Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup

I am a really, really awful blogger. I apologize for the long hiatus ... it's not like we've not been eating absolutely delicious food ... I just got tired of taking pictures while cooking. But, this looked so scrumptious and exciting and FALL-ish that I couldn't resist.

We've been getting gobs of sweet potatoes in our CSA (which, by the way, I ADORE), and I've been coming up with some pretty creative uses for them, thanks in part to Epicurious, and in part to Smitten Kitchen. Oh Deb, you are genius. This particular recipe, by chance, comes from both - originally posted on Epicurious, Deb posted it on HER blog a couple years ago. And I'm posting it again.

It's the perfect recipe for fall/winter, when the weather's getting colder and the leaves are changing and falling, and the perfect recipe for when you've just had dental work done, and your mouth hurts. There's not too much chewing involved, save the sausage.

So here we go.

What you'll need:

-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

-1 10- to 11-ounce fully cooked smoked Portuguese linguiça sausage or chorizo sausage, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (I used chorizo)

-2 medium onions, chopped

-2 large garlic cloves, minced

-2 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams; about 2 large), peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices

-1 pound white-skinned potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices

-6 cups low-salt chicken broth (I actually used just 4 cups, because I wanted more of a thick hearty stew than a soup...)

-1 9-ounce bag fresh spinach (And I didn't use this much spinach)

To Make:

Chop up all your veggies and sausage.

Then get a really big pot, and heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil over med-hi heat. 

Add the sausage, and brown, cooking for around 8-ish minutes. After it's nice and brown, transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. 

Then add the onions and garlic to the pot, and cook them till translucent, about 5 minutes. I personally had to add a bit of extra oil, since some of mine poured out onto the paper towels with the sausage.

Once the onions are translucent, then you add all the potatoes. It looks like a TON of potatoes, but it will cook down a bit. You cook them for about 12 minutes, until they're getting soft. It requires a lot of stirring and scraping.

Beautiful :)

Once those babies are nice and soft, add however much chicken broth you want - add more if you want a soup, add less if you want a thicker stew-like something.

Scrape the browned bits off the bottom of your pot, and then bring to a boil.

Once it's boiling, turn the heat down to med-low, cover your pot, and simmer simmer simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

After it's done simmering away, mash some of the potatoes in the pot with a potato masher. 

Then add your sausage.

The original recipe doesn't say this, but I sort of let mine sit for a few minutes and get warm, and let the soup soak up some of that sausage-y taste.

Then add your spinach, stir it in, and let it simmer for another 5 minutes, or until the spinach just wilts.

And voila, you're done! You can add salt and pepper to taste, but I honestly didn't think this soup needed anything extra at all.

I had every intention of making cornbread to go with this, but I completely forgot about it until after the soup was done. I figure I'll whip up a batch tonight, because we'll be eating leftovers for several days anyway, plus some different soup later this week. It's a soup kind of week in the Skinner household.

Hope everyone enjoys - this is DELICIOUS!

Summer Squash Croquettes

This is the perfect summer side dish (or you can do like we did, and use these as the main course.) SO YUMMY! I never used to like squash much - mainly because the only way I ever ate it (unwillingly) was boiled to a mushy nothingness by my grandma. (Whose only method of cooking vegetables, apparently, was boiling. She missed out on SO MUCH GOODNESS.)

Anyway.

I found this recipe at work in a Cooking Light magazine laying around. I believe it's the June 2010 one. These things are so yum.

First, you get some squash.

And cut it up in chunks.

So that it measures 4 2/3 cups

(I know that's a liquid measuring cup. But it's about right. And I'm okay with unexactness in cooking ... just not baking.)

Then you cut up some scallions.

And then you steam those babies right up.

And if you're like me, and you don't have a steamer basket, you get creative.

The ghetto steamer.

Isn't that pretty?

So after they're nice and steamy and soft, you mash 'em up with a fork.

This is easier said than done. So I used a fork ... and then I used a big knife to help the process along.

After you've got a big pile of mush, you dump it in a bowl.

And then you crush up some saltines, and put them into another liquid measuring cup. Incorrectly. Martha Stewart is probably rolling her eyes at me.

Then you put those in the bowl with the squash mush, plus some eggs and a little sugar and salt, and stir it all together.

And then it goes in the fridge for a while.

Once that's done, you're ready to cook your croquettes!

Put some of the mixture in a mesh strainer and squeeze the liquid out.

Then (and this is also easier said than done), make a little squash patty, dredge it in cornmeal, and put it in a big pan with hot oil.

And cook those croquettes right up! We ate ours as our main dish with a side of salad. So healthy, so yummy! Mark loved them. 

Hubby stamp of approval: check!

Now, here's the real recipe (with my slight modifications):

Summer Squash Croquettes

Ingredients:

• 4 2/3  cups  coarsely chopped yellow squash (about 1 1/4 pounds)
• 1/2  cup  chopped green onions
• 1  cup  crushed saltine crackers (about 30 crackers)
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  sugar
• 2  large eggs
• 1/4  cup  yellow cornmeal (I ended up using more than this)
• Cooking spray (I HATE cooking with PAM, so I just used oil)
• 1  tablespoon  canola oil, divided (because I didn't use cooking spray, I increased this by a little bit.)
• Sliced green onions (optional)

Directions:

1. Steam squash and 1/2 cup onions, covered, 15 minutes or until tender. Drain well. Mash mixture with a fork. (And also a knife.) Stir in crackers and next 3 ingredients (through eggs). Cover and chill for 3 hours; drain well in a fine mesh strainer.

2. Place cornmeal in a shallow dish. Divide squash mixture into 12 equal portions, shaping each portion into a 1/2-inch-thick patty. (Seriously, easier said than done...) Lightly coat each patty with cooking spray. Dredge in cornmeal.

3. Heat 1 teaspoon canola oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Place 4 patties in pan; cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove patties from pan. Repeat procedure 2 times with remaining 2 teaspoons oil and 8 patties. Garnish with onions, if desired. Serve immediately.

Hope you all enjoy!

Eggplant Parmesan

I am a terrible food blogger. I can't believe my last post was 9 days ago!! 

Oh well. Nothing I can do about it now...

Last night I made eggplant parmesan. Or, Eggplant Parmigiana, if you want to be correct and technical. It came from one of my mom's recipe files, and I have no idea who to credit the recipe to. But oh, it is yummy. Mark RAVED about it last night. He said it belonged at Leonardo's, "our" Italian restaurant. (Where we went on our first date, where we went the night we got engaged, etc. etc.) He literally begged for seconds.

So, you want it now? Here it is.

You start with eggplants. I soaked mine in heavily salted water for maybe 30 minutes? I've heard that helps get the bitter taste out, and also helps them retain their shape.

After they soak, you broil them in the oven

Till they're pretty and browned, like so

Then you take a 9x13 baking dish, and smear 1/2 cup of marinara sauce all over the bottom

Then you layer half the eggplant on top of that

Then more marinara

Then some cheese

And repeat!

Then you pop it in the oven

You're supposed to cover it with foil. I forgot, but that was okay, because Mark says he likes his cheese crispy anyway :)

 Et voila!

It's super easy, super yummy, and pretty darn healthy. There's a fair amount of cheese in it, but it's gotta have at least 2 servings of veggies per serving, maybe even 3. And what's better than that??

Here's the real recipe:

Make-Ahead Eggplant Parmingiana

You need:

2 eggplants, about 2 1/2 lb., cut into 1/2-in-thick rounds

nonstick cooking spray

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 jar (26 oz) marinara sauce, or you can make your own

(I was lazy, and used the jarred kind.)

1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella (I kind of rounded up and used more like 2 c.)

1/2 c. grated Parmesan

To make:

Salt or soak your eggplant if desired. Heat your broiler, and place half the eggplant on a broiler rack. (Or my ghetto version - a cooling rack placed on top of a baking sheet. Hey, it works.) Evenly coat the eggplant with cooking spray, and sprinkle it with 1/4 tsp. pepper. (I estimated.) Broil 4 in. from broiler, 4-8 minutes per side, till lightly browned. Repeat with the rest of your eggplant.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread 1/2 c. marinara in a shallow 3-qt. baking dish. Line with half the eggplant. Spoon on 1 1/4 c. marinara, top with 1 c. mozzarella. Then repeat with remaining eggplant, sauce, and mozzarella. Sprinkle with Parmesan, and cover with foil. (I forgot that one... oops.) 

**NOTE: you can indeed make this recipe early, and stop at this step, keeping the covered dish in the fridge for a day. Just add 10 minutes to your baking time if it's coming straight from the fridge.**

Bake for 45 minutes, or until bubbly. Let rest for 15 minutes. (We're never good at the "let rest" part of recipes....)

Enjoy!! It's a good one :)

Orange Bran Flax Muffins!

These are about the healthiest muffins on the planet. They are so full of bran-y flax-y fiber-y goodness you won't know what to do with yourself! And they taste pretty good, too :)

You're going to need:

1 1/2 c. oat bran

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. ground flaxseed

1 c. wheat bran

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 oranges, quartered and seeded

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. buttermilk

1/2 c. canola oil

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 c. golden raisins (I left those out of my muffins, cause I'm not a fan of raisins. I wish I had some nuts to add, though.)

First, preheat the oven to 375. Line or spray your muffin tins (you're going to need 2 12-cup tins - this recipe makes 24 muffins!)

In a large bowl, combine:

oat bran,

flour,

flaxseed,

wheat bran,

baking powder, and salt. Mix well and set aside.

Then, in a blender or food processor (oh my GOSH I want a food processor), combine:

oranges,

(and I hit the pulse button a couple of times so there would be more room)

brown sugar (I ran out, so I used 1/2 c. brown sugar and 1/2 c. white sugar)

buttermilk, oil, eggs, and baking soda. 

Blend well.

Pour orange mixture into dry ingredients. Mix until well blended. Stir in raisins (if you're using them. Or nuts. Or whatever else you decide would taste good.)

Then you just divide the batter into the muffin tins. 

(And I put some rolled oats on top of mine, cause I think it's pretty.)

Then you'll bake them at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. And voila!

Such healthy little muffins ... and they'll last us FOREVER! (It will take nearly two weeks for us to eat up 24 muffins!)

And, for those who are interested, here's the nutritional info:

Per muffin:

186 calories, 4g. protein, 30 g. carbs, 8 g. fat (about 1/2 of that is alpha-linolenic acid, the super-healthy kind of fat), 1 g. saturated fat, 18 mg. cholesterol, 3 g. fiber, 140 mg. sodium, and 4 g. flaxseed.

I would sing the praises of flaxseed all the livelong day if I could. I love that stuff. My body really loves that stuff. It is very, very good for you. If you aren't eating it, you should be! (And these muffins are a great way to start.)