Chili

It's that time again...when we shake things up a bit around here to give you the opportunity to see what other people like to cook (very noble, right?)...to give you a chance read something someone else besides us write about their food...and it just might also happen to be the end of the semester which equals tests, projects, exams, and lots and lots of grading. Cold cereal will be the main course in the Zirker house for the next 2 weeks. Meanwhile, you'll be hearing from Caroline as well as a couple of my favorite cooks. 

This guest post is from one of our most loyal readers (and dear friend), Lindsey R. She has actually already made a few culinary appearances on this blog in the form of her family's cookie salad and buttermilk blueberry pancakes (which I may have made 3 times the past 8 days), but this is her first official post. Welcome, Lindsey!

Butternut and Quinoa Stew

Two points to the first person who can identify what's in the picture below (hint: reread the title of this post)...

And...you got it! Quinoa it is. Actually, it's the same quinoa that I bought when I made this recipe a shockingly long time ago. Like over a year ago. The thing is, the husband doesn't really love quinoa like he should, so I have to either bully him into eating it or disguise it. And this stew or soup or whatever you want to call it (by day two I renamed it "goulash"), happens to be very good at hiding quinoa.

Spicy Red Lentil Chili

I'm not going to be the one to say that you ate too many sweets this past month. I won't tell that I saw you sneak that extra helping of dessert, and I'm certainly not about to hint that it's time to start eating some healthy food now and then. I'm not going to suggest that you make one of those New Year's resolutions that you're probably not going to follow through with anyway. And I'm most definitely not going to try to persuade you to make this soup just because it's tasty, healthy, and, um, shall we say,  cleansing.

Instead, I'm going to show you this soup and tell you that if you make it, you'll feel good about yourself, inside and out. And what better way to bring in the new year than by feeling whole and renewed?

Welcome, 2012!

Potato Corn Chowder

I wish it were cold outside. I wish for frost in the morning and snow in the afternoon. Before you think I'm totally nuts, you have to remember that I grew up in upstate NY, not far from Buffalo which = lake effect snow all winter long. I've almost never had a birthday that wasn't dreary and blustery. Winter lasts from November to April May. Parking lots are made for snow piles, not cars. I'm accustomed to the cold. But now I live in the "south" or close to it. And it just hasn't been that cold here. Windy, yes (especially on my daily walk over the Potomac), but not cold. It's still fall. Case in point: today it is forecasted to be 64 degrees. To me, that's nearly summer.

White Bean Chicken Chili

It is cold today. The Wasatch Mountains are covered with a healthy dusting of snow and there are very tiny flakes falling in my yard. The ski resorts are all telling us the days they will be opening and there are already Christmas decorations up in the stores. I don't know that I am ready for all of this, in fact I can say that I AM NOT ready for the winter to come, but apparently my vote didn't count this year (although I don't know that Mother Nature ever actually asked me).

Boeuf Bourguignon

I'm sure you've all seen Julie and Julia by now. I for one loved it. I loved the food, the scenery (yes, please to Paris!) and watching Meryl Streep do an awesome Julia Child. And, if you must know, I watch(ed) it for analytical purposes. To my dismay and shame, the character of Julie (sadly, not Julia, she's way too nice to be me), is so strikingly similar in all the worst ways to myself, that I had to watch the movie over and over to critique/observe my many flaws. And yes, I have been known to throw a fit in the kitchen. It's a bit embarrassing, actually. Remind me why I'm writing this...

Boeuf Bourguignon is probably one of Julia Child's more famous dishes and it's a major part of the movie Julie and Julia. It took me a while to get around to making it because I figured it was just a beef stew, and who needs to go sprinting to the kitchen for beef stew? Good, yes. Worth skipping all sorts of other interesting recipes, not a chance, I thought. But I was wrong. So wrong. Boeuf Bourguignon is amazing. It's not hard to make and is totally worth the 2.5 hour wait and the extra expense of cooking with wine.

Here's another confession: I am utterly lost in the wine aisle. Being a non-alcohol drinker and living in a place where all alcohol must be purchased at the liquor store, I have been used to grabbing the cheapest whatever I could find and ducking out of the store in a hurry (lots of creepy dudes hang out at the liquor store). But now that I live in DC and alcohol is available at the grocery store, it's a different ball game. Because the alcohol section of my grocery store is about twice the size of liquor store I was accustomed to. And there are 15 shelves of wine claiming to be red. So what do I choose? Do I want something very oaky? Young? Full? Dark red? Light red? Sweet?

Cranberry Bean Chowder

Absence makes the heart grow stronger they say, and I believe this is true. Again, I apologize for the long space between posts, what slackers we are. However, in my defense I did give birth to a child one week and one day earlier than she was due. Kelly is traveling, lucky ducky. And I was left in charge of the blog, and look how I have handled it. I even have several recipes to post, but somehow, a nap has just looked better the last several days than writing and editing photographs. So again to save the day for me is Jessie, so without further ado, I give you Cranberry Bean Chowder (with an apology for a lack of finished product picture; but here is a beautiful picture of some cranberry beans).

"As I shopped the dry goods isle at my local grocery store, my eye was caught by the beauty of the cranberry bean. I’d never heard of cranberry beans, nor had I tasted them. I bought them on looks alone. I did not have a particular recipe in mind when I bought them, so I experimented with the recipe on the back of the bag. It was delicious, another example that pork and beans are simply a good combination."

Chicken Noodle Soup

I know, I know. Chicken Noodle Soup is something that should be eaten somewhere around November. Or maybe February, but certainly not April. But the past 8 days have been rainy, blustery, sunny (for about 5 minutes), then snowing buckets, then rainy, repeat. I feel more of the winter blues than I did all winter long...and it's supposedly spring around here. Yesterday was actually decent in comparison to the rest, but Caroline's belly was feeling a bit off, and it was cool and windy, so chicken soup seemed the perfect remedy.

I can't stress enough how much better this soup will be if you use decent chicken stock rather than the little bouillon cubes we had on hand yesterday. Good stock makes good soup, especially of the chicken noodle variety. Our version is simple and easy- if you want to make it even faster, buy a prepared chicken at the grocery store and skip the chicken-broiling step. Serve with some crusty bread and stay inside until the sun comes out.

Chicken Noodle Soup
Recipe by twolittlechefs
Pictures by Caroline

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, sliced
3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
2 small cloves of garlic, minced
4 cups egg noodles

13 cups chicken stock

2 large chicken breasts, broiled and shredded*

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon sage + 1/8 teaspoon

salt and pepper, to taste

1 1/2 cups peas

1. Heat a large pot on medium high heat and combine butter and oil. Add onion, celery and carrots and sauté about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until onion has softened. 
2. Meanwhile, season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon sage. Broil on high for 10 minutes each side or until cooked. Let chicken cool slightly and then shred with a fork. Set aside.
3. Add chicken stock, chicken, thyme, and sage, and bring to a simmer. Cook 10 minutes or until the carrots are pleasantly soft. 
4. Add egg noodles and peas. Cook until egg noodles are tender, but not soft (about 5 minutes). Season with salt and pepper. Serve with a crusty bread.

Vegetarian Ribollita

Ribolitta is a soup from the Italian region of Tuscany, typically made with cabbage, beans, and day-old bread. The word comes from the Italian word ribollire, meaning to reboil. Ribollita is generally made one day in advance and then reboiled when ready to serve. The recipes vary widely, but every one includes some combination of beans, leafy greens, and stale bread.

I, however, cannot stomach the idea of eating bread that has been sitting in liquid overnight (or for any amount of time, really), getting soggier and soggier. I gag just thinking about it. So we made a minor adjustment to our ribollita; instead of adding the bread to the actual soup, we served them as a topping for the soup. If you like soggy bread, throw the croutons in the soup after the cabbage is tender. Whatever you do, be sure to save some for the next day, for as the word implies, it's even better reboiled.

Russian Borsch

So let's talk about Borsch. Borsch (sometimes spelled with a -t at the end) is a beet soup popular in Russia, Ukraine, and many other Eastern European countries. It has many variations- beef, chicken, pork, meatless, thick, thin, with tomatoes, without tomatoes, dill, no dill, hot, cold, sour cream, no sour cream- but it's always tasty. The beets give it the unique pink-purpley color, and the cabbage (usually green) adds a lovely contrast.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Before today, I had never eaten homemade tomato soup. I imagined that it would be similar to the Campbell's canned soup, which I greatly enjoy eating with a grilled cheese sandwich on a rainy/snowy day.  I didn't think it would be worth any more effort than opening a can and stirring. Homemade tomato soup, what's the big deal? Right?

Actually it is a big deal. And homemade tomato soup is a completely different beast from the canned stuff. It's about 300 times better (and better for you) and sweet without adding any sugar and basil-ly with a delightful texture and heartiness. I would eat this again. In fact, I would make you eat it if you came over to my house. Luckily it makes a lot, so I do have extra...

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Recipe slightly adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Pictures by Kelly

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped yellow onions (about 2 small onions)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
2 cups fresh basil leaves, sliced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.
2. In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. 
3. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade (or use a blender on 1/2 to 2/3 of the soup, but do not puree completely smooth). Taste for seasonings. Serve hot or cold.

Cabbage Apple Soup

The other day I was looking through our recent posts and realized we haven't had soup in a really long time. Granted, I don't feel much like soup during the summer, but I think the last one we posted was back in February. Aside from being a travesty (because soup is oh-so-good), it definitely doesn't reflect what I'm actually making in my kitchen. I love soup. And I'd make it much more often if my husband didn't claim hunger 2 hours later.

This is a simple soup. It makes an excellent appetizer or side, but you'd probably have to eat half the pot to fill you up if you ate it as the main course (and then your belly would feel sloshy and no one likes that, right?), or serve it with plenty of Focaccia bread. I like it because of, not in spite of, its simpleness. And as you may have guessed by the picture, I started eating it before I remembered that I needed to take a picture of it. Oops!

Pasta e Fagioli

This is a soup recipe, plain and simple. Well maybe not so plain, there are a few ingredients to make it bit different, namely bacon and cinnamon, all in the same pot. This soup definitely has a unique flavor, not so much as to be strange, but a twist on other veggie soups. With that said, the directions are easy to follow, so I am going to discuss some other things here. Namely, some kitchen hints from me, Caroline, to you, our readers.

I am just going to mention a couple of tips and hints that I think make cooking more enjoyable. One, have a GREAT knife, really you only need one. The knife pictured above is the favorite in our home, it is long and sharp - a must! Nothing is more frustrating to me than going to someones house to cook and being handed a dull knife, I always think, "no wonder you hate cooking, this knife is a piece". That said, both my husband and I use this knife for everything: cutting fruit and veggies, meat, and even bread. Now, it is fine to have more than one great knife, but have at least one!

Second, this is not as important as a great knife, but I think it makes life easier at the cutting board. Keep a bowl on the counter next to your cutting board to throw all your scraps in. If you are really clever and have a compost pile out back, just put in the biodegradable things. If you are not that green yet, you can put the lids from your cans in the bowl too, and just throw everything out all at once. This keeps you from walking back and forth to the garbage - saves miles on the feet and drips off the floor.

Moving on. Pictured above are two techniques for mincing and chopping. First garlic, ahh garlic, love it, hate cutting it. I own a garlic press, it is black, silver, and shiny, but in my mind basically useless. Here is how I mince garlic. First I take off the skin and then I smash it. I take my favorite knife, lay it atop of the garlic and press. This gets the juices running and the garlic in smaller pieces; then I slice and dice.

Next, I recently received as a gift a vegetable chopper (I don't know the actual name, but you can see it on the right up there). This baby is great! You just pre-cut your veggies into smaller chunks and then you get to bang on the chopper with all your pent up frustrations, and voila, chopped veggies! Granted it doesn't work with all veggies, but thus far, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and celery have all worked really well. Veggies with a thicker skin, like peppers or jalapenos, don't work quite as well, but if you are patient and willing to move them around a little, the chopper can still do a decent job.

That's it! Now go out and cook (with a really great knife in hand).

Pasta e Fagioli

Recipe by Fine Cooking Magazine

Pictures by Caroline

Ingridents:

8 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide strips

3 medium red onions, finely chopped

3 medium cloves garlic, minced1/2 tsp. dried rosemary

2 quarts lower-salt chicken broth

Two 15-1/2-oz. cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

14-1/2-oz. can petite-cut diced tomatoes

4 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced

3 medium celery ribs with leaves, thinly sliced crosswise

1 slender 3-inch cinnamon stick (I substituted about ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup tubettini (or other small pasta)

1-1/2 tsp. red-wine vinegar; more to taste

Grated or shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano for garnish

Directions:

1. In a 6-quart (or larger) Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until partially crisp, about 7 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate.
2. Add the onions to the pot and cook, scraping up any browned bits and stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, chickpeas, tomatoes and their juices, carrots, celery, cinnamon stick, 3/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil over high heat; skim any foam as necessary.
3.Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the carrots and celery are very tender, about 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, cook the tubettini according to the package directions and drain.
5. Discard the cinnamon stick and add the pasta. Stir in the bacon and vinegar. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more vinegar. Serve garnished with the Parmigiano-Reggiano.

-You can store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Serve with a great homemade bread such as our Blitz Bread, Sweet Country Cornbread, or Rosemary and Sea Salt Focaccia

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

I often find myself in the midst of a heated debate with foreigners about "typical" American food. They think that all we eat here in the good ole' US of A is hamburgers and french fries (and this is even after they've lived for a considerable amount of time. Maybe that's all they eat, but I wouldn't consider Mcdonald's to be the haven for American epicures. Far from it, if you ask me). I counter their claims of fast food with something I consider to be an American classic: chili.

Chili is totally American. And it's diverse. And it can be very quick. It tastes better the longer it sits in your fridge (well, for a while at least). And you can eat it alone or on top of things like spaghetti (in Cincinnati) or baked potatoes (everywhere?). This chili takes a step into the wild side by omitting the beef and adding some interesting spices...like cinnamon. But it's still a dang good chili.

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit January 2009
Pictures by Caroline

1 1/2 teaspoons orange peel
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 teaspoons chili powder
3 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 15.5-ounce cans seasoned black beans, drained
2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
salt and pepper, to taste
Hot pepper sauce (optional)
Sour cream or plain yogurt
Chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté 5 minutes. Mix in garlic and spices. Add beans, tomatoes, broth, and half of orange juice.
   
2. Simmer over medium heat until heated through and flavors blend, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Mix in orange peel and remaining orange juice.
   
3. Season to taste with hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Ladle chili into bowls. Top with sour cream and cilantro.
   

Peppery Potato Soup

We're back!

Metaphorically speaking, that is. We have indeed been cooking up a storm, but in our respective houses with our respective families. And after 2 weeks of baking, eating, lounging, talking, shopping, (repeated several times), we're ready and eager to attack a new year. Especially considering the mounds of new and fabulous cookbooks I got for Christmas. I've actually been thinking that I might need a new hobby aside from cooking. All people talk to me about is food. Not that I mind...
Anyway. On to the topic at hand: potato soup. This soup is great. It's comforting. It's amazingly easy. All you need to do is throw a few ingredients in your slow cooker, put the lid on, and wait, trying to ignore the tantalizing smells wafting in from your kitchen. A short hour before dinner you stir, add some milk, wait a few more minutes, mash the potatoes and you're ready to go!

Peppery Potato Soup
Recipe by Kelly
Pictures by Kelly

Serves 4

2 cans (14.5 oz) vegetable (or chicken) broth
5 small baking potatoes, halved and sliced
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 tablespoons flour (optional)*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter

1. In a slow cooker, combine potatoes, onion, celery, flour (if using), pepper and salt. Pour in vegetable broth and stir. Cover; cook on low heat 6 to 7 hours.
2. Stir in milk; cover and cook 30 more minutes.
3. Remove half of potato mixture and puree in food processor or blender (Alternatively, crush potatoes with a potato masher). Stir in butter and cook uncovered another 15 minutes. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.
   

*For a thicker soup, include the flour. You may want to wait until step 3 (after you have mashed the potatoes) to see if you really want a thicker soup. If you do decide to wait, mix the flour with a tablespoon of water to make a paste. Then add it to the soup.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Sometimes Caroline and I get together and cook on Tuesday nights so we can watch the Biggest Loser while we eat. Usually we prepare a full course meal complete with meat, vegetables, and a sumptuous dessert. But we're watching the Biggest Loser- people exercising to the point of exhaustion and eating healthy, super low-fat meals while we chow down on chocolate fudge torte! Talk about guilt! So tonight being the second to last episode, we decided we should eat something a little more health-conscious. Aside from the 2 different types of cookies we made, tonight's meal was a low-fat, gluten free, vegetarian success.


I was initially wary of the apples in this soup. But it actually creats a subtle sweetness that completments the nutmeg-y butternut. Serve as a light main course with a green salad and french bread.


Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Recipe adapted from health.com
Pictures by Caroline

1 tablespoon butter
1 1/4 cups chopped yellow onion
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 1/3 cups apple, peeled and chopped
1 1/4 pounds butternut squash, peeled and chopped (about 1 large)
1/4 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 1/4 cups evaporated milk

1. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add garlic and apple; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add squash, sage, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; stir 30 seconds or until well-combined. Add broth, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 20 minutes or until squash and vegetables are tender.
2. Place half of squash mixture in blender with about 1/4 cup evaporated milk. Remove center of blender lid (to let steam escape); secure lid. Place clean towel over opening to avoid splatters; blend until smooth. Pour into bowl. Repeat with remaining squash and evaporated milk.
3. Pour blended squash back into saucepan and heat on medium. Serve with a scoop of sour cream or sprinkle of nutmeg.

Chicken Corn Chowder

This is one of my favorite blustery, cool day dishes, and I've been waiting to share it with you for weeks! It includes some of my favorite fall vegetables- butternut squash, and potatoes, and then, of course, bacon. Bacon makes everything taste better. Kind of like butter. If you use butter, you know it's going to be good! (Maybe not healthy, but definitely tasty!)

The original recipe suggests using a purchased roasted chicken to make the prep faster and easier. They're right- it does help speed things along and makes the soup delicious, but buying a pre-roasted chicken and pounds of fresh vegetables can get expensive. You may want to either omit the chicken (this chowder is hearty enough without it) or just broil and chop a couple of chicken breasts you have on hand.


Chicken Corn Chowder
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit Octboer 2003
Pictures by Kelly

Serves about 10

10 bacon slices, chopped
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups chopped red and green bell peppers (about 2 large)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
9 cups low-salt chicken broth
4 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled seeded butternut squash
1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 16-ounce bags frozen corn kernels
1 cup whipping cream
4 cups diced skinned roast chicken
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1. Cook bacon in large pot over medium-high heat until crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain.*
   
2. Pour off all but 1/4 cup drippings from pot. Add butter to pot; melt over medium-high heat. Add onions and 1 cup bell peppers. Sauté until onions are soft, about 10 minutes.
   
3. Add flour; stir 2 minutes.
   
4. Mix in broth, then squash, potatoes, and thyme; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer uncovered until squash and potatoes are tender, about 12 minutes.
   
5. Add corn, cream, and 1 cup bell peppers. Simmer until corn is tender, about 10 minutes.
   
6. Add chicken (if including) and 1/2 cup cilantro; simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Ladle chowder into bowls; sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons cilantro.

*Although the recipe doesn't call for it, because it tastes good (and because my husband is a bacon fiend) I sometimes include the bacon pieces in the chowder. If you'd like to do so, add them back in when you add the chicken in step 6.

Garden Chicken Soup

Usually I wouldn't dare to make soup during the summer. It just seems more appropriate as a fall or winter meal. But today was cool(er) and rainy and seemed like a soup day. So here we are: a simple soup starring a few of summer's best vegetables. And although they aren't included in this recipe, (mostly because I didn't have any on hand) you may want to add 2 medium zucchini or yellow squash, chopped.

Garden Chicken Soup
Recipe by Kelly
Picture by Kelly

2 tablespoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 medium carrots, peeled and diced into 1/4 in rounds
6-8 medium tomatoes, chopped (or 2 14.5 oz cans diced)
2 cups chicken broth
2 chicken breasts, chopped
3 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add onion, garlic and carrots. Saute 4 minutes. Add chicken and cook until lightly browned.
   
2. Add tomatoes, broth, salt, pepper and basil. Bring to a boil; let simmer 20 minutes.
3. Add spinach and cook 5 minutes, or until spinach begins to wilt.
4. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

Ratatouille (Provencal Vegetable Stew)

A good friend of mine recently gave me a large zucchini from her garden and suggested that I could use it to make Ratatouille, a vegetable stew made in France; she was also kind enough to provide me with a recipe. In the book it reads, “The classic combination of the vegetables that grow abundantly in the south of France is infinitely flexible. Use the recipe as a guide for making the most of what you have on hand.” This is exactly what I did. I replaced the eggplant with summer squash and used canned diced tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes. In the end the combination of flavors was delicious, and very healthy. I would suggest eating this with some hearty bread, or even with a side of angel hair pasta to make it more filling (not very French, but I think the Ratatouille would go great with pasta).

Ratatouille (Provencal Vegetable Stew)
Pictures by Caroline

2 medium eggplants
4-5 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, halved and diced
2 or 3 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1 large red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips*
2 large zucchini, cut into ½ inch slices
1 ½ pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped, or 2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence (I used a mixture of savory, fennel, basil and thyme)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the broiler. Cut the eggplant into ¾ inch slices, then brush the slices with olive oil on both sides and broil until lightly browned, turning once. Cut the slices into cubes.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large heavy saucepan or flameproof casserole and cook the onion over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes until lightly golden, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, pepper and zucchini and cook for 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the tomatoes and eggplant cubes, dried herbs and salt and pepper and simmer gently, covered, over low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and continue cooking for 20-25 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables are tender and the cooking liquid has thickened slightly. Serve hot or at room temperature.

*To add flavor, broil the peppers in the oven until the skins begin to blacken. Remove from broiler and place in a brown paper bag and set aside until cool. Peel off the skin, then remove the core and seeds and cut into strips. Add to the mixture with the cooked eggplant.

Tortellini and Bean Soup

My husband is obsessed with tortellini. And one of our local grocery stores sells them for only $1 a bag, which means we usually have a freezer full or frozen tortellinis at any given time. He can eat them with or without tomato sauce, parmesan cheese, butter, Italian dressing, etc. I, on the other hand, get kind of sick of them after a while. Naturally the situation demanded that I come up with an alternative way to cook our mounds of tortellini. This soup is my healthy solution.



Serve with foccaia bread or buttermilk biscuits (check back in a few days for our recipe!). And if, heaven forbid, you're not very fond of tortellini, substitute some penne or rotelle (also known as wagon wheel) pasta.

Tortellini and Bean Soup
recipe by Kelly
Pictures by Caroline

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium celery stalks, chopped
3 medium carrots, cut into julienne strips*
6-8 cups chicken or vegetable broth**
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/c cups cheese tortellini***
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon rosemary

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook garlic, carrot, onion and celery in oil 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add broth and heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer until carrots are beginning to be tender. Stir in beans. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tortellini and simmer until tortellini are tender.
3. Stir in herbs and pepper. Top with cheese and serve with buttermilk biscuits.

*Julienne strips are long and thin pieces of carrot.
**Add more water if you're using dried tortellini (see below) or if you prefer a thinner soup.
***You can use either dried or frozen tortellini. If you use dried tortellinis, be sure to add them right after you add the beans. You may also need a little extra broth.