Therapy

Thankfully the weather is improving.  This has been a horribly long winter.  And though today was gloomy and rainy, spring is in the air.  The birds were out and about, things are looking a bit greener, and my daffodils are poking their little heads through the ground.  I could smell the change in the air!

And when I'm home on a Saturday, and I want a pick-me--up, I cook.  Today was no exception.

I started off making potato soup.  It was  kind of late anniversary celebration as last week was our 42nd wedding anniversary and potato soup is the first thing I ever cooked for us as a married couple.  Mike requested it this morning.  I've posted my mom's potato soup previously and it's VERY good.  I almost always use her recipe when I make potato soup. But today, I wanted a little healthier rendition.  How to get the thick, creamy quality of mom's soup without all the flour and milk and butter?  Then it dawned on me.  If you can thicken gravy (vegetarian that is) with white beans, why couldn't you thicken potato soup with potatoes?  Here's how it goes:

My Mom's Potato Soup with a Twist

• Good olive oil
• Potatoes cubed (as many as you want).  I used six large potatoes.
• onion (about 3/4 cup) minced
• water or vegetable broth to cover
• milk of your choice (I used soy milk)
• salt and pepper
• good soy margarine or butter

Decide how much soup you want to make and peel and cube about twice as many potatoes as you normally would.  I used six large potatoes today.

Pour about 1 tablespoon oil into a dutch oven and brown onions slightly.  Add cubed potatoes and just barely cover with water or vegetable broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil and cook gently for about 20 minutes.  When potatoes are done, use a potato masher or immersible blender to mash about half of the potatoes. Don't overdo it or you won't have any body left in the soup!

Gently pour in enough milk to make the soup creamy.  It should be thick.  Don't bring to a boil--heat just until warmed.

Just before serving, add a dollop of butter or margarine and swirl.

I guarntee this will replace your current potato soup recipe.

Potato Soup with a Twist

I just have to share this story.  When Mike and I got home from our honeymoon, I set about deciding what to cook for our first supper in our home together.  I couldn't think of a thing.  I called my mother and asked her what I should cook.  When she said potato soup, I felt great relief, because I had cooked it at home many times.  I made the soup, it was good.  One day down... how many more to go?  I realized on that day that I'd have to decide what to have for supper for the rest of my life.  It was scary.  I wonder if young women (or men) even give that a thought today? 

Salmon Chowder

While I profess to be almost vegetarian, I still find myself making some throw-back recipes like this one.  Mike loves it, and it gives him a break from some of the more "hard-core" vegetarian/vegan recipes that I like.  I have changed it up a little, but the fact of having salmon in it makes it ok with him.

Before the Internet one could send can labels (this was even before bar codes) to a manufacturer and get little recipe fliers that promoted a product.  This is from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Juneau, Alaska.  I did not record a date.  I've been making this for well over 20 years.

Ingredients
1 can (15 1/2 ounces) salmon
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 glove minced garlic
3 tablespoons butter or bacon fat I use olive oil now.
2 cups diced potatoes I like to use red-skin potatoes and leave the skin on.
2 cups chicken broth I use veggie broth or broth I save when I steam broccoli.
1 teaspoon salt Canned salmon is salty enough--no salt needed.
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1 can (13 ounces) evaporated milk I use lite coconut milk.
1 can (8 3/4 ounces) cream-style corn

Directions
Drain and flake salmon, reserving liquid.  Saute onion, celery, and garlic in butter or bacon fat.  Add potatoes, chicken broth, and seasonings.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add salmon and reserved liquid, evaporated milk and corn. I just add the salmon and liquid all at once and break it up in the pan as I stir it. Continue cooking until heated through.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

I usually double this because everyone loves it and it goes quickly.  The flavor is even better on the second day.

Sorry, no nutritional information.

Salmon Chowder

Another Snow Day

Roasted Cauliflower

I read this somewhere in my travels--a doctor's office, or a newspaper.  Unfortunately, I can't remember the source.  But last weekend, when Giant had cauliflower on sale, I thought I'd give it a try.  I really like cauliflower, but Mike isn't too crazy about it.  He still isn't.  But this is my favorite cauliflower recipe now.  I'll definitely do it again.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Remove all green parts from cauliflower and thoroughly wash.  Shake dry.  I used parchment paper sprayed with a little olive oil (I made my own little sprayer with a nozzle device from the dollar store) on a baking sheet.
Rub the cauliflower heads with a little oil and salt and pepper to taste. Bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, depending on your oven.  Cauliflower should be turning a little brown, but not burnt.  Also, cauliflower should be fork tender.

Serving:
You can serve as is.  The flavor is great.  I made mashed cauliflower with one head--just like you would mashed potatoes.  With the other, I made a Red Curry Cauliflower Soup.  It's Thai and it was very tasty.

Roasted Cauliflower

You know it's a snow day if I'm in the kitchen:

Chocolate Banana Pound Cake

Oh my, oh my.  So I'm looking for a different way to use of excess bananas.  We always have bananas on hand, and I usually make smoothies, or banana bread.  I was tasting for chocolate and so was Mike. My cookbooks were all old-fashioned spiced banana cakes with cream cheese frosting and I just wasn't in the mood for that.  A quick search on the Internet for Chocolate Banana Pound Cake came up with this amazing recipe.  It's from Food.com, and the contributor, Annie Michelle, said it was passed to her by her mother with "a "tad" of embellishment."
I tweaked this a little to try for a "little" healthier version.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
1 cup butter (room temperature) I used Earth Balance vegan margarine.
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 bananas (mashed)
1/3 cup buttermilk I used Kefir.
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 cups flour I used white whole wheat flour.
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt I didn't use any.
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1 cup boiling water
1-12 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (This is optional.)
1 cup chopped pecans (Also optional.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour two 9x5x3 loaf pans.
3. Cream butter, eggs, sugars, bananas, buttermilk, vanilla, and cinnamon.
4. Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, baking cocoa, and pecans.
5. Add dry ingredients to creamed ingredients.  Mix well.
6. Add boiling water and stir rapidly for 2 minutes. I used my stand mixer on low speed to gently stir for 2 minutes.
7. Pour batter into loaf pans.
8. Bake 45 minutes.
9. Remove from oven (gently) and sprinkle chocolate chips over tops of loaves. Wow, this was a mess.  My pans were so full that the chips kept falling off.  So I actually ended up putting them on at the end after the cake at settled a bit.  It only took a few minutes for the chips to get soft enough to spread.  They actually spread better than the chips that made it to the oven.  Those got a little charred.
10. Return to oven for about 15 minutes, or until toothpick comes clean when inserted into center of loaf. Again, I'd just bake it through and add the chips at the end.
11. Remove from oven when finished and place on cooling rack.
12. Use spatula and spread melted chocolate chips in even layer over the loaves.
13. Let cool and remove from pans. I sliced in place.  It came out nicely.
14. You can warm or serve as is.
15. This recipe could also make 48 small cupcakes.  Bake for 20 minutes and substitute a chocolate frosting.

Nutrition (This is following the original recipe.)

Servings per recipe-24

Calories-214.7

Calories from Fat 76

Total fat 8.4 g, saturated 5.1 g, cholesterol 35.9 mg, sugars 20 g, sodium 209.9 mg, total carbs 32.9 g, dietary fiber 1.3 g, protein 2.5 g

Chocolate Banana Pound Cake

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Pot Sticker Miso Soup

I was looking for something quick and hearty for a cold, snowy, winter night.  Then I remembered my PDQ cookbook. I picked one up for Justin in 2007.  He was eating vegetarian and these were super easy.  I tried out a few recipes and it was so good I got one for myself.

From:  The PDQ (Pretty Darn Quick) Vegetarian Cookbook
By:  Donna Klein

Makes 4 servings
Vegan

"Miso is a fermented soy paste that is used frequently in Japanese cooking to flavor and thicken soups and sauces.  While just 1 tablespoon of miso contains 2 grams of protein and 1 gram of dietary fiber, it also contains about 800 milligrams of sodium.  If you are watching your salt intake, use the lesser amount in the recipe.  Vegetarian pot stickers, a ravioli-like Asian pasta, are typically filled with a combination of cabbage, carrots, and radishes.  Both miso and pot stickers can be found in Asian markets as well as specialty and health food stores; I got mine at Trader Joe's."

• 2 1/2 cups water (*I used whatever vegetable broth I have on hand)
• 1 14-ounce can low sodium vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon freeze-dried chopped chives
• 8 ounces frozen vegetarian pot stickers
• 1/2 cup canned straw mushrooms, drained (optional) (*I love these.)
• 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons miso, preferably the brown variety, mixed with 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon toasted dark sesame oil

In a medium stockpot, bring the water, broth, and chives to a boil over medium-high heat.  Add the pot stickers and mushrooms; stir and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until pot stickers are softened but still firm to the bite, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and add the miso mixture and sesame oil, stirring well to combine.  (If not serving immediately, keep warm over low heat, but do not allow the mixture to boil.) Serve hot.

Nutritional info:  Calories 135, Protein 9 grams, Total Fat 2 grams, Saturated Fat 0 grams, Cholesterol 0 grams, Carbs 21 grams, Dietary Fiber 2 grams, Sodium  629 milligrams

Variations:

1. Miso Noodle Soup-- Substitute 2 to 3 ounces somen noodles, broken in half, for the pot stickers.
2. Miso Soup-- Omit the pot stickers and mushrooms.  After the broth mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat and stir in the miso mixture and sesame oil.  Serve hot.

My note:  I use low-sodium miso.  It still has plenty of of sodium.  I like to serve it with some sort of thick crusty bread or biscuits--though that isn't very Asian.  It's best to use it all up at once.  Trader Joe's pot stickers come in a 16 ounce package.  That makes a lot of soup.  The pot stickers get a bit droopy on the second day, but the flavor is even richer as the miso has time to blend and mellow.

Miso Pot Sticker Soup

*My note.

An Apple Pie in a Tortilla

SXM Strudel

This recipe comes from The Everyday Herbivore, by Lindsay S. Nixon.  Yes, it's my favorite cookbook right now.  What I like most about it is that the recipes are easy, tasty, and healthy.  So, other than the fact that I need to learn how to wrap a tortilla, it turned out very well.  Both my husband and I loved it, and my daughter-in-law requested the recipe.  So here goes.  Enjoy.

SXM Strudel

Ingredients:

1 apple, cored and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon  brown sugar

dash of ground cinnamon

1 whole wheat tortilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
2. Toss the apples in a mixing bowl with sugar and several dashes of cinnamon, until the apple slices are well-coated.
3. If you want the ooey-gooey, apple-pie filling,  you'll need to pan-fry the apples while your oven preheats (otherwise, put raw apples straight in the tortillas as directed in # 4).  Line a skillet with a thin layer of water and saute apples over high heat until they start to soften and the water has cooked off.  About 4 minutes.
4. Turn off heat and quickly microwave your tortilla for 5 to 15 seconds, so that it's soft and pliable (perhaps longer if you kept it in the fridge, but it shouldn't be longer than 20 to 30 seconds).
5. Spoon the apples into the center of the tortilla, setting a few slices aside, then roll up the tortilla like a burrito.
6. Place it, crease side down on the baking sheet with a few apple slices over the top.  Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden and crispy, but not burned, or bake for less time if you still want it to be soft.

 

Any one who knows me, knows that I didn't make just one.  I must have quadrupled!  But they refrigerate well, and Mike and I had them for breakfast on days 2 and 3.

 

 Nutritional Info:  182 calories, 1 gram fat, 44.9 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams fiber, 27.9 grams sugars, 1.9 grams protein

Chefs Note:  For a more decadent treat, combine 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of nondairy milk to form a thick glaze.  Adjust milk as necessary.  Dip a fork into the glaze and drizzle it over the warm strudel.

And here's an idea:  Why not use a tortilla as a pie crust?  I haven't tried it yet, but I think it would work great as a single crust pie.

How to Fold a Burrito--I should have watched this first!