Spicy Italian Cabbage Soup

A great soup to fill up on when you’re watching your waistline!  A little bit of spice to warm you on a cool evening and some fresh basil and scallion to bring all the flavors together.  You can make this soup your own by adding whatever vegetables you like.

 

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil

1 medium onion diced

2 T minced garlic

2 T tomato paste

½ green bell pepper diced

½ red bell pepper diced

1 small fennel bulb diced

2 tomatoes seeded and diced

2 T Italian seasoning

1 Qt vegetable stock

½ Qt water

1 large can diced tomatoes (I like San Marzanos)

1 small head cabbage (I prefer savoy) chopped bite-size

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Salt & pepper to taste

Scallions diced

Fresh basil 

Optional:

2 T chicken soup base

Diced zucchini & squash diced 

Heat 2 T olive oil in a large soup kettle or dutch oven.  Add onions and sauté until translucent.  Add garlic and red pepper flakes, stirring until fragrant (about 1 min).  Add tomato paste – cook about 2 minutes.  Add bell peppers, fennel bulb & tomatoes.  At this point, season with salt and pepper.  Allow veggies to sweat for about 5 minutes (stirring occasionally) then add can of diced tomatoes, vegetable stock and water.  Bring to a good simmer allowing vegetables to cook. 

OPTIONAL:   At this point, using either an immersion blender or upright blender, blenderize part of the soup, leaving as many chunks as you’d like.  This will add body to the soup and not just leave it as veggies in broth.  Then add cabbage and continue simmer until cabbage is cooked through. 

 If adding soup base, add after liquids are added.  If adding zucchini & squash, add just as cabbage is becoming fully cooked to avoid them getting too mushy.

 SERVING:

Sprinkle diced scallions and ripped basil over soup just before serving.  If you don’t have fresh basil, you can stir in some basil pesto you have hiding in your freezer.  Stir together and enjoy! J

Home-made Chicken Burgers with Cranberry Mayo

 

 

This is a great low-fat alternative to beef hamburgers.  The tang of the cranberry mayo just rings of thanksgiving on a bun!

 Ingredients:

 

3 chicken breasts (small to med)

2 stalks celery
1 small onion
1tsp. poultry seasoning
½ C plain breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
Salt & pepper to season the outside
1-2 T olive oil

Rough chop the celery and onion and put it in a food processor.  Process the veggies until they are very small dice.  Dice the chicken breasts and add them to the processor with the poultry seasoning, breadcrumbs, egg, salt and pepper.  Process all the ingredients until they are well combined.   Take out the amount you want per patty, shape them, and season with salt and pepper.  Cook them on medium in a pan with about 1 T olive oil.  Be sure to cook them all the way through….you can cut them with a knife and check the middle just in case. Makes 5-6 burgers depending on chicken breast sizes.

Cranberry Mayo

½ C cooked cranberries
1-2 T mayonnaise (to taste)

Mix cooked cranberry relish (or canned if that’s all you have) with the amount of mayo that tastes good to you. 

To serve:  Place chicken burger on the bun, a nice lettuce leaf and a dollop of cranberry mayo. 

NUTS ABOUT NUTS....

This is a great recipe for people who do or don't like nuts.  As a "not so nuts about nuts" fan myself, I admit to enjoying these as a snack, ice cream topper or in salads.

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs pecans, walnuts, nut mix of your choice

2 T butter

3/4 C dark brown sugar

1-2 T hot water
Popcorn salt
Cayenne Pepper (optional)

In a deep saucepan (preferably teflon) melt your butter.  Add brown sugar and melt them together.  This mixture will be a little thick so add hot water one tablespoon at a time and stir the mix to see if it's loose enough for coating the nuts.  Allow the brown sugar to melt a little to create a smooth sauce (be careful not to burn).  Add nuts, mixing to coat them evenly.

Spread nuts in one layer onto a sprayed cookie sheet (I cover mine with foil to avoid extra dishes to wash).  Sprinkle them liberally with salt and cayenne pepper if you desire.  Bake them in a 350 degree oven stirring with a spatula about every 10 minutes.  Taste each time you stop to stir and check to see if the nuts have that wonderful roasted flavor - this should not be more than 20-30 minutes.  Once out of the oven, you can reseason with salt or cayenne again if needed.  Allow the nuts to cool; they can be stored in an airtight container or ziplock bag.  Enjoy!