pasta and garbanzo bean soup

I totally love this soup!  Not only is it really easy and healthy, but its super kid friendly (Liam's favorite soups all have pasta and beans), but you can make part of it ahead of time!

I made the first half of the recipe while the kids were napping and I had some free time.  Then the boys and I went swimming, and when we got home I only had about 15 minutes of cooking before it was all ready.  No fuss, little mess, healthy and filling.  Jeff and the boys loved this soup, and one bowl (plus a few pieces of obligatory "soup bread" to dip) was very filling.

If you're looking at the soup and wondering how it could be so healthy, look no further.  The soup is full of veggies!  I roasted and pureed them before stirring them into the chicken broth (low-sodium of course).  That made the broth thick, flavorful, and creamy.

I roasted a pan of carrots, red bell pepper, and cauliflower with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper until the tops were golden and fragrant, then I pureed the veggies with some of the chicken broth.  I did all this ahead of time and then stuck the liquid in the fridge until I was ready the finish the soup.  You could make the soup all in one go if you want to though.

I just love the bright orange color!  The cauliflower and bit of olive oil really help thicken the soup and make the broth creamy.  I swear, it tasted so luscious, like I was eating some super fatty, but HA-HA!  I was only eating veggies. Yay for taste bud deception.  :)

I wanted a mostly pureed soup because I was going for simplicity.  A lot of my soups are massively chunky and busy, and I wanted something simple.  Plus, Liam loves veggies, but he doesn't always enjoy them in large chunks in his soup.  He'd rather have the flavor of them, and actually be able to see the pasta in the soup.

I like my soup to be pretty thick, and this soup thickens more the next day (looking almost like a very cheddar-y mac and cheese), so feel free to adjust the amount of broth used accordingly.

pasta and garbanzo bean soup
serves 6

ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into pieces
• 8 carrots, sliced
• 1 large red bell pepper, de-seeded and cut into large pieces
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (add more if you prefer thinner soup)
• 2 15 oz. cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 1/2 cups small pasta
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp chili powder

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Cut up cauliflower, carrots, and bell pepper and place as flat as possible on a parchment lined baking sheet with the garlic.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Bake for 40 minutes.  
2. Slide veggies off the parchment and into a blender.  Add chicken broth and puree.  At this point you can store the puree in the fridge for later use, or pour the puree start into a pot on the stove.
3. Bring liquid to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add the pasta, garbanzo beans, basil, oregano, and chili powder.  Stir occasionally.  As soon as the pasta is al dente the soup is ready.  Serve with french bread to dip.

note: feel free to add more chicken broth if you prefer a thinner soup.  You might want to have some extra broth on hand for leftover soup, as it will thicken the next day in the fridge.

cheater's pasta

This is not a recipe.  More of a good idea.  Everyone has times now and then where you need dinner fast, and you want it to be filling and look nice.

I love keeping a few frozen items from Trader Joe's around for what I've dubbed "backup meals".  I don't use them all the time because Hello high sodium content! but sometimes I'm so busy and distracted that I completely forget about making dinner until, well, dinner time.

Frozen meals are great too if you have a hastily planned date, if you want to impress someone but your cooking skills are sub-par.  I see it as a halfway point between a home cooked meal and putting a store bought cake on your plate and calling it your own.

My favorite backup meal is the "penne arrabbiata" frozen pasta from Trader Joe's.  The pasta and sauce are frozen in  bag together and all you have to do is throw them in a pan for about 7 minutes and stir occasionally.  So easy!  All I do to make the meal more well rounded and filling is add a can of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans into the pan for the last few minutes of cooking.  Done!  If you want to get really fancy and make it your own you could even go one step further and cut up some fresh basil to sprinkle over top.

That's it.  You can now fake you way through a pretty, healthy (enough), and filling meal for two in under ten minutes, and for less than $5.  How's that for date night?

pea-sto pasta

You ever have one of those days where it seems like everyone in the house is sick, or has crazy busy schedules, and you haven't been to the grocery store in what seems like a month?  Welcome to the last month at our house.

Finally I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Liam is the only left with a light cough, Christmas chaos is far behind, and I finally have time to grocery shop.

In the meantime I can make pea-sto pasta.  I've been making it for ages, but I really appreciate it now.  Quick, hearty, comforting, with pretty healthy and sparse ingredients.  Yes please!

This is one of those recipes that I've been making for years, but somehow totally forgot about when it came to blogging. Its great.  The ingredient list is minimal, the pea-sto sauce can be made quickly in a blender while the pasta is cooking,

This is total comfort food.  Warm, creamy, filling, and you can get your veggies and protein all in one dish.  Bonus, the kids love it.  I'm pretty sure that the brighter color a food is, the more the kids will like it.

I like to use my baby bullet blender for this because it is the PERFECT size.  You can use any blender or food processor, I just don't want like to use one that's too big because I feel like I lose too much sauce even if I use a spatula to scoop out as much as I can.

You might wonder (or not) why I use garlic powder in this recipe instead of garlic cloves.  The real garlic would be very strong raw, and one of the best parts about this recipe is how quick it is to make.  I didn't want to spend so much extra time roasting or sauteing garlic.

I completely forgot to set out the pine nuts in the above photo, but not counting the pasta, this is all you need.  Really.

I like to use frozen peas because they taste the freshest.  Don't try to blend them still frozen.  Just don't.  Microwave them for about 2 minutes until warm,   Add the peas, pine nuts, parmesan, garlic, olive oil, pepper, and basil to the blender (food processor, etc.) and blend.  I like mine a bit chunky, but feel free to completely puree.

My favorite three things about this recipe are so random:

1. perfect if you're craving pesto, but are a bit short of basil and want to fill the sauce out a bit more.
2. you can always prep the sauce ahead of time and freeze or refrigerate it separately to have instantly.
3. the creamy sweet texture from the peas makes this dish feel so fatty and decadent without adding a million calories.

The pea-sto sauce can also be used as a good sauce over chicken, or you can bake and cut up a chicken breast and mix it in with this pasta.  I am SUCH a fan of a balanced (ish, at least) meal you can eat out of a bowl.  I love mixing things together!

Pea-sto pasta
2 large servings
total time: 15 minutes

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, warmed
• 1 large handful basil
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp parmesan
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 4 oz. dry pasta

directions:

1. Boil a pot of water and add the pasta. Cook al dente.  Drain.  Set aside.
2. Start making the sauce as soon as you add the pasta to the pot.  Toss the rest of the ingredients (peas, basil, pepper, garlic, parmesan, pine nuts, and olive oil) into a small blender or food processor.  Stop when your sauce is a chunky or pureed as you prefer.  If you want to thin the sauce out a bit add a bit of water or olive oil (1/2 tbsp at a time).  Scoop out the sauce and add it to the drained pasta.  Enjoy!

pesto pasta with veggies

This is one of my favorite meals ever.  Seriously, I have to stop myself from taking seconds every time.  Sooo good!

This pasta is full of flavor.  Pesto, garlic, peppers, broccoli.  Yum.  Plus, it looks so pretty but is actually very easy to make.

I love the taste of fresh produce.  The stars of this dish include red and yellow bell peppers, yellow onion, garlic, tomato, pine nuts, and pesto.  I make my own pesto, but you can use store bought if you want to.

I love this with curly pasta.  The shape is just so fun.  Plus it is small enough that if you chop your veggies small enough you can get a bit of everything in each bite.

I got the idea for this pasta from my favorite dish at the Cheesecake Factory, Evelyn's Favorite Pasta.  Mine is a bit different, but the same idea.  Some pasta, pesto, and tons of fresh veggies!

Rough chop the peppers, onion, tomato, and garlic.  Roast them in the oven at 425 degrees F for 35 minutes.

Take the veggies out when they are soft and flavorful.

Making pesto is very simple, but if you are feeling lazy or lack the ingredients, store bought pesto is okay too.  Time isn't even an issue because you can make the pesto while the veggies are roasting, and also while the pasta is cooking, and the broccoli is steaming.  Woohoo, we're multi-tasking.

Okay, time to make pesto.  I use a bullet blender for this.  I like using it for this because if I use my huge vitamix for such a small amount of pesto, I lose half of it scrapping it down the sides.  In whatever blender (or food processor) you choose to use add a tablespoon of pine nuts, a tablespoon of parmesan, a bit of black pepper and sea salt each, a large handful of basil leaves, and about 3 tablespoons of olive oil.  Hit puree for several seconds until the pesto comes together and voila!  Seriously, that's all there is to it.

Make the pasta while the veggies are roasting, drain, and toss with a bit of olive oil.

As soon as the pesto is ready, mix it all in with the pasta, then add the rest of the pine nuts.

Now stir in the roasted veggies, the steamed broccoli, and the olives.  Done!  This is delicious as is, but if you want to add a bit more protein feel free to add more pine nuts, some white beans, or some diced chicken.

Note:  If you do add addition protein you might want to make more pesto so everything can still be well covered.  An extra half pesto recipe would be perfect.

This recipe is great for a busy weeknight dinner or even a dinner party because it looks fancy and time consuming, plus tastes wonderful, but you can multi-task and make all the separate pieces of it in the time it takes to roast the veggies.

This reheats well too if you make a large batch.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, and simply microwave.

The best part?  Both kids wanted seconds!

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pesto pasta with veggies

by Liesl October-4-2014

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2 cups spiral pasta, uncooked
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 medium tomato
• 1 yellow onion
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 3 tbsp pine nuts, divided
• 1 large handful basil leaves
• 8 kalamata olives, halved
• 1 tbsp parmesan
• large pinch each salt and pepper
• 1 small head, chopped broccoli

Instructions

1. Rough chop the red and yellow bell peppers, onion, garlic, and tomato. Spread them evenly in a parchment lined lipped baking sheet. Drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt and roast at 425 degrees F for 35 minutes. They should be soft and fragrant.
2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta, drain, put back into the pot, off heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. While the pasta is cooking. steam the broccoli and set aside.
3. If you are making your own pesto do it while the veggies and pasta are cooking. Using a blender or food processor add a tablespoon of pine nuts, the parmesan, a pinch of black pepper and salt each, the basil leaves, and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Puree. Scoop out and mix into the cooked pasta. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of pine nuts, the steamed broccoli, the kalamata olives, and the roasted veggies. Stir together and serve.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins 
Cook time: 35 mins 
Total time: 45 mins 
Yield: 4-6 servings

minestrone soup

Minestrone soup.  Otherwise known as "let's toss in all the random produce I've got on hand" soup.  Well, technically I put almost the same veggies in my soup every time, but I do tend to keep the same veggies around all the time.

Whenever I have zucchinis and yellow squash around this is my go-to dish.  I'm trying to branch out and use them for other meals, but this one is so good I still make it often.

Start out by sauteing the onion and garlic in the olive oil with a big pinch of salt.  Stir often to avoid burning.  They should be soft and sweet smelling.

Chop up the zucchini, yellow squash, celery, and carrots (I don't know why they aren't pictured).

Stir them all into the pot with the onion and garlic.

It makes all the difference in the world to start the veggies off over the heat with just the olive oil and salt.  when they are dumped into liquid first they get too soggy and the flavor doesn't get as strong as it could be.

Jeff looks at me like I'm crazy when I make minestrone.  He comments how it's crazy how the taste comes about from a crazy hodge podge of fresh veggies and cans (the pasta is the only bit that doesn't fit into either category).

After the veggies have cooked for about ten minutes add the vegetable broth, tomato paste, and the beans.

Mix in the fresh tomatoes and the can of petite diced tomatoes.  I don't always add fresh tomatoes, but I had a few sun golds that were getting soft, so I sliced them and tossed them in.  I love the sweetness they bring.

Insert cheesy joke from Jeff about how this is my version of canned soup.  There really is n non-corny version possible though, right?

Add the seasonings.  Fresh is great, but I only had dried.  That's fine too.

Once I have the taste of the soup just the way I want it I dump in the pasta.  As soon is the pasta is al dente, take the soup off the heat and serve.

Jeff and I both prefer our soup thick and stew-like, not too brothy.  If you want to think it out feel free to add some more vegetable broth.  Serve with some good hearty bread for dipping.

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minestrone soup

by Liesl August-15-2014

hearty "throw what produce I have on hand" plus bean soup.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1 yellow squash, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• two 15 oz cans kidney beans
• a 15 oz can white beans
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• a small handful sun gold tomatoes, halved
• a 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes
• three 15 oz cans vegetable broth
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 1/4 cups small pasta shells

Instructions

1. Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt on medium low heat. Stir often to avoid burning until opaque.

2. Chop the celery, zucchini, yellow squash, and carrot. Toss them in the pot with the onion and garlic and stir occasionally until the vegetables begin to soften, about ten minutes.

3. Add the broth, beans, and tomatoes, and tomato paste. Stir everything in and turn the heat up to medium. Put the lid on and set a timer for 30 minutes. 

4. Once the timer goes off add the seasonings. When you have the taste you want and the vegetable are soft (but not mushy) add the pasta. As soon as the pasta is al dente the pot can be taken off the stove, and the soup served. If you prefer the soup thinner add more vegetable broth.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins 
Cook time: 1 hour 15 mins 
Total time: 1 hour 20 mins 

Yield: 6-8 servings

mozzarella stuffed meatballs

If you've ever met me you know that handling raw meat does not rank high on my list of favorite things.  If I've had to deal with raw meat to make you food, be happy.  It means I must really like you.  This could not be truer than when I decided to make this dish for Jeff tonight.

Add all your ingredients except the mozzarella into your bowl and mix until just combined.

Just mixed.  Grab small handfuls and fill with mozzarella.

The meatballs should be as round and evenly sized as possible.

Pasta and meatballs is the obvious choice, but Jeff is also planning to enjoy them in a meatball marinara sub.

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mozzarella stuffed meatballs

by Liesl July-12-2014

Cheese inside of meat. What's not to love?

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp each salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup parmesan
• 2 tsp garlic
• 2 tsp basil
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 cup mozzarella, cut into small chunks

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Add all the ingredients except for the mozzarella in a large bowl and stir with a large wooden spoon until just combined. This shuld still feel soft, not hardened.2. Grab small handfuls of meatball mixture and place a mozzarella piece in the middle. Try to get the cheese as close to the middle as possible so the cheese won't escape the meatball in the oven. Then form it into a ball. I made the balls about 2". This size made about 2 dozen meatballs. Place the formed balls on a lipped sheet lined with foil. Separate each meatball by 2" and bake for 15 minutes. If the cheese does bubble out, it's okay. They will still have plenty left inside, and taste great. Serve hot.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: about 2 dozen

update:
Here are some more options.  I made tons of meatballs, really just for Jeff so he's had several choices of how to eat them.  These are his favorites.  Basically many meatball subs.