Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

(Picture from Lulu the Baker.)

This recipe was sent to me by Vanessa H. She found it at Lulu the Baker.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped (feel free to add more celery if you like celery; I don't, so I don't add much)
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 4 cups chicken broth (I usually use a mixture of low-sodium chicken broth and broth made with chicken soup base because it gives it such nice flavor)
• 2 large baking potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 Tablespoon flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 cups chopped broccoli
• 2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large soup pot. Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute over medium heat until tender. Add garlic and cook 1 or 2 additional minutes. Add chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender. Mix flour with water, add, and simmer until soup is slightly thickened. Add milk and broccoli and cook until broccoli is just tender and soup is heated through. Stir in cheese, allow to melt, and serve.

Crustless Spinach Quiche

(Picture from Allrecipe.com)

This recipe was submitted by Liz D. She says she was "surprised at how fast and easy (and yummy) it was." She found it at Allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 5 eggs, beaten
• 3 cups shredded Muenster cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Company Cauliflower

(Photo from Allrecipes.com)

This recipe was submitted by Liz D. She found it at Allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

• 2 heads cauliflower
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 9x13 inch casserole dish.
2. Break cauliflower into florets, place in large covered saucepan and steam until tender.
3. Place cauliflower in casserole dish; gently stir in sour cream and cheese.
4. In a saute pan over medium heat, melt butter; add bread crumbs and evenly coat.
5. Sprinkle bread crumbs over cauliflower mixture and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Potato Cheese Soup

This recipe comes from Vanessa H. She got it in her high school Home Economics class and still uses it. She says it's easy to make and delicious and her husband is always asking her to make it.

Ingredients and Directions:

Soup:

• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 Tbsp minced onion
• white sauce*
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
  

Combine broth, potatoes, and onion. Bring to boil and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook about 15 minutes until potatoes are soft.

*While the potatoes are cooking, make the white sauce:

• 2 Tbsp butter/margarine
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
  

Melt butter and flour together in saucepan over medium heat. When mixed well and bubbling, pour in milk. Stir until thickened and liquid comes to a boil. (This takes a while, be patient!) Boil for about 10 seconds and remove from heat.

Combine the potato broth and white sauce. Mix well. Stir in the cheese (At this point, I don't measure. I always put more than 1 cup because we love cheese around here. I just do a couple of big handfuls.) Season with salt and pepper. (I add a LOT of salt. Potatoes soak up salt like crazy, so anytime you cook with potatoes you usually have to over-salt.) If it's too thick for your liking, add more milk to get it to the consistency you want.

Notes about this recipe:

1. I like to eat it with saltine crackers or bread. It's also really fun in bread bowls! I'm sure you can add anything you want into it, too. One of these days I want to experiment and make this a Broccoli-Potato Cheese Soup!

Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe was submitted by Vanessa H. She found it at The Pioneer Woman. (If you like step-by-step pictures head on over to her website.)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups Dried Macaroni
• 1 whole Egg Beaten
• 1/4 cup (1/2 Stick Or 4 Tablespoons) Butter
• 1/4 cup All-purpose Flour
• 2-1/2 cups Whole Milk
• 2 teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard, More If Desired
• 1 pound Cheese, Grated
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt, More To Taste
• 1/2 teaspoon Seasoned Salt, More To Taste
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
• Optional Spices: Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Thyme

Directions:

Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.

In a small bowl, beat egg.

In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn.

Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.

Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. Whisk together till smooth.

Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth.

Add in cheese and stir to melt.

Add salt and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! DO NOT UNDERSALT.

Pour in drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine.
Serve immediately (very creamy) or pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

Notes about this recipe:

I think part of the reason I don't like a lot of the mac & cheese recipes out there is because you bake it. Ree's recipe can either be eaten right from the pan or transferred to a casserole dish and baked. I baked it this time, but next time I probably won't. I like it super creamy like Kraft-in-a-box.

Posted by Ree on August 4 2009