Prep: 10 min
Cooking Time: 30 min
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1 bunch broccoli
5 cups water
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons barley miso
1 cup cooked brown rice

Directions:

*Wash broccoli and separate stems from florets.
*In a pot, bring water to a boil.
*Add broccoli stems, onion and garlic.
*Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
*Remove 2 cups of liquid from pot and dissolve miso paste in the liquid, return to pot.
*Add brown rice.
*Use a  blender to cream the soup.
*When smooth add broccoli florets, cook 10 more minutes.

Take a load off and enjoy!

]]> http://fitarella.com/2011/10/belly-warming-creamy-broccoli-soup/feed/ 0 http://fitarella.com/2010/11/black-bean-soup/ http://fitarella.com/2010/11/black-bean-soup/#comments Sat, 20 Nov 2010 00:24:51 +0000 Fitarella http://fitarella.com/?p=1944
Prep: 5 min
Cooking time: 20 min

Quick, easy, delicious and satisfying!! Enjoy!!

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups water
½ teaspoon chipotle chile powder or regular chile powder
3 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (8-ounce) jar salsa
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese (optional)

Cooking:
-Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute.
-Stir in water, chipotle powder, beans, and salsa. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute.
-Place 3 cups of black bean mixture in a blender; process until smooth. Return pureed mixture to pan.
Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender right in the pan to partially blend the soup.
-Stir in lime juice; simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

Prep time: approx.15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 standard-sized whole wheat bagel, cut in half
tomato sauce
shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese
toppings like diced green pepper, chopped onion, or chopped tomato (whatever you like)
seasonings like oregano, basil, and pepper

Directions:
Set the oven to low heat. Spread tomato sauce on each bagel half. Sprinkle the shredded cheese all over the tomato sauce on each half. Add your favorite toppings. Put a light sprinkling of seasonings on each half. Put your bagel halves on the baking sheet. Bake in the oven on low heat for about 5 to 8 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when the cheese is bubbly.
Let cool for a minute, then enjoy your mini pizzas!

Serves: 1

photo: JazarellaMozarella

Roasted Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients:

• 3 medium acorn squash (about 1 lb. each) halved and seeded
• 1 lb sage sausage. (For those who don’t eat pork, I’ve seen turkey sausage in this flavor as well.)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. ground fennel
• 1 tsp. ground sage
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 cup cooked rice
• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce (or 8 oz. homemade sauce, if you have it.)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tbsp. dried parsley)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Click here for prep steps

Roasted Acorn Squash
and Garlic Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 medium acorn squash
• 1 head roasted garlic
• 1 tbsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 2 cans vegetable broth
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Click here for prep steps

Please note that all of the images presented in this post are Copyrighted by Jen Yu and should not be copied/used without her permission.  I of course got very special permission, but that was before Jen knew I was stalking her…er, hi Jen!

Sugar Plums
from Saveur Magazine

2 cups whole almonds
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp grated orange zest
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
1 cup pitted dates, finely chopped
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 400F. Arrange almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast in oven for ten minutes. Set aside to cool and then finely chop. Meanwhile, combine honey, orange zest, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Mix almonds, apricots, dates and spice mix in a large bowl. Mix well. Pinch off rounded teaspoon-sized pieces and roll into balls. Dust the sugar plums with powdered sugar and refrigerate in single layers between sheets of wax paper in airtight containers for up to one month.

Modest Beet Salad

4 beets, peeled and cut into 8ths
2 oranges, segmented
2 oz goat cheese
wild greens (as much as you like)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, mashed to hell
salt
pepper
1 tsp sugar
2/3 cup olive oil
garlicky croutons (optional)

Roast the beets in a sealed foil packet at 400F for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit sealed for another 10 minutes. Remove from foil. Spread the beets, oranges, and crumbled goat cheese over the greens. In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar. While whisking, slowly drizzle in the oil to make an emulsion. Dress the salad and serve. I like to add some crunchy, garlicky homemade croutons.

Grandma Esau’s Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped nuts (I use walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat the eggs until foamy. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and the oil. Add the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking soda) and incorporate until just combined. Fold in chopped nuts and pour batter into two greased loaf pans. Bake for an hour or until a toothpick comes out almost clean (moist crumb stage).

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Jen swears this could serve over a dozen people

2 medium butternut squash
2 green apples, peeled, cored, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
1 tsp fresh marjoram (optional – I omitted)
2 qts chicken broth
salt
pepper
2 oz. butter

Cut squashes in half or quarters and scoop out the seeds. Roast in a 400F oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until soft. Peel and chop the squash. Boil onions, apples, and shallots in broth and simmer for 30 minutes or until soft. Purée the squash adding broth from the simmering pot as needed (I needed a few cups). Strain the apples, onions, and shallots from the broth and reserve the liquid. Purée the solids. Add both purées to the broth and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the butter and heat the soup until it just begins to simmer. Serve hot.

These quesadilla appetizers bites are made with chicken and Monterey Jack cheese with a blackberry and chipotle pepper sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup blackberry preserves
• 1 Tbsp canned chipotles in adobo, seeds removed
• 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 12 oz fully cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into small chunks
• 1/2 cup diced onions
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 10 (6 inch) flour tortillas

Directions
In a medium saucepan, whisk together blackberry preserves, chipotle in adobo, balsamic vinegar, cilantro, garlic and black pepper. Turn heat to medium and heat just until mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat. Add chicken to saucepan and toss to coat chicken in berry mixture. Toss onions and cheese together. Spoon 2 tablespoons cheese/onion mixture evenly down center of each tortilla. Spoon chicken & berry mixture over cheese, dividing equally among tortillas. Fold tortillas over to make quesadillas. Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle to medium and cook quesadillas for 3-4 minutes each time or until cheese is melted and edges are golden brown. Cut each tortilla in half with a pizza cutter to make 20 triangles.

Number of servings: 10

*image & recipe courtesy of better recipes

• Take one whole pita and spread one tablespoon of low fat pasta sauce on top.
• Add any meat topping you like (chopped chicken breast, shrimp, lean ground beef)
• Add chopped onions, mushrooms, pineapple (optional), spinach broccoli, etc.
• Sprinkle low fat Parmesan cheese, Italian spice, and fat free mozzarella on top.
• Broil for 5 minutes on high.

MANGIA!

*image courtesy of Pengrin