Navy Bean, Tomato, and Spinach Soup

I know what you're thinking: Yuck. But trust me! This soup is heavenly! Dave and I have resolved to go half-time vegetarian. So this was a hit on our list of new menu items. Adapted from the Jan-Feb 2010 issue of Mothering Magazine:

Navy Bean, Tomato, and Spinach Soup

1 c dried navy beans (soaked overnight)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
1 Portobello mushroom, gills removed, diced small (I used mini portobellos. Same diff.)
1 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
4 c vegetable stock, bean-cooking liquid, or mixture of both
1 16 oz can petite diced tomatoes
3 oz baby spinach, chopped rough
salt and fresh-ground pepper

Soak navy beans in 4 cups water, 6 hrs to overnight. Drain and rinse. Place beans in a 4-qt pot with bay leaf and over with 3 inches water. Bring to simmer, and cook until beans become tender to the bite but are not falling apart. Depending on age of beans, cooking time can range from 30-90 min. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to beans and let cook about 5 min more to absorb. Set beans aside in their cooking liquid.

Heat olive oil in 4-qt soup pot over medium heat. When hot, add diced onion and mushroom. Cook 4-5 min, until vegetables soften around edges. Add garlic and rosemary. Cook 2 minutes more, adjusting heat as needed to avoid too much browing.

Combine any remaining bean-cooking liquid with veg stock to make 3 1/2 c. Add to pot tomatoes, cooked beans, and liquid. Bring to low simmer and cook about 15 min, or until well flavored. If soup seems too thick, add last 1/2 c of stock. Add spinach* and cook until just wilted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

*I omitted the spinach, just because I don't like wilted spinach in my soup the next day.


Enjoy!

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Made these yesterday for Sunday dinner. Easy, elegant, and delicious! From Ina Garten on the Food Network:

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

1 1/2 lbs small red or white-skinned potatoes
1/8 c good olive oil
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp minced garlic (3 cloves)
2 Tbsp minces fresh rosemary leaves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the potatoes in half or quarters and place in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary; toss until the potatoes are well coated. Dump the potatoes on a baking sheet and spread out into 1 layer; roast in the oven for at least 1 hr (mine only took 45 min), or until browned and crisp. Flip twice with a spatula during cooking to ensure even browning (essential!).

Remove from oven, season to taste, and serve.

Caramel Pie

Chocolate & Caramel Pie

Crust
1 bag chocolate teddy grahams, blend to crumbs (I don't like teddy grahams so I used just a chocolate cookie crust, prefab)
(will be about 2 1/2 cups crumbs)
3/4 cup butter, melted

Combine in small bowl. mix until all cookie crumbs are moistened with butter. Press into pie pan. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until crust looks dry. Set aside to cool.

Caramel filling
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
In heavy sauce pan mix milk, sugar, butter, corn syrup & salt. Stir continually over medium heat until reaches bottom of firm ball stage- 230 degrees on candy thermometer. This takes a while. Be patient. Don't overcook, you don't want it too hard.
Remove from heat & add vanilla. Pour onto cooled crust, about 2/3-3/4 full. Set aside.
** this makes enough for 2 pies, I made one and poured the rest on to waxed paper & we ate them.

Semi-sweet chocolate Ganache

6 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp butter

in a small sauce pan, over medium heat, cook chocolate & cream until smooth & melted. Remove from heat. Add butter & stir. Pour over caramel layer.

Chill in fridge at least 45 minutes before cutting.

Brownie covered Oreos

Variations of this recipe have been circulating the internet recently. Here is the one I did. SUPER simple and a SUPER yummy and QUICK treat. YUM!

Make a brownie mix from a box {any kind will do}. Follow the directions on the box. Leave the mix in the bowl and dip one oreo after another into the mix, coating the oreo completely. Coat the Muffin tin generously in cooking spray. Drop the brownie covered oreo into a muffin tin and repeat until tin is full. Cook 10-12 minutes at 350 F {Don't overcook the brownies. Brownies are ALWAYS better gooey. ;0) }

You can sprinkle powder sugar on top or drizzle white chocolate over the brownie for aesthetics. I didn't do either and they were still yummy. 

I had a difficult time getting these out even after I drenched the pan in cooking spray.  Perhaps it'd help to line the muffin tin with cupcake liners? 

The Oreo cookie turns into a cake like consistency and the Oreo cream is SO yummy and a nice surprise in the middle. 

Mmm...

Sweet Potato Empanadas

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sweet potatoes, mashed or pureed
• 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar*
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Kosher salt
• 1 tube refrigerated ready-made crescent rolls (uncooked dough)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• *Cook's Note: Omit the brown sugar if the sweet potato leftovers are already sweetened.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, mash the sweet potatoes with a fork, and mix in the cream cheese, brown sugar if using, lemon juice, and pinch of salt until creamy. Remove the dough from the tube and separate into 4 rectangles. Working with 1 rectangle at a time, roll over the perforated lines in the dough to seal together. Cut the rectangle in half and then cut the halves into 2 triangles. Place a heaping teaspoon of sweet potato filling in the center of each of 4 triangles. Fold the dough over on each, as if you were making ravioli, and pinch the edges together. Cook's Note: Use a tiny bit of water if the dough is too dry to seal.

Continue making little triangle empanadas with the rest of the dough, 16 total. Place the triangles on a parchment-lined baking sheet and into the preheated oven. Bake the empanadas until golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Meanwhile, in a shallow bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and pinch of salt. While still warm, brush the empanadas with melted butter, and then gently toss in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve the empanadas with tangy plain yogurt for dipping.

**Made these for the Super Bowl also. These were SO good. I actually used yams rather than sweet potatoes because it's all I could find at the store. Same thing, right? I more than doubled the recipe and had uber amounts of the sweet potato mixture left over. Any idea on what I should do with it now? ha! I didn't serve them with the plain yogurt because I absolutely hate the taste of plain yogurt. 

sweet chicken bacon wraps

found on foodnetwork.com

made these for the super bowl yesterday. They were a huge hit. Who doesn't love bacon?! 

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (about 4 breasts) 
• 1 (1-pound) package sliced bacon
• 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons chili powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes. Cut each bacon slice into thirds. Wrap each chicken cube with bacon and secure with a wooden pick. Stir together brown sugar and chili powder. Dredge wrapped chicken in mixture. Coat a rack and broiler pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place chicken wrap on rack in broiler pan. Bake 350 for 30 to 35 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

I used 6 chicken breasts and the brown sugar/chili powder mixture was plenty. Also, it seemed to take a lot longer to cook in my oven (maybe 45 minutes?) not sure if it was because I put so many on the pan or if my oven was being lame-o. Just make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through before serving them. obviously.