Hearty Minestrone

Soups are hard to write recipes for becaus, as I have said before, my goal is usually to use up what I have on hand rather than follow recipes to a tee.  So if you have sweet potatoes instead of carrots or green beans instead of zucchini-- then by all means, use THEM!  Don't ever be boxed in to recipes, ESPECIALLY soups.  That said- here is this particular days' variation.

1 pound mild Italian Sausage
2 med. onions, diced
2 med. green peppers, diced
1 T. minced garlic
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, cut into pieces

(Brown the meat with the tiniest bit of oil.  Add everything else and saute until the onions are translucent.

Then add:

14 oz. water
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can stewed (or crushed) tomatoes
4 T. sugar
1 jar spaghetti sauce  (I used a homecanned quart jar so I don't know if that is more or less than storebought, but they look about the same.)
1 T. italian seasoning
1 t. salt
A few turns of the peppermill
1 bay leaf

This you let simmer for a while and then, 20-30 minutes before serving add

2 cups of water
1 cup of pasta

When the pasta is cooked through, discard the bay leaf and serve!

PS.  Before adding the last water and pasta, if you have a smaller family you can divide this large portion of soup into smaller portions to freeze for later. Then simply thaw and some pasta and water and ta-da-  DINNER FAST!

PPS.  Soups always taste SO much better if given time to meld.  So if you can manage to make the soup in the morning and put it in the fridge, that is how soups love to be treated.  Even still, it is a great soup. 

Lemony Blueberry Zucchini Muffins

I really love zucchini muffins. You know the ones I mean~ the brown and heavily spiced kind sometimes dotted with walnuts. The banana muffins' brother. But sometimes, you just want something....different.

Well, THESE zucchini muffins certainly are that.  They are barely distant cousins to the zucchini muffins we know and love.  The zucchini makes them moist but it is the lemon and blueberries that really stand out for flavor.  They have only subtle sweetness, so if you prefer a very sweet muffin- use a bit more sugar.

These will be great for winter muffins, using frozen shredded zucchini from the summer and the frozen berries I put up in July.  Plus-they are just so sunny looking.

Here is what you do:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup ( to one cup, depending on preference) white sugar
• 1 t. baking powder
• 3/4 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 (8 ounce) container yogurt (I used plain because that is what I had on hand.  Lemon would be awesome.)
• 6 T butter, melted
• 1 egg, beaten
•  2 T. lemon juice 
• 1 cup fresh (or frozen) blueberries   
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•  
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• Here is what you do:
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• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners. 
• Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Mix zucchini, yogurt, butter, egg, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon lemon zest in a separate bowl; pour yogurt mixture into well. Gently stir yogurt, slowly incorporating the flour mixture until just blended. Batter may be slightly lumpy. Add berries.  Pour batter evenly into prepared muffin cups.(I usually plop one or two berries on top of each cup of batter to make for prettier muffins too.  You don't have to-but can.)
• Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Summer Squash Boats

 

The problem with my cooking is this:  I believe in the waste not, want not theory.  So I throw a little bit of this in, throw a little bit of that into recipes in order to clean my fridge.  This is how I make sure we use things up without being wasteful and also how I have taught myself to cook (learning what works and what emphatically DOESN'T!).

This method is great for our palates, not-so-great for writing recipes.

So here is the how-to for making zucchini boats, with the superfluous stuff in italics.

You'll need:

• 2-3 zucchini or summer squash
• 1 pound meat of some sort (I used a jar of homecanned ground beef in tomato sauce but sausage would be good!  Or chicken!  Or beef cubes!  Kielbasa works great too!)
•  1 large onion, diced
•  1 large green pepper, diced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, depending upon your tastes (I used two)
  
• any other veggies you might like or have to use up:  I used some leftover roasted delicata squash, zucchini and potatoes from the other night and two carrots that we pulled up for Sketch Tuesday that I promised we would eat for supper (our first pulled up garden carrots create quite the excitement around here!) 
• spaghetti sauce, about a 1 cup. (Mine was canned with the beef and I also added five fresh small tomatoes.
• Cheese of some sort, shredded (any would be good.  I used mozzerella because that is what I had.)
• Seasonings:  a few pinches each of salt, pepper and italian seasoning

Here's what you do:

Cut in half 2-3 zucchini lengthwise and hollow out seeds with a spoon or scoop, leaving the bottom intact.  Place on a cookie sheet or baking pan and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, brown meat (and discard some fat if necessary) (OR use canned beef, like me!) then saute onion, green pepper, carrots, garlic in mixture until onions and peppers are nearly ready.  (This is when I added my roasted leftover veggies) Add sauce and a few fresh tomato hunks (if you want) and simmer for a few minutes some of the water is cooked off.

Fill up your squash boats with your beef mixture and top with mozzerella and put in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until the meat mixture is nicely browned and the zucchini is cooked.

Beet Greens

I really love beets.  I love the taste of them, I love the look of them, I *love* growing them, I love thinning them!  So it is all the more unfortunate that I only learned about beet greens a few years ago; to think of all the delicious greens I just....discarded. (gasp!)

Next time you pull up some beets from your garden-don't throw those leaves away!  Utilize those flavonoids and vitamins for your own benefit: Try this recipe instead...and be forever converted.

**For an extra treat, I will occasionally add crumbled bacon pieces to the top before serving...but only when I want to impress.

You'll need:

• 1 pound beet greens
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 cup of water
• 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/6 cup of cider vinegar
•  1 or 2 strips of  bacon, chopped** (or a tablespoon of bacon fat)

** If you choose to impress with bacon, brown it now. Pat it dry and set aside.

Keep the hot grease or heat 1 Tbsp of bacon fat in your large skillet.

Add chopped onions, cook over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions soften and start to brown. Stir in minced garlic. Add water to the hot pan, stirring to loosen any particles from bottom of pan. Stir in sugar and red pepper. Bring mixture to a boil.

Cut the leaves and stems an inch or two from the neck of the beet. Wash and pat dry your beet greens, and if you want to chop them, do so-I usually don't) and then add them to the skillet by gently tossing them in the onion mixture so the greens are well coated. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5-15 minutes until the greens are tender. Stir in vinegar.

** Top greens with bacon pieces just before serving.

 

Saucy Spareribs

Spare ribs are a very special treat in this house but since we had our home-grown hogs butchered, we happen to have them in the freezer.  So on a middle-of-the-week, hotter than heck summer day, and nobody present except our very own selves, we decided to have a feast.  

These spare ribs were delicious.  The sauce was divine.  Try them next time you want a middle-of-the-week feast.  That's all.

6 lb. pork spare ribs
1 t. salt
water
3 T cooking oil
1/3 c. finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 c. ketchup
1/3 c. light corn syrup
1/3 c. vinegar
2 T. worcestershire sauce
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. spicy mustard

Place ribs and salt in a kettle with enough water to cover.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes or until almost tender.

Drain well.  Set aside (in fridge if it won't be for a while)


Meanwhile, heat oil in 2 qt. saucepan over medium heat and sauce onion and garlic in it about five minutes or until tender.  Add remaining ingredients, mixing well.  Cook until mixture comes to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. 

To Grill:

Grill ribs over medium heat, turning and basting often with sauce, for about 30 minutes or until ribs are well glazed.  

Huckleberry (or Blueberry) Syrup

I have four children.  That is eight extra hands to help pick huckleberries with me every July that I can make good use of.  Of course, it can take some doing to make those small hands actually kerplunk them into buckets instead of mouths- but the promise of this blueberry sauce and pancakes for supper usually does the trick.

The above photo required making a (THIRD!) batch of pancakes after supper and scrape the bottom of the syrup pan just to get this picture.  You BARELY got a picture.  So, yeah...it is edible.

Here is the recipe, which I doubled for my family of six (and will likely triple in the future.) 

1 c berries

1 T. butter

1/2 c. water

1/3 c, sugar (or honey)

1 t. cornstarch

Mix cornstarch and water and then all other ingredients to a saucepan and boil until berries have popped.  Reduce heat and simmer until the sauce has thickened.  

Super simple.  Super delicious.

Zucchini Soup

It is probably foolish to admit how excited I was after I made this soup. What an awesome, different way to use up those zucchini that overwhelm during summer! (Simple pleasures for simple people!) This is so. SO. good. Seen originally, here.

You will need:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 4 large zucchini, chopped
• 2 large potatoes, peeled, chopped
• 4 c. chicken stock
• 3/4 cup milk
• salt and cracked black pepper

1. Cook chopped onion, garlic clove, zucchini and potatoes in a tablespoon oil for about 5 minutes, making sure vegetables don't brown.

2. Add chicken stock and 1 cup water. Bring soup to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.

3. Blend with a hand-held blender until smooth. Return soup to the heat and add 3/4 cup cream, salt and cracked black pepper.
   

Chicken and Zucchini Tortellini Soup

I didn't get a very good picture of this, but here it is anyway. The soup was good and a good use for all that zucchini from summer!

2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1 large onion
2-3 medium zucchini, only 1/4 inch of flesh with peel-no seeds)
2 large carrots, cut diagonal
1 1/2 t. minced garlic
2 cans chicken stock
1/2 c. water
1/8 t. marjoram
1 1/2 t. lemon juice
1/4 t. red pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup tortellini
6 cherry tomatoes, halved.

Cook chicken cubes and saute onion together in a tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add zucchini and carrots, liquids and spices and let simmer 15 minutes or until carrots are fork tender. Add tortellini and cherry tomatoes and cook for a few minutes more~ until tortellini is tender.

Can use shredded sharp cheddar as a garnish, if desired.

Sweet Pan Chili

Matt had a hunkering for baked beans one night, and I had only one can of Cambell's Pork 'n beans. Desperation is the mother of invention, and now we have a new favorite cool weather meal. That night I served it with cast iron cornbread and I wouldn't have it any other way.

In cast iron pan, brown and saute':

1 large onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef or sweet sausage (If necessary, drain excess fat)

Add to pan:

1 can black beans, drained.
1 can butter beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained.
1 can pork and beans, undrained

Then add:

3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 c. water
3-4 T. barbecue sauce
3 splashes Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
A sprinkling of: paprika, garlic powder, cracked black pepper and salt

Let simmer until thickened, about 30 minutes.

Tuna Fish

I don't like fish. I don't EAT fish. I only COOK fish when Matt begs and pleads. The one exception is tuna fish, but I only eat my own.

If you like tuna to taste like tuna-this recipe probably isn't for you. If you like a whole medley of flavor with an only-slightly fishy taste, give this one a try.

I never use exact measurements so I have included approximations here.

• 2 cans of tuna fish packed in water, drained well.
• 1/3-1/2 cup Mayo or Miracle Whip (I use the latter)
• 2 T. zucchini relish (I think this is the secret ingredient that sets my Tuna apart from others, but if you don't have any just use pickle relish)
• 2 t. minced onion
• 1/4-1/2 t. parsley
• 1/4 t. horseradish (Optional. I add this when I am feeling frisky.)

Mix all ingredients together. (It is best to make the tuna a few minutes ahead of time, so that the minced onion will soften.)
Make a sandwich using whole wheat toast, salad greens, cheddar and tuna OR, for parties, a bit of tuna on Saltine crackers topped with thinly sliced extra sharp cheddar (only had colby jack in the fridge for picture day) is a GREAT appetizer.