Heat soup pot. Add oil. When hot, add veggies and salt. Cook covered over med heat stirring occasionally until veggies are tender, about 10-15 minutes.
Add seasonings, lemon juice, and stock. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 30-45 minutes.
Cook pasta separately, according to package instructions.
Remove soup from heat. Stir in remaining lemon juice then stir in butter.
To serve, place some pasta in a bowl and ladle soup overtop.
During the colder winter months, we get lots of root veggies from Abundant Harvest Organics. Things like rutabagas, turnips, and beets. We get other produce too, of course, but the root veggies are usually the ones that I have more trouble using up.
Especially beets.
I’m new to liking beets. So I’m learning to be creative with their preparation.
I took last week off from my show. I try to do this every few months or so, not for a vacation, but to work on the behind the scenes stuff that can get neglected. Planning, blog maintenance, and cleaning out the produce drawers are some of those oft thought of, but rarely done chores.
My produce drawers are now almost empty.
A little while ago I made Beet Chips as a part of a Mâche and Citrus Salad. Since then, I’d been wondering if those little chips would be good in pasta. So I looked through The Flavor Bible to see things that might compliment and made up a dish for a dinner last week.
It’s pretty simple. Think beets, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and honey with pasta. Add a few more carefully chosen ingredients, and dinner is ready.
3/4 C parmesan cheese, plus a little more for topping
lemon wedges, for serving
Instructions
Toss beets with 1 t olive oil, 1 t garlic salt, and 1/8 t pepper. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes, switch position in oven (if using 2 baking sheets) and bake 5-10 min more, or until beets are tender and crispy.
Cook pasta.
Heat skillet and add oil. Add shallot and 1/4 t salt. Cook oven med-low heat for 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar, honey, and 1 T lemon juice, and cook 2 minutes.
Whisk cornstarch with 1/4 C cold water. Add to shallot mixture along with remaining salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook until slightly thickened. Add beets and pasta water.
Drain pasta and toss with beet mixture. Add parmesan cheese and 1 T lemon juice.
Taste and adjust seasoning.
Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and a lemon wedge.
Recipe Type: Main, Dinner, Casserole, Pasta, Tuna, Fish
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3
There’s no canned cream of mushroom soup allowed in this Tuna Casserole!
Ingredients
2 C cooked rotini rice pasta
1 shallot, chopped
1 watermelon radish, grated
2 carrots, grated
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 C mushrooms, chopped
2/3 C peas (frozen)
1 t dijon mustard
1 t lemon juice
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 T cornstarch
1/2 C water, divided
1 C pasta water
pinch cayenne
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 t dried parsley
1 t garlic sea salt (or regular sea salt)
pepper
1 can tuna
1/3 C parmesan cheese, grated (plus a little more for topping)
Instructions
Cook pasta. While it cooks, heat pan, add shallot, carrots, radish, and mushrooms, and 1/4 C water. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, peas, tuna, and seasonings; cook 1 minute.
Whisk cornstarch with 1/4 C water, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and dijon. Pour over veggies, bring to a boil and cook for a minute or two.
Stir in cheese.
Add pasta water and stir.
Taste and adjust seasonings.
Let sit for a few minutes before serving so pasta can soak up the sauce.
Serve topped with a little bit of parmesan cheese.
This week, I had the‚ privilege‚ of making dinner for a sick friend and his wife. When someone’s ill, there isn’t much one can do to help (doctors and nurses are excluded from this statement). So being able to provide food is a blessing to those of us who want to do something, but other than praying for healing, can’t make it better.
It’s also the case when a new baby arrives. You can’t fix the sleepless nights, but you can bring dinner over so the exhausted parents can have a break. (Hint hint, Andy and Laura, Geoff and Angie, Sean and Paige… If you’re reading this, please can I make you dinner?! I freely admit that it is mostly just an excuse for me to get to hold your wee child. Oh wait, you’re not reading this, because you’re hanging out with your new small person… Right.)
On Tuesday, after making the Roasted Broccoli and Fried Egg Sandwiches for my show, I made this Minestrone Soup for dinner. It was a kinda last minute idea. I had most of the ingredients, and Husband picked up a few extras on the way home from work. It was a chilly day and soup just seemed essential, plus it seemed like a good meal to bring to friends.
I’ve made Minestrone so many times. I’ve written it down twice. Tim loved this particular version so much that, even though it’s probably not too different from some of the others, I wanted to record what I’d done. When he yells that “it’s so freaking good”, it’s hard not to. 🙂
I had it for lunch again the next day. It was just as good, and maybe even a little better.
1 head broccoli diCicco, chopped (including leaves and stems)
3 carrots, chopped
1 shallot or onion, chopped
1/4 C water
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 C peas
1 C kale (or spinach), chopped
3 T balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 to 2 t salt
1 1/2 to 2 C diced tomatoes
2 T tomato paste
1 1/2 to 2 C garbanzo beans, cooked
1 1/2 to 2 C cannellini beans, cooked
3 C vegetable stock
3 C water
1 T Italian herb mix (or a bit of each: oregano, thyme, and basil)
1 t fresh rosemary
1 T lemon juice
lemon wedges, for serving
parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
Heat soup pot, add olive oil; add broccoli, carrot, shallot, and 1 t salt. Cook covered over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1/4 C water, cook covered for 5 minutes more. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add vinegar, tomato paste, kale/spinach, broccoli greens, and peas; cook 2 minutes.
Add stock, water, and herbs; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 10-20 minutes, or until veggies are tender. Add 1 T lemon juice.
Cook pasta, but do not add to soup. Drain and keep warm.
Add beans to soup, cook 3 minutes.
Taste and adjust seasoning.
Place a scoop of pasta in a bowl, add soup, and top with parmesan cheese and a squeeze of lemon.
Notes
This could be made in the Crock Pot too. Add the lemon juice and spinach in the last 30 minutes of cooking. Just cook the pasta separately. Leftovers can be frozen, without pasta.
Originally, I was going to suggest making this dinner for Valentine’s Day. I was going to make heart shaped meatballs. Then I tasted it and it was so yummy and delicious and full of garlic. I love garlic. But, maybe it isn’t the best thing for Valentine’s Day? Unless you’re both eating garlic? Maybe? You can make an educated decision on this one. I started shaping the meatballs, but they kinda just looked awkward, and not really like hearts. So they are just round.
My new idea: just make this. Make it today. Make it for dinner. Or lunch. Is it lunchtime now? I think that’s a perfectly good time to eat Spaghetti and Meatballs.
The meatballs are simple. Since the rest of the meal has lots and lots of flavor, I didn’t feel the need to add too much to these guys. A little mustard, some lemon juice, garlic, yeah, more garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. They cook up pretty quickly and are nice and tasty. Oh and PS: You could easily flatten them and turn them into sliders (hello Oscar party idea!).
In today’s episode, there are quite a few veggies that co-star. Things like napa cabbage, Korean daikon radish, carrots, and kale… (You could chop them as small as you’d like, or purée them, making them hide-able, if you have any picky eaters in your home.)
I paired it with some Caesar Salad. I could eat this salad for every meal. Ummm, maybe not breakfast. Might not go so well alongside my cereal… but if I’m having eggs and toast??! No. Stop… The Caesar Salad that I make as a side for our dinners is my usual recipe, sans chicken and fava beans.
We had this for dinner last night. Here’s Tim’s response after a few bites, (almost yelling) “Is there more of this?!!???” Be still my heart.
Add pasta to salted, boiling water. Cook according to package directions. Reserve 2 C pasta water before draining*.
Heat skillet. Add 1 T olive oil. When it's hot, add onion, carrot, radish, salt, and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and balsamic vinegar, cook 1 minute more. Add kale, cabbage, herbs, cayenne, tomato sauce, and pasta water. Stir, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add more water if needed.
Combine beef, salt, lemon juice, dijon, garlic, and a drizzle of olive oil. Using hands, mix (but don't over mix). Divide in 8. Shape each of the 8 pieces into a ball. Heat skillet, add 1 T oil, when hot, add meatballs and flatten ever so slightly. Cook, covered, over medium heat for 5 minutes. Flip and cook, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes more (or until internal temperature of meatball reaches 160F).
Top pasta with sauce, meatballs, parmesan, and basil.
Notes
*If pasta is finished cooking before sauce and meatballs, drain, return to hot pot, toss with olive oil, and cover to keep warm. This works best with whole wheat and not as well with rice pasta.
