Makes: 12 dozen
Calories: 200/dozen

Ingredients:

24 oz sweet potato (about 3 med-large potatoes)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3T egg whites (or 1 large egg)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3-4 cup flour

Directions:

- Bake potatoes in over at 375F for approximately 1 hour or until soft.
- Remove from oven and cut in half.  Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes
- Scoop potato insides into bowl and mash or puree.  Add pumpkin and mix thoroughly.
- Slowly add flour to thicken.  Knead dough continuing to add flour until about 80% of the moistness has been removed.  The dough should have give to it and retain an indentation when pressed but not hold the indentation perfectly.
- Divide dough into manageable portions (I split into 4).  Place on floured surface and roll into lengths 1" in diameter.

- Using a blunt knife or fork cut off 1" segments
- Drop segments into pot with boiling water and boil for approximately 5 minutes or until gnocchi begin to float.

- Top with your desired sauce and enjoy.

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Maple Frosting

This week I'm having fun with pumpkin.  This one was made for our resident potluck dinner this Sunday.  Overall this was great.

Serves: 12 (One 9 inch layer cake)
Calories: 466/slice

 Ingredients:

Cake
1 box spice cake mix
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sour cream
4 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground clove

Frosting
1 can (14oz) white whipped frosting
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp maple extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 325F.  Grease or use non-stick spray to coat the bottom of 4 9-inch baking pans.

- Mix all cake ingredients as above.  Combine wet ingredients first and finish by sifting in dry ingredients.  Mix just until well blended.


- Divide batter equally among 4 pans


- Bake at 325F for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean


- Remove from oven and place on rack to cool

- Once completely cooled level cake and coat with simple syrup (I use 1 part sugar dissolved in 1 part boiling water and allowed to cool).

- Place frosting ingredients in bowl and mix thoroughly by hand or with electric mixer.  You may add additional or less powdered sugar to your desired consistency.  This will also have a very strong maple flavor.  If you want something a little more subtle I would omit the maple extract. I mixed until I had formed peaks.

 
- Assemble cake.  Start by placing one layer of cake on stand, top with icing & repeat.  Frost cake including sides and decorate as desired.  I just added a little texture to the icing and sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice and halved pecans. 

Nutritional Information:
Calories 466
Carbs: 90g
Sugar 68g
Protein 4g
Fat 15g

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Makes 3.5 cups
100 calories per 1/2 cup

Ingredients:
1 pound vanilla ice cream (about 1 quart) (I used Breyer's fat free vanilla)
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions:
- Soften ice cream in refrigerator for 15 minutes or until soft

- Mix ice cream with pumpkin and spice until blended

- Place in freezer safe container and return to freezer

- After two hours remove from freezer and mix to blend

- Return to freezer and freeze until hardened

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Makes: 21 1-ounce servings
34 calories/serving

Ingredients:
4 large red peppers
15 oz (1 can) garbanzo beans, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried basil
2 T lemon juice

Directions:
- Heat broiler.  Core, de-seed and clean red peppers.  Cut so they can be 'unrolled' and lay flat on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.  Place in broiler for 10 minutes or until skin is completely blackened.

- Remove from broiler and place peppers in cold water to cool.  Once cooled remove the skins from the peppers and discard skins.

- Place red peppers along with remaining ingredients into food processor or blender and mix well to desired consistency.

Cake Week

It was a full week of birthdays meaning birthday baking. I have two cakes here.  Both what I call "semi-homemade".  Based off of boxed mixes for speed and ease but doctored up a bit.  Still pretty simple but delicious.  First is a chocolate peanut butter pretzel cake.  Second is a white cake with strawberries and cream cheese frosting.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cake (aka. The Don Juan)

Ingredients:
Crust
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
8 oz crushed pretzels
3 T brown sugar

Peanut Butter layer:
7 oz creamy peanut butter
2 T powdered sugar

Cake:
Chocolate cake of choice (I used Devil's Food cake mix)

Frosting:
16 oz vanilla frosting
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (other milk would work as well, this is just what I had on hand)
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions
- Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease or spray bottom of two 8 or 9-inch cake pans (I used 9 inch pans)
- Crush pretzels and mix with butter and brown sugar.  Divide between the two pans and press to the bottom of the pan

















- Mix peanut butter and powdered sugar in a small sauce pan over low heat.  Stir frequently heating just until the mixture has softened to allow easier spreading.  Divide and spread a thin layer over the pretzel crusts.













- Prepare cake batter as directed.  Divide evenly between the two pans and pour over the pretzel crust. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

- Remove pans from oven and place on rack to cool.  Once cooled completely level cakes and brush with a simple syrup (for simple syrup I dissolved 1/2 cup sugar in 1/2 cup boiling water and allowed to cool).

- Prepare frosting by mixing ingredients with hand mixer until blended.  You can also mix by hand or use stand mixer as desired.  Add additional powdered sugar if needed for desired consistency. 

- Apply crumb coat to cakes prior to frosting.  Frost bottom layer of cake with frosting and sprinkle with crushed pretzels.  These pretzels will soften quickly so I would omit these if you are not going to serve the cake within 24 hours.













- Repeat for additional layers.  










- Decorate as desired.  I used additional twist pretzels and chocolate covered pretzels as well as a chocolate drizzle on top made from melted chocolate chips and paraffin. 

The Strawberry Juice

Not much to this recipe.  It's just pretty.
I used a standard white cake mix as directed.
Cream cheese frosting.
Chocolate covered strawberries and sliced strawberries for garnish.
In between the layers is the cream cheese frosting and sliced strawberries.