Italian Sausage and Kale soup

It was my husband John's birthday last week and we went on a gondola ride through the canals in Venice Italy..........no wait.........it was in  Naples California.  But it felt a lot like Italy.  I have been to Venice once, back in 1972..........but that's a story for another time.

 We ate our lunch at the Macaroni Grill in Seal Beach, California.  I had what they call the 'Board Soup'........which I found out means, the 'soup of the day'.   It was Italian Sausage with Kale soup.  It was so delicious.........that I had to come home and re create it.  Fortunately I found Italian sausage at 50% off, so that closed the deal for me.

Kale is the new rage in vegetables.  You would think it has a strong taste by the look of it, but its mild just like spinach.  It is being praised for its high vitamins and mineral content.    The only problem I have with this soup is its summer right now, and soup is kind of a winter food........oh well.

The ingredients you'll need are:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1 large stalk of celery, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb of Italian sausage
1 Tbsp tomato paste
fresh basil, small bunch chopped or 1 tsp dried basil
2 qts chicken broth and or water
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 bunch of kale (about 4 cups chopped kale) stems removed.
You can substitute any sturdy green like Swiss chard, or spinach ( spinach will take less time to cook)

 Heat the oil in a large stock pot over medium heat.  Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook until the onions are translucent.  Stir in garlic  and cook about 1 minute, being careful not to burn it.

 Then add the sausage. Crumble the sausage with a wooden spoon and cook all the way through.

 

Stir the tomato paste into the cooked vegeatable and sausage mixture; season with pepper.
Add broth and water to make up 2 quarts and simmer for about 15 minutes over medium-high heat, to allow the flavors to blend.

While the soup is simmering, wash the Kale and remove the tough stems.  Chop the leaves up.

 When the soup is ready add the chopped kale to the simmering liquid and bring it back up to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for about 15 more minutes or until the kale is tender.

Top with fresh basil.

You may wish to add parmesan cheese as well.

Here's a picture of John and I about to have our gondola ride.

Quinoa salad- (pronouced Keen-wa)

Quinoa (keen-wa) is all the rage these days.  I've always thought it was great, but have never really gotten into making it that much.  Its super high in protein, is a seed, but you can prepare it like a grain. It cooks just like rice, so is easy to prepare.

My daughter Jenny makes Quinoa lots of ways and serves it to her boys.  I have seen it with pesto mixed in....... made like macaroni and cheese..... mixed with beans......anything you can do with rice or pasta, you can do with quinoa. 

Quinoa is perfect for anyone with alergies to wheat........its gluten free, high in fibre and lower in carbs, than most grains.

I had a ripe avacado, lemons, my own heirloom tomatoes and some spinach.... so here's what I came up with.
 Quinoa salad recipe: 

Ingredients:

1/2 C. dry quinoa

1 c  broth or water

1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)

2 tomatoes cut up

1 avocado diced

2 c fresh spinach

1 bunch cilantro

2 small cloves garlic

1 c frozen corn, thawed.

2 green onion, diced

For the dressing:

Juice of 1 lemon

zest of 1 lemon

 1 tsp. olive oil

1 tsp. sugar or any type of syrup or honey

1/2 tsp. cumin

dash of salt and pepper

Bring the broth and Quinoa to a boil, then reduce to simmer, covered, for 15 mins.

In a food processor, add the cilantro, spinach, garlic, lemon juice and zest, olive oil, cumin, sugar, salt and pepper and chop until all blended.

 Meanwhile the quinoa should be done.  Remove the lid and allow to cool down.

In a large bowl mix together the rinced beans, tomato, avacado, corn  and onions

 This is what the quinoa looks like........it has little shoots poking out and is translucent.

This is where I decided that the recipe needed corn.  If I had red bell pepper I would have added it too.

Quickest way to thaw frozen corn is in a collendar, under warm running water.

 Mix in the quinoa and dressing.  Cover and refrigerate until cooled down.

I ate this as a complete meal, since it has all the necessary nutrition for a full meal.

So this was my adventure in food today.........discovering Quinoa.
Garbonzo beans (chick peas), kidney beans or any type of bean would be fine.
You could try fresh basil or parsely instead of the cilantro.

Thai Enchiladas

These are Thai Enchiladas.  Yeah, you know I live in California right?  We're all about fusion food here.  So I'm combining two of my favorites Thai and Mexican food. 
I did see the name Thai Enchiladas on Pinterest.........but this is my recipe adaption with lots of changes and not too many similarities to the original.  I shared the recipe with my son Justin, and he made them in Canada, and sent me the picture below. 

Today I made them three different ways and told my husband I was doing an experiment to figure out the best recipe.  He liked all three, and was very encouraging and ate them all.  So here's what I think is the best recipe.

Saute 1/2 c grated carrots, 1/2 c shredded cabbage, 2 cloves chopped garlic and 3 green onions chopped in 2 Tbsp of oil, until tender.  About 3 - 5 mins.

Add 2 c shredded cooked chicken.

In a large bowl whisk together until blended: 1 can coconut milk (about 1 1/2 cups),  1 tsp curry powder, 1/3 cup sweet chili sauce, 1 lemon- juiced, 1 Tbsp fish sauce, 1/3 cup peanut butter. 
Mix about 1/2 cup of this sauce into the cooked vegetables and chicken.
Meanwhile prepare a large baking dish by spraying it with oil.  Heat the oven to 350 oF.

This is  where my experiments came in.  You can use either flour tortillas, egg roll wrappers or home made or store bought crepes to wrap the mixture with.  They are called enchiladas if you use the tortillas, egg rolls if you use the egg roll wrappers, and crepes if you use the crepes.  So do whatever you like.  All three ways taste delicious!!!!

This is a picture of me using the egg roll wrappers. I sprayed them with some oil before baking them.

Bake the rolls in the oven for 20 mins.

 Heat the remainder of the sauce in a small pot and stir until thick and bubbly.

Chop up a bunch of cilantro, and two more green onions and chop up 1/2 c salted roasted peanuts, for the garnish

After 20 mins of baking, smear the sauce over the top of the rolls. and put back in the oven for another 10 mins.

This picture shows the flour tortillas on the edges and egg roll wrappers in the center.

 Garnish with the peanuts.
Then the cilantro/green onion mixture. 

So here's the crepes

                                 
                                                             And here's the egg roll wraps

I think for most of you, plain flour tortillas are going to be the easiest to find .  There's not too many countries around the world where you can't find them, or something close to it.

You can bake it with all the sauce poured over the enchiladas at the beginning too.  I just happened to like the tortillas a little crispy and the egg rolls a little crispy too.  But John was happy with the softer version that I made with sauce from the beginning too.  You can do it however you like.

Let me know if you try this recipe.  I love your feedback. 

Recipe for Thai Enchiladas:

Ingredients:
 1/2 c grated carrots,
 1/2 c shredded cabbage
 2 cloves chopped garlic
 3 green onions chopped  + additional 2 green onions for garnish
 2 Tbsp of oil
2 c shredded cooked chicken.
 1 can coconut milk (about 1 1/2 cups)
 1 tsp curry powder
1/3 cup sweet chili sauce
1 lemon, juiced
1 Tbsp fish sauce (or 1/2 tsp salt)
 1/3 cup peanut butter.
6 - 8 flour tortillas (crepes or egg roll wraps)
1/2 c chopped roasted salted peanuts
1/2 c chopped cilantro
(2 green onions chopped mentioned above)

Preheat oven to 350 oF
Spray a 9"x13" pan with oil
In a frying pan, saute the carrots, cabbage, garlic and green onions in the oil until tender.
Add the shredded cooked chicken.
 In a bowl, whisk the coconut milk, curry powder, sweet chili sauce, fish sauce, lemon juice and peanut butter until smooth.
Mix about 1/2 cup of this sauce into the cooked vegetables and chicken.
Place each tortilla in the baking dish with some of the vegetable/chicken mixture. and roll with the flaps underneath.
Heat the remaining sauce in a small pot and stir until bubbly.
Bake for 20 mins and then smear the remaining coconut milk sauce over each roll and bake for 10 more minutes - or pour all the sauce on top of the rolls before baking. and bake for 30 mins.
Garnish with the chopped peanuts, cilantro and green onions.

Fathers Day Brats, onions and apples

 Its Fathers Day and I want to make a meal to please my man.  That would be my husband.  However my Dad is someone I also want to please........but he has a heart condition.........so I'll make him a special low fat meal too.  But here's the recipe I made to please my man. I learned this recipe from my neighbor Joe Bosco a few years ago.  He uses beer, but I use apple juice instead.  This recipe only has three ingredients - sausage, onions and apple juice (or beer).  So simple but so delicious.  It was like eating candy. 

Start with some good old sausages.

 Cut up two onions in slices, and throw them together in a big cast iron pot.

Or you can pre cook your sausages to give the outsides a nice brown color either on your grill

Or just in a frying pan.

Now add the apple juice or beer........whichever you prefer.  I used about 4 cups of apple juice.

Make sure the sausage and onions are completely covered in liquid and bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer without a lid, for 1 hour or more until the liquid is almost gone. 
Stir every now and then when the liquid is starting to disappear.

 The onions should look like this.

Serve as is, or in a bun. 

Happy Fathers day!

Spring Rolls and garden stuff

 After being in Canada for a couple of weeks in the cooler weather, and now at home in LA in the warmer temperatures.... for some reason has made me want to eat Asian food at most of my meals. I've made lettuce wraps, Phad Thai, and Spring rolls so far.  Now since we gained a few pounds in Canada (my cooking mind you), both John and I are trying to be good.  We've been taking two walks a day around the neighborhood, and I'm attempting to learn the routines on a Zumba workout.

 Our garden is flourishing.  We came home to admire lots of growth in all three of our tomato plants and our three zucchini plants as well.  We've already harvested a few cherrie tomatoes. 

I'm about to make pesto from all the Basil I have.

Today's recipe is for Baked Spring Rolls...... although the fried version tastes better... this is healthier.

Chop up some green onion, celery, carrot and cabbage.  ( I didn't have any cabbage, so I used pea pods instead).  Saute in some oil in a frying pan.  Add 1 tsp chopped garlic, 1 tsp fresh ginger, 2 tsp soy sauce.

Get your Egg roll wrappers ready.  Heat your oven to 425 oF.  Cover a baking pan with foil and spray with oil.

Add 1 lb of ground turkey, pork or chicken.  (turkey is easier to find)

Cook until no longer pink.

Drain off all the liquid.

Put about 2 spoon fulls of mix in the center of the egg roll wrapper, and fold like a burrito, or in half like a bandanna handkerchief.  Moisten one side of the edge with water to seal and press together.   Place on a baking sheet and spray with oil until the outside is gently coated. 

Bake for 15 mins. 

Remove from oven when the tops are brown.

Or you can fry in hot oil.  They will cook much faster.  Remove once it starts to turn golden brown.

Enjoy with dipping sauce, such as my recipe for cilantro dressing.

Recipe for Spring Rolls

1 lb ground turkey
12 egg roll wrappers
3 green onions, chopped
1 carrot shredded
1/4 cabbage, shredded
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1 tsp ginger, chopped
2 tsp soy sauce

Saute the meat and vegetables in a little oil.
Drain off any excess liquid.
Preheat oven to 425 oF
Grease a foil covered baking sheet
Place the egg roll wrappers one at a time on the baking sheet,
put two small spoonfuls of mixture onto each
Fold and seal into desired shape.
Spray with oil.
Bake for 15 mins