Easy Vegetable Soup

I have plenty of recipes 'on deck' but for some reason I just haven't been getting around to posting any of them. I have some pictures, so hopefully I will remember what I actually did with these recipes - because, of course, I can never just follow a recipe. I just really need to sit down one of these days and get them all written up, if only for my own sake.

I've been fighting a cold this week, so the only thing that really sounded good was soup. I pulled some turkey broth out of the freezer, and I was just going to heat that up and drink it. But then I kept thinking of vegetables that would be good, so I just kept adding. Of course, feel free to add more or less or even omit a vegetable if you don't have it on hand. This is just what I did. This time.

Easy Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1/2 a medium onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 to 1 cup sliced cabbage
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric
• 2 cups turkey (or chicken) broth
• 1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in 2-quart saucepan. Chop onion, celery, carrot, bell pepper, and cabbage, adding them to the pan as you go. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to soften; add garlic, salt, pepper, and turmeric, and cook for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
2. Add broth and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until flavors are blended and vegetables are cooked. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Enjoy.

Oh, sure there are aisles full of canned soups in the grocery stores.  So many choices, and all you have to do is open the can and heat it up - but this isn't much harder than that, and it's much better because I know everything that went into it. It was exactly what I needed, and now that it's gone, I'm probably going to make another batch of it tomorrow.

Maybe I should add a jalapeno? That would certainly kick any last vestiges of this cold right outta there.

Lentil and Potato Salad

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month is The Wimpy Vegetarian.  Susan is a mostly vegetarian (hence the 'wimpy') married to a meat-loving man.  Sounds like quite a challenge, doesn't it?  Susan has met that challenge head on, finding healthy ways to pump up the flavors of her vegetarian dishes and making things tasty and interesting enough that her husband began eating more of her vegetarian 'horse food' - alongside his meat - and even going back for seconds.

Susan and her husband are again able to enjoy meals together, and for the rest of us, The Wimpy Vegetarian is a wonderful resource for anyone who is looking to eat more vegetarian and meat free meals, with great tips and ideas on how to adjust those meals so that even the meat eaters are happy.  There were so many recipes that caught my eye, as I'm sure you'll see when you check out Susan's blog for yourself!  Here are just a few:

• Mexican Casserole with Quinoa
• Mexican Street Corn Tart
• Brown Sugar and Plum Pull-Apart Bread
• Chard and Quinoa Gratin (and this Chard and Quinoa Saute - there seems to be a theme here!)
• and because this one was a previous SRC post, I can't use it here, but I am definitely going to have to make this Mac 'n Cheese Impossible Pie.

When I saw the recipe for this salad, I just knew it was the one.  I had never thought to use lentils in a salad, though I love them in soup, so I was definitely intrigued.  I also had a potluck to prepare for and thought this would be good for that because it's a great make-ahead dish that gets better as the flavors have time to blend.

Lentil and Potato Salad
from the Wimpy Vegetarian

Ingredients:
Salad

• 1 cup lentils
• 6 medium potatoes
• 5 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
• 1 seeded jalapeno pepper, minced
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1 T dried parsley
• 2 medium tomatoes,diced

 Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook lentils according to package directions, just until tender (15-20 minutes). Drain and cool.
2. Cook potatoes until tender.  Cool and dice. 
3. Mix lentils, potatoes, onions, jalapeno, celery, and parsley in large bowl.
4. Whisk together the vinegar, oil and seasonings for the vinaigrette; toss together with salad.
5. Add diced tomatoes and toss gently.  Serve immediately or refrigerate to serve later.  Toss gently before serving as the vinaigrette tends to settle to the bottom.

Makes approximately 10 cups

Susan indicated that her recipe would serve 2 (I'm guessing as a vegetarian main dish), so I doubled everything, needing enough to take to the potluck and share.  It made a very nice sized salad, and I even had leftovers to bring home, so I was able to enjoy it with my lunch several days the rest of the week.  Yeah, it made a lot.

This salad turned out quite tasty; I really enjoyed the combination of potatoes and lentils. It is very good on its own or as an accompaniment.  Susan's recipe called for fresh parsley and rosemary, but I settled for dried since that's what I had.  I also used diced tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes, because I am getting tomatoes out of my garden now, and I wanted to use some of those.  Oh, and also used a jalapeno because I'm getting a bunch of those from the garden too.  As always, I think that's the best way to cook - use what you have on hand!

The only thing I think needed adjusted was the salt, so just taste and adjust seasonings according to your own taste.  Susan boiled her potatoes in well salted water (which I only just noticed when I sat down to post the recipe), and I baked mine in my crockpot, so I'm sure that made a bit of a difference.

An InLinkz Link-up

Lentil Garlic Soup

I thought for sure I had posted this recipe already, but when I started looking for it so I could make this soup, I realized it wasn't here.  Thankfully I printed the recipe in 2001, so I was still able to make soup.  Yes, I've been making this soup for a few years now.

Lentil Garlic Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 T olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 4 to 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 to 4 cups water, to bring total liquid to 8 cups
• 16 oz. bag lentils, rinsed
• 1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
• lemon wedges

Directions:

1. Heat oil in 5-quart pan.  Add onions and garlic; cook until onions are soft, stirring frequently.  Add salt and cumin and cook until fragrant.
2. Add broth, water, and lentils; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.  Add tomatoes and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes more.
3. Serve with lemon wedges and crackers.

I really like this soup.  It's simple and tasty.  I especially like it after it's been cooled and then reheated.  It gets thicker and better each time.

Definitely do not forget the lemon wedges.  They add the perfect finishing touch to the soup.  Just squeeze the juice over your soup and drop the wedge in.  So good!

Tuscan Chicken Soup

When I saw the recipe for Tuscan Chicken Stew on South Your Mouth, I knew I had to try it.  It just looked so good.   Of course, I didn't quite follow the original recipe, but I did use basically the same ingredients, and I kept all the seasonings the same.  I think it turned out great.

This soup is sure to become a favorite around here. I will definitely be making it again. It's super flavorful and easy to make.

Tuscan Chicken Soup
adapted from South Your Mouth

 Ingredients:

• 1-2 T olive oil
• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 3 carrots, diced
• 5 medium potatoes, diced
• 1 15-oz. can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 bay leaf

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large Dutch oven (6 quart); add chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add onion, garlic, and celery; cook until chicken is no longer pink and vegetables are soft, stirring frequently.  Add seasonings and cook for a few minutes until fragrant.  Stir in carrots, potatoes, beans, and tomatoes and then add broth, water and bay leaf.
2. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes with lid slightly cracked, stirring occasionally.  Add additional salt and pepper to taste.  Cook a few minutes longer if needed, until carrots and potatoes are done.

I made this soup one day and then reheated it the next.  I think all soups get better when you reheat them, and some absolutely have to be made a day before you want to eat it.  I think this one would be good either way.   I made fresh cornbread to go with the soup, which was really good.  It would also be good with some nice crusty bread.

I used the1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, and the soup had a nice kick to it.  My husband, who does not like his food very spicy at all, didn't complain and really liked the soup, but if you don't like a lot of spice you'll probably want to cut the measurement down to 1/4 tsp. - at least the first time.

Black Beans and Rice

I made this a while back to go with some crockpot chicken fajitas (not the exact recipe, but similar).  Normally I just make some cilantro lime rice, but I didn't have any cilantro so I figured I'd try something different.  The fajitas definitely need some kind of rice because they always turn out so juicy.  I just put some rice on my plate and then hold over the rice while I eat, and all the juices go into the rice and make it even more yummy. (and keep me from having to just lick all those juices off the plate, because they definitely should not be wasted)

Black Beans and Rice
adapted from allrecipes

Ingredients:

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
• water

Directions:

1. In large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high.  Add onion; cook and stir until tender.
2. Add oregano, garlic powder, cumin, and rice; cook for a few minutes, until fragrant.
3. Drain liquid from tomatoes into measuring cup; add water to equal 2 cups.  Stir tomatoes and beans into saucepan; then add water.
4. Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes before serving.

This rice had a really nice flavor on its own and was especially good with the juices from the chicken.  I really love the addition of the beans.  Cilantro stirred in would have been excellent, but since I didn't have any we just had to do without.

I ended up mixing the leftover chicken fajita mix with the leftover rice and adding a can of tomatoes or so - it's been a while; I can't remember exactly - and we had soup.  It made really good soup, too.

Homemade Salsa

I have a couple other recipes for homemade salsa, but decided I better save this one too when I saw it on facebook today.  It looks really easy and good.

Homemade Salsa

Chop 5-6 Roma tomatoes,1 small onion and 1/2 cup fresh Cilantro. Mince 2 seeded Serrano or Jalapeño peppers and 1 clove of garlic. Add 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything together and let sit overnight for flavors to meld.

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Israeli Cucumber and Tomato Salad

I found this recipe in the Food section of my newspaper.  I'm not sure why this is called Israeli salad - they probably told me in the article that the recipe came with, but I didn't read that.  What I do know is that I knew I had to try it the minute I read the recipe.  So many yummy flavors all in one salad!  So far I've made it twice.

Israeli Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Ingredients

• 1 cucumber, cut into small dice
• 4 to 5 Roma tomatoes, cut into small dice
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 avocado, diced
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Place cucumber, tomato, onion, cilantro and avocado in a medium bowl.  Add lemon juice, olive oil and salt & pepper to taste.  Toss gently to combine.

To prepare ahead: You can prepare the salad early in the day.  cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Of course, it's salad - so feel free to vary the ingredients to suit your taste - more cucumber, more tomato - more avocado! 

So yummy.

Italian Style Chicken

I found this recipe in the Food section of my newspaper. It's a keeper!

Italian Style Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1-1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 3/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. coarse salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 large thinly sliced onion
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 T quick-cooking tapioca
• 2 cans (15 oz.) rinsed cannellini beans Great Northern beans
  
• 1 10-oz. pkg. frozen spinach, thawed
• 1/2 cup fresh basil torn into small pieces

Directions:

1. Place chicken in a 4-quart or larger slow cooker and sprinkle with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Scatter onion over chicken.
2. Stir together tomatoes, broth and tapioca; pour over onions.  
3. Cover and cook on high 4-1/2 hours or on low 6-1/2 hours.
4. Stir in beans and spinach; cook 30 minutes more on low.  Stir in basil and serve.

The flavors in this were so good together!  It turned out soupier than I was expecting, but I think that was because I used pearl tapioca instead of instant - it's what I had - and I think I messed it up by soaking it in hot water instead of cold.  Looking back on it, I could have just mixed the tapioca with the cold broth and tomatoes and let it soak in that overnight - since I mixed this up the day before and then cooked it in the morning.  Either way, I'll try it again, whether with instant tapioca or the same kind - to see if there's a difference.  It didn't really matter, because it tasted great.  I just cooked up some fettuccine and served it with that and some sliced sourdough bread.

The original recipe called for bone-in chicken thighs, but I read it wrong and got the boneless thighs out of the freezer.  I don't really like boned chicken in crockpot recipes because it ends up falling apart, and you always have to be on the lookout for bones.  So, I stuck with the boneless.  It was great, because it did fall apart, and there were pieces of chicken all through.  I cooked it on high most of the time, and probably got closer to the 6-1/2 hours than the 4-1/2.

I used Great Northern beans, which I cooked in my crockpot, instead of the cannellini beans - because that's what I had.  The original recipe called for 1/2 cup sliced black olives instead of the spinach, but at least one of the people who would be eating this doesn't like olives, so I left them out.  And the spinach?  The original recipe didn't call for it, but it just seemed like it should have spinach - so I added it.  I didn't actually measure, but a 10-oz. package ought to be about right.  You can add olives instead of the spinach or along with the spinach.

Update (1/29/16) -  This recipe was Lori's September 2015 SRC pick over on lori's culinary creations.  She added a handful of orzo to the crockpot along with the beans and spinach.  I just finally got around to making this again, and followed her suggestion and added 1/2 cup orzo.  I could have added a bit more, but it was really good.  I am going to have to do that from now on.

Also, I used chicken breasts, because that's what I had.  They aren't as good as the thighs, so I will definitely use thighs from  now on.  And, Great Northern beans are better than cannellini.  I will use those from now on, no matter what the recipe says.

Butternut Chicken Chili

I took this for a potluck this weekend, and everyone really liked it.

I was going to make my Corn Lover's Veg Stew - which I love - but followed a link to Butternut Chicken Stew on Simple Daily Recipes and decided to make a version of that.  I will be making this again!

 Butternut Chicken Chili

Ingredients: 

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed 
• 1/2 small butternut squash, peeled & cubed
• 1 small bell pepper, chopped (can use frozen)
• 1-1/2 tsp Chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 can cooked red beans (or kidney beans)
• 1 (14.5oz) can tomatoes
• 1 T tomato paste
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup frozen corn

Directions:

1. Over medium high heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion begins to soften.
2. Add boneless skinless chicken thighs and cook until no longer pink, adding the peppers when chicken is almost cooked.
3. Lower heat to medium and add seasonings.  Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, while peeling and cubing the butternut squash.  Add squash as you get it cubed and stir to coat with oil and seasonings.
4. Once all the squash has been added, add beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, and broth.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for about an hour or until squash is soft, stirring occasionally.  Add corn during the last 15 minutes.
6. Enjoy!

I made cornbread muffins to go with it, and it was amazing!

As with any soup, stew, or chili, feel free to adjust any ingredients to use what you have on hand or to suit your preferences.  Substitute chicken breasts or pre-cooked chicken (maybe from a rotisserie chicken), add more tomatoes or more beans, less broth, all chicken broth - it's up to you!

Vegetable Oven Pancake

I posted a recipe a while back for a Puffed Oven Pancake we really liked.  I served it with fried apples and thought of it as breakfast or dessert or 'breakfast for dinner'.  It never occurred to me to try vegetables or that it could be a main dish - until I saw this recipe, and then I just had to try it.  We had this for dinner one night last week.

Vegetable Oven Pancake

Ingredients:

• 2 T butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 2 cups fresh broccoli florets
• 1 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Place butter in a 9-in. pie plate or cast iron skillet; heat in a 450° oven until melted. Carefully tilt pan to coat bottom and sides. In a large bowl, beat the flour, eggs, milk and 1/4 teaspoon salt until smooth. Pour into pie plate. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until puffed around the edges and golden brown.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the broccoli, green pepper, tomato and onion in water for 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain well. Add pepper and remaining salt.
3. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese over pancake; top with vegetables and remaining cheese. Bake 3-4 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Cut into four wedges; serve immediately. Yield: 4 servings.

recipe from Taste of Home

Of course, this is just the basic recipe.  The lady who submitted the recipe to Taste of Home said that they like to vary the vegetables depending on what's in season, so...

I used 1/2 a medium onion, 1 green pepper, 2 cups chopped zucchini, 2 handfuls chopped chard, and 3 Roma tomatoes - all things chopped, whether I said so or not.  Everything but the onion came straight out of my garden!  Instead of cooking the vegetables in water, I sauteed everything in a little olive oil starting with the onion and pepper, and then adding the zucchini and chard and finally the tomatoes when everything else was mostly cooked.

4 servings?  Really?  Jeffrey and I ate the whole thing ourselves.  We really liked it.  I thought maybe it had too much cheese, but Jeffrey thought it was just right.  Next time I want to add a touch more salt to the vegetables, and even though it says to cut into wedges and serve immediately, I think it needs to sit for a few minutes when you take it out of the oven, so the cheese can set up a bit.  Other than that - perfect!  I will definitely be making this again.
 

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Butternut and Potato Bake

This is so good and so easy.  I don't really know what I should call it - it needs a creative name.  Anyway, my mother-in-law was the one who got me started making this.  Before that I always thought of Butternut squash as a sweet thing, for pies or to be baked with brown sugar and cinnamon.  This is better!  Or as good, in a different way.

Butternut and Potato Bake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• chopped onion
• chopped green pepper
• Butternut squash (cubed)
• Potatoes (peeled and cubed)
• olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 can (14 oz.) diced tomatoes, with juice

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef with onion and pepper; drain fat.
2. Grease a 13x9" pan and add the squash and potatoes.  Note, there are no real measurements here; just throw in whatever looks good.
3. Add browned beef, drizzle with some olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
4. Spread tomatoes on top and bake at 375° for an hour or more, stirring once or twice, until squash and potatoes are soft.
5. Enjoy!

Cook this for at least an hour.  Longer, and the potatoes and squash get browned and roasted and yummy, which I really like.  It all depends on what you like and how much time you have.
 

Tomato Vegetable Stew with Cheddar Dumplings

Here's another recipe I cut from the newspaper. This is so good!  My husband says he doesn't like tomatoes, so he's not super excited when I make this, but he will eat it without complaining too much, especially if I serve him some kind of meat on the side.  Me, I love it.  I think the flavors are so perfect together.

Tomato Vegetable Stew with Cheddar Dumplings

Stew:

• 1 T. olive oil
• 2 large onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
• 1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) chicken broth
• 2 cups frozen green beans
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1/4 tsp. pepper or hot sauce to taste

Dumplings:

• 1-1/2 cup flour
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 2/3 cup milk

Directions:

1. In Dutch oven with lid, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add onions and celery.  Cook and stir until celery is tender.  Add remaining stew ingredients: diced tomatoes with juice, chicken broth, green beans, basil and hot sauce.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat; simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until beans are tender.  Taste and adjust seasoning; add salt if canned tomatoes and broth were not salty.
2. For dumplings, put flour, baking powder, salt and dry mustard in medium mixing bowl and stir well.  Using pastry blender, two table knives, or fork, cut shortening into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in shredded cheddar.  Add milk and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.
3. Drop by tablespoonfuls over the simmering stew.  Cover and cook over medium-low heat 10 to 15 minutes or until dumplings are firm. 

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

I get a lot of recipes from the newspaper and from magazines. If a recipe looks good, I clip it. Unfortunately, I have yet to find the perfect way to organize them so that I can find them later and actually try them. If only my clippings could at least be in a regular consistent size, like notebook paper size or even postcards, then I could sort and store them in a binder or a box or something. And if only two recipes I want didn't always seem to be printed on opposite sides of the same page!  I'm really going to have to buckle down and post more of the recipes I really like or really want to try - or figure out if I can find them on the magazine or newspaper websites and save them from there, instead of trying to keep track of so many newspaper clippings!

I like the idea of posting the recipes, because then I'm sharing, too - but it just takes time.  Anyway, try this.  It's yummy!

We Ninja'd Some Salsa Today!

A while back I found this recipe for the world's easiest ice cream, which I still haven't tried, but I'm going to. I shared the link on Facebook, and one of my friends said she wanted one of those Ninjas. Ninjas? What? So I went back to the recipe and checked out the Ninja, read the reviews, and decided I wanted one, too.  I've been toying with buying a Vita-Mix for the last several years at the State Fair, but I'm just too cheap to get one.  Some of the people who reviewed this said they liked the Ninja better than the Vita-Mix, and my brother who has a Vita-Mix said they mostly use it for smoothies and ice cream - and they do use it several times a month, but not as often as they could.  So, when I weighed the cost and the potential use, I figured $40 (w/ shipping) for the Ninja (with an extra pitcher and extra 2-cup bowl, found new on ebay) was a lot better than $450 for the Vita-Mix.

My Ninja came in the mail yesterday, and I just had to try it today. First Cory and I crushed ice and made some iced coffee - yum! And then I made some salsa!

Fresh Ninja Salsa

Ingredients:

• 4 Roma tomatoes, cut in 4 pieces
• 1/4 small onion
• 2 hot peppers, split and deseeded
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• pinch of oregano
• pinch of cumin

Directions:

Add all ingredients to the bowl. Use short pulses, about 3 times or until desired consistency is reached.

Serve with tortilla chips. Makes about 2-1/2 cups.

I pretty much followed the recipe in the book that came with my Ninja - except I used two hot peppers (because Cory wanted them) instead of 1, I didn't use the 1/2 tsp. sugar, and I didn't have a lime so I used lemon juice - cut a small half and didn't squeeze all of the juice out. Also, the recipe called for cilantro, which would have been so good in this, but I didn't have any. Even without it, this salsa was amazing - and so easy!

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Zucchini Hamburger Pie

We had this for dinner tonight. Since I have zucchini from the garden and tomatoes from the garden, it's only right to use them. This has a really nice flavor.

Zucchini Hamburger Pie

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
• 1/2 cup diced green pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg; lightly beaten
• Single pastry crust
• 4 cups sliced zucchini; divided
• 2 medium tomatoes; thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Brown meat with onions, salt and garlic salt; drain. Stir in green pepper, oregano, parsley, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and egg until well mixed; set aside.
2. Spread 2 cups zucchini in pie pan or casserole dish; cover with meat mixture. Top with tomato slices and rest of zucchini. Cover with pie crust, cutting steam vents.
3. Put into preheated 350° oven and bake 1 hour or until crust is lightly browned.

The original recipe called for a double pastry crust, but there seems to be too much liquid in the filling so that the bottom crust turns out soggy. It is better with just the top crust.

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this post has been edited to add a picture! (especially for Tisha)

Ratatouille

I've got lots of zucchini and peppers from the garden, and I bought some eggplant from the Farmers' Market this week so I could make this. And it is so good.

Ratatouille

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 medium eggplant, cut in 1-inch pieces
• 1 large green pepper, cut in 1-inch pieces
• 3 medium zucchini, cut in 1-inch-thick slices
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 T salt
• 2 t. oregano leaves
• 1 t. sugar
• 1 can diced tomatoes

Directions:

1. In 6-quart Dutch oven or saucepot over medium heat, cook onion and garlic in hot olive oil until tender, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add eggplant and the green pepper; cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Stir in zucchini, water, salt, oregano and sugar; heat to boiling.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 10 minutes.
4. Stir in tomatoes and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.  Serve hot or follow step 5.
5. Cover vegetable mixture and refrigerate to serve cold later.

The original recipe actually said to cut the garlic clove in half and then discard it prior to adding the eggplant and green pepper.  Not a chance.  I just minced it and left it in.  Also, I used one large zucchini and substituted the can of diced tomatoes for the 2 fresh tomatoes (cut in wedges and added at the very end) called for in the original recipe.  My tomatoes are just now starting to ripen, so I didn't have any to use yet.

I let this cool down to refrigerate for tomorrow.  I'm trying to decide whether I should heat it back up or serve it cold.  I couldn't help myself and ate some when it was lukewarm, and that seemed like the perfect temperature.  What do you think - hot or cold?

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