Minestrone Soup Recipe

I had a request for a minestrone soup recipe, and since it's a favorite around here, I figured I will share mine today!

It's not so much a recipe though.

I truly feel like cooking is so much more interesting when you don't have to follow someone's rules, instead you can be as creative as you like in the process of creating delicious food...

So here's what I do:

Heat 1-2 Tbp. olive oil in a heavy bottomed soup pot.
Add diced onion, chopped garlic, diced peppers, zucchini/kishuim, and any other veggies you want to use (I usually add celery, chopped tomatoes, broccoli stalks, eggplant, mushrooms... really whatever I feel like).
Cook over med heat, stirring occasionally. You want the veggies to brown somewhat. The key here is to really use a lot of vegetables.
Add soup stock to mostly fill the pot, and about 500g tomato paste (unless of course you are using a much larger/smaller pot than mine! I usually make a 5-7 quart pot)
Add black beans or lentils (if you want - my kids prefer when I leave them out).
Add seasonings - salt, pepper, basil, parsley and whatever else you want (I throw in a little cayenne pepper even)!
Stir, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 20 min. Add 1 cup of p'titim (a.k.a. Israeli couscous) or whatever small shape pasta you like to use, and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, till the p'titim/pasta is cooked.
Serve hot!

My favorite heavy-bottomed pot. Ignore the messy kitchen, please!

Easy Vegetable Soup

When making a vegetarian vegetable soup, I always saute all the veggies (I use a lot of vegetables!) in extra virgin olive oil, then cook, covered, to reduce, for 10-15 min. before adding any liquid. I don't know, I just think it tastes better this way in the end. I use onions (2 medium), garlic (5+ cloves), celery (2-5 stalks, depending on my mood), carrots (I often use as many as 8), zucchini/kishuim (2 or more large), and other veggies as the mood hits me. I season it with loads of fresh parsley and fresh dill, and freshly ground black pepper and salt. It's a really easy soup.

I often add egg noodles to make a vegetable-noodle soup.
This is one of my family's favorite ways to eat tons of vegetables.

Shabbat Menu

It's Thursday. Again - it came very quickly! Time to plan for Shabbat, and it's a special one - Shabbat Shira and Tu B'Shvat! Unfotunately, my kids and I have been taking turns being sick, so we're not up to having guests - just trying to avoid having to go to the ER is enough effort (asthma is awful). But despite all the coughing, wheezing, ear-aching, sneezing, and sniffling, we will try to make sure we have an uplifting Shabbat.

Here's the menu:

Homemade Challah (making a batch today)

Vegetable Soup with lots of kishuim (squash) (special request for lots of kishuim)

Black Bean Cholent (for lunch)

Pineapple Chicken (special request from my daughter)

Rice

Apple Kugel/Apple Crisp

Potato Kugel

Roasted Carrots and Beets

Make-your-own-salad, with whatever veggies I happen to have on hand

Fruit Platter for Tu B'Shvat: So far I have pears (which I haven't bought yet this season, so we can even make shehechiyanu), persimmons, kiwi, grapefruit, oranges, bananas. We'll see if we get any other fruit today or tomorrow.

Birthday Cake for my daughter, who was born 8 years ago, on Tu B'Shvat!

Here's my favorite vegetable soup recipe. It's actually not so much a recipe, as it is a method:

Chop/dice/ slice your soup vegetables - I usually use onions, garlic, celery, tons of carrots, zucchini, and other veggies as the mood hits me.

Sautee all the veggies in extra virgin olive oil, then cook, covered, to reduce, for 10-15 min. before adding any liquid. Fill the pot with water or vegetable stock (if you don't want a vegetarian soup, feel free to use your chicken stock). Season with salt, pepper, parsley, dill, and any other herbs you love in your soup! Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 1/2 an hour. You *could* cook it longer, making sure not to boil off too much liquid, but you don't need to.
It's a really easy soup.

What are you making for Shabbat Tu B'Shvat/Shabbat Shira? Anything special?

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Quick menu recap!

Vegetable/Cauliflower soup (pureed so my cauliflower "haters" won't know it's in there. If they can't see it, they eat it!)


Rice and Butternut Squash Casserole - sauteed onions, garlic, fennel, butternut squash cubes, craisins, pistachios and rice in a casserole dish. Add salt, pepper, ground cinnamon, etc and pour liquid in (I used my freshly made vegetable soup stock). Cover and bake for an hour. Right now my house smells so delish!

Monday Night, May 17, 2011

So, what's this Healthy Eema going to do? I'd been buying whole wheat pasta at Yesh for about 4.50 NIS per package, and it's a lot more expensive in other places. But now it seems Yesh isn't carrying whole wheat pasta anymore! And I don't think my family will just give up their macaroni and cheese addiction, and I am not switching back to white pasta. So - please, dear readers, if you are in Israel, please tell me which supermarket chain carries whole wheat pasta for under 5 NIS per package (500 g package, that is)!

In the meantime, we have to have a pasta-free menu...

So, Monday night's menu will be:

Vegetable soup (leftover from last night)

Lentils - prepared very simply so reflux girl will eat something

Artichokes - I think I've mentioned how psyched my younger children are about artichokes, and I found them for 4 NIS/kilo today...

Eggplant baked with a creamy-smoked cheese sauce

Tomatoes with basil and olive oil

And something else that the kids will eat instead of eggplant (usually it would be macaroni and cheese) but I don't know what that will be... wish me luck and creativity!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

While it's really nice to get away sometimes for Shabbat, and have someone else (a hotel!) responsible for all the cooking and dishwashing, it's also really great to be back home. And my kids decided that after eating catered foods, they would stop complaining and start appreciating Eema's home-cooked foods. They all said they like my food better than the hotel food... (It took a lot of convincing to get them to try the foods that were served!)

So, on tonight's menu - it's slim pickings in my house right now since I didn't shop and cook before Shabbat. We'll make do with:

Vegetable soup with noodles

Cucumber and Carrot sticks with Ranch-style dip


Embellished Grilled Cheese sandwiches (optional additions: red peppers, olives, tomatoes, onions)

Sunday Night, April 3, 2011

Pesach is getting closer! How's your pantry challenge coming along?
I rummaged through the freezer, and my produce and here's what I pulled together tonight:

Vegetable soup (I even used the pureed cauliflower in it! Also used some of that 1 NIS/kilo cabbage in it!)
Fish Sticks (bought these a while ago, and though they are not healthy and not frugal, I occasionally serve them because some of my kids like them!)
Spicy Roast Potatoes
Cheesy Garlic Bread
Carrot Sticks

Thursday Night, Post-Taanit Ester

Looks like I have a feast to prepare. Several of them!

I wonder if I can double-up some of the preparation, and serve some things more than once.

Here's how we'll be breaking the fast:

Vegetable Soup (my usual, saute onions, garlic, celery, carrots, and any other soup worthy vegetables. lower the flame and cook, covered, for 10 min. then add soup stock, spices, salt and pepper. simmer until you need to serve it. the longer it cooks, the more complex the flavor...)

Broccoli Quiche - if I run out of time, this will be a crustless quiche.

Baked Potatoes

Artichokes - love those dancing children! (see Tuesday's post if you're not sure what I mean!)


Salad - right now I have tomatoes, purple cabbage, cucumbers, and red peppers. perhaps i'll throw in a sliced carrot, too.

Tuesday Night, March 8, 2011

I'm so tired; one of my kids has a cold that is not going away on its own. I'm starting to get concerned... and it's wearing her out and wearing me out. We are not sleeping so well at night!

So, even though it feels like spring, we're still eating soup!

Here's my plan for Tuesday night:

Vegetable Soup (with extra garlic to help get rid of that cold)

Chick Pea & Tomato Salad - don't forget to soak the chickpeas overnight before cooking them! Combine cooked chick peas with diced tomatoes, olive oil, basil, salt, and pepper. (it really is worthwhile cooking the chick peas from scratch - the frozen and canned varieties cost so much more per kilo! and the cans may have BPA in them, so best to avoid them altogether...) I was considering making this a chick pea and roasted tomato salad... any idea how that would taste?

Cut Veggies (we have cherry tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and celery)

Baked Ziti or other pasta (something without tomato sauce for the picky kids!)


Banana Bread - I bought too many bananas and now we MUST find a way to use them!

We're definitely working our way through the pantry and freezer stuff. How about you?

Tuesday Night (Feb.22, 2011)

My house keeps turning into a sick house, and it's not fun. Everyone says this is part of the "klita" (absorption) process. I hope this part of our klita ends soon!

I'm going to have to keep our food simple and suitable (at least somewhat) for the sickies...

On the way to the table tonight:

Garlic Toast (I'll slice a baguette, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder or brush with roasted garlic)

Vegetable Soup (with a little extra garlic, to boost the immune system)

Rice

Stir-Fried Veggies (I have broccoli, red peppers, and mushrooms - should combine well!)

(And something else, I don't know what, so my husband will feel like it's a real meal...but I'll let him figure that out!)

Shabbat Parashat T'tzaveh (Feb. 11-12, 2011)

I have been pretty under the weather this week, and I am raiding my freezer for Shabbat, although I am making fresh chicken (my family likes it SOO much better fresh!), potato kugel (using up those potatoes before they sprout!) and fresh soup.

Here's what we're having:

Vegetable Soup

heat olive oil in soup pot, and saute onions, garlic, celery, thinly sliced carrots, and any other soup-worthy vegetables you have on hand. lower the heat and simmer for about 10 min. Add water or soup stock, herbs, spices, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer for at least 30 min. I usually simmer for 1 hr or longer. This helps develop a hearty flavor! (serve with kneidlach - not happening this week! - or soup nuts or lokshen)


Oven-"Fried" chicken

Lightly spray a baking sheet or roasting pan with olive oil.
Coat chicken pieces with a mixture of mayonnaise, ketchup and pepper (I sometimes use ground black pepper, sometimes cayenne pepper). Then dip in breading mixture of your choice (I use either crushed cornflakes seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder and parsley, or a mixture of corn meal and whole wheat flour or wheat bran with those same seasonings, but you can use whatever breading you prefer!). Place on pan, cover loosely with foil - shiny side down and bake at 375 F until chicken is fully cooked. you can uncover it for the last 10-15 min. to brown the tops better. (I use a convection oven and I find that it browns well enough with the foil on and cooking the chicken covered keeps in more of the moisture...)


Potato Kugel  

I use a very simple recipe with the following ingredients: potatoes, onions, eggs, oil, salt, pepper. sorry I can't give out proportions. I just make it up as I go along.

From the freezer:
Carrot kugel, Toasted Barley, Tofu something, Brownies and whatever other goodies I find in there on Friday!

I'll probably throw together a simple salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers; and if I'm really feeling energetic I'll make a soup or stew in the crock pot so we can have something hot for lunch.

What are you making for Shabbat?

Shabbat Menu

This week's Shabbat menu is built around the produce I got at Kim'at Chinam for 1 NIS/kilo, and the produce I got at Yesh for 1.99 NIS/kilo. Both really great deals! I just have to learn how to figure out how heavy 3 kg is, as the maximum you can usually get when they have these sales is 3 kg per type. Unfortunately, I lowballed all my purchases, and could have easily come home with twice as much produce for these awesome prices...

When we don't have guests, I try to keep my menus simple - that means fewer courses and fewer dishes, but still plenty of good food to fill everyone up! Since we have no guests this week, here's my plan:

Vegetable-Noodle Soup
Pomegranate Chicken
Pan-Fried Tofu Steaks for my favorite vegetarian (my 12 yr old - yes, a boy!)
Carrot Kugel
Oven Roasted Beets
Oven Roasted Cauliflower
Toasted Barley with Mushrooms
Salad - lettuce, purple cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and avocado
Lentil-Barley Stew (in the crock pot, for lunch)


Some notes about these dishes:

When making a vegetarian vegetable soup, I always sautee all the veggies in extra virgin olive oil, then cook, covered, to reduce, for 10-15 min. before adding any liquid. I don't know, I just think it tastes better this way in the end. I use onions, garlic, celery, tons of carrots, zucchini, and other veggies as the mood hits me. It's a really easy soup.
I also save all the trimmings from vegetables (don't use potato peelings or beet trimmings, though!) in gallon-size zipper-close bag in my freezer. when the bag is full, I simmer the trimmings in water for many hours in my huge stock pot, to make vegetable stock. Just make sure you strain it well when it's done. I then use some for the day's cooking, and freeze the rest in pint-size containers for later use.

Carrot Kugel - I usually make 6 of these at a time, and freeze for later. My 3 year old can't get enough of them, so I serve carrot kugel almost every week. I use a modified muffin recipe, bake in loaf pans, wrap well, and freeze.

Oven-Roasted Veggies - what could be easier!

The toasted barley recipe is new for my family, but I have promised them that we'll be trying out new dishes, in order to find some new favorites (this is what I need that vegetable stock for this week)