Cream of Celery Soup

Celery is a vegetable that, I think, is often underestimated. It is surprisingly good for you; regular consumption may reduce inflammation markers. It may naturally lower your blood pressure, reducing the strain on your heart.  Eating it daily, as I do, provides you with a steady supply of vitamin K that supports bone density and strength. Imagine! All of these benefits, and it’s relatively low in cost as well.

When the late Mr. O-P and I were working in Dublin, we would take an early afternoon break to meet up at a local pub for lunch. It became our favorite dining spot not only because the food was quite good, but also because of the fascinating characters that we would run into along the way. One thing of theirs that I particularly liked was the cream of celery soup. I would get a cup of that as often as possible, vowing to try to replicate the recipe when we got home. One day I asked Mr. O-P if he would like to taste it. He did. I asked him how he liked it, and he said (I could not believe this response), “It sets my teeth on edge.” I grappled with that comment, I can tell you. I don’t think I have ever eaten anything that has actually set my teeth on edge. Suffice it to say, I never pursued my interest in replicating that recipe. Now that I’m on my own, and inspired by a recipe that I saw in The Cozy Christmas Cookbook, I decided to give it a shot. Am I ever pleased with the results! This is warm, soothing, and delicately delicious.

Cream of Celery Soup
Inspired by The Cozy Christmas Cookbook

¼ c. butter
1 large head celery, washed and thinly sliced
2 6-oz. pkgs. Melissa’s cleaned and sliced leeks
2 small Melissa’s celeriac bulbs (about 10 oz. total after peeling)
½ lb. Melissa’s baby Dutch yellow potatoes, halved
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 c. vegetable broth
½ c. chopped fresh parsley, plus more to garnish
2 c. half ‘n half
½ t. sea salt
½ t. freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add celery, leek, celeriac (a.k.a. celery root), and potatoes. Sauté for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened and lightly caramelized.

Add the garlic; stir for 30 seconds.

Add the broth, and turn up the heat. Bring to a boil, lower the heat a simmer, and cook for 15 more minutes until the celery and potatoes are fork tender. Add parsley and stir to incorporate.

Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until creamy. Stir in half-and-half. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve immediately garnished with slices of fresh celery, and chopped parsley.

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Coconut Almond Granola with Four Fruits

 

I know I'm dating myself here, but to the younger generation, let me tell you that Kate Hudson has a mom named Goldie Hawn. Back in the day she made some very funny movies, among them a breakout film called “Private Benjamin.” I'll never forget when she joined the army how surprised she was that it was not at ALL as depicted in the commercials -- no condos, no great meals, no beach vacations. Nope, just marching around in the rain, during which time she recited a rather funny monologue about what she wanted to do, and how she was a “nice person” and shouldn't have to endure such torture. To illustrate her remark she said she never “…went to anyone's house empty-handed.”

Well, I'm pretty much the same. I’m going to dinner tonight and, like Private Benjamin, I never go any place empty-handed, so thought I'd make up some Coconut Almond Granola and take a large jar to the hostess, and two smaller bags to the other couples who will be in attendance. It is so delicious that you can pretty much skip the bananas, milk, yogurt, and spoon, and just dig in!

This is my own personal recipe, a mishmash of a variety of others I've run across over the years. I've found you can pretty much toss in what you like according to what happens to be in your pantry at the time.

Coconut Almond Granola with Four Fruits

4 c. old-fashioned oats

¾ c. sliced almonds

½ c. sweetened flaked coconut
½ c. sunflower, pumpkin, or flax seeds

2/3 c. (packed) brown sugar

1½ t. ground allspice

½ t. kosher salt

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter

4 T. honey

½ c. pitted, chopped dates

½ c. dried apricots, quartered

½ c. golden raisins

½ c. raisins, dried cranberries, blueberries, or cherries

Preheat oven to 300°F. Mix first 8 ingredients in large bowl. Melt butter with honey in heavy small saucepan over low heat. Pour over granola mixture and toss well. Spread out mixture on baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add dried fruits; mix to separate any clumps. Continue to bake until granola is golden brown, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes longer. Cool. Do ahead. Can be made 2 weeks ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

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High Energy Spinach Salad

 

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I cannot resist a sale. When I learned that my son was going to be shopping at a grocery store where they had a wonderful sale on organic baby spinach I asked him to pick up a container for me. When he got to the store he alerted me to the fact that both baby spinach and mixed greens were on sale, and asked me which I wanted. Both, was my response. Are you sure? He asked me. Of course, I assured him.

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 Do all of you know how much 16 ounces of baby spinach is? How about 16 ounces of mixed greens? I have enough greens to fill a pleasure boat. So, I have a lot of salads ahead of me beginning with this one. This was inspired by a salad that I found online somewhere, don’t ask me where. Essentially I replicated the salad ingredients, but tweaked the dressing to be more to my liking. 

High Energy Spinach Salad

Salad:
5 oz. fresh spinach
¾ c. chopped celery
1 3-oz. pkg. Melissa’s dried cranberries
1 15-oz. can mandarin oranges, drained
1 large apple
2 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ c. pecans
½ c. cooked orecchiette pasta

Dressing:
¼ c. olive oil
2 T. apple cider vinegar
2 T. white wine vinegar
2 t. white sugar
1 T. honey mustard
1/8 t. paprika
1/8 t. onion powder
1 T. poppy seeds

Place all salad ingredients into a large bowl. Place all dressing ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk until emulsified. I like to use a mini high-speed blender for this because once it is emulsified, it stays emulsified. Serve immediately. Makes 6 1-cup servings.

 

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Homemade Vegetable Stock

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Yesterday I told you about not just pearl onions, but Cipollini and red boiler onions as well. Today I am going to advise you to buy a few extra containers of these specialty onions, because they add so much more flavor and color to homemade vegetable stock than white or yellow onions tend to do. If you haven’t made vegetable stock in the past, let me tell you it is incredibly easy, extremely inexpensive, and not only adds depth to vegetarian dishes calling for stock, but soups and stews as well. It is also a great sipping broth, and who couldn't use a nice, warm, cup of broth on bitingly cold winter days? What a delicious way to add flavor to any dish while fend off colds and flu.

Homemade Vegetable Stock

 
1 7-oz. pkg. Melissa's Cipollini onions, washed but not peeled
1 7-oz. pkg. Melissa's Red boiler onions, washed but not peeled

1 leek, cleaned and cut into chunks

3 large carrots, cleaned and cut into chunks
4 celery stalks, cleaned and cut into chunks

½ c. more or less, cleaned mushroom stems
1 Bay leaf
1 small bunch of fresh parsley
1 teaspoon rainbow peppercorns
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 cups water

Put all ingredients into a stock pot, bring to a boil, and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool, stream through a fine mesh sieve, and then store in the refrigerator for up to one week, or freezer for up to four months.

Feel free to experiment with onions, choosing scallions, shallots, or leeks, as well as using various herbs and seasonings of your choice.

Fava Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad

When I was a kid and would attend summer get-togethers such as barbecues, picnics, and pot lucks, invariably someone would put out a bean salad. Whenever I saw this salad I would run. Seriously. Sometimes I would even hide. Back then beans frightened me. Truth be told, up until a couple of years ago, they still did. Then something changed, I decided to befriend them, and what I discovered is that, aside from being loaded with protein and packed with nutrition, they made for a darned tasty salad. (If you missed my delicious Chickpea, Avocado, and Feta Salad, you can find that recipe here.)

Today I offer you an equally delicious, and even easier salad than my last, in this recipe that I conveniently found on the back of the box of Melissa's Peeled and Steamed Fava Beans. It took no time to put this together, thanks to the steaming and shelling having been done by Melissa's, and made for a great lunch. It stores well overnight in the fridge, further enhancing the flavor, and made perfect little side salads at dinner the next day. Because there is nothing to spoil in this combination of ingredients, give this a try at some of your summer gatherings. The colors are eye catching, and the taste will have them coming back for more. Need I remind you that fava beans are very high in protein, and offer other health benefits in the form of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and plant-sterols? I didn't think so. You already knew that.

Fava Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad

1 package Melissa’s Steamed Fava Beans
½ sweet onion – peeled; sliced very thin
½ pint cherry tomatoes, halved
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Kosher Salt 

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

In a medium bowl, combine the fava beans, onion, and tomatoes; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, cumin and chervil. While whisking, drizzle in the olive oil. Pour the mixture over the fava beans, toss, season with salt and pepper and serve. Makes about 2 servings.

This post is linked to:

Wake up Wednesday

The Homemaking Party

It's a Party

You're Gonna Love it Tuesday

Wow Us Wednesday
Work It Wednesday

What’s It Wednesday

Creative Ways

Create It Thursday

Full Plate Thursday

Foodie Friday

Friday Finds

Fresh Spinach Salad with Oranges and Beets

In the same way in which I told you about the life-changing potatoes from Melissa's Produce, I am going to tell you about another of their wonderful products in their packaged steamed and peeled baby beets. A product of France, they come to you quartered, peeled, steamed, laced with shallots, herbs, and a delicate balsamic vinaigrette, making them ready-to-eat right out of the package. And I did, until half of the package was empty.

With the half of the package that remained, I made tasty and nutritious dinner salads for the two of us, and, trust me when I tell you that this salad is very high in nutrition. It had a fresh spinach base (Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, copper, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin E, calcium, potassium, and vitamin C. Need I say more?  Okay then, it is also a very good source of dietary fiber, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc, protein, and choline.), and was topped with orange segments, sweetened pecans, feta cheese, and these delicious, all-of-the-work-is-done-for-you beets. Beets are loaded with vitamins and minerals such as potassium, magnesium, fiber, phosphorus, iron, as well as vitamins A, B, and C, plus (Yes, there's more!) beta-carotene, beta-cyanine, and folic acid. Whew! They cleanse the body, boost your energy, aid your mental health, and have been scientifically proven to work as an aphrodisiac (and I'll just leave things there). This salad that packs such a nutritional punch is also beautiful, makes quite an attractive presentation at the dinner table, and it is easy. What more could one possibly ask? Imagine getting so much healthful wonder on such a small plate.

Thanks, Melissa's Produce for these delicious beets. They are my convenience product of the month!

Fresh Spinach Salad with Oranges and Beets

1/2 pound fresh spinach

1/2 cup orange segments (I used mandarin oranges)

1/2 cup Melissa's Baby Beets in Vinaigrette

1/4 cup Feta cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup sugared pecans*, coarsely broken 

Poppyseed Dressing

 Divide ingredients among two chilled salad plates. Drizzle with poppyseed dressing. Serve immediately, and bask in your good health.

Sugared Pecans

2 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup pecan halves

1 tablespoon sugar

In a 9" sauté pan, melt butter. Add pecans, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until toasted, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar; cook and stir for 2-4 minutes or until sugar is melted. Spread on a dinner plate lined with paper towels to cool.

This post is linked to:

Show and Tell Friday 

Friday Unfolded

Flaunt It Friday

Fridays Flash Blog
Simple and Sweet Fridays

What To Do Weekend 
The Weekend re-Treat