5-minute supper!

 

Tonight, I wanted soup. But I didn't want to spend time in the kitchen, obviously. (That's what extreme burnout does to me...)

So I took stock of what I had on hand and it hit me: with just 5 minutes of work, we can have tomato soup with rice and croutons!

Here's what I did:

Tomato Soup with Rice

1-1.5 cups leftover cooked brown rice
1 large can crushed tomatoes

Water - the amount that fits in the empty can
1/2 tsp. dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp. dried garlic flakes
1/2 tsp salt
a pinch of hot pepper flakes
a couple dashes of coarsely ground black pepper

Mix it all together in a pot and heat on the stove until heated all the way through.
Serve with croutons.

Quick croutons

Several pieces of leftover challah/bread
spray oil
granulated garlic
dash of salt
dash of pepper

Cut the challah/bread into small pieces. Sprinkle salt, garlic, and pepper over the pieces of bread. Spray with oil.
Bake at 220C until golden brown.
Serve with soup or salad.

Enjoy!!

Find more quick meal ideas HERE

Purim Seudah (posted late)

We had guests for seudat purim, and I hope they didn't leave hungry.

Here's a recap of our menu:

Homemade whole wheat/oatmeal/flaxseed rolls, with butter or cream cheese


Tomato Soup with roasted red peppers (I made this in the crockpot: First, I pan-roasted - in my cast iron pan - onions, red peppers, and tomatoes - each separately - in olive oil. Place those in crock pot, along with 2/3 cup brown rice. Add tomato paste (I used about 1 kg for my super huge crock pot) and water or vegetable stock, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. Cook on high for about 6 hrs.)

Teriyaki/Ginger salmon steaks (major splurge, but they were on sale for 48.99NIS/kg)

Spicy Roasted new potatoes


Corn Bread


Cut vegetables - avocado, carrots, cucumbers, red peppers


Hamantaschen


A couple bottles of wine, for those interested.

What did you do for seudah?

Tomato Soup with Black Beans and Rice

Today's soup was a variation on tomato soup with rice. It tasted great, and is loaded with nutritious ingredients, so I figured I'd share! You can vary this soup yourself, it is so forgiving.

1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 fennel bulb, chopped
3-5 large leaves of cabbage, chopped
Heat 1 T. olive oil in a large soup pot, add the above ingredients, and cook, stirring, till limp and fragrant, but not carmelized.

Add
1 c. brown rice
Stir well

Add:
2 chopped tomatoes
Stir well

Add
water or soup stock (about 8-10 cups)
250 g. (approx) tomato paste
1 c. black beans, cooked and drained
salt, pepper, basil, other herbs to taste

Bring soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer till the rice is fully cooked (at least 40 min for brown rice)
Serve hot.

Yum! Yes really there are black beans in there, they are just settling to the bottom of the bowl, so hard to see

Enjoy!

















This post was shared with My Legume Love Affair #43 in January 2012. (Find out more about this here)

Sunday, January 22, 2012 - Warming foods

It is cold and rainy. And it has been for several days. At first I thought today was going to be spent dealing with an electrical crisis at our house - we came home last night to a house that had electricity in only half of it. A little while later, it came back on though, much to my relief, although I still am guessing there is faulty wiring here somewhere, and perhaps water coming into contact with said faulty wiring....
In any case, I CAN cook today after all! So tonight's supper is mostly warming foods:

Tomato Soup with black beans and rice

Baked Potatoes / Baked Sweet Potatoes

Cucumber slices with dip of some sort (the one not warming food, we have cucumbers here to use up, and since cucumbers seem to have gone up in price lately, we are trying EXTRA hard not to waste any!)

Cauliflower something or other - I have a head of cauliflower to use up! - I think I will chop it fine in the food processor and mix with a few things and make some sort of cauliflower casserole. IF it's good, I'll report back!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Still cold out, and it's supposed to rain. Not just rain, maybe even a thunderstorm. THAT makes me want to crawl back under my covers! So, here's a menu for warming us all up:

Creamy tomato soup - saute onion (in butter) with salt and allspice, till onion is translucent and fragrant. sprinkle in 2 T. flour and cook 5 min more, while stirring. Add chopped tomatoes (canned or fresh - with fresh, you'll have to cook it longer, but it gives it a really great flavor if you have great tomatoes) and 1/4 t. baking soda. mix the pot and allow to simmer for about 30 min. (but watch it and stir it occasionally) Add water as needed, honey, black pepper if desired. Add a bay leaf to the pot.  Continue to simmer (about another 10 min.). Remove the bay leaf before you add 1 cup of milk or half and half (add it slowly). Don't bring to a boil after adding the milk, just gently reheat and serve (with croutons!)

Grilled cheese sandwiches


Steamed or roasted vegetables (depends what I find in my fridge!)

Tuesday Night, May 31, 2011

No time to write today, so here's the menu:

Pita Crisps

Creamy tomato soup (saute onions and garlic in olive oil, add diced tomatoes and water or soup stock. bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10-15 min. puree. add salt and pepper, honey (optional), and 1/4 tsp baking soda. add optional milk or cream and reheat gently)

Broccoli "burgers" - I had some odds and ends lying around. I put the following ingredients in my food processor: broccoli, walnuts, sesame seeds, oats, sauteed onions, process. transfer to a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste, and 1/4 - 1/2 c. hot water. mix well and let sit for 5 minutes. form patties and fry in cast iron frying pan. (I made these early in the day!)

Homemade French Fries

Make-your-own-salad

Monday Night, March 28, 2011

Ok -
Quick! What's for dinner? It's a busy day and I'm sneezing my head off... and trying to stick to my pantry challenge...
Quick survey of the kitchen reveals lots of tomatoes and leftover whole wheat bread...

So I made:
Tomato Soup -  I used every shortcut I can... saute onions and garlic in olive oil. Add diced, fresh, ripe tomatoes (I used about 7-8 good sized ones), cover the pot and simmer for about 10 min. over med-low heat. Add water, salt, pepper, and a teaspoon or 2 of honey. Bring to a boil, then simmer for as long as you can manage. Puree with your handy-dandy immersion blender. I also added 1/4 tsp of baking soda to cut the acid for my reflux-girl.

Grilled Cheese sandwiches

Cut veggies

Tuesday Night (Feb.15, 2011)

Tuesday is turning into a busy day for us! I have a feeling it will be one of those days when we get home at 6 p.m. from running around all day, famished.

I think it will be a crock pot day!


Here's what we'll be eating:

Tomato Soup -  Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. place in crock pot with crushed tomatoes, soup stock (I love keeping soup stock in my freezer - made from all the vegetable trimmings that otherwise would have gone to waste!), a few tablespoons of tomato paste, honey or other sweetener, ground black pepper, and bay leaves. Cook on low for 8 hrs. Don't forget to remove the bay leaves before serving, and puree if desired. I don't usually bother to puree this soup.

Toasted sandwiches - We have leftover pitot, so we'll fill them with tomatoes, peppers, avocados, olives, etc and sprinkle with cheese, and toast.

Fresh Veggies on the side - Whatever is still in the fridge! (I think we're down to carrots and cucumbers)

Apple Crisp - Diced apples sprinkled with cinnamon, covered with oats mixed with sugar and healthy oil, and baked till smells delicious. I'll assemble this in advance and put it in the oven as soon as we walk in the door.

How do you feed your crew on busy days?