Eat Your Greens Soup

Posted on September 18, 2013 by poulosc

When the chill creeps into the air I start thinking of squash and apples and pumpkins. All fall colors to enjoy and to eat.

But I don’t want to forget about the greens. Those grassy, fresh, vibrant colors and flavors of spring.

This recipe has all the great Springy tastes and colors, but the warmth of a soup so perfect for curling up on these chilly nights. It also utilizes vegetables that are green and springy but in season in the Fall.

You will need

4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
2 leeks, cleaned and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 pound of green beans, chopped into bite size pieces
1 can cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
olive oil
salt
pepper

Drizzle olive oil in a large pot and toss in the celery, leeks and garlic. simmer until the vegetables soften. About 10 minutes.

Pour in the stock and the water and let the soup come to a boil. Lower and let simmer for another 5 minutes or so.

Add in the green beans and the cannelinei beans and let cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

We were so anxious to eat it that I didn’t get a picture of the soup nestled in bowls. But you get the idea. Top with some parmesan or a squeeze of lemon.

Keep this one in your back pocket for when the winter blues get you down.

Lemon Garlic Basil Pasta

Posted on September 17, 2013 by poulosc

It sounds fancier than it is.

Last night we were both supposed to not be home. But we both ended up at home. For dinner.

And I really had no plan for feeding both of us.

So I opened a cabinet.

And then another cabinet.

And then I rummaged around the fridge.

And I came up with angel hair pasta, olive oil, garlic, a lemon and some basil leaves.

If you have pasta and some olive oil, you can always make a meal.

So here we go, pasta sauce on the fly.

Pour some olive oil into a pan and add two cloves of garlic chopped. Remember, the oil is going to be the sauce, so don’t skimp out here.

When the garlic starts to brown a bit, add in the juice of one lemon and tear a few basil leaves into the sauce. Give a few grinds to the pepper mill. If you want to add a touch of richness, add in a tablespoon of butter.

Toss some angel hair pasta in the sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

A few key ingredients and you won’t panic when you need to whip up a last minute dish.

Chicken Pot Pie – Sunday Night Football

Posted on September 16, 2013 by poulosc

So this was last night’s dinner, but with the Giants poor performance and the rain delay for the ’49ers game, I was in no shape to post this recipe.

Having recovered, I want to share it with you.

Fall Sundays in our house mean laundry and reading and football and meals that simmer in a pot on the stove all day filling the apartment with heavenly aromas.

During the week, it’s all about getting a healthy meal on the table with as little effort as possible. But on Sundays, I like to take my time, to savor the scents and flavors that can occur only when you’re cooking low and slow.

And these kinds of foods lend themselves perfectly to Sunday Night Football.

If you’re team’s losing, you’ll likely want some comfort food. And if you’re watching the game with friends, you’ll want a recipe that feeds a crowd.

Luckily, a one pot meal, itty bitty kitchen friendly, satisfies both.

This recipe is a little more involved than my usual, but like I said, it’s Sunday, a day to relax. And cooking relaxes me.

I love Chicken Pot Pie but it’s usually fatty and calorie heavy. Having just tried on my wedding dress, I really don’t want to eat a full-fat, buttery crust pot pie. But I don’t want some wimpy low fat option either.

Enter Cooking Light’s recipe! I was so excited when I saw this in the magazine. It replaces the crust with some buttermilk biscuits, so you still get that flaky breadyness that we associate with pot pie, but in smaller doses. And biscuits just make everything good.

I was just cooking for the two of us, so my measurements are for 2 + lunch leftovers.

You will need:

half an onion chopped
2 carrots peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
4 cups chicken broth
olive oil
salt
pepper
herbs de provence
1/4 cup flour

Drizzle olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pot – whatever you usually make soup in. Add in the carrots, celery, onion and garlic and let them soften.

Season with salt and pepper and add in the flour. Stir the vegetables constantly until the flour is incorporated and cooked down.

Pour in the chicken broth. Let the mixture come to a boil, the lower to medium.

cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add in the peas and the chicken breast. I just drizzled 2 chicken breasts with olive oil, salt and pepper and baked them at 400 for about 20 minutes. Let them cool and then shred them for the pot pie. Let the mixture simmer for another 5 minutes or so.

While it simmers, prepare your biscuit dough topping. I have a basic recipe I use:

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, cold and diced

Mix together the butter, flour and baking soda with a pastry cutter until the mixture forms pea sized clumps. Then pour in the buttermilk and stir.

I dropped heaping tablespoonful sized dough balls on top of the pot pie filling.

This whole pot goes into the oven at 425 for about 30 minutes. If your soup pot isn’t oven-proof, pour the filling into a baking dish and then add the biscuit topping.

Bake until the biscuits are golden brown (about 30 minutes)

Dish up into bowls and wallow as Eli throws another interception.

Veggie Chili

Posted on September 12, 2013 by poulosc

The best friend of the itty bitty city kitchen is the one pot meal.

Chop everything up, throw it in a pot and let it cook away while you take a hot shower or hit the treadmill or throw things in frustration.

Hey, I don’t judge.

Soups and chilis are great, because you can throw together any old ingredients and usually come out with a pretty good meal.

That’s what I did.

I used 2 green bell peppers, 3 roma tomatoes, 1/2 a white onion, one can black beans and one can red kidney beans rinsed and drained, 1 pablano pepper, olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika.

Chop all the ingredients up so they are relatively similar in size. Drizzle olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot and toss in the peppers and onion. I wanted these to have some time to cook and soften before everything else went in.

When the onions start to brown, toss in the tomatoes and stir. Season with salt and pepper.

Last, dump in the beans and sprinkle with smoked paprika. Let this bubble away on the stove on low for twenty minutes or so.

Dish up into bowls and top with grated cheddar cheese.

A big hearty bowl of veggies to make up for the candy bar you ate earlier.

Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

Posted on September 11, 2013 by poulosc

Mama said there’d be days like this, there’d be days like this mama said.

That’s definitely the song for the day.

It’s just one of those days where everything irritates you, and everyone should just stand back.

It’s, in other words, a pasta day.

After a day like this, a steaming bowl of pasta is really the only thing on my mind. Yes, more so than a cookie. (I may have eaten an apple and a bag of cookies for lunch. I told you, it was a day. And the apple made the cookies healthy. For real.)

This is a standby in our house.

You will need sausage (either sweet or hot, or both if you want to mix things up) broccoli rabe and pasta. All the flavoring in this dish will come from the suasage.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the broccoli rabe. When it’s tender but still crisp, remove from the water using tongs or a strainer and palce in a large bowl. Reserve the water. We’re going to cook the pasta in it. 1. Why make more pots? and 2. Why throw that flavor down the drain?

Meanwhile, cut the sausage into pieces. I used 4 links for the 2 of us. I cooked enough for dinner and for lunches the next day. Brown in a frying pan until cooked through. Cue the sizzling sound.

Cook the pasta in the broccoli rabe water. Then toss everything into the bowl with the broccoli rabe and toss it all together.

Spoon out into bowls and top with parmesan cheese. The extra goes in Tupperware for easy grab and go in the morning. You know. In case it’s one of those days again.

Butternut Squash Soup

Posted on September 10, 2013 by poulosc

See that. That right there is Fall.

Corn on the cob roasting on a grill, the smell wafting down 3rd avenue as you stroll down the street, checking out the jewelry, food and weird stuff on display at a street fair.

I love New York Street Fairs. Great people watching, great fun finds, and, of course, great food smells. Sausage and peppers, kettle corn, gyros, and that tinge of fall in the air. Here’s a schedule of street fairs.

Walking the street fair on Saturday and feeling that tinge of a chill when the sun started to set had me thinking fall.

And when I think fall, I think butternut squash.

This time, in soup form.

Soup itself is such a fall food. Making a soup out of such a great fall vegetable just has me ready for scarves and sweaters and tights! I’m a sucker for tights and boots.

This is a ridiculously easy recipe and it’s a great make ahead too.

You will need 1 butternut squash, 1/2 a white onion, 2 cloves of garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and vegetable stock.

Start by roasting the squash like we did when we made the pasta sauce.

Let the squash cool completely, then scoop out the flesh into a large pot. Add the onion, chopped roughly, and two cloves of garlic peeled and halved. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium, stirring so that the onions and garlic brown a bit.

Add enough vegetable broth to cover the vegetables and simmer covered until everything has softened. You can use chicken broth, too, but I wanted to keep this vegetarian.

Puree the soup with a blender or immersion blender. For a little bit of that je ne sais quoi that will have people wondering what you could have possibly put in this soup, add a sprinkle of all spice. It adds a nice complexity of flavors and a touch of warmth that is perfect for cooler fall nights.

Ladle up big bowls and top with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

This has me wanting pumpkin spice candles and cinnamon cookies.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad

Posted on September 9, 2013 by poulosc

Whenever my fiance is away for the night, I take advantage of his absence and cook the things he can’t stand. Usually it’s zucchini. Tonight it’s Brussels Sprouts!

I love brussels sprouts. I always have actually. I was that weird child who enjoyed vegetables.

So I decided to roast some up, toss them with some baby greens and top it off with two fried eggs.

A yummy, light salad, so I could snack without guilt during the Giants game.

Preheat the oven to 400.

Trim the bottoms of the brussels sprouts and remove any yellowed leaves. Toss them in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Roast them for about 45 minutes until the leaves are crispy and the centers and tender.

Plate up some baby greens and top with the brussels sprouts.

Add two fried eggs, yolks still runny, to the top. The olive oil and the fatty yolk will act like a dressing for the salad.

He happened to come home while I was eating. I made him try a brussels sprout. And guess what? Not bad, he said!!

So if you have any picky eaters who aren’ts fans of certain vegetables, try roasting them. It brings out the sweetness in some and gives a smokiness to others.

Posted on September 5, 2013 by poulosc

Eggplant, Tomatoes, peppers, chickpeas.

I cook with these ingredients a lot.

Sometimes all together. Sometimes in different combinations with some other vegetables thrown in. But they’re pretty standard occupiers of my fridge.

We all go to the market and we all find ourselves coming back with the same things over and over again.

There’s not an infinite number of vegetables in the world. And there’s not an infinite number of foods to be tried.

BUT!

There are infinite possibilities when it comes to flavors.

Recently I’ve been exploring an aisle in the store I usually shied away from. Instead of picking up the usual salt, pepper and dried basil, I’ve been venturing out with things like coriander and ground ginger.

Mixing spices lets you transform your vegetables. Spices can take eggplant from Italy to Morocco and to your dinner table.

And that’s what I did with this dish. I took my usual suspects of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and chickpeas and tossed them with some new spices. The result? The smoky and complex flavors of the dishes I’ve had in Moroccan restaurants.

For this dish you will need

1 eggplant, peeled and chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
olive oil
salt
pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon coriander

Drizzle olive oil in a large pot and toss in the eggplant, seasoning with salt and pepper. Let the eggplant cook on its own for a few minutes until it starts to brown. Eggplant is like a sponge, so add more oil if it soak it all up.

Add the peppers and stir, letting them soften a bit.

Next add in the tomatoes. This is a one pot dinner that’s all about layering the flavors. The vegetables cook at different times, so by adding them in throughout the cooking process, each gets the chance to cook through without turning to mush.

Last, add in the chickpeas and the spices. Give the pot a big stir, cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes. This is a great dish if your significant other is going to be late because it can just hang on the stove over low heat until everyone is home.

Dish up heaping bowls and top with a scoop of tzatziki.

The noise of the city fades as the spices transport you to a far off village…

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Posted on September 4, 2013 by poulosc

I’m not one for diets and deprivation, but I’m going to be trying on a wedding dress in a few weeks, I don’t want to have a break down on the pedestal.

I want to be crying because I’m going to marry the man of my dreams in my dream dress, not because I’m a fluffy cake-topper and need to order a size up.

But still, deprived is not a word in my dictionary.

I always try to eat healthy – eating the rainbow, lots of yogurt and veggies and fruits, limiting foods from a package – but if I want a Buttercup Cupcake, I will get it.

So it’s not about giving up. It’s about eating a little smarter.

With dishes like this. A slimmed down broccoli cheddar soup.

The killer in traditional broccoli cheddar soup is the heavy cream and the cheese that’s piled on.

So when I saw this lightened up version in Cooking Light Magazine, I was stoked. Heavier on the veggies, with just a swirl of half and half to keep things creamy. I can’t do low fat cheese, so I stuck with full fat cheddar. And as always, I made a few tweaks to make it mine.

You will need

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
3 ribs of celery with leaves, chopped
1/2 a white onion, chopped
1 large bunch of broccoli, cut into florets
1 carton vegetable stock
olive oil
salt
pepper
half and half
grated cheddar

Drizzle a heavy bottomed pot with olive oil and toss in the carrot, celery and onion. Simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the veggies start to soften a little. Season with salt and pepper.

Add in the broccoli.

Give the pot a big stir then add the vegetable stock. You can use chicken stock, but I wanted to keep this vegetarian.

Put a lid on the pot and let the vegetables and the stock cook for about 10-15 minutes, until the broccoli is soft.

Use an immersion blender, blender or food processor to puree the soup. Stir in a few tablespoons of half and half to give the soup a bit of a creamy hint.

Ladle big bowls and top with shredded cheddar cheese.

There are so many vegetables in this light and healthy soup that you won’t feel the least bit guilty having a brownie later.

London Broil and Green Beans

Posted on September 3, 2013 by poulosc

Every cook should have one of those recipes in her back pocket that she can just whip out, whip up and impress.

Oh you must have cooked all day!

Actually. It took me about thirty minutes to throw this all together, but of course, I’m not going to tell you that.

This is something my mom always made, that I loved and found somewhat magical. It’s one of those dishes that look and taste and just seem like they took a ton of effort and some secret concoction of seasonings.

Come in close. Closer. Okay. This is just between us.

All it is, is a good bottle of red wine.

Most of life’s great things begin with a good bottle of red wine, n’es-ce pas?

To make this London Broil you will need, 1 pound of London Broil ( for 2 people, adjust accordingly), black pepper, salt and good red wine. London Broil is a fairly cheap cut of meat, so it’s something that can be an everyday dress, but jazzed up with the right shoes and necklace, can be a real showstopper.

Pick a fairly hearty red wine. A chianti or a merlot will work just lovely. As always, pick something you would drink.

Place your hunk of London Broil in a baking dish with fairly deep sides.

Season liberally with salt and pepper, and glug glug glug, pour in the wine, enough to cover the bottom of the pan, plus a little more.

The wine is one trick. Here’s the second. Stick the tray in the fridge for a few hours. Better yet, put it in the fridge in the morning before you go to work and then come home to a wonderful red wine smell that has escaped from your fridge and permeated the kitchen.

Preheat the oven to 400 and bake the London Broil for about 30 minutes. Cooking time will depend on thickness and desired doneness.

The smell of wine will waft down the halls of your building.

This side dish, which pairs so nicely with the London Broil, is brought to you courtesy of my fiance. I believe it’s a variation on something his mom made.

In a frying pan, toss in fresh green beans (washed and trimmed), a diced tomato, 2 cloves of minced garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Sautee the mixture until the beans are cooked, but still crisp.

Plate the London Broil and the green beans, pouring the red wine sauce from the pan liberally over both.

Everything has the taste of a meal that has been lovingly and painstakingly prepared over hours in the kitchen.

Only you and I will know that it’s just the wine talking!

Itty Bitty City Kitchen

tiny kitchen, BIG CULINARY ASPIRATIONS

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