Linguine with Spinach

(Photo from Baby Center by gbentolu)

This recipe was submitted by Whitney H. She found it at Baby Center.

Ingredients

• 1 pound regular or multigrain spaghetti
• 1 or 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 3 tablespoons virgin olive oil
• 1 pound fresh spinach, washed, with tough stems removed, and roughly chopped (or 1 8-ounce package frozen spinach, defrosted)
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped (or 1 pint sweet, ripe cherry tomatoes, sliced)
• 1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
• Salt, pepper, and Parmesan to taste

Preparations

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta. Meanwhile, combine the garlic and red pepper flakes with the oil in a large bowl. When the pasta is nearly done, plunge the spinach into the water and cook until it wilts - less than a minute. Drain pasta and spinach together quickly, then toss into the olive oil mixture. Add the tomatoes and pine nuts. Toss well, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve with an ample topping of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

(Makes 4 to 6 servings)

Notes about this recipe:

1. Use fresh parmesan if you can - it's expensive, but the taste difference is amazing.
2. Don't skimp on the spinach - that stuff really shrinks down when you cook it.
3. I use fresh cherry tomatoes.
4. I don't like pine nuts so I put slivered almonds in instead - very delicious.

Two-Bean Vegetable Soup

This recipe was submitted by Katie M. She found it at Tasty Kitchen. Katie is a PKU Mom and thought this recipe was great because she took out a portion for her son, then added the beans to the rest. She says, "It was nice to not make something separate for him." So for any other PKU parents out there, this would be a great recipe to try!

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 8 ounces, weight cremini or button mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 whole medium onions, diced
• 4 whole medium carrots, thinly sliced
• 3 whole large stalks celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon fresh minced rosemary leaves
• 1 Tablespoon fresh minced thyme leaves
• 2 whole bay leaves
• 16 ounces, weight can of diced tomatoes, with juices
• 5 cups hot water
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 Tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 2 whole soft vegetable-flavored bouillon cubes
• ½ teaspoons salt
• ⅛ teaspoons black pepper
• 16 ounces, weight can of dark red kidney beans (no salt added), rinsed and drained
• 16 ounces, weight can of cannellini beans (no salt added), rinsed and drained

Directions:

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a lidded 5-quart pot; add the mushrooms and cook until browned, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the onion, carrot, and celery; cover the pot and cook until the onion is softened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Stir in the tomatoes, water, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon cubes, salt, and pepper; turn heat up to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat down slightly, cover the pot, and cook until the veggies are tender, about 7 minutes. Add the beans and cook 2 minutes more.

*To make this soup vegan, use tamari or soy sauce instead of Worcestershire; if you do so, you may want to reduce the salt a bit.

Notes about this recipe:

1. I made it according to the directions but used a vegetable base instead of the boullion cubes. I don't know if that makes much of a difference but I think I will use a bit more next time, or let it simmer longer as it tasted a bit weak the first day but was better the second day.

Lentil Stew

This recipe was sent by Whitney H. She made a post about it on her blog and found the recipe at All Recipes. She made her own adaptations based on the comments others made on the original recipe, and considers the following recipe a masterpiece in her personal culinary history. She says of the recipe, "Seriously, this is the best lentil soup recipe EVER! I would like to make a public service announcement that everyone in the world should eat more lentils. You really won't regret it."

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/4 C olive oil
• 4 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, choped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp dried basil
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 C dry brown lentils
• 1 C dry red lentils
• 1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes
• 4 C broth (chicken, vegetable, whatever you want to use)
• 1/2 C spinach, thinly sliced (sometimes I add more - just depends on my mood)
• 2 Tbs basalmic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots and celery. Cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in garlic and all the spices. Cook for 2 minutes.

Stir in the lentils, add tomatoes and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 1 hour. When ready to serve, stir in spinach and cook until it wilts. Stir in vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add whatever else you think it needs to be delicious!

Vegetable Stew with Dumplings

This is a family favorite and sadly I have no picture for it. We are always too excited to eat it and then it's gone before we know it. In the past I've always made it using canned chicken but I turned it vegetarian by adding more vegetables and nixing the chicken. My husband said it was blog worthy. I adapted the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Chicken Stew with Cornmeal Dumplings recipe.

Ingredients:

Stew

• 18 oz of water
  
• 1 or 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped into small chunks
  
• 5 oz frozen peas
• 5 oz frozen corn
• 1 cup chopped onion (can use dried onion if you want, check the ratios)
  
• 1/2 tsp. dried dill
• 1/8 tsp. dried basil
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup flour

Dumplings

• 1/2 cup white flour
• 1/2 cup wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tb. shortening or butter/margerine
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (if you don't have butter milk add 1/2 Tb. of lemon juice to your milk)
  

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl combine the dry dumpling ingredients. Cut in the shortening until you have course crumbs. Add the buttermilk, stirring until just moistened.

2. In a large saucepan combine the water, potatoes, frozen veggies, onions, herbs, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Bring to boiling. Boil for about 10 min.

3. Meanwhile in a small bowl combine the milk and flour. Mix into the saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Reduce the heat to a medium low and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the potato chunks are getting soft. Make sure to stir occasionally so the stew doesn't cook onto the bottom of the pan.

4. Add the dumpling dough from a tablespoon into 6-8 mounds onto the top of the stew. Simmer, covered (do not lift the cover), over low heat for about 10-12 minutes. Check dumplings using a wooden toothpick.

Notes about this recipe:

1. We have found that this recipe serves about 2 people, with a tiny bit of leftovers.
2. If you prefer more stew with your dumplings, then I would double the stew recipe but not the dumpling recipe.