Mushroom Barley Soup

When I saw this recipe, I thought, "Alex will want this." I showed it to Alex, and he said, "I want that." It has many elements he likes, but mostly it is simple with honest flavors.

This soup was a delight on a chilly night, and for those of you who are actually having a winter (it was 65 and sunny here over the weekend), it's a good meal to chase away the cold. It comes together quickly and produces a filling soup. A lot of it.

Mushroom Barley Soup
From Two Peas and Their Pod

1 cup barley
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
8 oz slice mushrooms
42 oz vegetable broth, low sodium
1 cup water
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a medium pan, bring 4 cups of water and the 1 cup of barley to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until the barley is soft. If you want to save yourself some trouble, you can do this a day in advance.

Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook until soft. Add the carrots and celery and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until they are soft. Add the vegetable broth, water, bay leaves, and fresh thyme. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in the cooked barley and cook for 15 minutes or so.

Remove the bay leaves. before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Smoked Gouda Macaroni and Cheese

I love macaroni and cheese. I'm lamenting it's loss (what with February having been dairy-free and this month being gluten-free), but not as much as I would have thought. As much as I love cheese, I've been feeling out of sorts and like I really don't want to eat it. For me, it's quite unusual.

But this recipe is making me think about cheese again. It's good. And, relatively speaking, healthy. I mean, come on! It has spinach in it!

Maybe I'll even give it a try with gluten-free breadcrumbs and quinoa pasta... Or maybe I'll be patient and dream away for unadulterated, truly delicious macaroni and cheese. And if you're in the mood, you should give this a shot, too.

Smoked Gouda Macaroni and Cheese
From Cooking Light
Makes 4 Servings

1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups fat-free milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded smoked Gouda cheese
1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
5 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach
4 cups hot cooked elbow macaroni (about 2 cups uncooked)
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk, salt, and pepper, stirring constantly with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil; cook until thick (about 2 minutes). Add cheeses; stir until melted.

Add spinach and macaroni to cheese sauce, stirring until well blended. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until bubbly.

Chocolate Chip Orange Scones

Let me first say: Happy Birthday, Alex!! Today is his 26th birthday.

Have you ever had one of those days where you just fall to pieces? Where you're tired and stressed enough that when that last thing goes wrong you're curled up on the cold stone floor in the office sobbing your heart out while your boyfriend plays video games? Or is that just me?

Graduate school admissions is very stressful, and when you don't sleep enough hours at night and you're working like crazy, the little things seem to make a big difference.

The night in question, I had promised to make scones and bring them to work. I should have trusted my gut when I read the recipe. I thought that it just didn't seem right, but I decided to try it anyway. Then they didn't come together. Then they took way too long to bake. Then they had the texture of cardboard. Then I was on the floor.

However, after that cathartic release, I approached the scones with a clear head. I discarded the original recipe and went looking for another. I found one. I made it. They were tender and delicious.

Then I got a good night's sleep and was like a completely new person.

Chocolate Chip Orange Scones
Adapted from Epicurious

4 cups all-purpose white flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into bits
3 tablespoons freshly grated orange zest (from about 2 navel oranges)
1 - 1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons well-shaken buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup granulated raw sugar (turbinado or Demerara)

In a bowl of a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment stir together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add butter and zest and beat until mixture resembles coarse meal. Beat in currants. In a bowl whisk together buttermilk and eggs and add to flour mixture, beating just until a dough forms.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On each sheet arrange six 1/2-cup mounds of dough about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle mounds with raw sugar and chill 15 minutes.

Bake scones in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets half-way through baking, until light brown, about 20 minutes.

Leek, Ricotta, and Walnut Pizza

When you think of pizza, what do you think? Tomato sauce, cheese, other toppings? Do you think about leeks? Or walnuts?

Regardless of your answer, this pizza has both. It was pretty good as is, but even better with a little bit of balsamic vinegar drizzled on top.

Leek, Ricotta, and Walnut Pizza
From Cooking Light

Pizza Dough
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced leek (about 3 large)
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Roll dough into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Place the dough on a (12-inch) pizza pan or baking sheet coated with cooking spray and sprinkled with cornmeal. Crimp the edges of the dough with fingers to form a rim.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add leek; sauté for 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Combine cheeses, salt, pepper, and garlic in a bowl. Spread the cheese mixture over pizza crust, leaving a 1-inch border. Top with the leek mixture, and sprinkle with walnuts. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut into 8 wedges.

Tofu Chili

I've long maintained that I don't like tofu. It's not a flavor thing- I mean, it takes on the flavor of whatever you serve it with. It's a texture thing. But when I saw this recipe (the last before giving up on Slimfast's vegetarian recipes) I had a feeling that the texture issue would be resolved. I mean, it's chili. Chili pretty much has a monotone texture.

I was right. The tofu was just fine in the chili.

I will note that as if, this chili is spicy. Like, mouth on fire spicy. Even Alex had trouble with it. The flavor was good- it just burnt us. If that's your kind of chili, keep the spice as is. If it's not, give a try but dial down the spice.

Tofu Chili
From Slimfast

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, fresh, diced
1 cup bell pepper, green, chopped
16 ounces Tofu, extra firm
1 garlic clove
15 1/2 ounces black beans
15 1/2 ounces kidney beans
2 cups marinara sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder (We used ground chipotle. Probably why ours was so spicy.)
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, low-fat
1/4 cup light sour cream

Drain and dice the tofu. Mince the garlic. Drain and rinse the beans.

In 4-quart saucepan, heat olive oil over medium high heat, cook celery, onion and green pepper for 5 minutes (or until desired texture).

Add tofu and garlic continue to cook, stirring frequently, 2 minutes or until tender. Stir in beans, sauce and chili powder.

Reduce heat to medium low and simmer covered, stirring occasionally, 10-15 minutes. Serve topped with cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Vegetable Tostada Salad

This was the second half-way decent vegetarian recipe from Slimfast. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but with a few tweaks, definitely wasn't bad. Thankfully, I have enough experience with Slimfast recipes to know in advance what needed to be fixed. And I'll put those fixes here for you.

Vegetable Tostada Salad
Adapted from Slimfast

4 Tortilla, whole wheat, 10"
1 tablespoon butter
1 pepper, bell, red, fresh, large, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
10 ounces fresh baby spinach
15 ounces refried beans, canned, fat-free
6 ounces cheddar cheese, low-fat
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup salsa

Heat re-fried beans according to package directions.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange tortillas directly on oven rack and toast, turning once, 6 minutes or until crisp. Arrange on serving platter.

Melt butter in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and cook pepper, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until golden.

Stir in garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add spinach and cook, stirring frequently, 1 minute or just until wilted.

Evenly spread refried beans onto tortillas, leaving 1-inch border. Top with spinach mixture; sprinkle with tomatoes. Drizzle salsa over tostadas. Top with cheese.

Put tostadas back in the oven until cheese is melted.

Shrimp Scampi

Oh boy. We're now into our vegetarian recipes from our first month of conscious eating. To be fair, it would be better referenced as pescatarian month, since we still ate fish. We will revisit vegetarianism after in the year and be completely meat-free.

But I digress.

We started the year eating Slimfast recipes in order to get us back on track. However, we abandoned Slimfast after the first week because, well, the vegetarian recipes are not that great.

This was an interesting interpretation of shrimp scampi. It definitely could use some tweaking, but isn't terrible. It's a good starting point, in any case.

Shrimp Scampi
Adapted from Slimfast

4 tablespoons butter
8 garlic cloves
20 ounces fresh baby spinach
1 pound shrimp, large, fresh
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons parsley, fresh, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, ground

In 12-inch skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat and cook 1 clove garlic 30 seconds.

Add spinach and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute or until spinach is wilted. Remove spinach to serving platter and keep warm.

In same skillet, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat and cook remaining 6 cloves garlic, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes or until softened.

Add shrimp and cook 4 minutes or until shrimp turn pink, turning once. Remove from heat, then stir in lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper.

To serve, arrange shrimp mixture over hot spinach.