Knock Your Socks Off Vegetable Hash

Who doesn't like red beets, or any kind of beets for that matter? They are so good for you, full of vitamins, antioxidants, said to lower cholesterol levels and have anti-aging effects. I love that, the anti aging thing.  I want to look younger than I am, what woman wouldn't?

So I picked up some red beets at Trader Joe's when I was there this week, wasn't sure what I would do with them.  Maybe roast them, make Harvard beets they're a favorite of mine, or boil them and use in salads for the week.  Then the light bulb finally went off in my head, I can make vegetable hash, you know like hash browns only with vegetables.  So I made the hash, and it was "knock your socks off" awesome!

Recipe below.

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Peel the veggies if you like, or not, and dice them along with some fresh rosemary leaves.

 Toss in a large bowl with a little olive oil.  Look at those amazing colors!

 Spread on a baking sheet.

 Roast at 400 degrees, turning once during cooking, and look at this beautiful, colorful dish.  Crispy, flavorful vegetables, yum!

 Vegetable Hash

Ingredients

6 red beets, peeled, medium dice, you can also you colored beets

3 medium white potatoes, peeled, medium dice

3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, medium dice

1 parsnip, peeled, medium dice

4 carrots, peeled, medium dice, I used colored carrots - purple, yellow and orange

1 bulb fennel, cut top off, core and coarsely chopped
1/2 large onion, small dice

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss all vegetables in a large bowl, sprinkle with rosemary.  Drizzle in the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss to coat.  Spread sparingly on two large baking sheets.  If the vegetables are over crowded they will steam instead of crisping. Bake for 20 minutes, turn vegetables with a spatula and bake for another 15 minutes.  For added crispness, in the last five minutes put under the broiler, be careful and watch them so they do not burn. Makes 6 servings.

Super Duper Soup!

Wow, it got chilly fast, we are only into the second week of September and already have a taste of it.  My youngest son is already yelling to put the heat on, NO WAY! I will not do that until it is absolutely necessary.  To warm him up I made a pot of Tuscan Bean Soup today.   Is there any other way to warm up, I mean except for alcohol and a bon fire, and who doesn't like those two things together in the cooler months.  He is old enough to drink, but thankfully doesn't do much of that since he is vegan and a health nut, so soup is on the menu for him tonight.

I got busy in the kitchen, already had the pantry stocked up for soup season, so I didn't have to run to the store for anything.  That is always good in my book, because once I leave the house and have to come back and do things, I can't get motivated.  This soup is pretty easy and fast to make, the recipe is below.

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All of my ingredients and sauteing the veggies.

 Vegetable stock and herbs in, then drain and rinse the beans.  It's really starting to look quite tasty!

I used this spinach, it's already washed, I just tore the stems off I don't like seeing them when I eat it.

 Toss the spinach in the pot last and let it cook down.

 How good does that look? Because it smells fantastic......

warms the belly and it's soooo good! 

Tuscan Bean Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 large onion, medium dice

4 carrots, medium dice

3 stalks celery with leaves, medium dice

1/2 medium green zucchini, cubed

1/2 medium yellow zucchini, cubed

2 bulbs of fennel, core removed, cut into thirds and sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, more if you like heat

3 sprigs fresh thyme, mince or just throw in sprigs, be sure to remove before serving

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, minced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 - 32 oz containers Vegetable Stock

3 - 15 oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 - 15 oz cans diced tomatoes, do not drain

2 1/2 cups fresh spinach, stems removed (wash thoroughly if not pre-washed)

Fresh grated Parmigiano - Reggiano cheese

Directions

Heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, on medium-high heat, in a large soup pot or Dutch Oven.  Add the onion, carrots, celery, zucchini and fennel.  Saute for about 3 minutes.  Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper and cook for about a minute.  Stir in the stock, beans and tomatoes, bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low and add the spinach.  Cover and simmer for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with grated cheese on top and crusty bread to sop up all the broth. Makes 10-12 servings.

NOTE:  If you want to thicken the soup, use an immersion blender for just a few seconds, as you do not want to puree the whole pot of soup!  You can also use a regular blender, wash with hot water first, be careful as the glass could shatter from the heat of the soup.  Take out about 1 1/2 cups of soup and blend in the blender, pour back into the soup.

Hooked On Veggies

Trying new foods is always fun for me, I like to see what the outcome of putting a recipe together will bring.  What will I use to flavor it, will I try it again, was it good, did my family like it?  A lot of questions and some hesitation go into making a new dish.  One, the cost could be a factor, and  two, I don't want to waste food or have to throw it out, so from the start -  IT HAS TO BE GOOD!  I buy alot of fresh foods these days, it's better for you, but that means a couple of trips to the grocery store each week, but that's OK with me because I know I am eating better and so is my family.  

On my second trip to the grocery store this week I picked up some avocados.  Avocados are actually a fruit not a vegetable, like the tomato.  We eat quite a few of these over the week.   Check the freshness by the stem, the one on the left is from last week, the stem is brown and dried out, it's still good but not as fresh as the one on the right.  They should be kind of soft to the touch but not mushy.  I use them in salads, sandwiches and homemade guacamole.  Spice them up with garlic, lime and salt and pepper.  A 1 ounce serving has 50 calories and is packed with close to 20 vitamins and minerals.

 These cute little onion looking things are shallots, and I use lots of these in cooking.  Shallots have the milder taste of sweet onion with a hint of garlic.  I use them because they are smaller that an onion, so I don't have to cut a big onion.  Shallots don't have that overpowering taste that onions sometimes have.  I use them in sauces, fry them crispy to top a steak, in soups and salad dressings.

 The sweet potato - these are so much better for you than white potatoes.  They cook up creamy and have a sweet flavor. Sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbs, fiber, and beta carotene. I mash them, oven fry them or make casseroles out of them.  No matter how you prepare sweet potatoes they will not disappoint, make the switch today.

 Fennel - This is kind of a new addition into my cooking.  The flavor of fennel is a very mild licorice taste, it's not strong, just a hint, so don't shy away from it.  I use it in sauces, soups and raw in salads.  I reserve some of the fronds and use them also.  The bulb, fronds and seeds are used in a wide variety of food dishes.  I make a salad from spring greens, sliced oranges, cucumber and sliced almonds.  Then make a dressing of OJ, olive oil, some brown sugar, salt, pepper, a little cumin and snipped fronds, then pour over the salad - Good!

 Summer is here and what veggie runs rampant - ZUCCHINI and lots of it.  We love zucchini, I don't peel it when I grill it, roast it, use it in baking, soups or make ratatouille.  Leave the skin on it's good for you.

 And last but not least - The fresh sweet basil, nothing says summer like this herb, it's my favorite.  Sweet basil is so fragrant.  I have a huge plant in my front garden that I pick from a couple of times a week.  I wash it, wrap in a paper towel, put in a resealable bag and keep in the refrigerator.  I use sweet basil in many dishes, not just Italian dishes.  It is very delicate, so if you are using it to cook with add at the very end so it keeps it color, otherwise it will turn black and does not look very pretty.

Trying New Food Flavors

I like trying new foods and flavors, so when browsing my local farmer's market I always look for things my family and I have not tried.  I picked up a fennel bulb, relatively inexpensive, and used it in a salad . If you have never tried it, it has a very mild sweet licorice flavor, a flavor that is in the background, not one that strong.  It pairs nicely with citrus fruits like oranges or grapefruit.  In my salad I used spinach, oranges, the fennel, red onion and cracked black pepper.  The dressing consisted of orange juice, olive oil, cracked black pepper, salt  and sugar.   Along with the salad, I roasted shrimp in the oven with olive oil, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and seafood seasoning.  It takes less than 10 minutes in the oven. Served with the shrimp, veggie bird nests with tempura soy sauce.  The bird nests are made from kale, carrots, onions and mixed in a tempura batter. They can be fried or baked in the oven.   Easy light meal in less than 30 minutes, and all tasted so good!  Fennel can also be roasted in the oven with olive oil and salt and pepper.