Mexican Pasta

A lot of the same ingredients as the Minestrone Soup but in different amounts and with some spiciness.

Ingredients:

• vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 leeks, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 1 cup of tomato sauce
• 2 cups of pasta, mostly cooked (it will finish cooking in the sauce)
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
•  Parmesan cheese (or Cotija cheese if you can get it)

Directions:
1) Heat the oil in a pot.
2) Add the onion and cook until it is translucent, about 3 minutes.
3) Add the leeks and carrots until they soften a bit, about 3 minutes.  Add the salt and pepper.





4) Add the jalapeno, pasta, and tomato sauce and bring to a boil.
5) Allow to cook until the pasta is cooked and carrots soften.
6) Serve with cilantro and Parmesan.

Minestrone Soup

A good soup for when the weather is just starting to get cold. Even better when reheated!

Ingredients:

• vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 2 leeks, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 potato, diced
• 1 can of beans (I used kidney because it was all I could find)
• 1/2 a cup of parsley, chopped
• 1 bag of spinach, chopped
• marinara sauce
• water or vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup of cooked pasta

Directions:

1) Heat 4 TBSP oil in a pot.
2) Add the onions and let sweat until they become soft (you may need to add more oil to prevent burning).







3) Add the leeks, carrot, potato, salt and pepper and cook for a few mores minutes, until they begin to soften.








4) Add the beans, parsley and spinach until the spinach wilts.








5) Add the stock or water (to cover), and add half as much marinara sauce.
6) Simmer until the vegetables are soft.
7) Add the Parmesan cheese and pasta and cook until the cheese has mostly dissolved and the pasta is warmed.

 So much soup...

Tomato Sauce

 Another fresh from the garden post!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups (? I just took everything that was ready) of cherry tomatoes
• olive oil
• garlic
• salt
• pepper
• Italian seasoning
• a few leaves of fresh basil

Directions:

1) Preheat a toaster oven to 375F.
2) Place the tomatoes on a cooking tray with tin foil and put a bit of olive oil on top (not enough to cover each one, but about half as much.
3) Add as much garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning as you like.
4) Bake for 15-25 minutes.



5) Add to a food processor with the basil and blend for about 30 seconds.

 I kept mine heated in a pan and added some mostly cooked pasta (to finish off the pasta)

Pesto

I've been staying on Nantucket Island with my brother and his family while I wait for a visa to go to Korea which is taking much longer than I was told it would. Anyway, he has a garden with tons of stuff in it and I've been making a lot of stuff with it so these next few posts will feature fresh from the garden food.

Pesto can easily be frozen if you omit the cheese.

I took the recipe from here but made a few changes.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups fresh basil, chopped
• 1/3 pine nuts
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• juice of 1/2 of a lemon
• salt and pepper

Directions:
1) Put the basil in a food processor and blend for about 15 seconds.
2) Add the pine nuts and blend for about 15 seconds again.
3) Add the garlic and blend until you no longer see chunks (time depends on how much you chop them).
4) Add the olive oil in a constant stream (if not possible, just do it in batches of 3).
5) Scrape the sides to push all the basil back in (this might be needed during step 4) and blend for another 15 seconds.
6) This would be the point to freeze if you want to save it for later. If not, add the Parmesan and blend for about 30 seconds.
7) Add the lemon, salt and pepper and blend for 15 seconds.

5 batches of frozen pesto (2.5 batches in each container).

Bean and Vegetable Chili

 National Chili Day! Plus, veggie chili is delicious, so why not make it all the time?

Ingredients:

• 3 TBSP olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 tsp, sugar
• 250 g/9 oz chestnut mushrooms, slices (I used button mushrooms and 300 g because that is what Tesco had)
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 tsp mild chilli powder (I used hot because it's all I have
• 1 TBSP ground coriander
• 290-350 g jarred sweet red pepper sauce
• 300 ml (1/2 pint) vegetable stock
• 410 g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I used 400 g because that is what Tesco had)
• 410 g can black eye beans, drained and rinsed (I used kidney beans and 400 g because that is what Tesco had)
• Rice
• 1 cup of dry rice
• 2 cups of water

Directions:

1) Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan.









2) Fry the onions and sugar over a high heat, until deep golden.








3) Add the mushrooms, garlic, chilli powder and, ground coriander.
4) Fry for 2-3 minutes.







5) Stir in the pepper sauce, stock, chickpeas and beans.
6) Bring to a boil.







7) Begin making the rice by bringing 1 cup of rice to a boil with 2 cups of water.








8) Reduce the heat of the chili, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes.








9) Once the water has disappeared from the rice, it is ready to be served with the chili.

Buttermilk Pancakes (Part 2) With Blueberry Sauce

Pancake Tuesday is coming up...and even though we don't celebrate it in the US, we do in Ireland, so I figured I would do something. Pancakes were also the next item in Veggie Feasts for breakfast, so it worked out.

I had been told by Irish people that US pancakes are better because the ones that people in Ireland make are darker and that's how mine turned out....I'm a bigger fan of the other pancakes I made, but these are good as well--especially for the blueberry sauce!

Ingredients:

• Pancakes
• 15g (1/2 oz) butter, melted
• 150g (5 oz) self-raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 40 g (1 1/2 oz) caster sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 350 ml (12 fl oz) buttermilk
• icing sugar, for dusting
• Greek-style yogurt or creme fraiche, to serve (which I left out because I don't like it)
• Blueberry Sauce
• 250 g (8 oz) fresh blueberries
• 2 TBSP clear honey
• dash of lemon juice (I used half a lemon)

Directions:

1) Heat the blueberries with the honey and lemon juice in a small saucepan over a low heat for about 3 minutes (until they release their juices).







 2) Keep warm while you make the pancakes (they will keep releasing juices and become more liquid, don't worry if you don't think its enough at first!)







3) Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.
4) Stir in the caster sugar.







5) Beat the egg and buttermilk together in a separate bowl.










6) Whisk into the dry ingredients with the melted butter to make a smooth batter






7) Heat a nonstick frying pan until hot.









8) Drop in large spoonfuls of the batter (I used a normal spoon and did two drops) and cook over a high heat for 3 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface.







9) Flip the pancakes over and cook for a further minute.
10) Serve the pancakes topped with the blueberry sauce and Greek-style yoghurt or creme fraiche (if you want), and dusted with icing sugar.