PARSNIP POTATO SOUP

I love parsnips.  This soup can be an elegant starter to a fancy dinner party or can be served casually for a cold day.  It's easy to make, costs nothing, and is healthy.

PARSNIP POTATO SOUP

2 tablespoons butter

1 carrot, peeled and diced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

½ yellow onion, chopped

bag of parsnips(16oz.), peeled and diced

3-4 white or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced

6 cups vegetable broth

Kosher salt and white pepper

Heat butter and add vegetables.  Gently sauté vegetables about 10 minutes.  Add broth and gently cook until vegetables are soft about 30 minutes. Put in blender, cuisinart, or if you own an immersion blender to use in the pot that you cooked the soup in that makes for fewer dishes.  Puree the soup into a creamy texture. Taste for seasoning, but remember sometimes store bought vegetable broth is very salty.  I like using white pepper in this soup but if you don’t have it you can certainly use black pepper.

I do not use light cream in my recipe but if you want to you can always add a little after blending.

This soup comes out a beautiful peach color however, if you want it to be a more white creamy color then don’t put a carrot in it.

LIME CILANTRO BEAN SALAD

I'm trying hard to make healthy choices.  This salad is a great way to get your protein in through the beans and not by animal intake.  You should try to get some form of protein in every meal.  This is a good dish to make on a Sunday so that you can put it in small containers to take to work.  Please leave out the red onion though, your office mates will appreciate that!

1 red pepper, diced

1 yellow pepper, diced

1 orange pepper, diced

1 green pepper, diced (if you like them)

½ red onion, diced (optional)

½ cup cilantro, chopped

1 lime 

¼ cup olive oil

1-15.5 oz can of black beans

1-15.5 oz can of garbanzo beans or any white bean

1-15.5 oz can corn

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Add diced peppers, onions (if you are using them), and cilantro into a large bowl.  Add juice of lime and olive oil.  Mix together.  Put your beans in a strainer to rinse then add all beans and corn to bowl.  Stir, add salt and pepper to taste.

MEGAN'S MINESTRONE SOUP

With the chilly weather approaching and since I'm trying hard to cook healthier, I took a stab at Minestrone Soup.  I hope you enjoy my version.  Many friends are staying away from pasta and carbs so if that's you just leave out the d'italini.  If you have green beans or zuccini in the frig, by all means add them!

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 large carrot, diced

Herbs – 1 teaspoon dried oregano and 1 teaspoon dried basil OR a handful of fresh thyme leaves separated from stems (more work but really lovely)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes

8 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 15-ounce can low-sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-ounce can low-sodium navy(white) beans, drained and rinsed

4 large leaves of kale (sliced) or a bunch of fresh spinach

1 cup d’italini pasta

 finely grated parmesan cheese to taste (optional)

 chopped fresh basil or parsley for garnish (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the celery and carrot and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the herbs, add salt, and pepper to taste; cook 3 more minutes.

Add the tomatoes and the broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in the kidney beans, kale and pasta and cook until the pasta and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and top with the parmesan and chopped basil or parsley.

POACHED SALMON WITH MUSTARD SAUCE

As promised, here is the recipe.

Salmon

2 cups dry white wine

2 cups water

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, whole plus some chopped for garnish

1 lemon, unpeeled, sliced plus another lemon for garnish

1 (2 pound) salmon fillet with skin

 Mustard Sauce, recipe follows

Put the wine, water, bay leaves, 2 sprigs of parsley and the sliced lemons into a large deep skillet and bring to a simmer.

Add the salmon, skin side down. Add more water, if necessary, to cover the salmon. Cover the skillet and simmer over a low heat until the fish is just cooked through, about 8 minutes.

Transfer the fish to a plate, discard bay leaves, parsley, and lemon slices, cover it and chill it completely in the refrigerator, about 3 hours.

To serve, peel the skin from the fillet and scrape away any brown flesh. Put the fish on a serving plate, garnish with lemon slices and sprinkle chopped fresh parsley over it.

Serve with Mustard Sauce.

Mustard Sauce

1/2 cup Mayo

1 cup Dijon Mustard

½ Lemon, squeezed

1 teaspoon Horseradish or a few dashes of Tabasco

a few dashes of Worcestershire Sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  

Poached Salmon with Mustard Sauce

I realize this should be an entry into my food blog in the summer months but I just returned from a fabulous trip to California and after walking on the beach, taking yoga classes while watching dolphins jump out of the water, and the sunshine every single day, upon returning to the east I wanted to keep the FEELING of summertime.  I totally winged this dish and didn't do measurements so stay posted because now I have to do it all again and measure it out correctly...

NOT MUCH COOKING THIS SUMMER...

Broke 2 fingers dodging for a tennis ball during a "friendly" family match.  Food is so important to my family that in the middle of my rolling on the court in pain and while being boarded onto a gurney for the ambulance my sister calls out, "Don't worry about us Magoo we have your Veal Osso Bucco to eat tonight."  

It felt like a scene from GOODFELLAS when Ray Liotta is talking through his busy day while making the gravy and hearing the helicopters over his house...I had made the Osso Bucco a week before the Silletti's were going to arrive so I could freeze it and play tennis and golf during the day.  Defrosted the veal and started making the roasted peppers while everyone was getting their tennis gear on.  I left it all out to get room temperature so that I could enjoy a nice glass of wine after tennis and before setting the table for 14 people...(can you hear the helicopters?)

After surgery, pins, painful physical therapy I'm thinking I'm done with tennis.  I can barely grip a pepper grinder let alone a racquet or golf club.  I gotta take up a new sport - maybe

 Irish dancing...NOT!

Sabrett Onions

SABRETT ONIONS

When I was a little girl, during the long summer days with no camp to go to and not much to do, my father would take me to his favorite hot dog stand for SABRETT’S.  He would order, “Two with mustard and onions, and one with onions no mustard.”  That one was for me.  I remember sitting on the curb happy to eat my Sabrett hot dog with sautéed onions while my father talked with the food cart guy. 

It’s interesting that my sons now only like Sabrett’s if we have hot dogs at all but they are hard to find.  When I visit New York City, sometimes I just gotta get a Sabrett and look for the blue and yellow umbrella.   My friends say I’m crazy because my Manhattan friends wouldn’t dare eat them.  I have a stomach of steel and can eat anything. 

On this Father’s Day, I woke up thinking of my father and craving a SABRETT Hot Dog with Onions.  I miss my father.  My father was the kind of guy who when he laughed would toss his head back, hold his belly, and laugh out loud alot like Santa Claus.  Sometimes he went into laughing fits where he couldn’t stop and tears would role down his cheeks until he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket.  Every Father’s Day I would buy him those white handkerchiefs.  When he died and my 5 siblings and I were cleaning out his apartment, it struck me that it smelled of his white undershirts and those handkerchief’s after I ironed them.

Here’s the recipe:

Serves approximately 6-8 hot dogs

4 tablespoons butter (plus 1 more)

4 yellow onions, sliced very thin

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (more if you like it spicy)

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups ketchup

Saute butter with onions on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add crushed pepper, salt, and ketchup.

Cover sauté pan, lower heat, and sauté for 10-15 minutes until onions are soft.

At very end add 1 more tablespoon of butter.

Serve over SABRETT HOT DOGS