Minestrone

With the cold, windy, rainy days we've had lately, soup season is here.  I kicked it off with our favorite minestrone soup.  You have to remember to soak your beans overnight, but otherwise, this is a very simple soup that you can let sit on the burner and take care of other things, like entertaining your toddler.

The Boy loved his "Bean Soup"

Hearty Minestrone Soup
based on Cooks Illustrated, Jan/Feb 2010

Table salt
1 c dried cannellini or great northern beans, rinsed and picked over
1 T plus 2 t olive oil
2 celery ribs, cut into 1/2" pieces (about 3/4 cup)
1 carrot, cut into 1/2" pieces (about 3/4 cup)
2 small or 1 large onions, cut into 1/2" pieces (about 1 1/2 cup)
1 zucchini, cut into 1/2" pieces (about 1 cup)
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small head of green cabbage, cored and cut into 1/2" pieces (about 2 cups)
1/8 - 1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
8 c water
2 c vegetable broth
1 piece Parmesan cheese rind, about 5" x 2"
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 c V8 juice
1/2 c chopped fresh basil leaves
black pepper
grated Parmesan for serving

1.  Dissolve 1 1/2 T salt in 2 quarts cold water in a large bowl.  Add beans and soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.  Drain and rinse well.
2.  Add soaked beans, 8 cups water, broth, Parmesan rind and bay leaf to a large stock pot.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and vigorously simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are fully tender, 45 to 60 minutes.
3.  Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet.  Add celery, carrot, onions and zucchini.  Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened and lightly browned, 5 to 9 minutes.  Stir in garlic, cabbage, 1/2 t salt and red pepper flakes; continue to cook until cabbage starts to wilt, 1 to 2 minutes longer.  Set aside.
4.  When beans are tender, add vegetables and V8 juice to pot; cook until vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes.  Discard bay leaf and Parmesan rind, stir in chopped basil and season with salt and pepper.  Serve with grated Parmesan.

Cook's Note:  During the summer, I made pesto with the basil we grew and froze it in ice cube trays.  Last night when I made the soup, I tossed in two of my pesto cubes (at the same time as the V8 juice) in place of cut basil leaves.  I think Ryan would agree that the broth tasted better this way.

First Tomatoes of the Season! Caprese-Style Salad with Beans

On Sunday, when it was so hot outside, I was working at the Farmers' Market running around sweating buckets, lovely.  Lucky for me though one of the vendors had tomatoes!  Since we only buy tomatoes when they are in season, I have been waiting for this day for a long time.  Finally!  What better way to showcase fresh tomatoes than in a simple raw salad.

Caprese-Style Salad with Beans
A Kelly Original Creation
Serves 3
(Other than tomatoes and beans, all measurements are "ish")

4 medium tomatoes, cubed/chunked however you like to eat them

1 can canellini beans, drained and rinsed

1T or more fresh basil, cut into thin strips

1c fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed

3T olive oil

1T red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1.  Add tomatoes to bowl and season with a little salt.  Stir and let sit while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.  This allows the tomato juices to come out and adds to the dressing.

2.  Add the rest of the ingredients, one at a time, stirring and checking seasoning after each addition.  I did it this way because I really didn't measure any ingredients or seasonings and just went on what tasted good.

3.  Serve it up with some nice crusty bread.  I used a roasted garlic loaf from Mariano's that was quite tasty and complimented the flavors in the tomato salad nicely.

Background and Inspiration for this Dish:  Ryan and I love the ingredients of a caprese salad, but don't really like the traditional serving of it with big slices of tomato and cheese and whole basil leaves, so I always make it into a "chopped" salad.  Last night I wanted the tomato salad to be the star (entree) of dinner since I was so excited to be eating fresh tomatoes again, so I needed to add some protein.  Beans are always our go-to protein so it made perfect sense to add some cannellini beans to the salad.  They add some texture and don't take away from the flavor of the salad.  Traditionally I would use balsamic vinegar, but I was out of it and needed to make due with what I had on hand - red wine vinegar - or go without.  Ryan likes the tang the vinegar adds, so I went with the red wine vinegar and it worked just fine.  Go ahead and use balsamic if you prefer. 

If you have any versions of a fresh tomato salad that you do or come up with any good additions to this one, I'd love to hear about it.

P.S. The tomatoes tasted so good I'm emailing the farmer today to thank him.  Hopefully the tomatoes in our garden taste as good.

Black Bean Burgers

I have been searching for a good homemade veggie burger.  I really like the one Dave makes for me, but I couldn't duplicate it at home.  After a couple bad tries of a few different recipes, I decided to refocus my efforts on black bean burgers.  That's what I eat from Morningstar anyway, may as well have one that's just as easy to make myself.  This is it.  Well, it's not as easy as unwrapping a frozen patty and popping it in a skillet for a few minutes, but it comes close.



Black Bean Burgers

Makes 6

directly from My Recipes.com 

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 medium jalapeño pepper, finely chopped

2 large egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Coat baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. Place black beans in a medium bowl; mash with a fork. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Shape bean mixture into 6 (1/2-inch-thick) patties. Arrange patties on prepared baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes, carefully turning once.

 

The link to the recipe I've provided above pairs this burgers with a mango salsa.  We've done that once and it was ok.  I've also topped it with sliced avocado and some sour cream mixed with hot sauce.  Plain ol' ketchup is another topping option.  Last night we topped it with a green tomato relish/salsa* that tasted really good.  I served it with corn on the cob and homemade tortilla chips. 
 
One thing we want to experiment with is putting these burgers on the grill.  It's not much fun to have a summer burger and have to cook it in the oven.  We think we can probably do it in those little aluminum pans, but haven't tried yet.  I'll keep you posted on that when we get around to trying it.
 
*I made and canned the green tomato relish last year after a July storm knocked over our tomato plants full of unripe tomatoes.  I'm sure I'll have some green tomato recipes to share with you later this summer.  Anyone ever had green tomato pie?