Vegetable & Ravioli Soup

 This is so easy to make and to change up for another time. If you love making your own pasta, you could make your own ravioli. Here I take the easy way out and stick with a frozen 4 cheese ravioli.

Chop some onion, peppers and garlic to saute up in your soup pan. When that's ready, add your herbs and seasoning to mix together quickly. Then add 4C of broth. I used store bought veggie broth, but you can use whatever you'd like. Add 28oz of crushed tomatoes and some other veggies you'd like. I used green beans and cannellini beans. Bring to a boil and add your ravioli. Let that boil the appropriate time and serve up with some grated parmesan and parsley.

So quick and easy on a busy day and super filling. A nice Italian white would be the perfect accompaniment, and some warm crusty bread.

Enjoy!

                      Stuffed Poblanos

So, it's another stuffed pepper night, one of Mark's favorites. I don't like them. I don't know why, I like peppers alright, I guess it's the old meatloaf like stuffing. So I try to make mine different. Tonight it's a Mexican Chicken filling, and you really don't need to measure anything, just throw it in there.

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded

1 can black beans

1 can diced tomatoes

1 small white onion, diced

chili sauce, minced garlic, chili powder, cumin, cilantro, oregano, paprika

Shredded pepper jack, cheddar, and colby cheeses

12 poblano peppers with the tops removed.

(I chop up the tops and add them to my filling)

I sauteed the onion, peppers and garlic in olive oil. Then I added everything

else to warm up. I let it simmer till it was well mixed, then removed it from the heat and added my shredded cheeses. Stirred till it was goopy. Filled the peppers

and roasted in the oven. Honestly, grilling them with some smoke is better, but I was limited today.

Let them roast or smoke 20-30 min. 400 in an oven, and your grill if it's temp controlled.

Serve with rice, guacamole, and margarittas.

Roasted Beet Salad

I am trying to boost my spleen chi. Been trying for months and may have to acquire some Chinese herbs to help, but in the meantime, I can eat this yummy beet salad to help.

Roast some fresh beets. You can get a mixture of golden and red beets if you like. Wash and trim them, leaving them whole with skin on. Place the beets in a foil pouch, drizzle with oil and close the pouch loosely around them. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 1 hour. (The size of the beets may alter cooking time)

Remove from oven when they are fork tender, open the pouch to let steam escape, and let them cool.
Once cool enough to handle, you can peel the skins right off. 
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO4MHOEPVYM)

Dress with a citrus dressing and let chill in the fridge. Serve over a bed of baby greens.

Citrus Dressing (You can make as much or as little as you need)
Zest an orange
Juice a lemon, lime and orange
Grind some fennel seeds
Thinly slice 1 shallot
Mix thoroughly while drizzling in some quality olive oil
Pour over beets to chill. Save some for other salads

Charred Summer Squash Risotto

Charred Summer Squash Risotto

Cut your yellow squash or zucchini into chunks. Season with Tuscan herbs and spices. In a nonstick pan melt a table spoon of butter over high heat. As soon as that's melted toss in your squash. Stir to coat all pieces with the butter, then let the pan sit still for a few minutes so the squash gets a good brown on it. Flip the pan, or pieces over to char other side. Immediately remove from heat.

Cook your risotto according to package, using vegetable broth. The last 10 minutes, add some half & half along with the parmesan to finish into a creamy risotto. Fold in your charred squash and top with lemon zest.

Beango Salad (black bean and mango)

Beango Salad

Drain and rinse a 15 oz can of black beans.

Zest and juice one lime. Put this in the bottom of a shallow bowl. Drizzle in a little quality olive oil. Stir in a tablespoon of orange blossom honey, a little cumin and minced fresh cilantro.

Finely chop a small red onion, a small red sweet pepper and 3 serrano peppers.

Add to the lime juice mixture and stir in your drained beans. Add chunks of fresh mango, tossing till all is mixed through. Let sit about 30 minutes before serving.

Makes a great afternoon protein snack!!

Ginger Syrup and Candied Ginger

I have been having tummy issues thanks in part to taking steroids and nsaids for most of my life.
So for queasiness I have been resorting to natural remedies, and one I love is ginger.

Today I was feeling particularly queasy when I had to stop by Walmart for some cat food.
So I headed right to the produce section and found the ginger root.
I figured I could make some ginger syrup to pour in my tea to soothe my tummy. It is so simple to make; just 1C sugar and 1C water, sliced ginger and simmer away for about 30 min. Personally I use about 3/4C sugar since I don't like it as sweet.

Now that I was done, I thought, isn't it a shame to throw all this good ginger away? And I had been toying with the idea of making my own candied ginger, again to soothe a queasy tum tum. So here it is, ready made for me. All I had to do was spread it out, sprinkle with a little more sugar and let it dry. I wanted to put it on a rack, but the pieces were too little, so I just spread it out on parchment. It's taking a little longer to dry, but it will be perfect.

Here it is drying with my syrup cooling behind it. I look forward to having homemade ginger without all the preservatives and such.

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

My new favorite sauce for pasta is a roasted red pepper sauce. It is so versatile that you can make different flavors and intensities, depending on what you like.

Start with your roasted peppers. You'll need 3-4 medium size peppers. If you'd like to add some heat, or sweetness, try roasting jalapenos or banana peppers along side. You can also roast your garlic and onion too if you want to get really creative.  Roast them in your oven at 450 for 20 minutes or so. Turning them occasionally to get them evenly charred on all sides. Put them in a paper bag to cool and let the steam loosen the skins.

After they are cool, remove the skins and puree them in a blender. If you roasted all your other items, you can just blend them all here. You'll need some liquid to help, so choose a nice dry white wine, the zest and juice of one lemon. Bring to a sauce consistency that you prefer. I like mine thick. This goes great with shrimp or veggie pasta. If you are serving with red meat, use a nice dry red to bring to consistency.

Once you have the basics down, you can add other flavors.
Make a creamy sauce with milk or cheese. Add ground fennel to compliment sausage.
Throw in some nice chopped basil for a dip. Add pine nuts for a red pesto.

Feel free to share your favorite version here.