Thursday, April 14, 2011

what in the world will i cook come summer?!

i love soup.  any form, really...brothy, creamy, stewy, chily (get it...chili...)...yum.  since i love it so, soup makes a (VERY) regular appearance in the weekly menu at our house.  thus far this has not been a problem as it has been fall, winter and early spring filled with chilly (alright...so-cal's version) days.  but, as spring is warming up and flying by, it is going to be summer before i know it.  then what?? 

over the past few weeks, i've made broccoli cheddar, potato leek (the revisited failure, revamped and yum), artichoke, beef barley, (i feel like i'm missing one) and tonight, quinoa chili.  i must say, they were all pretty darn tasty.  i may have got a little cheese crazy with the broccoli cheddar (i have a tendency to do that). the potato leek was decidedly better than the original recipe and i would describe it as yummy, but i'm still not sure i'd make it again.  beef barley = delish.  the artichoke one could be tweaked a bit, but all in all, good flavor.  tonight's = bomb.  yup, i just said "bomb"...as in "the bomb...like the money..." anyone??  anyway, it was so good, that i wanted to share it!  i forgot to take pictures...doh!  but, worth making it and taking your own.  :)

this is originally a vegetarian recipe (well, i suppose vegan, really), but i decided to add ground turkey for a little more "umpf".  i also used chicken stock instead of veggie because i had it on hand and garnished it with a dollop of sour cream and some cheddar cheese (obviously not vegan garnishes...).  soooo good. 

oh...also, i should note, while some recipes claim to serve 8-10 people and actually serve four (or maybe we just eat gigantic portions in our house), this probably really does serve close to eight.  leftovers, here we come. 

oh...and one more thing - while delicious, the many veggies, quinoa and two kinds of beans combo could probably be used as some form of bio-fuel to propel an airplane from here to nyc, so...plan your schedule accordingly...if you know what i mean.  ;)

alright...so, quinoa chili - originally found on the picky palate blog

*one cup uncooked quinoa
*two tablespoons (maybe more...there are a lot of veggies!) grapeseed oil (she calls for extra virgin olive oil)
*one large onion, chopped
*five stalks of celery, chopped (i halved these lengthwise first)
*five carrots, peeled and sliced
*two bell peppers, one yellow, one orange, diced (her recipe calls for 5-6 sweet peppers...i couldn't find these, so i sub-ed...still yummy)
*one zucchini, quartered and sliced
*two yellow (like crookneck or whatever they're called...the small ones) squash, quartered and sliced
*four cloves of garlic, smashed and finely chopped...minced, whatever...
*32 oz of broth (i used chicken...but, you could use whatever you like or have around)
*two 15oz cans of diced tomatoes
*two cans of beans (i used one great northern white and one kidney.  her recipe calls for two cans white...i'm sure you could even sub black beans and healthy it up even more...)
*two tablespoons cumin
*1.5 tablespoons chili powder
*pinch of salt (coarse ground = better)
*one teaspoon lime juice
*one teaspoon hot sauce (which as i re-look over this recipe, i realize i forgot to put in.  oh well.)
*cilantro (which i also forgot until dinner was on the table, at which point i was much too lazy to do more chopping!)

here we go:

*cook quinoa.  combine one cup uncooked, rinsed quinoa with 1 1/4 cups of water or broth.  bring to a boil, stir once, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until water is absorbed.  set aside.
*brown meat until cooked through and set aside (if you're adding meat...i used one pound of ground dark turkey meat)
*heat oil in LARGE stock pot or dutch oven over med-high heat.  add onions, celery, carrots, zucchini, squash and peppers.  cook until softened (she says 5-8 minutes, i needed longer).
*add garlic and pinch of salt and cook another minute (or however long it takes you to open all the stuff to add next)
*add stock, tomatoes, beans, quinoa, cumin, chili powder, hot sauce (i left it out and it tasted just great...not sure baby would have handled it so well with the hot sauce...), lime juice, meat (optional...i guess we've probably covered that) and cilantro leaves
*simmer on low-ish until serving
*serve with whatever garnishes you like...avocado, salsa, tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, cilantro, sour cream...you name it!

enjoy!! 

also...in case you're interested, here are the links the other recipes:

-broccoli cheddar from 101 cookbooks (the croutons are totally worth the moderate hassle of making them!)
-potato leek from my blog
-artichoke from simply recipes
-beef barley from taste of home

6 comments:

  1. maybe try a cold soup for the summer? like a light and fresh one? never really tried it before, but have seen many recipes...may be fun to try? love the blog kim!!

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  2. http://allrecipes.com//HowTo/cold-summer-soups/Detail.aspx

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  3. @maria: of course!! you're a genius!

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  4. glad i could help! not sure if you can do this recipe (allergies to buttermilk??) anyhoo, this is an AH-mazing recipe for apple pie...best when eaten the next day!

    http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/warm-apple-buttermilk-custard-pie-10000000434581/

    p.s. do you know how to include links in this so you dont have to copy and paste??

    give my love to the fam!

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  5. have you tried the leek soup with dill oil from 101cookbooks? ta-dow, seriously delicious. maybe i told you about it before? but its so good, i'm okay with saying it twice.

    i'm always a little nervous about cold soups, so be sure to share your favorites when you go that route.

    i really like hearty salads served cold in the summer, like greek orzo salads (orzo, kalamata olives, tomato, cucumber, feta, a ton of parsley and red onion if you like. the peanut noodle salad from 101cookbooks is wonderful as well. make a big batch of quinoa and use left overs with whatever you have around for a great salad too.

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  6. breanne: that leek, dill oil soup sounds amazing! also, i really love that you wrote "ta-dow"...i nearly died. :)

    salads...yes...always yummy. i should work on adding more of those to the menu! thanks! hope you are well!

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