Squash Soup with Mushroom/Kale Ravioli

This is about as fancy as I get. It's the kind of thing I can make on a Sunday when I've got time to kill but I understand that most people won't make this recipe because it does have a lot of steps. I'm going to share it anyways!

My mom gave me some buttercup squash - the really sweet kind - from bluebird gardens in Fergus Falls. I knew it was destined to be soup but I just wasn't sure what kind. I don't often like to eat pureed soups since I still have all my teeth and I'm able to chew, so I knew something had to go in the soup. I made "ravioli" or more accurately, potstickers, out of wonton wrappers filled with crimini mushrooms and kale and boiled them in the soup. The result was a very earthy, hearty, colorful, and INCREDIBLY healthy sunday supper.

First, I cut open the squash and removed the seeds. Put the squash on a sheet pan with onions and carrots - cover with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast at 325 degrees for 1 hour. I went for a great walk around Lake Hiawatha in the crisp fall air and looked at the changing leaves while my veggies roasted.

When the veggies have cooled, scoop out the squash "meat" and put in your food processor with the onions and carrots. Pulse to start the puree, then add water (about 2 cups) to get it nice and smooth. Then you put this yummy squash puree in a soup pot over low heat and add 1 carton of vegetable stock, salt and pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon. The nutmeg and cinnamon don't make the soup sweet, but they do add a depth of flavor that is needed. The soup is essentially done at this point - and you could add store bought tortellini or ravioli and it would be great. But I went for the homemade potstickers.

You can use this method to make any kind of faux ravioli or asian potstickers. First, clean out your food processor and add some kale, 1 package of crimini mushrooms, a clove of garlic, and some yellow onion. Pulse to combine and add mixture to a skillet to saute with some salt and pepper.

Take your wonton wrappers and lay a few out. Add a teaspoon of filling to the middle. Use your finger with some warm water to wet each side of the wrapper. Fold in half (in a triangle). Then fold each corner in to make a little envelope.

You can freeze leftover potstickers on a plate, and once frozen put in a ziploc storage bag and they'll be easy to use later! Turn up the heat on your soup so it is nearly boiling, add a handful of your ravioli and let cook for 3-5 minutes or until cooked through.

Ladle into a bowl and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Squash Soup with Mushroom/Kale Ravioli

1 buttercup squash, cut, seeds removed

2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

1/2 yellow onion, cut into chunks

2 cups water

4 cups vegetable stock

salt and pepper to taste

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of cinnamon

Roast the veggies with olive oil, salt, and pepper until done. Puree in food processor. Add to soup pot with water and stock and seasonings and cook over low heat until hot.

1 package crimini mushrooms, cleaned

1 big handful kale, removed from stems and chopped

1/4 yellow onion

1 clove garlic

Mix all together in food processor. Cook in skillet for 5-8 minutes with salt and pepper.

Assemble raviolis with wonton wrappers and warm water to seal. Boil raviolis in soup until done. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Fifteen Bean Soup

This is what I woke up to today...ICK!

And so, I decided it was finally time to use this bag of dried beans I've had for months. I saw the bag in the grocery store for less than $1 and I couldn't believe the bargain. Fifteen beans for less than a buck? It's true.

I thought these dried beans were so beautiful. According to the bag, you are promised 15 of the following varieties:

• Northern beans
• Pinto beans
• Large lima beans
• Blackeyed peas
• Garbanzo beans
• Baby lima beans
• Green split peas
• Kidney beans
• Cranberry beans
• Small white beans
• Pink beans
• Small red beans
• Yellow split peas
• Lentils
• Navy beans
• White kidney beans
• Black beans

Even though the bag also promises a "seasoning packet," I never got one - which was OK with me since I would prefer to add my own seasonings anyways. Plus the instructions tell you to add a ham bone, but who has a ham bone on hand? I certainly don't (and even if I did, I wouldn't eat it!).

When I bought this bag it was summertime so I was tempted to boil them and make some type of summer bean salad with Italian vinaigrette. But that never happened. And then this snow thing happened today and I felt the need for some comforting bean soup.

By the way...this is NOT chili. This is Fifteen Bean Soup. Although you could turn it into chili if you added the proper spices but that's not what I was going for today.

Now, I've never cooked dried beans before (other than split peas for this amazing soup), so I was a little apprehensive to mix fifteen different beans together in dried form. Especially since I HATE pre-soaking things or thinking ahead in any way. So I hatched an evil plan to use my crock pot to make this soup. Thus, this soup was invented. And it was simple and delicious - two things that are required for this blog!

Fifteen Bean Soup

1 bag 15-bean soup mix

water

1 onion, diced fine

1 can diced tomatoes (or 1 jar roasted tomatoes and shallots pureed!)

3 cubes vegetarian vegetable bouillon cubes

salt and pepper to taste

parmesan cheese, to garnish

Rinse the beans, and add to crock pot with water to cover beans plus at least 2 inches. Cook on high for 1 hour. Add onion and turn heat to low and cook all day (I did 10 hours!). Then add your tomatoes (I was lucky to have a pint of pureed roasted tomatoes and shallots!) and bouillon and cook for another 15 minutes on low, or enough to heat through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with parmesan cheese. Enjoy with bread and wine and pretend you are a rustic French housewife.

Bon Appetit!

Banana "Ice Cream"

Did you know you can make ice cream with just one ingredient? Click here to read the step-by-step instructions. Well, if it sounds too good to be true, you're right. It doesn't taste at all like ice cream. But it's a nice sweet frozen treat that's all natural and it's a great way to use up bananas that are getting too ripe.

Banana "Ice Cream" (recipe from The Kitchn website)

1-2 ripe bananas

Cut banana into coins and freeze for 1-2 hours. Puree in a food processor until creamy. It will take awhile. You can add a tablespoon or two of milk or soymilk if you want it extra creamy. I also added a spoonful of natural peanut butter and a handful of extra dark chocolate chips.

Dijon Brussels Sprouts

Obviously there are very few vegetables I don't like. Brussels sprouts are notorious for being something children are threatened with for misbehavior. They sure look scary! But once I actually tried freshly prepared sprouts I declared them my favorite vegetable (side note: I say that about every vegetable depending on which day it is).

If you're a non-believer in Brussels sprouts, know this: they taste like little tiny baby cabbages only sweeter. And, just like almost every other veggie, you can roast them in a hot oven with olive oil, salt, and pepper and they are simply delicious.

But here is another great way to eat Brussels sprouts that combines steaming and pan-frying, plus it adds a glossy dijon sauce for another layer of flavor.

Dijon Brussels Sprouts

1 big bunch Brussels Sprouts (pick bright green, small, tight heads)

1/4 cup water

2 Tbsp butter

salt and pepper

2 Tbsp dijon mustard

Trim the bottom root off the sprouts and cut into halves or fourths, depending on size. Add to a skillet with water, butter, salt and pepper. Cook over medium high heat for approximately 5-8 minutes, water will cook off and evaporate and butter will stay in the pan to brown the sprouts. Turn off heat, add mustard to pan, and stir to coat sprouts.

Baked Chicken Parmesan

If you are like me, you have about eight jars of homemade roasted tomato sauce in your fridge or freezer waiting for you to enjoy all winter long. And perhaps you are looking for another great recipe in which to use this sauce? Look no further!

I actually learned this method of chicken parmesan from Alicia, back in the days when we lived together after college. I'm pretty sure she got the recipe from the back of a Ragu pasta sauce label. I love the idea of taking a very decadent and fatty restaurant dish like chicken parmesan (which is always fried in a bunch of nasty oil) and making it leaner - and often tastier! - at home. So, I've been using the Ragu baked method for years and have pretty much perfected it.

It goes without saying that using homemade roasted tomato sauce is the key to making the dish taste great. It also goes without saying that to have a successful dinner party, you start with a beautiful plate of snacks to go with your red wine...this one is apple slices, english cheddar, marcona almonds, wheat crackers, and fig spread.

After your wine and snacks, you can start making your chicken parmesan and it will take you less than 30 minutes total. Most people do a double coat method on chicken (flour, egg, breadcrumbs) but I find that too messy and putzy so I just go straight for the breadcrumbs - and I always use panko (or Japanese-style) breadcrumbs because they are crispier and much tastier. Panko-coated chicken can be baked and it still tastes as if it were fried because of the great crunch.

Baked Chicken Parmesan

boneless, skinless chicken breasts

breadcrumbs (preferably panko)

olive oil, salt, and pepper

roasted tomato sauce

whole wheat spaghetti or linguine noodles, cooked

Drizzle the chicken with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then coat each chicken breast with breadcrumbs.

Heat an oven-proof skillet on your stovetop, add some olive oil and the chicken. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until the breadcrumbs get crispy. Then throw the skillet in the oven to finish cooking. (HINT: you can skip the stovetop frying part and just bake the chicken, it will take about 20 minutes to cook through. It won't be as crisp, but it will still taste great).

When the chicken is almost ready, top each piece with some mozzarella and parmesan cheese and put back in the oven for a couple minutes to melt.

This is the way I like to serve it: mix your cooked pasta with a little bit of tomato sauce and put a scoop of it on the plate. Top with your cheesy breaded chicken, and add another spoonful of sauce on top. A little extra parmesan cheese never hurts either.

This entree needs something fresh and green to balance it out, so I put it with a simple salad with sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, and balsamic vinaigrette.

The meal was satisfying enough that we didn't even eat apple crisp for dessert!

Apple Crisp

I've been making this recipe for years and it always gets raves. What people don't know is that the recipe has only a handful of ingredients, and all of them I usually have on hand. It comes out of the oven all carmelized, oaty, crunchy, and amazing so you'd think it was more complicated.

I discovered the recipe in the Smyth Companies 125th Anniversary Cookbook that was published the year I worked there (2002). The recipe was submitted by a lady named Pam Wood, who was the IT/computer tech. She doesn't work there anymore, either, but I thought I needed to give credit where credit is due. She named the recipe "Apple Crisp From Many Generations," and truly I can imagine my grandmas and great-grandmas making this simple but delicious recipe for their church potlucks or barn-raising parties, or whatever special occasions required sweet fall desserts back in the days of yore.

I spent some quality time with my 92-year old Grandpa Art yesterday watching the Twins kick some KC Royals butt and picking many apples from the trees in his backyard. I promised him and my other grandparents (Grandma Verna and Grandpa Bob) each an apple crisp. Not to mention my dad and brother. After an assembly-line setup, I ended up with seven apple crisps!

Even after all this, I still have a half bag of apples leftover! I have a few more aluminum pans so I'm planning on doing a few more this week for the freezer. I also bought some oat flour so that I can make a gluten-free version for Ang. Finally, I know I repeat this a lot on the blog - but it's still good to know that sweets can be lean if you use real ingredients (butter and sugar won't kill you in moderation!) and enjoy responsibly.

Apple Crisp

Base:

4 cups apples, peeled and sliced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 T. flour

Mix ingredients together and arrange in an 8 x 8 square pan.

Topping:

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup oats

1/2 cup flour

1 stick butter, melted

Mix together and spread on top of apple base. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Your kitchen will smell like heaven so you will know when it's ready. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Note #1: double recipe for 9x13 pan (cake pan).

Note #2: wouldn't some sliced almonds be great in the topping? I might try that later this week, too. It would make it extra crunchy.

Note #3: thank goodness my mom loaned me her Pampered Chef apple peeler/slicer. Seven crisps would have been impossible without it.

Note #4: I did not eat all of that crisp from the one that's half gone...it was a combo of me, Marney, and sending some home to Colin.

Sweet Potato and Kale Soup

This is my absolute favorite way to cook. No recipe to follow - complete improvisation.

I came home from work on a cold Thursday through a complete downpour with the biggest urge for soup. Here's the fun part - I actually had all the ingredients on hand to make an incredibly colorful, healthy, and delicious soup.

For some strange reason, I bought 1 big sweet potato a few days ago because it looked so inviting. Not something I usually pick up, but it was calling to me. Also, I had some free kale that Ang had brought me from her garden.

Excuse my tangent here, but I talk about kale all the time on this blog but I wonder how many of you actually eat it? I probably would never have tried it if Cass hadn't shown me how yummy it can be. I always thought of kale as the gross plasticky stuff you see in the buffet line in between containers of salad fixins. Holy cow, I was so wrong. If you cook kale, it is so delicious and has a fabulous texture that makes you feel like you're eating something substantial. Plus, you can eat it alone as a side dish, or add it to soup and frittatas for an extra boost of nutrition. Kale pairs so perfectly with eggs and fish. Next time you're at the store, I challenge you to take a chance on some kale.

Sweet Potato and Kale Soup

1 yellow onion, diced finely

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced finely

2 carrots, peeled and diced finely

1 large clove garlic, minced

salt and pepper

4-6 cups stock (or water and bouillon cubes)

1 can white beans, drained

1 big bunch kale, chopped into small pieces

Heat some olive oil in a big soup pot and add the onion, sweet potato, carrots, garlic, and salt and pepper. Cook until veggies are soft. Add your stock and bring to a boil. Add kale and beans, cover and cook until kale has wilted.

To serve, ladle into a bowl and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and another drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy with grilled bread and red wine.