Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

This recipe was adapted from Mangio da Sola

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 chopped onion
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup flour
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 lb fresh broccoli, chopped
1 cup carrot, shredded and chopped
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamom
8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 ounces grated Colby jack cheese 
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the onion and garlic in the butter over medium heat. Remove the onions (you can actually leave the onions in there) and add in the flour, stirring constantly. Add in the half and half, milk, and chicken stock. Bring to almost a boil.
Add the onions back in, along with the broccoli and carrots. Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes.
Season the soup with the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cardamom. Stir in the cheeses (and you can play around with the amounts; use however much or little you like) and let simmer for 10 minutes longer before serving.

Roasted Tomato Soup

So, it has been awhile since I have posted anything and I am sorry, with having a new job and juggling school, Easton, and house work it has been a little overwhelming. I am finally getting on a schedule though so recipes should be coming more frequently now.

This recipe was adapted from Sprouted Kitchen
Ingredients:
1 1/4 lb. Ripe Tomatoes (about 4 Large Tomatoes)
1/2 Medium Yellow Onion
3 Garlic Cloves
1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp. Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
1 Tbsp. Chopped Parsley
1 1/2 Cups Low Sodium Vegetable or Chicken Broth
1 Tbsp. Organic Tomato Paste
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream or Half and Half, optional
Fresh Oregano + Basil for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 350′. Cut the tomatoes and the half of an onion into wedges. Use your finger to push out some of the seedy parts of the tomatoes, but this is not a huge deal, just get out the big seedy parts, a bit intact is fine. Spread them on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle the salt, a generous amount of pepper, the chopped parsley and gently toss it with your hands. Tuck the garlic cloves somewhere in a tomato, so they don’t burn. Roast on the middle rack for 30-40 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and reduced to about half their size. Remove and cool slightly.
2. Warm the broth and stir in the tomato paste to dissolve. Add the all of the ingredients from the roasting pan into the broth and let it gently simmer for 5-10 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the bowl, or with a food processor or blender. The soup should be smooth, with some texture. If you don’t like any texture at all, you could run it through a fine mesh sieve. Return it back to the pot, and add the cream to taste, if using. Taste for salt and pepper.
3. Serve with some toasted bread, or broil a few slices with a piece of mozzarella on top. Garnish with fresh chopped basil and oregano.

Baked Zucchini Fries

Important things to know about my cooking and eating habits. I could live off of mushrooms and zucchini, well I basically do. Sorry if my recipes are boring, haha.

I made these to dip in the Comeback Sauce (seen below). Again, credit goes to Cody for the photos.

Ingredients:

2 medium-large zucchini
2 cups of panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese (the cheap kind is fine here)
1-2 eggs beaten

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Pretty simple recipe. Slice zucchini into strips, try and make them about the same thickness for even cooking.

Simple dip pieces in egg and then roll in breadcrumbs. Best to do each one individually rather than the shake and bake method so that the breadcrumbs really coat the zucchini. Time consuming but definitely worth the extra effort.

Bake for 12 minutes then flip zucchini fries and bake for an addition 10-12 minutes or until they are browned.

Fried Okra

Ingredients:
6 cups of oil
2 lbs fresh okra
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oil in a heat skillet.
Cut Okra into 1/2 inch pieces.

 Dip in buttermilk

 Place okra in skillet and cook for five minutes or until golden. I had to turn mine because I didn't have enough oil

 Sorry for the bad picture but the boys took the okra before I could take a picture.

Grilled Summer Veggies

Ingredients:
One large package of whole mushrooms
4 yellow squash sliced
4 zucchini sliced
6 tomatoes wedged
1 container of Italian dressing

Marinate all veggies in the Italian dressing for about 2 hours.

Preheat grill and add veggies to a broiler pan without the bottom part and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until all vegetables are cooked.

Stir Fry Veggies

5 whole carrots cut it half then quarters the halves to make then pinky size
2 zucchinis cut the same way as carrots
1 pack of sliced mushrooms
1 onion wedges
1 pack of thawed broccoli florets
1/4 cup teriyaki 
1/8-1/4 cup soy sauce

Add some extra virgin olive oil to a pan then add carrots and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add onions and a little soy sauce and teriyaki. After three minutes add mushrooms cook for 3 minutes and add zucchini and broccoli. Then add the rest of the sauces and let cook down for about 5 minutes or so until all vegetables cooked completely

 Yum, fell free to serve with Shrimp Sauce