Arugula-Basil-Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Today's Pesto Day!
Put these ingredients, in their group, into your blender jar and pulse just enough to blend each, starting with the first. Then add the greens and pulse until incorporated. Last add the cheese and pulse until everything's chopped and combined the way you'd like. Most people prefer doing this in a food processor which works great, but somehow I'd rather pulse all this in my blender. However, this took a lot of jar scraping to totally combine. . .Use whichever works best for you.

6oz. single source EVOO

2 big garlic cloves - chopped

zest + juice of a lemon

½T salt, pepper, garlic Kinder's Blend

½c± organic sprouted pumpkin seeds

68g - 2.4oz arugula

32g - 1.15oz. basil 

2½oz. total - of five microgreens:

- pea shoots, radish, kale,

- red cabbage and basil

3oz. grated Parmesan-Romano cheese

I wasn't planning this, but the photo below shows my late breakfast - early lunch when, after blending, I discovered it wouldn't all fit in my 16oz. container. This recipe made about 20oz. In addition to fresh basil, you can use just about any greens. In the past I've used curly as well as flat leaf Italian parsley, celery greens, spinach even some beautiful carrot tops one time! I have some beautiful chard right now, but decided I might steam that to go with salmon soon.

Now a word about pasta. . .
True Italian pasta is far healthier than our typical American variety. I've been ordering it online now since in Europe they don't use GMO wheat, no preservatives and their milling process for the wheat includes more of the healthy parts of the whole grain.

I cook my pasta using the resistant starch method. If you need pasta right away you can still accomplish this by cooking to al denté stage, draining, then rinsing and soaking a few minutes in icy cold water. Then drain, combine with the sauce and reheat. Or reheat the pasta only and add the sauce.

It's SO worth the extra steps to create a much healthier version of pasta! Happy Cooking! . .😃. .Lin

Spicy-Yummy Tomato-ey Chicken Soup

I'm running out of names for recipes. This started out to be Chicken Fajita Soup, but evolved in a couple other directions before it was finished. The only 'mistake' I made this time was using Chili Tomatoes that were fire roasted. I didn't see that on the label until it was too late. The burnt flavor is what dominates, at least in this brand. 

Chop or slice the vegetables and saute in a generous amount of single source EVOO:

3/4 each - 1 lg. orange and green bell pepper
5 lg. garlic cloves
1-1/2 yellow onion
several celery heart stalks

~ I also added some mixed cabbage I had previously shredded: Napa cabbage, purple, green and a little shredded carrot.

Saute the vegetables only a short time, so they're still crisp, just enough to release their scents into your kitchen. Next add:

4oz. chopped sun-dried tomatoes + the oil they're packed in
chopped celery tops
28oz. seasoned crushed or diced tomatoes
1 (enormous) or 3 med. bay leaves
2 cans of corn - 1 drained, 1 w/liquid
1 lg. can 19oz. drained-rinsed black beans
12oz. roasted chicken
1 quart well-jelled chicken bone broth
2-3T powdered chicken bone broth base
1 pkg. Cilantro-Lime rice

Gently stir this all together then simmer 20 minutes. You can stir in 1c of sour cream now, or leave it out and just garnish each bowl with a big dab and some fresh cilantro leaves.

I still really don't know what to call this soup. . .Maybe Chicken Taco Soup. . .but whatever I call it, I like how it turned out! .😊. .Lin

Anti-Inflammatory Vegetable Smoothie

I made an amazing carrot-pineapple-lemon-cucumber version of this yesterday, but I didn't note proportions, so I'll work on recreating that soon. This one was a bit too heavy on the garlic, using 1 BIG raw clove for each serving, so I've modified that here. I steamed the chopped beet for about 7 minutes to reduce/eliminate oxalates. Those are high in raw beets and can cause kidney stones.

1 lg. beet

2 med. carrots

1 big seedless lemon
3-4 small cloves of garlic

3-4 1" pieces of fresh ginger
1 handful of baby arugula for each serving

1T raw honey for each serving

a sprinkle of Himalayan pink salt for each serving

Scrub the beet and cut into chunks. Steam it for about 7 minutes until a fork slips in and out of the pieces easier than when raw, but don't overcook. Scrub the lemon, carrots and ginger but don't peel anything except the garlic.

Cut the  blossom and stem section off the lemon. Cut the whole-unpeeled lemon and carrots in pieces and divide those into 2 or 3 containers (for another day) in addition to the blender jar. Add the garlic, ginger, arugula, then cover and refrigerate.

Before blending, add the honey, salt and start with 1c water, then adjust that amount to your desired consistency. . .Lin

Chicken-Mushroom-Vegetable Alfredo

6-8oz. pasta - Cook the pasta about half way, then drain and rinse in ice water until well chilled to turn this into resistant starch. While this is chilling, combine the following ingredients for the sauce.

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 jar of your favorite Alfredo sauce

1/2-1c chicken bone broth

1/2c Marsala cooking wine

Simmer the sauce over low heat, season with black and cayenne pepper, granulated garlic and garlic salt until it bubbles and thickens a bit. Sauté 8oz. mushrooms over low heat in 2-3T black truffle oil. Add a little more Marsala. When the mushrooms are nicely browned add the chopped vegetables:

4 big ribs of celery
4 seedless mini peppers

1/2 large onion

Simmer over low heat, covered until the celery is crisp-tender. Add 1 can drained-rinsed diced water chestnuts, the chilled-drained pasta and 11oz. roasted chicken. Mix together gently, pour into a glass baking dish and sprinkle the top with 4oz. crushed salad croutons. Bake 20-30 minutes.

Serve with a big mixed green salad, which is what I'll have next time. This time it was some of those red white and green lemon-butter vegetables. . .Lin

Buckwheat Tabouli

Did you know that buckwheat is gluten free? I sure didn't, and wouldn't have guessed that of something called buckWHEAT! 

As I've stated before, Tabouli is one of my absolute favorite salads. I've been making it ever since first discovering it in Mollie Katzen's 'Moosewood Cookbook' back in the 1970's, but with lots of changes over the years.

Tabouli is a cold Lebanese salad usually made with bulgar wheat, but I love substituting other grains. Sorghum, Quinoa, Buckwheat, are all good gluten free options. Farro is another I've used, which is not gluten free. I'd like to try making it with rice, as well as an interesting combination of bulgar wheat and toasted vermicelli, popular in Palestine, that I discovered at an international market in the cities.

1c buckwheat

2c fresh cold water

Simmer this over low heat until all the liquid is absorbed. Gently stir in a couple tablespoons of a good single source EVOO to keep it from clumping.

Chop then put all the vegetables in a large glass bowl with the remaining ingredients.

5 tiny cucumbers

3 cloves of garlic

3 mini orange peppers

1 lg. Vidalia onion

1 lg. tomato

1/2 bunch flat leaf Italian parsley

1-2T Swad Coriander Chutney

~ (omit if you don't like cilantro)

Lowry's Garlic Salt and finely ground black pepper

1 can garbanzo beans - drained and rinsed

1 can black beans - drained and rinsed

1 can of corn - drained

Make a dressing with EVOO, lemon juice and a garlic vinaigrette. Pour over everything, add the cooled buckwheat and toss gently. This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated. . .Lin

Spicy-Healthy Vegetable Soup (gluten & dairy free)

Recently it was Chicken Bone Broth Day for me 😁

Chilled out on my deck overnight, fat scraped off the top, it was begging to be made into something healthy. Made with only skin, bones, bay leaves, 1/3c white vinegar and water, so it would be dog safe for my Oliver as well. This morning I got a call from someone close to me, who is sicker than sick! Alrighty-Then! Healthy soup it is. Sorry Oliver...next time 😉 

The chicken was used in a previous soup, and a 3-meat pasta creation a couple days ago. I didn't have any other meat thawed, so other than the chicken bone broth, this ended up vegetable only. Lighter for someone really sick, so it's actually better this way.

I started by sautéing  chopped carrot and celery in several tablespoons of avocado oil. Then added the rest shown, sliced or chopped, after about 7 minutes. About 1/3 of a medium head of green cabbage, 1/3 of a red pepper, 5 smashed-minced garlic cloves, 1/2 a big purple shallot. Sauté all the vegetables over low-medium heat in the covered pot, stirring often, for another 10 minutes. Measure  3c fresh cold water and add a little of this if needed to keep the vegetables from sticking to the pot. Take the stems off 12oz. fresh baby spinach. Gather this up into a clump and slice very thin. Add this to the pot for the final 5 minutes of simmering. 

Sprinkle the vegetables with seasonings, to taste. I used about 1t ground turmeric, a good shake of ground cayenne pepper, 1-2t of a salt and pepper based garlic and herb seasoning.

Stir, then pour in the rest of the water and 3T± reduced sodium Chicken Better Than Bouillon soup base. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook another 5 minutes or so. 

Heat the big pot, containing 2-3 quarts of bone broth, to a low boil. Stir in 5oz. thin rice noodles and simmer a few minutes. Add the pot of vegetables to the noodles and broth, stir gently to combine, simmer another minute or two and serve. Mmmm, this made about 6 quarts total, for me, and lots to share. . .

Stay Healthy Everyone! . .Lin

German Potato Salad Soup

I thawed a package of 6 Quail and also 1 Pheasant to roast over the weekend for a family get together after church this past Sunday. Rather than a fussy sit-down roast poultry dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy, etc. I decided to keep it casual. I made an interesting version of something similar to German Potato Salad and a cucumber, tomato, onion salad to go with the roasted meat. After lunch, I took off all the meat, packaged that, and made a pot of bone broth with the bones and skin.

I'll probably make a stroganoff sort of thing with the leftover meat, either all 18oz. of it, or half and use a chicken salad recipe for the rest, so stay tuned for those.

Meanwhile, I still had leftover hot potato salad to turn into something else. Today I decided to make soup, using mashed up potato salad as the focal ingredient. This potato salad has onion, celery, dill pickles, mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, a bit of sugar, salt, pepper, and crumbled bacon. Mashing it somehow seemed the logical thing to do.

Slice-chop the scrubbed vegetables shown: carrots, celery, green pepper and garlic. Sauté these a few minutes in 2-3T butter. Add a couple ladles of bone broth, cover and simmer with seasonings and bay leaves for about 15 minutes until they're all tender. Remove the bay leaves, then mash everything in the pot to a rough-mash stage with a potato masher.

Add the mashed potato salad, stir to combine. Ladle in more bone broth to make it just barely 'soupy.' Simmer this on low for 5-10 minutes. Check the flavor, then stir in a can of coconut milk if you'd like, or just stick with bone broth, using enough to make the consistency right for a rustic soup. Serve with a little shredded cheese on top. . .Lin

I had a bowl of this, made with coconut milk, without cheese on top, and I have to say, it's for sure one of the most interesting soups I've ever eaten! 

A one of a kind recipe, and since there's 3 quarts of it, I'll be working on this pot for a while. It's surprisingly good!

Curried Pollock Chowder

3 big carrots

5-6 stalks of celery

1 medium onion

2T coconut oil 

Lowry's garlic salt

salt free pepper seasoning

Start by sautéing the lightly seasoned sliced-chopped celery, carrot and onion, in the coconut oil. Cover and reduce the heat to low for 10 minutes. Stir a couple times to prevent sticking.

Take the strings off the pea pods, slice those, chop the potatoes and add them to the pot with 4 lg. smashed, chopped garlic cloves (not shown). 

Add 16oz. cold fresh water, the 15oz. jar of curry sauce, a couple spoonfuls of Lobster Better Than Bouillon and 3 big bay leaves. Cover and simmer again for 15 minutes.

9-12oz. pollock filets

Cut the fish into bite size pieces and stir into the pot. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in an additional 16oz. cold water, 1-1/2c craisins or other dried fruit and the coconut milk. Bring back to a quick simmer and serve with oyster crackers or crispy garlic bread. Or, if you'd like, make a recipe of jasmine rice in a separate pot. Stir it into the curry just before serving, or use it as a base to ladle the curry on top. . .Lin

A 'Green' Purple Cleanse

It's funny how one thing leads to another. . .
A Facebook friend is having a colonoscopy this morning. This got me thinking how great I've felt after each of mine. Great! Due to the cleansing action of that nasty 'prep' process. 

Then one of my favorite Facebook pages, Food Matters, posted a healthy green cleanse to do at the first signs of a virus. These two things, coupled with the fact that on our semi-annual trip to the cities this past Saturday, my daughter steered me down the Asian candy aisle telling me all about her favorites. I protested, "I don't need to get started on THIS stuff. . ." Too late, I already saw some interesting-pretty-shiny packaging that sucked me in. . .

So, obviously, with my personality -leaning toward addictive- I have WAY over-indulged since then. And, since I believe it's never too late for a do-over. . .that can lead to better choices -VOILA- here we are!

Unlike others, I don't make these things in a juicer. I had one once and hated the idea of all that great, fibrous pulp going to waste. You can compost it, or like me, use it in muffins, but one can only eat so many muffins, ya know!?! So, if you have a juicer, go for it. If not, use your blender!

I loosely followed the ingredients for the juice the mom and her son made on the Food Matters video, omitting one or two and adding several of my own.

1-1/2c frozen blueberries
1 big clove raw garlic
1 big fresh cucumber
3 stalks celery
a couple Swiss chard leaves (no stems)
fresh ginger or some lightly 'candied' ginger
1 lime: zest + fruit with the white pithy part removed
12-16oz. cold, fresh water

Juice -or- blend everything well. This was really good! If you're going more for nutrition than cleansing, you could add a little organic local honey and a banana, but I loved it just the way it is. No added sweetness needed. 

This makes 24-30oz. Enough for 2 big servings.
If you plan to down all of this yourself though -disclaimer- I'd stay home alone for a while afterwards. No long car rides, church, business meetings. Just you, alone, close to the bathroom. Because, as someone recently, so delicately phrased it, "it's never just gas" 😉 It can be surprisingly effective. . .quickly. . .Lin

A Make-Ahead Shrimp Scampi

I'm not always a fan of cooking right up until the time my guests arrive. This is one way of avoiding the last minute hassle, yet still making something really yummy with lots of time to breathe, and relax with people I love. An added benefit of making anything-pasta ahead of time - cooking, chilling then reheating - creates what's known as resistant starch. A very health technique. (this applies to all other starches as well, ie.: potatoes, rice, cooked cereal, starchy vegetables. . .)

Begin by cooking 8oz. of angel hair pasta, only until about half done. Drain, rinse then let stand in ice water a few minutes before draining again. In a small wok or frying pan, cook and stir together:

1/2 stick butter

2/3c each: chopped green and red bell pepper

10oz. sliced mushrooms

1 med. onion

Lowry's Garlic Salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper

When the vegetables are almost done, add the zest and juice of 1/2 big lemon and 14oz. jumbo Wild Caught shrimp, cut into smaller pieces. Increase heat and stir all of this only until the shrimp are about half way cooked.

Cool slightly then add the sauce -sorry no pics- I wasn't planning to blog this recipe. It turned out so well though, I wanted it here for future reference. For the sauce, whisk together:

12oz. sour cream
12oz. Sonoma lemon-herb-ricotta pasta sauce (Costco)
1/2c Sherry cooking wine

Check flavor, add more of the above seasonings, some dry dill -and- a pinch of sugar, if you'd like, to reduce the acidity a bit.

Layer the pasta, then vegetables and shrimp twice, adding half the sauce to each and folding everything together gently.

When ready to serve, reheat on 60-70% in the microwave, until everything is steamy. 

Serve with crusty garlic bread and a simple green salad. . .Lin

Easter Garlic Mashed Potatoes

3# mixed potatoes

5 lg. cloves of garlic

Wash the potatoes. Peel and cube the sweet potatoes and immediately put them in salted water. Before prepping the regular potatoes, put the unpeeled garlic cloves in warm water, for 10 minutes, to make peeling them easier.

Add the cubed potatoes to the pot. Bring to a quick boil then reduce the heat to a low simmer. When the potatoes are just getting tender, add the peeled, crushed, chopped garlic.

Turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let stand 10 minutes. Drain, then add the following:

1T dry parsley

1/2T Lowry's Garlic Salt

3/4t red and black pepper

1 stick of butter

2/3c sour cream

Give everything just a rough mash, just to blend everything, and melt the butter. Stir in the sour cream right at the end. We'll be having this for our Easter dinner this weekend with a vegetable medley, a grape tomato salad, a sauerkraut-pork meat course and a purple cabbage side that's just wonderful! For dessert I'm going to make a slightly different version of my Italian inspired olive oil cake, adding slightly cooked citrus peel this time, and baking the batter as muffins.

I love the idea of the flavors and textures these different potatoes bring to the dish. Not everyone's favorite type of mashed potatoes, but if you're adventurous, you might like these for a change. They provide much more nutritive value than just regular potatoes.

I hope you all had a wonderful Passover-Easter holiday weekend. . .Lin

Roasted Tomato Vegetable Soup II

This has been sounding really good to me lately. Finally it seems life has slowed down, for the next few hours at least, so I can cut, drizzle, season and roast! Wash, dry and rough cut the following vegetables onto one or two baking sheets.

2¾# tomatoes

2 big carrot

1 lg. yellow bell pepper

2 lg. stalks celery

1 lg. purple onion

LOTS of peeled garlic cloves

Greek Kalamata Olive EVOO

Lowry's Garlic Salt w/ Parsley

Italian Seasoning

black pepper

Drizzle the olive oil over everything. Season, then roast in a preheated 400° oven for 20-30 minutes. Everything but the tomatoes was done in

When they're browned or charred the way you want, let them cool a bit, then pull the tomato skins off, if they slip off easily. Put all the vegetables in a big stock pot.

1/3c ± dark, aged Balsamic vinegar
2-3T Better Than Bouillon-chicken

Drizzle the vinegar over them and put the pot on medium heat. When the vegetables heat, to just barely simmering, stir, then add enough chicken or vegetable broth-stock, 1-2 quarts or so.

Bring this up to a low-bubbly simmer. Cover and continue to simmer a half hour.

Take off the heat and let cool a bit before blending it with a standard, or immersion blender. Check the seasonings and make any additions or corrections.

If you want to add half and half, heavy cream or sour cream, do this when the soup has cooled to body or room temperature. Whisk it in and heat again.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of dill, grated flavorful cheese, some nuts or seeds sprinkled on top - any or all of these. Obviously this would pair great with a grilled cheese sandwich or some crusty garlic bread. 

Chill or freeze for later. . .Lin

Garlicky Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad

Here we are, in the midst of a, predicted 8"-16," blizzard, but I suspect we've far surpassed that amount! People are cross-country skiing down my street, into the wind! They're all bundled up, wearing goggles, pulling toboggans filled with small children. . .And I'm craving salad!

I have all the components for one of my 5 Ingredient Salads...but...I also had everything needed for an interesting Brussels sprout salad. And. . .The tiny 'cabbages' won out!

Start by whisking the dressing in a medium bowl then add the fresh garlic:

3T Moroccan EVOO

3T Heinz Salad Vinegar

2t spicy brown mustard

2t Maple syrup

1t lemon pepper seasoning

1 lg. garlic clove minced-smashed into a paste

~ a mortar & pestle works best for this

Add the following to the bowl:

2oz. craisins

1/2c chopped Vidalia onion

1 small celery heart + greens

10oz. thinly sliced Brussels sprouts

Fold everything together and continue to mix until all the chopped vegetables are well coated with the dressing. Heat this in a microwave for 40 seconds to jump-start the blending of flavors. Mix again, then chill a couple hours before serving. This would be great with grilled chicken, lamb chops, steak or salmon. . .Lin

Post-Holiday Turkey and Stuffing Casserole

Our Family Christmas dinner gathering, after church, was small this year.

Afterwards I had a LOT of leftover turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries. . .I've taken all the meat off the bones and am simmering a big roasting pan of turkey bone broth now. After straining, chilling it overnight, then skimming the fat off - I'll have lots of bone broth. I'll use some for a big pot of soup tomorrow. However, instead of the usual reheated leftovers, I have an idea formulating...something I've never attempted.

This will be sort of a savory, turkey bread-pudding type egg-bake. Using the stuffing, gravy and turkey from yesterday's dinner. 

I have about a cup of leftover homemade chicken bone broth that I made recently. I'm going to combine that with the gravy, and other ingredients, to extend that. Some fresh celery, onion and garlic also. I'll cool this a little then add a few beaten eggs and half and half. . .

So, this isn't an exact recipe, more a suggestion of what to combine for an interesting take on Thanksgiving-Dinner-For-Christmas leftovers. And, if you're seeing this, it turned out well! 

Put 2/3 of the leftover stuffing in the bottom of a 8"x12"x2" glass baking pan. Top that with about 10oz. of the turkey, cut into bite size pieces.

To the leftover gravy, in a 2 quart pot, add a cup of chicken broth and 1c each of chopped onion, celery and 3 big cloves of minced garlic. Simmer this on low heat about 5 minutes, add chicken bouillon, about 2/3c of a thick flour and water roux, stir until bubbling. Check the flavors and make any needed adjustments. Add more water if it's too thick, simmer again, then cool to room temperature. Whisk the eggs with half and half, then stir this into the cooled gravy and vegetables. Pour half of this over everything in the pan. Add the rest of the stuffing then the remaining gravy-egg mixture. 

Bake in a preheated 350° oven, about 45 minutes, until it's done bubbling, browned and 'set'. Scoop, right away, onto plates, or let cool just a few minutes, before cutting into squares. I had this tonight, with leftover mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and Swedish Lingonberries. This would also be good for breakfast or lunch. Tomorrow I'll make this again, for my nephew and great grandson, with a side of some yummy glazed carrots...Mmmm.

Happy Holidays Everyone. .😊. .Lin

Gluten Free Gyro -Lamb and Beef- Stroganoff

Cook 6-8oz. gluten free, corn and rice spaghetti pasta, to al dente. Drain, rinse in cold water until it's no longer hot or warm. Leave it in a colander or strainer until fully drained. Chop-slice the following and sauté until lightly browned:

1 sm. yellow onion

1/4 lg. red bell pepper

3-4 lg. cloves of garlic

8 oz. baby portabella mushrooms

2-3T single source EVOO

Combine the pasta and sautéed vegetables in a small roasting pan. Sauté lamb-beef Gyro meat in some EVOO until sizzling and lightly browned, then add to the pasta and vegetables.

10-12 oz. frozen Gyro meat cut in bite size pieces

Whisk together the following and pour over everything:

1/3 - 1/2 c warm-hot water

2-3T Better Than Bouillon - beef

1c or a little more full fat sour cream

fresh ground black pepper

cayenne pepper

garlic salt

Bake, uncovered, in a 350° oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve with a fresh mixed green salad. . .Lin

Yet Another Red Bean-Quinoa Tabouli 😃

3/4c dry quinoa 

1c small dry red beans

Cook those according to directions then combine them in a big glass bowl with the following:

1/2 bunch - 1 bunch Italian flat leaf -or- curly parsley

1/2 - 1 med. rough peeled cucumber

2 grated carrots

3 big garlic cloves

4 green onions

2 ripe tomatoes

1/2 - 3/4c EVOO

1/4c white wine vinegar

zest and juice of 1 lemon

a little fresh snipped Genovese basil 

fresh ground black pepper

cayenne pepper

garlic salt

Chop, slice all of the above. Combine and let stand an hour or so to blend the flavors. Serve with chopped-sliced Kalamata olives, sliced avocado and crumbled feta cheese.

This is one of THE healthiest salads you can ever serve the people you love! Make it often! . .Lin

Pepper, Ham and Onion Manchego Egg Bake

Preheat your oven to 350° In a big, well buttered or oiled baking pan, put the following chopped-sliced ingredients you've sautéed for 5 minutes:

3 mini peppers + 1 green bell pepper

1 lg. onion

2-3 big garlic cloves

Add 6oz. smoked ham cut in small pieces or some cooked, crumbled bacon.

In a large bowl combine the egg mixture:

1 dozen large, pasture raised eggs

6oz. sour cream

3/4c chopped sun dried tomatoes in EVOO 

1/2T - 1T crushed Italian Sofrito seasoning

1/2c corn flour 

1-1/2t baking powder

Whisk these together until everything is well combined. Pour this over the vegetables in the pan, then top with cheese.

8oz. Manchego (sheep's milk) cheese - cut in small cubes

Bake 25-30 minutes, until browning at the edges, the egg are set and the cheese has melted. Cool 15 minutes before cutting into squares. Serve with fresh fruit, toast, crackers or just as is. This makes a lot, but you can also freeze any leftovers. . .Lin

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Wash and chop-slice the mushrooms into a big soup pot. Sautè them with the following ingredients:

20oz. crimini - baby portabella - mushrooms

2T finely chopped onion

1 minced garlic clove

4T (1/2 stick) butter

fresh ground pepper

Stir occasionally over low-medium heat until the liquid in the mushrooms evaporates and the mushrooms start to brown a little. Add the rest of a large onion, sliced. Cover and simmer a half hour or so until everything is nicely caramelized. Take 2/3 of the mushrooms and onions out of the pot. These will be added at the end and not blended with the other vegetables.

Make a roux with 2 heaping tablespoons of unbleached, all purpose flour and 1/3c± cold water and add that to the mushroom pot.

In another pot, combine the remaining chopped vegetables shown, part of a poblano pepper, 3 bay leaves, 3c water, and 1 package of beefy onion soup mix. Simmer, covered 30-40 minutes until the carrots are soft.

Remove the bay leaves, add the simmered vegetables to the mushrooms to be blended. Blend as smooth as you'd like with an immersion blender.

Stir in 1c half and half, and the chunky mushrooms. Bring this to a low bubble.

Serve with a drizzle of truffle-infused EVOO and some freshly chopped herbs. . .Lin