Food Thursday: 10.04.12

First off, a very happy anniversary to my lovely wife Tabitha.  It's hard to believe it has been four years.  Now with the public declarations and mushy stuff out of the way, we can get to the business at hand...good eats.  I made a batch of minestrone last week to kick of what I think of as soup season and it was pretty darned tasty.  It's a mixture of a few recipes I have tried and I think you will find it simple, nutritious and just plain good.  The key is putting in the ingredients at the right times, so that the vegetables have a nice toothsome quality.  I use vegetable stock so that The Vegan Wife will eat it, but low sodium chicken stock would be great too.  Add some pasta shells or cavetappi and you've got pasta fagioli.  Mangiare e buon appetito!

Minestrone Soup

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup onions, diced
• 1 cup carrots, cut into irregular 1/2" pieces, for that rustic look
• 1 cup celery, 1/4" slices
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 Tbs tomato paste
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp celery seed
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 4 cups good quality canned diced tomatoes, liquid included
• 5 cups veg stock
• 1 medium Yukon gold potato, diced (about 1-1.5 cups)
• 1 medium zucchini cut into 1/4" half moons
• 1/2  15 oz. can each of red beans, cannelini beans and chick peas (all rinsed)
• 2 cups, packed, baby spinach (or, for extra nutrition, sub thin ribbons of kale)
• 8-10 basil leaves, sliced thin
• 1 salt to taste

Method

• In a stock pot, over medium heat, heat your oil until shimmering and add the onions, carrots and celery, cooking until the onions are tender. (about 5-7 minutes)
• Add in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds while stirring.
• Add tomato paste through black pepper, stir to combine and cook for 3 minutes.
• Add your tomatoes, stock and potatoes and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 20 minutes. (uncovered)
• Add the zucchini and beans, stir gently so as to not break your beans, then cook for an additional 7 minutes.
• Gently stir in your spinach and basil
• Salt to taste. (I generally salt before I put in the potatoes, but not knowing how salty your stock will be, I instruct you to salt at the end.)

This is great with some whole grain crusty bread and grated parmigiano cheese on top.  Keep in mind, it is perfectly okay to add or subtract whatever veggies you prefer.  If you don't like chick peas?  Leave them out or sub another bean.  This is just a basic framework for you to experiment and have fun, while making simple good nutritious food.  Feel free to involved the kids.  There is no better way to get them to eat vegetables than to have them cook something themselves.

Cya next time,

M

What I ate Thursday and how I exercised:

Breakfast ~ Amy's Samosa wrap

Lunch ~ Boca burger w/pickles, lite mayo, organic ketchup and tomato

Dinner ~ Out with The Wife for our anniversary, I have a small salad and seafood fra diavolo over pasta.

Exercise ~ none