Roasted Tomato Soup

Today was a beautiful fall day in Philly. Shortly after I woke up I went for a 6 mile run through the city - down to the art museum, along the Schuylkill river trail, then back Pine Street, one of my favorites. I worked up quite an appetite and spent a good part of my run thinking of what to make. With a little crisp in the air, I decided to try a recipe for Roasted Tomato Soup I had been eying on The Italian Dish blog for a while.


I really enjoyed this recipe and made a few adaptations based off the ingredients I had. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

Roasted Tomato Soup


Ingredients:

• 4 pounds Roma tomato's, cut in half lengthwise
• 6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 cups vegetable stock (original recipe calls for chicken stock - but since I stopped eating meat, I have been substituting all recipes with veggie stock and it's just as delish)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place tomato's, cut side up on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Add unpeeled garlic. Drizzle 3 tablespoons olive oil over tomato's and garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast tomato's for 1 hour. Let cool a bit, then peel garlic.
2. Cook onion, rosemary, sugar, 1 tablespoon olive oil and butter in pot over medium heat until onions are soft (about 5 minutes). Add tomato's, garlic and stock; simmer covered for about 20 minutes.
3. Place immersion blender in pot and puree the soup. ( the original recipe calls to strain the soup after blending to get rid of skins and seeds, but i pureed the soup enough to skip this step - I don't think it is necessary)
4. Add cream, salt and pepper to taste and heat until warm.

Top with Parmesan crisps.To make crisps, preheat oven to 325. line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Use a 2-3" biscuit cutter and place Parmesan in circle, carefully lifting cutter off to leave Parmesan in nice circles. Bake 8-9 minutes to allow cheese to melt thoroughly. Remove from oven. as cheese cools it will harden into a nice crisp.

Fresh Tomato's


Drizzled with Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper


Roasted Tomato's and Garlic


Tomato's simmering with broth and spices


Blending


Parmesean Crisps

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

After a hiatus for over a year, I am going to really really try to update my blog for a few reasons - one main one is I want a place where all of my go-to recipes will be electronically.

I didn't take a picture of this dish, but it was so delish you just have to trust me - and go make it!

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Ingrediants:

• 1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds) peeled and cut into 1" pieces
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4" slices (I just used two snack size bags of the small carrots)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 can (15-19 oz) garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup prunes, chopped
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 1/2 cups water

Directions:
1. Sautee squash, carrot and onion in 1-2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat until the onions are clear (about 10 minutes)
2. Add remaining ingrediants
3. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until all vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
4. Serve over couscous (if you don't have couscous, it is just as good without).

Recipe from: Good Housekeeping Cookbook

Stuffed Acorn Squash

My intention was to do a weekly post... clearly I have not been to good about it since my last post was in August and now it's almost the middle of October!! I hope to improve this to a weekly post. Anyway... I made this recipe earlier this week for dinner. The recipe below lists the amount of ingredients the recipe calls for, but I modified this for me (just 1-2 servings) by dividing... well more like eyeballing... everything by 3. I am also excited because EVERYTHING used in this was part of my farm share! As you can see in the photos, my apple was about the size of the acorn squash itself, so I only used 1/4 of the apple. While I enjoyed this recipe, and will try it again with other fillings (perhaps more savory), I still lean towards butternut squash as my favorite... so more of those recipes to come!







Ingredients:
2-3 large acorn squash or other white squash
2-3 tart apples (diced)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup butter (melted)

Directions:
- preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Cut squash in 1/2 and remove seeds and strings. To make this easier, piece squash with a knife and microwave for a minute or two. definitely do this! Place cut sides down on greased baking sheet with sides; bake 40-50 minutes, until soft but not mushy
- When squash is almost done roasting, combine diced apples, melted butter and maple syrup
- Once squash is done, remove and crank oven up to 375. Flip squash over and fill with apple mixture. Bake at 375 for an additional 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Grandmoms Strawberry Cake

This recipe is so so simple and yummy. If you know me personally, you know how much I adored both my grandmom's growing up, and spent a lot of time baking with my grandmom egan. (i would go to her house for weeks at a time in the summers and on weekends, and she taught me everything - home made apple sauce, etc -so yummy) Thinking back, I feel like she brought this cake to almost every family gathering because everyone loved it so much. It's one of my brothers Pat's favorites, so I made it this past weekend for his birthday.



Ingredients:
- White or Yellow Cake
- 1 package strawberry jello (i use sugar free)
- 1 tub cool whip (again, i use light)
- 1 bag frozen stawberries, or fresh with some sugar to create a syrup-y liquid with the berries

Directions:
- Prepare any white or yellow cake (box or homemade... I just use a box for quickness)
- Let cake cool on racks. Once cool, poke lots of holes over top of cake with fork
- Prepare strawberry jello, and pour over cake to absorb. (i keep cake on cooling rack, on top of a baking sheet lined with foil for this part)
- Allow cake to cool/absorb jellow liquid
- Thaw a bag of frozen strawberries and a tub of cool whip... mix together, and thats your frosting!! Frozen stawberries work well bc when they thaw, there is the juice... to use fresh, i would just chop up, add a little sugar and put in fridge a few hours... the sugar mixed with the strawberries will create natural juices.

Eggplant Rolls with Spicey Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp dried hot red pepper flaked
7 tbls olive oil
1 1/2 lb plum tomatoes
1/2 tsp sugar
1 (1 1/4 lb) eggplant
12.5 oz ricotta (i used part skim)
1.5 oz finely grated parmigiano-reggiano
3 tbls finely chopped fresh basil (i used about 1 tbls dried basil)
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Make sauce:
Cook garlic and red pepper flakes in 1 tablespoon oil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until garlic is golden, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 15 to 20 minutes.

Grill eggplant while sauce cooks:
Heat grill pan over high heat until hot.

Peel 2-inch-wide strips of skin from opposite sides of eggplant and discard. Holding a knife parallel to a peeled side, cut eggplant lengthwise into 8 (1/3-inch-thick) slices. 3Brush both sides of slices with 3 tablespoons oil (total), then season with salt and pepper.

Grill slices in batches, turning over once and brushing grilled sides with some of remaining oil, until golden brown and tender, about 4 minutes, then transfer to a tray.

Assemble eggplant rolls:
Stir together cheeses, 2 tablespoons basil, pepper, and remaining salt. Divide cheese mixture among slices (3 to 4 tablespoons per slice), leaving an 1/8-inch border along edge. Roll up each slice, beginning with a short end, and serve rolls topped with sauce and sprinkled with remaining basil.

Serves: 4 entrees, or 8 appetizers.

Recipe from: Gourmet

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
4 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		401.5
Total Fat		31.6 g
	Saturated Fat	7.9 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	2.5 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	19.6 g
Cholesterol		28.7 mg
Sodium		712.9 mg
Potassium		692.6 mg
Total Carbohydrate

Fresh Corn & Tomato Salad

A few years ago my good friend Gabby got me a new cookbook for a bday, or xmas, or something. It is definitely one of my favorite books, and I absolutely love this recipe... so easy and everyone seems to always love it!





Fresh Corn and Tomato Salad
Ingredients:
12 large ears of white corn
7 tbls olive oil
2 tbls finely chopped garlic
1 cup packed julienned fresh basil
10 Roma tomatoes, chopped
3 tbls balsamic vinegar
salt and peppa, to taste

Directions:
Cut the tops of the corn kernels off the cob with a sharp knife and put into a bowl. Heat 2 tbls of the olive oil in each of 2 large skillets. Add 1/2 of the garlic and 1/2 of the corn to each skillet.

Sautee for 5 min, or until corn is tender. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 of the basil to each skillet and mix well. Spoon the corn mixture into 2 large bowls. Cool slightly, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 the remaining olive oil, 1/2 of the tomatoes, 1/2 of the vinegar and 1/2 of the basil to each bowl and mix gently. Season with salt and pepper. Chill covered, for 3-8 hours. Serves 10

* I subsituted roma for grape tomatoes. Some people have asked me why you need to use two skillets... i think bc this recipe makes so much, for even coverage/cooking. can easily be halved.

Recipe from: California Sol Food

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
10 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		127.0
Total Fat		10.0 g
	Saturated Fat	1.4 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	7.1 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		15.1 mg
Potassium		325.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate		9.6 g
	Dietary Fiber	1.8 g
	Sugars	0.5 g
Protein		1.7 g

Vitamin A	17.5 %
Vitamin B-12	0.0 %
Vitamin B-6	6.4 %
Vitamin C	23.4 %
Vitamin D	0.0 %
Vitamin E	8.2 %
Calcium	1.2 %
Copper	5.4 %
Folate	6.5 %
Iron	4.1 %
Magnesium	5.1 %
Manganese	10.1 %
Niacin	5.2 %
Pantothenic Acid	4.3 %
Phosphorus	4.6 %
Riboflavin	4.2 %
Selenium	1.2 %
Thiamin	7.0 %
Zinc	1.4 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.