Post #102 ~ Quick and Savory Onion Soup

It all started with my mother putting some weekend leftovers in a bag for me to take with me this week.  As usual, she was finding lots of other things to squirrel away in my tote.  She's a good mama.  So I had only one reply in mind when she held up a handful of onions and said, "Want some of these?"

Sure!

Upon arriving back at my apartment, I noticed that I had about six baby heirloom tomatoes left in my crisper which were starting to look sad and wrinkly.  They were good for tossing or stewing, and I can't bear to toss food. In fact, I find it kind of a fun game to see what meals I can throw together using a few of these and a little of that - stuff that would be thrown out but could also come together to make a meal or two.

And so, the onion gift and sad little tomatoes were an inspiration for me to throw together a quick soup for lunch today (and a second bowl for later this week!).  So this could be a quick meal for two, or... two quick meals.  Or the title of a very strange children's book.

Here's what you'll need:

~ One cooking onion
~ Several sad little heirloom tomatoes
~ Two or three cloves garlic
~ Splash (or two) of whatever red wine you have lying around.  I'm fairly sure white would have worked fine, too.
~ Four beef bullion (more or less, according to your taste)
~ One bay leaf and random herbs on hand (I used dried oregano and basil)
~ Tsp sugar
~ Tbs or so EVOO
~ Coarse ground sea salt

I used a medium sauce pan, even though I'm fairly sure it's not normally conducive to soup.  I was only making a small batch, anyway, and I think the expanded surface area helped it to cook quickly.  I halved the baby heirlooms and diced up the onion, and tossed them into the pan with some EVOO and salt.  I let them sauté away before adding some sugar and letting them caramelize.  While they were cooking, I boiled two cups of water and poured it over the bullion and bay leaf in a separate cup.

I chopped up the garlic and added that to the onion and tomato.  By now, things were starting to smell super good.  I added the wine and then the broth.  I sprinkled some herbs over all and let the soup simmer away, stirring here and there, for about 15 minutes as I ran around tidying my apartment.  Then I spread some bread with some leftover hummus (about a tablespoon full that I had saved with the hopes of using it for something later!).  I popped the bread in the toaster oven as I turned off the heat on the soup.

When the toast was done, I ladled some soup into a bowl and enjoyed the meal that came from leftover ingredients!  And there's more for this week!

Yours in the love of good food and the "waste not, want not" mantra I grew up with,
AL


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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Sixty-first Post ~ Simple (but pretty!) Insalata Caprese

Okay, dear readers, I understand that this is my third post about the simply joy of mozzarella and tomatoes.

But I think that it merits repeating that this is just about the freshest, most appealing combination of foods - especially in the hot summer months. And this presentation makes it all the more fun - your guests will think they're getting the royal treatment, and you'll think you've found the perfect solution to that question of "what to feed them while the meat is still cooking."

I saw this unique way of presenting insalata caprese on my cruise on the Celebrity Millennium. It was one of their every-night options for the salad course, and I've got to say I indulged quite regularly, and then bookmarked the concept to bring home as a "souvenir."

Here's what you'll need for this dish:

~ Roma tomato
~ Mozzarella ball (roughly the same size as your tomato)
~ Dash of olive oil
~ Dash of lemon juice
~ Dash of balsamic vinegar
~ Course ground sea salt
~ A few snips of fresh basil
~ Salad greens of your choice

Cut the tomato and mozzarella and place them on your plate. Drizzle a bit of the olive oil over it and add a few drops of lemon juice. Snip up the basil and arrange that around the caprese with your greens on the opposite side of the plate. Add a few drops of balsamic to the plate and grind some salt to taste over the top.

And here's the best part - you can pop it in the fridge ahead of time, so that as your guest enters you can whip it out for immediate dining joy!

Yours in the love of good food (and the wine that surely would come with the next course!),
AL

Fiftieth Post ~!! ~ Quick and Light Insalata Caprese

Today the girls invited me out to lunch for sushi. You all know how much I love sushi AND girl-talk, so this was one painful invite to turn down. Today needs to be spent focused on the books.

...But a girl's still gotta eat, right?

...And it's got to be packed with goodness to create a day of massive productivity...

...And it's gotta be darn quick.

So, in keeping with the theme of summery goodness, here's what you'll need for this ingredients-to-tableside in less than 5 minutes Insalata Caprese:

~ Prewashed grape tomatoes

~ Fresh basil

~ Mini mozzarella balls

~ Lemon

~ Balsamic vinegar (see August's post on Insalata Caprese before you jump to conclusions on this one!)

~ Ground sea salt

In a bowl, combine your mozzarella and grape tomatoes (sliced if that's your thing). Squeeze the juice of less than half of a lemon over the whole thing. Snip up some fresh basil, add a dash of balsamic, ample salt, and toss.

Enjoy!

Yours in the love of tasty, quick lunches,

AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Twelvth Post: Last-minute luncheon of fruit and chicken salad

Jenny and I have been trying to get together all summer. When we finally determined that Thursday would work, we set our plans for a lunch at my new place. I needed a lunch that I could put together quickly but still have it look festive and yummy.

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Here's what you'll need for this summery plate:

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Fruit salad:

~ Seasonal fruit (I chose blueberries, strawberries, one banana and the salvaged part of a nectarine that I dropped on my way home from the store)

~ About a tablespoon of honey

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Chicken salad:

~ Baked chicken (I chose Tyson's natural chicken breast, pre-cooked and packaged!)

~ Dried cranberries (raisens, dried cherries or chopped apple would work just as well)

~ Celery (about 3 stalks)

~ A good amount of Miracle Whip

~ One leaf lettuce per serving (optional)

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On the side:

~ Strawberry yogurt

~ Mint leaf garnishes (0ptional)

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:::PAUSE:::

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Everything in the kitchen is easier, I'm discovering, if you have the right utensils. And this meal was made into an under-20-minute prep thanks to a whacking great Crocodile Dundee type of knife. I whipped out a cutting board and my knife and went to town. In between preps, I'd rinse the blade and go back to work. One knife, one chopping block. Easy, peasy, one-two-threesy.

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:::UNPAUSE:::

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So get out your chopping block and your awesome knife. You'll need two largish bowls for each salad prep. For the chicken salad:

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Dice about 3 stalks of celery

Throw the cranberries in the bowl with it

Coarsely chop the chicken and toss it in

You can season it with a little onion salt and pepper, if you wish

Add desired amount of Miracle Whip and stir to blend it all together.

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Chill in the fridge until ready to serve on your plate on top of the lettuce. Now rinse your knife and cutting board, and back to work!

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For the fruit salad:

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Toss blueberries into the bowl

Slice strawberries into slivers

Cut up the banana

Add any other fruit (like my poor bruised-on-one-end nectarine)

Drizzle a bit of honey over it - a tiny amount - and toss the salad in the dish

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Serve with yogurt for dipping! The nice thing about this meal is I was able to put the plates together and let them chill in the fridge until we were ready to eat.

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I paired this lunch with organic lemonade - and paired it later on with a fabulous slice of strawberry-apple pie from Jenny!

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And that, my friends, is a quick luncheon fit for a month's worth of catching up!

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Yours in the love of food and girl talk,

AL.

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.