Blissful Cow

Serves 8-10

3 tablespoons of olive oil

4 small red potatoes, cup into small cubes

4 celery stalks with leaves, chopped

1/2 an onion, finely chopped

4 teaspoons of minced garlic

1 can roasted diced tomatoes

1 can diced tomatoes with diced chiles

1 can tomato paste

1 can rinsed and drained white beans

1, 16 0z jar of marinated mushrooms (optional)

2 cups of water

2 cups of vegetable stock

1 cup vodka

Sriracha Sauce to taste

2 tablespoons of horsradish

the juice of a lemon

cilantro, chopped

4 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

To begin, heat the olive oil on medium heat, add onions, garlic, and celery. Stir frequently for about 5 minutes.  Add 2 cups vegetable broth. Add both cans of tomatoes, tomato paste, and the white beans. Simmer about 15 minutes. Next, use a hand blender to puree the mixture, or blend in batches in a blender.

Back on medium-low heat add 2 cups of water, vodka, potatoes, french green beans, and drained (but not rinsed) marinated mushrooms.  Cook until the potatoes are soft. Add Sriracha Sauce to taste. Finish with horseradish and lemon juice. Drizzle  vodka and/or olive oil lightly to garnish. Serve with multigrain baguette.

This recipe is adapted from Rachael Ray’s Bloody Mary Stew

This Super Easy, Super Bowl Chili is the most delicious and versatile dish you’ll ever serve.  It’s simple to prepare which means you won’t be busy preparing it in the kitchen, missing the big play of the game –or heaven forbid you miss one of those million dollar commercials.  In fact, you can make this chili the night before and serve it in a slow cooker. It works great as a soup, stew, dip, burrito/wrap filling, on top of a veggie hot dog, baked potato, or sweet potato fries.  It’s the perfect way to feed your hungry Super Bowl guests. No matter how you serve it up, with cheese, sour cream, or corn bread, you’ll be sure to score!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

1/2 a medium sized onion

3 tbs minced garlic

1 (14.5 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes with jalapenos

1 jar (~14.5 oz.) salsa

1 can chili beans (mild, medium, or hot)

1 can kidney beans

1 can check peas or white beans (depending on your preference –pretty much any of your favorite beans will work well)

1/2 cup frozen corn

2 cups brown rice

1 tbs ground cumin

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)

1/4 tsp corriander (optional)

1/4 tsp cardamom (optional)

HOW TO PREPARE SUPER BOWL CHILI

Heat about 4 tbs of olive oil in a large wok-style skillet on medium high heat

chop onions and add them to the oil

add minced garlic

add spices and let cook on medium heat (careful not to burn the garlic) until the onions are soft and transparent(about 10 minutes)

add can of diced tomatoes

add chili beans

add rinsed and drained kidney beans and chickpeas

add frozen corn

cook on medium heat 20-30 minutes

serves 6-8 people

Sometime in June Kevin got a real craving for greens. So that next Saturday morning we came home from the Pasadena Farmers Market with a beautiful bunch of asparagus, a bag of spinach, and a bag of baby arugula. I wondered, what could I create with these ingredients to make a delicious and filling meal? It had to be something that could be enjoyed by almost any palette. And then it hit me, soup!  The best soup recipe for these ingredients already exists. It’s in the cookbook, the Conscious Cook by Tal Rannen. I’m passing along his recipe and a strong recommendation that you run out and get this super cookbook.

And, to really top things off, I made a giant crouton to accompany this deliciously healthy green soup.  I promise, even your pickiest eater will love it!  You can also make this soup with broccoli instead of asparagus.  I imagine the broccoli version would be great over pasta.

Ingredients

sea salt

3 tbs olive oil

1 large bunch asparagus (ends trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces)

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 quarts vegetable broth

1 bay leaf

1 cup cashew cream

fresh ground pepper

2 cups baby spinach

(1) Place stock pot over medium heat and sprinkle the bottom with a pinch of salt and heat for 1 minute.  Add oil and head for 30 seconds to give a nonstick effect to you pot.

(2) Add asparagus, celery,  and onion and sauté for 6-10 minutes.  Add broth and bay leaf, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the cashew cream and simmer for 10 minutes more.  Remove the bay leaf, salt & pepper to taste.

To make the cashew cream, Tal Rannen instruct you to soak cashews in water overnight in the refrigerator.  I soaked            about a cup of cashews. Due to lack of planning, I soaked mine for about an hour and it seemed to turn out just fine.  After soaking in cold water, rinse then pour cold water over them until the water line is about 1/2 inch over the cashews.  Blend on high in a blender until smooth. Use less water to make thicker cashew cream.

(3) Working in batches, pour soup into a blender (cover the lid with a towel to prevent burns) and blendon high.  Add spinach to the last batch and blend until smooth.

Garnish with greens like baby arugula or my giant, homemade crouton.  To make the crouton simple cut the crust off a slice of bread. Put it in a ziplock bag and add olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and thyme and seal the bag. Shake until the bread is evenly covered.  Then toast in a toaster oven and voile!

Prepare Broth:

The soup is very easy – heat broth (2 cups water, 2 cans veggie broth, 2 tablespoons tamari [good soy sauce] and 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar in a large soup pot.  When broth is boiling, add 5oz of buckwheat soba noodles (Cost Plus World Market carries these noodles-use half of the package) . Once boiling, turn down the heat to a simmer. Cook tofu and veggies separate.

Prepare Tofu:

Pan fry the tofu in about 4 teaspoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of Huy Fong’s Rooster Sauce (less if you don’t want it to be spicy).  This is the red pepper paste with the picture of the rooster on it and can be found by the “ethnic” foods.  The tofu should be cut into ½” square cubes and are done cooking when they are lightly browned on each side.  I use extra firm tofu and squeeze as much water out as possible before cutting and cooking.  Once cooked, set aside on a paper towel lined plate. You can use the same pan to cook the veggies. And, since it’s all going to the same place, you don’t even have to clean it in between –just wipe it out to remove any burnt tofu remains.

Prepare Veggies:

In a wok-type pan heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 ½ tablespoons of fresh grated or powdered ginger, 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of Huy Fong’s Rooster Sauce on medium heat. Add fresh or frozen Asian stir fry veggies (mushrooms, peppers, snap peas, carrots, sprouts, etc).  Cook on medium heat.  Do not over cook; the veggies should still be somewhat crisp and colorful rather than limp & gray.

Add tofu and veggies to the broth.  Simmer for 2-3 minutes and enjoy! Optional – add a dribble of sesame oil to each individual serving for a nutty flavor that can’t be beat!