Split Pea Soup

I've always loved split pea soup.  And I mean LOVE.  But I'm not a big fan of "hammed" or "baconed" split pea soup.  I don't know why.  So I've always searched for pork-less split pea soup options.  This one is a definite keeper.  If you want to make it vegetarian, use water or vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

I omit the potato because it is not South Beach Diet friendly.  If you want, you can sub sweet potatoes.  But the soup doesn't really need it; it's nice and thick and creamy even without the tubers.  I also add all the split peas at once, instead of in two shifts because I don't really care for the firmer peas in the soup.

Today I decided to try something new with this favorite recipe.  I found some beautiful wild, fresh sea bass fillets at the grocery store, so I cubed about 2 pounds worth and added them to the soup.  Delish!  (I'm thinking it would be great with chopped lobster, too.)

Eat more fish!

Split Pea Soup
Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• a few tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 medium carrots, diced
• 2 cups dried green split peas
• 1 carton (4 cups) chicken broth
• 4 cups water
• 2 pounds sea bass fillet, cubed (optional)
• additional TSSS & pepper to taste

Directions:

• In a large 5 quart stockpot on medium heat, sauté the onion, garlic, oregano, TSSS and pepper for about 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent.
• Add the carrots, split peas, chicken broth and water.  
• Bring to a boil.  Then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 40 minutes, stirring often.  Skim off the foam while cooking.
• Cover the pot and continue to cook for an additional 40 minutes, stirring often, until peas are soft.
• If you want to add the sea bass, do so 10 minutes before the soup is done.
• Add additional TSSS and pepper to taste.
• Serve hot.

Peas and Scallion Soup

Last week's CSA farm box contained a large bunch of scallions.  What to do with a big bunch of scallions?  I did a Google search and came up with this recipe.  I made a few changes, only because I don't have fresh English peas, tofu or cilantro on hand.  And I had a container of sliced button mushrooms that I tossed in because they needed to be used.

The soup came out surprisingly good.  I'm usually not a  huge fan of scallions/onions.  I mean, I'll saute them into other dishes or use them as garnish, but I was wary of a scallion soup.  This was pleasantly mild in the onion department, and nice and sweet from the peas.

I wouldn't purposely buy a bunch of scallions to make this again, but if one happened to show up in a future CSA farm box, then why not.

Peas and Scallion Soup
Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 large bunch of scallions (approx. 6 scallions), whites thinly sliced and greens coarsely chopped
• 1 small 1/4 inch slice of ginger, peeled
• 1 container (5 oz.) sliced button mushrooms
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup sugar snap peas, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup snow peas, cut into matchsticks
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• few dashes of rice wine vinegar

Directions:

• In a large saucepan, combine chicken broth, water, scallion greens and ginger.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes until scallions are mushy and broth is flavorful.  Strain and discard solids.
• Add mushrooms and frozen peas.  Bring to a boil. 
• Add sugar snap peas and snow peas and cook for about a minute.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Remove soup from heat and stir in the scallion whites and a few dashes of rice wine vinegar.
• Serve hot.

Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese and Walnuts

My CSA farm box this week contained 3 fresh, beautiful beets.  Usually I'd boil them, since that's what my mom always used to do.  But I decided to roast them today instead.  Everything tastes better roasted, right?  Right!

I had a bit of leftover goat cheese I needed to use up, so I figured I'd top the beets with that.  The tang was really good with the sweetness of the beets.  And some toasted walnuts for crunch.  YUM!  Not too shabby for having made this up off the top of my head.

In case anyone was wondering: beets are a Phase 3 food on the South Beach Diet because they are higher on the glycemic index.  I'm eating them as a personal choice food because they came in my CSA farm box, even though I'm still technically on Phase 2.

Be careful when handling beets -- they stain!

Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese and Walnuts

Ingredients:

• 3 medium, fresh beets
• olive oil
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt (to taste)
• balsamic vinegar
• a few ounces of goat cheese
• a few tablespoons of coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Wash and dry the beets.  Cut top and bottom ends off and discard.  Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skin off the beets.  Quarter the peeled beets, then slice into 1/4 inch pieces.
• Put the sliced beets into a bowl and drizzle with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Season with TSSS.  Toss.
• Place the seasoned beets onto a baking sheet, in a single layer, and roast for 15 - 20 minutes, until they're fork-tender.
• Remove baking sheet from oven and drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over the beets.  (Be careful of hot steam when doing this.)
• Plate the beets.  Crumble some goat cheese on them and sprinkle some toasted walnuts on top.
• Serve warm.

Salmon with Lentils

I love lentils and am always looking for ways to prepare it. I was watching Barefoot Contessa the other day and this recipe made me salivate right on the couch. I love Ina. If only she'd invite me to one of her dinner parties. Or lunch, or breakfast, brunch, heck, even for a snack. I'm not picky.

The original recipe calls for a ton of onions. I don't like onions that much, so I cut way back on the amount. I also just did a quick pan sear of the salmon on the stove top instead of transferring it to the oven. Only because I was roasting beets in the oven at the same time and didn't have room to add the fish.

Everything was delicious.

Salmon with Lentils
Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry lentils
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1/4 cup leeks, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 large stalks celery, chopped
• 3 large carrots, chopped
• 1.5 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt (to taste)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 6 individual portions of salmon fillets, pan-seared or broiled in the oven

Directions:

• Place lentils in a heat-proof bowl and cover with boiling water.  Let sit for 15 minutes, then drain.
• In a large saute pan, heat oil, then add shallots, leeks and thyme.  Cook over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes.
• Add garlic and cook a couple more minutes.
• Add the drained lentils, celery, carrots, chicken broth, tomato paste, and TSSS.
• Cover and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes until lentils are soft and have absorbed the liquid.
• Add the vinegar and toss.
• Plate the lentils and top with the cooked salmon.  Serve hot.

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Really quick, really simple, and really good.

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Ingredients:

• cooking spray
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt (to taste)
• freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
• 1 lemon

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray.
• Slice each chicken breast in half, thickness-wise, so you have 8 thinner pieces.
• Sprinkle TSSS and black pepper over both sides of chicken breast pieces.  Lay the pieces in a single layer into the prepared baking dish.
• Zest the lemon using a fine zester and sprinkle over the chicken.  Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice over the chicken.
• Bake in pre-heated oven for 15 - 20 minutes until cooked through.

Baked Spinach

Today's CSA farm box contained a beautiful large bunch of spinach.  If it had been baby spinach, I would have made a salad.  But I don't care too much for raw spinach (unless it's baby), so I was thinking of making my usual creamed spinach.  Then I remembered coming across this recipe last week and thought I'd give it a try.  YUM!

I had a huge bunch of fresh spinach, andI added in a 1 pound bag of frozen chopped spinach.  It yielded 2 cups cooked and was the perfect amount for 3 adults and a toddler.  I also didn't have any Swiss cheese on me, so I used a combo of Parmesan and mozzarella.

The original recipe calls for blanching the fresh spinach, but I was too lazy to do that and it turned out just fine.

Baked Spinach
Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chopped fresh spinach (or 2 cups frozen)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Smart Balance
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Wash, drain and chop the fresh spinach.
• Thaw and drain the frozen spinach.
• Heat olive oil and Smart Balance in a pan.  Add spinach and TSSS and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes until soft and most of the moisture has evaporated.
• Sprinkle flour over the spinach and stir for a couple of minutes.
• Add the chicken broth, a little bit at a time, stirring and scraping up the pan.
• Pour half the spinach mixture into a small baking dish.  Sprinkle with half the parmesan and half the mozzarella.  Add the remaining spinach mixture to the baking dish and top with the rest of the cheese.
• Bake for 20 minutes until heated through and bubbly.

Pork Chops with Mushroom Cream Sauce

The original recipe calls for chicken breasts, but I happened to have pork chops today.  Also, this recipe is versatile in that you can use whatever mushrooms you have on hand.  The original recipe includes shiitakes, today I used trumpets, and I'm guessing this would even be good with plain ol' white button shrooms.  I added a little bit of flour to thicken it up and make it more "creamy," especially since I used skim milk instead of cream.

Pork Chops with Mushroom Cream Sauce
Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 medium boneless pork chops, all visible fat removed
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 2 10-oz. packages of trumpet shrooms, sliced (thick or thin depending on your preference)
• Tastefully Simple Onion Onion
• 1 teaspoon whole wheat flour
• 1 cup skim milk

Directions:

• Heat a pan with olive oil.  Season both sides of pork chops with TSSS.  Cook chops in skillet, about 5 minutes on each side, or until internal temperature is 145 degrees F.  Transfer chops to a plate and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.
• Add shallots and shrooms to the pan and season to taste with TSOO and more TSSS.  Sauté for about 5-7 minutes until soft.
• Sprinkle flour over the shrooms and stir to incorporate.
• Add the milk and scrape up any brown bits from the pan.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat.  Simmer for a minute or two until sauce thickens.
• Pour mushroom sauce over the pork chops and serve.

Dijon Vinaigrette Dressing

I learned how to make this dressing during one of my stays in France. When I was an undergrad, I spent a summer with a host family in Tours, and every evening for dinner we'd have some type of salad, and Jacques and Helene (my host parents) would always make this dressing. Fresh, tangy and yummy.

Make sure you use high quality ingredients, it really does affect the taste.

Dijon Vinaigrette Dressing

Ingredients:

• Dijon mustard
• freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt (I used Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt today)
• freshly ground pepper

Directions:

• Ratios are 1 part Dijon mustard to 2 parts lemon juice to 4 parts EVOO.
• Whisk together the first 3 ingredients until well blended and emulsified.  
• Add salt and pepper generously to taste.

I couldn't find my mini whisk today, so I put all the ingredients into my little stainless steel Thermos bottle and shook it up.  

It's great over green salads, fish, chicken, and today I poured it over some sliced oranges and grapefruit.

Sirloin Tip Roast

People have asked me why I always make adaptations instead of following recipes.  It's not because I think my way is better, really.  It's more based on what I have in my pantry.  If I don't have a specific ingredient that a recipe calls for, I'll substitute with something else, or omit it.  I'm just a lazy cook, plain and simple.

For example, this original recipe calls for dry mustard, which I don't have, so instead of going out and picking some up at the grocery store (too much work), I chose instead to use regular Dijon mustard.

And why did I pre-heat the oven at 400 degrees F instead of the 350 that the original recipe called for?  Because I was roasting veggies in the oven at the same time and didn't want to do two separate batches, I just shortened the roast's cooking time accordingly.  See?  I told you I was lazy.  :-)

Sirloin Tip Roast
Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• a 2-pound sirloin tip roast, all visible fat removed
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
• Dijon mustard
• olive oil
• worcestershire sauce
• chicken broth

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Season the roast liberally with TSSS and TSGG.
• Rub several generous squirts of Dijon mustard over the seasoned roast.
• Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in an oven-proof skillet.  Sear roast on both sides.
• Shake a few generous dashes of worcestershire sauce over the roast.  
• Pour about 1/4 cup chicken broth over the roast.
• Place the skillet in the oven for 30 minutes.
• When done, remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before slicing.
• In the meantime, reduce the juices in the skillet.  Pour over sliced roast.

ETA 1/5/12: tri tip roast