Savory Cheese Soup

I love my crock pot. It makes chili. It makes lasagna. It even makes mulled wine at Christmas time. And now... it makes this delicious soup too!

INGREDIENTS

· 3 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) chicken broth

· 1 small onion, chopped

· 1 large carrot, chopped

· 1 celery rib, chopped

· 1/4 cup chopped sweet red pepper

· 2 tablespoons butter

· 1 teaspoon salt

· 1/2 teaspoon pepper

· 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

· 1/3 cup cold water

· 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed and softened

· 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

· 1 can (12 ounces) beer, optional

Optional Toppings: croutons, popcorn, crumbled cooked bacon, sliced green onions

DIRECTIONS

In a 3-qt. slow cooker, combine the first eight ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Combine flour and water until smooth; stir into soup. Cover and cook on high 30 minutes longer or until soup is thickened. Stir in cream cheese and cheddar cheese until blended. Stir in beer if desired. Cover and cook on low until heated through. Serve with desired toppings. Yield: 6-8 servings.



VERDICT

This soup is perfect for winter. It tastes like the base to lobster bisque. It's terrific. Go to the store now. You won't be sorry.

Peanut Ginger Pasta

I can't tell you how many times I've purchased green onions at the store for this recipe, only to let them rot in the bottom of the vegetable drawer. For some reason this recipe just keeps getting passed over for easier, meatier, less-ingredient dishes. There's no reason that should happen again. Sure, it has a lot of ingredients. But it's a simple dish to make and the longest part of the preparation is waiting for the pasta to cook.

INGREDIENTS

2 TBS lime juice

1 TBS soy sauce

1 tsp water

1/2 tsp sesame oil

3 TBS peanut butter

1 1/4 tsp minced fresh gingerroot

1 1/4 tsp grated lime peel

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

4 oz linguine

1 cup chopped fresh broccoli

1 medium carrot, grated

1/2 medium sweet red pepper, thinly sliced

1 green onion, chopped

1 TBS minced fresh garlic

DIRECTIONS

In a blender, combine the first 10 ingredients. Cover and process until smooth. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, cook linguine according to directions. Add broccoli during last 5 minutes. Cook until tender, drain.

In a large bowl, combine the carrot, red pepper, onion and basil. Add linguine, broccoli, and lime juice mixture, toss to coat.

VERDICT

This sauce smelled SO GOOD when it was done in the blender. But funny enough, it didn't smell like lime. Very funny since that was ALL YOU COULD TASTE. I'm convinced that without the grated lime peel this would be a very awesome dish. But the lime peel is overwhelmingly strong. Ick.

The lime juice should still be fine, but not the peel.

Fusilli with Creamy Spinach and Chicken

This recipe came off the back of a box of pasta. Thanks, Barilla!

INGREDIENTS

1 Box Barilla Piccolini Mini Fusilli (or, you know, any kind of pasta. But it MUST be Barilla. Why? Because they have a manufacturing plant in Avon, NY and we like to support local businesses. And because their pasta is the best!)
2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS onion, finely chopped
1 lb. chicken breast, cubed
1 bag (6 oz) fresh spinach
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste
1 TBS minced garlic (this wasn't in the original recipe, but you CAN'T have Italian if you leave out the garlic!!) DIRECTIONS

In a medium skillet, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat for 3 minutes.

Increase heat to medium-high, add chicken. Season with salt and pepper. After 3 minutes add spinach and cream, saute an additional 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions.

Drain pasta and toss with the sauce. Stir in cheese before serving.
VERDICT

Delicious! A very simple and easy meal- especially for a cold winter day! The only problem I had was with thickness. When I went to Wegman's to buy the heavy cream, I ended up buying $90 worth of groceries that I didn't need and coming home without the heavy cream. I substituted with whole milk (which I bought for the baby but she hates it, so I might as well use it, right?). It was close, but not perfect. The right ingredient here will make all the difference.

I'll be trying additional Barilla recipes through the winter- they all look yummy!

Spinach Pizza

I know, I know, there was JUST a recipe like this posted. But to be honest I made these two pizza recipes MONTHS apart. I just posted them close together. But you're really going to like this, ok? Forgive me? INGREDIENTS

1 pkg. (6 1/2 oz) pizza crust mix

1/2 cup Alfredo sauce (yes, I know it sounds strange. Stay with me here...)

4 cups chopped fresh spinach

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 cups (8 oz) shredded Italian cheese blend

DIRECTIONS

Prepare pizza dough according to package directions. With floured hands, press dough onto a greased 12-in. pizza pan.

Spread Alfredo sauce over dough to within 1 in. of edges. Top with spinach, tomatoes and cheese. Bake at 450° for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.

VERDICT

So, the alfredo thing in the ingredients threw you off. I know. It's weird. But this pizza is REALLY good. Not good in the traditional pizza sense, but really tasty. Kind of rich, but good. And spinach- hello!- healthy!

Baked Chicken with Red Pepper Sauce

Mark says I don't follow directions on my recipes. He says "You never follow directions. I don't know why you use recipes at all. They DO know what they're talking about, you know." I don't know what he's talking about. I always follow directions.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 to 2-1/2 pounds meaty chicken pieces (breasts, thighs, and drumsticks)- ok, hold up. That's a LOT of chicken. And I don't really like dark meat. I used just two chicken breasts and cut them into three pieces each.
• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted-not necessary. I didn't use it. Not because I'm a rebel, I just forgot. But you can skip the extra calories too.
• 1 medium red or green sweet pepper, cut into squares
• 1/4 cup sliced green onion
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar

Directions

1. In a plastic or paper bag combine the 1/4 cup flour, the salt, paprika, and pepper. Or, you know, a bowl. A bowl works just fine.

2. Skin chicken. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time, to the bag, shaking to coat well. Arrange chicken in a shallow baking pan; drizzle with melted margarine or butter. -Or not. Melted butter is not necessary. Bake in a 375 degree F. oven for 30 minutes. Hold up. That's too long for chicken breasts. 15 minutes should be a good start. Yes, I'll do 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, for sauce, in a medium saucepan, cook red or green sweet pepper and green onion in hot oil until tender. Stir in 2 tablespoons flour. Add chicken broth, sugar, and crushed red pepper. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Remove from heat; stir in vinegar and cool slightly.

4. Spoon sauce over chicken. Bake for 30 minutes more or until chicken is tender and no longer pink, basting with sauce two or three times during baking. Reheat any remaining sauce and pass with chicken. Whoah! ANOTHER 30 minutes? My chicken is more than half-cooked already. Another 15 minutes should do the trick.

Makes 6 servings. Verdict:

30 minutes plus another 30 minutes? My chicken would have been burnt to a crisp. I'm sure if I had used the bone-in drumsticks and thighs it would have taken longer to cook. But 30 minutes total was plenty of time.

Oh... is that the "not following directions" my husband was talking about?

Whatever. The recipe turned out just GREAT using my own directions. The sauce is really thick, and would probably be great over pasta or rice. All in all, very tasty. It's on the list of recipes to do again.

Brushetta with Goat Cheese, Roasted Tomato and Basil

On Christmas Eve every year we have an appetizer feast. My intention was to take pictures of everything made this year and post it with recipes. Fail. I did take pictures of one of the sides though:

INGREDIENTS

1 large red pepper
4 oz goat cheese, room temperature
country bread, sliced and toasted
16 basil leaves

.... so.... the title of the recipe pretty much spells it out....

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375. Put cut pepper in dish and char until skin is blackened. Remove from oven, cover in tinfoil and allow to steam 10 minutes. Peel skin and cut into slices.

Spread goat cheese on toasts. Place one pepper strip on each toast. Top with a basil leaf.

VERDICT

So simple even a caveman can do it. Unfortunately, not the most popular dish on Christmas Eve because there were much tastier things on the table. If I find them, I'll come back and edit this post to add them. Or, at the rate I'm going... I'll post them in time for next Christmas.

Slow Cooker Lasagna

I honestly didn't give this recipe much hope. Once I bought the Swiss Chard (what the heck IS this stuff?) and saw that there weren't a whole lot of spices, I pretty much wrote this recipe off as average.

Then I came home and smelled the delicious pasta that had been cooking for several hours.

And THEN we ate it. How good was it? Scroll down to the Verdict.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes, drained
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh oregano, chopped
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 16 ounces fresh ricotta
• 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 12 ounces dry lasagna noodles
• 1 bunch Swiss chard, tough stems removed and torn into large pieces
• 12 ounces mozzarella, grated

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes, garlic, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

In another medium bowl, combine the ricotta, parsley, Parmesan, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Spoon 1/3 cup of the tomato mixture into the bowl of a slow cooker. Top with a single layer of noodles, breaking them to fit as necessary. Add half the Swiss chard. Dollop with a third of the ricotta mixture and a third of the remaining tomato mixture. Sprinkle with a third of the mozzarella. Add another layer of noodles and repeat with the other ingredients.

Finish with a layer of noodles and the remaining ricotta mixture, tomato mixture, and mozzarella. Set the slow cooker to low and cook, covered, until the noodles are tender, 2 to 3 hours.

VERDICT

Oh... wow. This was REALLY good. It was so good that my non-pasta loving husband called it my "best recipe EVER."

Swiss Chard? I don't know how else it's usually prepared, but it was good in this dish. Similar to spinach? Whatever it was, it didn't taste like a green leafy vegetable that's healthy for you.