Ding! Round 2 with the Immersion Blender

It's been five weeks since I sprained my ankle and I'm finally back in fighting form. I'm driving again - sweet freedom! First stop? Whole Foods...yes, I know, you're shocked. Hubby and I brought home a major haul yesterday. Honestly, I may have gone a little overboard. So much that I actually wrote a list of every perishable item and taped it to the fridge. I'll let you know if this little reminder actually works.

Oh! On my way home, we drove past a Penzeys Spice store (how could I have missed that?!) and made a mental note to pay a visit this week. Hey, if you use Penzeys spices and have a favorite, please leave me a comment about it.

So, back to the hand blender. I've had a few people ask me which brand I purchased. It's a Kitchen Aid immersion blender. And I love it. This morning I was trying out smoothie recipes and put strawberries, blueberries, one banana, nonfat plain yogurt, a squeeze of honey and crushed ice into a plastic pitcher. Five minutes later, the hand blender did it's job and there was virtually no mess. Anyone who has spent an hour scrubbing out a conventional blender will tell you that the immersion blender is a great investment.

Tonight for dinner, I used it again to make Sweet Potato Soup. This recipe comes from a book called, "The Superfoods RX Diet" by Wendy Bazilian and Steven Pratt.

Ingredients
1/2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 carrot stick, peeled & sliced
1 t fresh grated ginger
1/2 t ground cumin
4 cups water
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & diced
2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice

Garnish:
toasted pumpkin seeds & diced apple

In a stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, celery, and carrots. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until the vegetables begin to slighly brown. Add the ginger, cumin, water and sweet potatoes. Stir well and cover the pot. Allow the soup to cook 45 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Add the lemon juice. Use the immersion blender to puree the soup. Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds and diced apples. Add a dash of cayenne pepper if you enjoy a little heat!

• This was tasty, but if I'm being honest, it paled it comparison to the parsnip-pear soup. I think this soup might benefit by replacing the water with chicken or vegetable broth. Also, what happened to the salt and pepper? A little seasoning in the beginning would have helped.


• Don't skip the step of adding toasted pumpkin seeds and diced apples. The apples weren't part of the original recipe, but it seems like a natural pairing to me. The flavor was enhanced greatly with these two items.


• Also, the celery is a lot stronger in this soup than I expected. Next time, I will replace one celery stalk with a carrot.


• I'm getting the hang of the immersion blender! I found this to be a very easy dish to make and is almost completely hands off once you chop the vegetables. Chop & Blend. That's it.

Look what I made with my new hand blender!

Does this look good to you?






It sure tastes amazing! I've been eager to try this Pear & Parsnip soup recipe from one of my new favorite blogs, The Perfect Pantry. I'm going to send you right over to her house, because it's fun to peek into another person's pantry.

http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2007/11/garlic-pear-and.html


Even if you've never seen or tried a parsnip in your life (often described as a white spicy carrot), you've got to try this soup. The flavors are indescribably good.


By the way, it was quite comical to watch me use an immersion blender for the first time. My hand fatigued after five minutes! I had to keep stopping and starting and finally decided to leave the soup chunkier because I was so inept.


I'll just tell hubby that I prefer it chunky. Hey, look at that piece of pear. Isn't it pretty? It's supposed to be whole like that...um, garnish. Yep, it's a garnish.

Kitchen Sink? Everything, but.

Growing up in Southern New Jersey, my family spent many summers "down the shore." My aunt and uncle have a beautiful home on Long Beach Island where my husband and I usually spend a week in August. My favorite thing about LBI is there's virtually no big retail stores. Everything from the grocery stores to the restaurants - all locally run. There's not a TGI Fridays or Giant in sight. Hubby's favorite is an ice cream parlor that's been around for at least 30 years complete with a player piano. I have to say, it's special to see my spouse fall in love with a place from my childhood. He just gets it.

Beyond kayaking in the lagoon and sailing with my uncle, one of the best things about our LBI vacations is definitely the food. My aunt lays out dinners of grilled sweet corn, roasted summer vegetables, fresh herbs (growing on her deck), fish straight from the dock, and fruit from the farmer's markets. Lunch is always something to look forward to. It's composed of what we had for dinner the night before mixed in with fresh greens and balsamic vinegar with olive oil. Her salads opened my eyes to new flavor combinations and has inspired me in my own cooking adventures. Before this year, I was known for my own "everything but the kitchen sink" salads and it was a staple at my dinner parties. It usually included goat cheese, fresh corn shaved from the cob and dates.

Hubby was headed to Whole Foods yesterday, so I decided to use up the remaining vegetables in the fridge to create some room. Rather than a salad, I was totally in the mood for soup. I asked him to pick up some delicious crusty bread of his choice (he knows to look for 3 grams of fiber or more now!) I've also been reading "How to Cook Without the Book" by Pam Anderson which had a very helpful chapter on making soup. First rule? When junk goes in, junk comes out. Basically with fresh ingredients to start, it's easy to make an excellent soup.

Karen's "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" Soup

2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 zucchinis, diced
2 Yukon potatoes, diced
4 carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 large bunch of swiss chard leaves, roughly chopped and stems removed
1 15 oz can cannellini beans
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup bulgur, cooked
48 oz chicken broth (1 ½ cartons)
2/3 cup white wine
1 Chicken/Apple Sausage, thinly sliced
Penzy’s Northwood Spices (mix of coarse flake salt, paprika, black pepper, thyme, rosemary, garlic and chipotle.)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
Shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and let them sauté for 3-4 minutes until translucent. Then, add the remaining vegetables & wine. Spice generously with penzy (or your own mix), salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and let the veggies stew in their own juices, wine and tomatoes for about 10 minutes with the lid tightly on the pot. When veggies are tender, you can add the chicken broth & beans. Taste and season to your liking. Put the lid back on the pot and cook for another 10 minutes (med-low heat). Add previously cooked Chicken Apple Sausage and bulgur at the end. In five minutes, everything will be heated up and ready to serve. Serve with a piece of crusty bread and a pinch of shredded parmesan cheese in the soup.

• Recently filed in the Duh! folder: I burned my first pot because I left the oil sizzling on high heat without the onions for too long. It looks terrible, I may not be able to scrub out the scorch mark! First duh, followed by a second...I opened the french doors in my living room leading out to the back yard (unfenced) to clear the very smoked filled kitchen. I thought I tightly closed the doors when I let Sami back in, but a gust of wind blew it open and my puppy almost took off outside without a leash. Thank goodness she had the good sense to be startled and backed away in time for me to close it again! Damn this sprained ankle...yes, I'm blaming my lack of common sense on it.
• Hubby brought home an outstanding loaf of oatmeal, flax, honey and date bread. The sweetness of the dates and honey with the savory taste of the soup was an unexpected, yet heavenly, combination.
• I can't wait to have this soup for lunch...it's always better the next day.
• The best thing about this dish was how quickly it came together. From first chop to in the bowl was approximately 35 minutes. Twenty of which I was sitting watching tv!
  

Ellie Krieger's new cookbook

There's a wonderful show on the Food Network called, "Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger." Next time you're watching Ina or Rachel or Paula, stay tuned for Ellie, because she breathe of fresh air. She educates without sounding condesending and lets everyone know that cooking healthy doesn't mean tasteless and unappealing food. I think her recipes allow the natural flavors of whole foods to jump out while they do their job and nourish our bodies with much needed nutrients. I'm a big fan of her philosphy and show. Can you tell? So, when I heard she had a new book out, I actually pre-paid to get it as soon as it came out (I've only done this once before and that was Harry Potter!)

Imagine how giddy I was when the postman dropped this on my doorstep yesterday. I've already taken out some chicken breasts from the freezer this morning and I'm planning on trying her Lemon Chicken Soup with Orzo this evening. Dear hubby, if you're reading, I promise I'll get some nice chunky whole grain bread to serve with this soup.

Here's the recipe for now and add my comments later this evening:


Lemon Chicken Soup with Orzo by Ellie Krieger

4 t olive oil
8 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into small chunks
pinch of salt, plus more to taste
1 medium onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 stalks of celery, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1 medium carrot, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 t chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 t dried
6 cups of low sodium chicken broth
1 cup orzo, preferably whole wheat
2 large eggs
3 T fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat 2 t of the oil in a soup put over med- high heat. Season the chicken with salt, add to the pot and cook, stirring a few times until just cooked through. About 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a side dish and set aside.

Add the remaining 2 t oil to the pot. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and thyme and cook, stirring over med-high heat until the vegetables are tender. About 5 minutes. Add 5 cups of the broth and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and let simmer until tender. About 8 minutes. Turn the heat down to low to keep the soup hot but not boiling.

Warm the remaining 1 cup broth in a small saucepan until it is hot but not boiling. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Gradually whisk the lemon juice into the eggs. Then gradually add the hot broth to the egg-lemon mixture, whisking all the while. Add the mixture to the soup, stirring well until the soup is thickened. Do not let the soup come to a boil. Add the cooked chicken to the soup. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Before I tie the apron on and start this seemingly easy and tasty recipe, I just wanted to thank all of my new friends who have visited my blog recently. It was an amazing day yesterday when I saw my number of visitors increase every minute. I love to cook and I adore talking about it. Thank you so much for giving me a forum to do so. If you have the time, please leave a comment and let me know a little about yourself and be sure to share your recent kitchen adventures.

We just finished our dinner of this marvelous spin on chicken soup. Here are my thoughts:

• You are going to love how easy this is to make. Everything on this list is present in my freezer, fridge and pantry at all times - so yay, no trip to the grocery store tonight. I'm the girl who decorates her house with vases full of lemons or limes when I run out of recipes for their zest and juice.
• The lemon juice and egg mix Ellie suggests in this recipe is a Greek way to thicken soups. It's called avgolemono. I love that name, don't you? Avgolemono. It's important to heed the recipe's instructions for this part. The reason you add the lemon juice and eggs to a separate dish of chicken broth is so the mixture can adjust to the heat before going in the soup on the stove. This is to prevent the eggs from scrambling.
• My husband and I thought this soup with very tasty. But like most soups, we expect it to be even better tomorrow. We finished off the dinner with a dessert of clementines.
• More thoughts on Ellie's new book tomorrow. I'm taking it to bed to read before going to sleep. Does anyone else do this? Read cookbooks outside the kitchen?