at home with ann

I like to make a batch of soup on Sunday afternoon to eat for lunches throughout the week.  This one is full of hearty vegetables, and roasting really brings out the flavors.  It is a good source of fiber, and the beans provide protein.   Roasted Vegetable and Kale Soup slightly adapted from SimplyRecipes Ingredients: 4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks 1 onion, peeled and cut into large slices 1/2 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch chunks 4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled Olive oil 14 oz. can diced tomatoes 4 cups vegetable broth 4 cups chopped kale 1 tsp dried thyme 1 bay leaf 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 1 15 oz. can white beans (I used navy) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Put cut carrots, onion, squash and garlic on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.   Roast until vegetables are browned and tender, about 45 minutes.  This is what they will l...

Aside from a few choice places: The Upper Crust , Pino's , and anywhere we ate in Italy, I would rather have pizza we made at home than some greasy takeout.  After a lengthy search, I have found a great wheat pizza crust recipe .  One of the things I especially like about this recipe is that the dough can be made in one day.  I can't always remember to start pizza dough a day in advance, and then you end up eating in the middle of the night and that's just no good. Ingredients 1 teaspoon white sugar 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) 1 tablespoon active dry yeast 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups whole wheat flour 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour You can make this dough by hand without much difficulty, but it's easier with a stand mixer.  In a large bowl, start by dissolving the sugar in the warm water.  Sprinkle the yeast over the water and leave it alone until it gets foamy, about 10 minutes.  It will look something li...

I am a huge proponent of leftovers for several reasons.  First, I hate wasting food.  Good food is expensive, so I don't like to throw it away.  Second, they're easy, and most people don't want to cook something elaborate for every meal. You might think because I have a cooking blog that I do, but I don't.  I time things so you don't have to see that I eat egg sandwiches all the time. These leftovers use the remnants from last weekend's chili recipe: extra black beans and diced red onion. Barbecue Black Bean Quesadilla You can put almost anything in a tortilla with a little cheese and call it a quesadilla. Ingredients: Whole wheat tortilla Barbecue sauce Black beans Red Onion, diced Shredded cheddar cheese Quantities will vary depending on the size of your tortilla.  Mine was about 8 inches, and I used about a T. of sauce, 3 T. of black beans, 1 T. of onions, and 3 T. of cheese. I folded the tortilla in half and popped it in the toaster oven ...

Instead of posting a new recipe today, I thought I'd share some links to my favorite recent posts from other bloggers. I love citrus flavors.  Any dessert with lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit makes me happy.  Also, I want to try piping whipped cream like this - adorable! How Sweet It Is - Lemon Lime Cake with Fresh Lime Whipped Cream This one will probably be on hold until we get closer to spring, because I really want to try it with grilled eggplant and right now we have so much snow I don't think I can walk down the porch steps to the grill.  I love goat cheese with vegetables, and I'm trying to decide what soup to pair this with. My Recipes - Eggplant and Goat Cheese Sandwiches I'm also in need of some arugula.  Partly because I watched Giada make smoked salmon BLTs the other day, and partly because these Lasagna Stacks are adorable! The Creative Mama - Lasagna Stacks I will soon share my Mulligatawny Soup recipe with you.  It might be my favorit...

I won't post all my smoothie recipes, but just in case you were feeling hesitant about drinking green goo, this combination is delicious! Strawberry Banana Green Smoothie 1 banana 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt a few frozen (or fresh) strawberries - I used 6 a handful of baby spinach 3/4-1 cup milk a few ice cubes Put all ingredients except ice in the blender.  Blend for a few minutes.  Add ice cubes and blend until they are crushed and the mixture looks smooth and frothy. The sweetness of the banana, strawberry and vanilla yogurt counteracts any spinach flavor- really!

Chips may be my favorite way to eat kale.  They are crispy, salty, and super easy to make. Aside from being delicious, I'm writing about kale chips today in response to a request from a reader.  I can't tell you how happy and excited I am that anyone is actually reading and cooking from my blog.  It's been a wonderful month and a half thinking of recipes and sharing them with you, many more to come!  Also, if there's anything in particular you'd like to see, let me know! Kale Chips  Ingredients 1 large bunch of kale, stems removed and leaves torn into pieces.  I found a huge bag of kale at BJs last week that was pre-torn, so I just filled up my salad spinner. 2 teaspoons olive oil kosher or sea salt parmesan or asiago cheese Wash the leaves well and spin until dry.  If you have time, do this step in advance so they can dry well.  If they still have water on them, they'll steam and wilt before they can crisp up. Spread leaves on a baki...

I always find great recipes in Cooking Light.  They are creative, flavorful and varied.  I also really like to use their recipe website,  My Recipes .  This one is from an article they did about under 300 calorie casseroles.  I make a lot of casseroles, because, despite how it might appear, I don't cook big dishes every day.  Casseroles can be made in advance, freeze well, are good gifts for people who are sick or have new babies, and reheat well when taken to work.   This recipe reminds me of mac and cheese, but it doesn't have any cheese in it besides the parmesan sprinkled on top.   Asparagus and Ham Casserole very slightly adapted from Cooking Light   Ingredients 1/4 cup breadcrumbs 3 3/4  cups  uncooked egg noodles 2 1/2  cups  (1 1/2-inch) sliced asparagus 1/4  cup  all-purpose flour 1/2  teaspoon  dried thyme 1/4  teaspoon  salt 1/8  teaspoon  black peppe...

Green smoothies (or Green Monster s) are very trendy.  It's just adding spinach or kale to traditional smoothies to make a vitamin packed, super healthy drink.  In my experience, baby spinach is the best green to work with because it has a mild flavor and blends well.  You don't actually want to feel like you're drinking spinach.  I used peanut butter and banana in this recipe because they are both strong flavors, and that's really all you taste when you drink it.  Also, you get the nutrients from the banana and healthy, filling protein and fat from the peanut butter. Ingredients are simple enough, just banana, peanut butter, milk, spinach, and ice cubes. To start, I put a very ripe banana and a couple tablespoons of peanut butter in the blender along with a few handfuls of baby spinach leaves. Then I added about a cup of milk and blended well until completely combined and bright green!  Finally, I added in a handful of ice cubes and ran the blender ...

I am declaring this recipe a work in progress, and might repost when I've made it again.  This came together as a result of things left in the fridge for more than a week.  Not glamorous, but practical. Broccoli Potato Soup 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 onion, diced 3 cups broccoli 1 pound potatoes 2 Tablespoons flour salt pepper 1/2 teaspoon paprika 2 cups vegetable broth 1 cup skim milk 1/4-1/2 cup shredded cheese Start by heating the olive oil in your soup pot on medium heat and sauteing the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Next chop your potatoes to about 1/2-1 inch pieces.  I used red potatoes because that's what I had around, and opted to leave the skins on.  Any kind of potato would work, though. On to the broccoli.  Anytime I use broccoli florets, I trim the bottoms off the stems and toss them in a bag  in the freezer.  They are a perfect addition to soups.  I would have also added some fresh florets, but I accident...

I love my crock pot.  It does all the things it claims to, and never fails in making a perfect dish.  From pulled pork or chicken, to beef stew, to mulled apple cider with rum.  It's all good.  This chili recipe takes about 15 minutes of prep time, and then you can ignore it for the rest of the day.  You can even do the prep the night before, put the whole thing in the fridge overnight, and cook it the next day.  As with many of my recipes, you can alter this any way you want by switching up the vegetables or beans to suit your tastes.  Crock Pot Vegetarian Chili 1 Tablespoon olive oil 1 onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1 bell pepper, chopped 1 jalapeno, chopped 2 Tablespoons ground cumin 2 Tablespoons chili powder 1 Teaspoon oregano 1/2 Teaspoon salt A few grinds black pepper 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes 2 14 oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed 1 14 oz. can small red beans, drained and rinsed 1-2 cups water Optional...

I am highly suggestible.  Pretty much anytime I see something on TV or in a movie I want it.  Like the Snuggie, or the Sham-Wow, or, in this case, Eggs Benedict. I think there are a couple tricky parts to making Eggs Benedict.  The first is getting your Hollandaise to the right consistency, thick and creamy, but not custard.  The second is timing everything right so your english muffins, ham or canadian bacon, eggs, and Hollandaise are all ready at the same time.  This morning was a fail on both. There are two schools of thought on making Hollandaise.  One is to whisk your egg yolk and lemon juice in a double boiler and then emulsifying with the hot melted butter.  The other is to use a blender, which is what I did today. Since I was just cooking for the two of us, I decided to use the immersion blender so I wouldn't lose half my Hollandaise to the blender blades.  I found a recipe online and scaled it down to one egg yolk and 3 Tablespoons...

When I make Asian-themed stir fries, I rarely use any measurements at all, I just dump things in until I decide it's done.  So, feel free to use this as a rough guideline and throw whatever you want in your pan.   Also, I know some people aren't fans of tofu, either because they aren't comfortable with processed soy, or they just don't like the taste or texture.  I support most things in moderation, and it's a good source of protein.  We eat tofu maybe once every six months, so I'm not overly concerned.  If you are, feel free to swap out thinly sliced chicken or beef, or go straight veggies. Vegetable and Tofu Stir Fry Ingredients: 1 T. oil (canola, vegetable, or peanut) 1/2 block extra firm tofu, drained 1/2-1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced 1 onion, thinly sliced 2 cups broccoli florets 3 oz. peapods Sauce Ingredients: 3-4 Tablespoons tamari or soy sauce 2 Tablespoons peanut butter 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar 1 Tablespoon hot chili paste ...