Ribollita

A few months ago, while wandering the cooking section of Half-Price books, I stumbled upon this gem.

This cook book has a little bit of everything (yes, it has pasta but there's so much more!). One of the recipes in particular has become a favorite in our household. It's called Ribollita. It's a fabulous, hearty Italian soup, full of vegetables and bread. It's light enough that you can have it year round without it feeling heavy in your stomach, and it'll satisfy you. Plus, for you vegetarians out there-it's meatless!

Ribollita

What You Will Need

• olive oil
• onions (you can use red, yellow, or white-whatever you have on hand)
• carrots
• celery
• garlic cloves
• thyme, parsley, salt and pepper
• cannellini beans 
• canned diced tomatoes (or you can use 3-4 fresh tomatoes)
• vegetable stock
• kale
• crunchy bread (French bread or ciabatta bread works well)

I like to start this recipe by prepping all of my vegetables. I chop my carrots, celery, and onions on the course side so it gives the dish more of a rustic quality. If you like, you can certainly chop your veggies finer. I use 3 medium carrots, 3 stalks of celery, and 1 large onion.

Celery tends to be wider at the bottom. I like to run my knife in the middle of the celery stalk about 2/3 of the length. Then I fold the two halves together and chop. The result, evenly chopped celery. And no, I didn't cut my finger on the knife. That was from a stapler accident at work. Don't ask.

Once you get all of that chopped, you can put a large skillet on the stove and begin to heat it. Once the pan is ready, pour about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan, and let it heat.

Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the heated oil and stir. Let the veggies cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes. You don't want the veggies to burn, but you do want them to cook down a bit. Add 3 chopped cloves of garlic, and the spices. You will need roughly 2 tablespoons of the parsely and thyme, and then 1-2 teaspoons of the salt and pepper. Mix well.

 
While the veggies are cooking, you can go ahead and prep your tomatoes. If you are using canned dices tomatoes (which I normally use), make sure they are not flavored with any extra seasonings in the can. If you are using fresh tomatoes, I've offered some guidelines below for their prep.

To start with, make sure your tomatoes are washed. Slice each tomato in half and set aside.

Using a large soup spoon, gently scoop out the seeds and excess liquid of each half.

If you have kids, this is a great way to get them involved in the kitchen. There nothing sharp about this step. Just a little messy which can be fun!

 Cut the tomato into small pieces and set aside to add to the soup later.

Using canned cannellini beans, rinse the beans well under cold water, making sure all the starch has been removed from them.

Add the beans and the diced tomatoes to the veggie mixture.

I like to mix my veggies all together before I add the vegetable stock.

Add 2 1/2 cups of vegetable broth to the pan and cover. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Beautiful and delicious.

Wash your kale and rip it into small pieces (about 2 inches a piece) and set aside to add to the soup when the 20 minutes has passed. If you don't like kale, you can use arugula or spinach. I've played around with all three before with this recipe and they all work nicely with the flavors.

Take your bread, and slice it into thin slices.

mmmmm...bread

 Then, using your fingers, tear the bread into small chunks. (This would be another step the kids can help with!) Be mindful not to add too much bread to the soup! If you do, you will soak up all the delicious liquid and flavor and will have a pretty sad excuse for Ribollita. I know this from experience sadly.

After the soup has simmered for at least 20 minutes, add the kale and the bread to the soup mixture.

I just realized this pic doesn't show the bread.

 Let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Again, don't add too much bread! Better yet, add it in a little bit at a time and use your best judgement. Adjust the seasoning to taster. It's okay to add a little more salt and pepper if you want! Enjoy!

Pork Loin Chops with Roasted Red Potatoes

I feel like a lot of people don't make classic dishes anymore because they're afraid. How much time is this going to take? How do I prepare the meat again? How will I know what to do next? What if I get it wrong?

I'm a big fan of classic dishes, like pork chops and potatoes, and I want to make sure these recipes don't get lost or forgotten. I understand that a lot of times the effort on a weeknight is pretty much minimal, but that's no excuse for a box of mac 'n cheese to start being the main dish of a meal more than once in a while. So with that said, let me show you how to make a really classic meal with a lot of flavor, but minimal effort.

What You Will Need

• red potatoes (I typically use 4-6 small red potatoes)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• oregano
• rosemary
• pork loin chops (with or without the bone)
• garlic 
• 1 cup of liquid (more info later)

 Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F for the potatoes. Wash your red potatoes and pick out any "eyes" before you cut them into large bite-sized pieces. Place the potatoes into a glass baking dish. Pour about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil over the potatoes and mix with your fingers. When the olive oil has coated all the potatoes, season them with the salt, pepper, oregano, and rosemary. Mix the seasoned potatoes with your fingers again and cover with aluminum foil. Place in the oven for 25 minutes, before removing the foil. Then bake another 10-15 minutes, or until done. (You will know the potatoes are done when you are able to stick a fork into them without resistance.)

*TIP* The larger you cut your potatoes, the more time it will take for them to cook. Mine are about an inch and a half here, and they took about 30-40 minutes.

Seasoned potatoes are SO good. Seriously, I think this is how I got Daniel to date me. Just kidding...I think.

Now for the meat. :)

First thing's first: wash your pork. Yes, I said wash your pork. Pork tends to have all kinds of fun bacteria, etc. that I'm not going to go into here, that likes to linger on its surface. (You can do this with chicken as well for good measure.) Just give the meat a rinse under some cool water and rub it gently with your fingers. Pat dry with a paper towel.

You're going to season both sides of the meat with salt, pepper, rosemary and garlic. I did a rough chop of the garlic (using about 3 large cloves). When you are finished with one side of the meat, gently pat the seasoning on the meat before turning it over. This will ensure that the seasoning stays with the meat.

Using a cast iron skillet (or other heavy, oven-safe skillet) pour in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and heat it through.You will need to "roll" the oil around the pan so that is coats the bottom evenly.

Once the bottom of the pan is coated in the heated olive oil, place the seasoned pork chops in the skillet. The heat should be turned up high enough so the meat will brown easily, but not burn. Remember, you are not completely cooking the meat on the stove top.

Once both sides of the meat are nicely browned, pour in 1 cup of liquid. I used a combination of white wine chicken broth, and brandy. ( You could also make this using apple juice and chicken broth.) The liquid will ensure that the meat doesn't dry out in the oven while it finishes cooking, while enhancing the flavor of the pork.

This is the color you are aiming for when you are browning the meat, before you pour in the liquid.

Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil, and place in the oven until fully cooked. This will usually take about 10-20 minutes depending on whether your pork is bone-in or boneless. (This would also be a good time to use the meat thermometer in your kitchen drawer! If you don't have one, check out these links for my recommendations: Classic Thermometer ; Digital Thermometer 

That’s it! You’ve successfully cooked pork chops! Enjoy them with your roasted reds! I paired mine with some leftover grilled asparagus, and some white wine. 

Awesome. Just, awesome.

Beef Stew with Vegetables (Lightened Up)

I love a good beef stew. Especially on a cold, rainy day (which there are lots of here in Seattle). I like this recipe because it takes a classic dish (inspired by my mom ), and it lightens it up just enough so it doesn't feel heavy. (You'll notice that this recipe doesn't call for any flour.) And really, for a weeknight dinner, the dinner it pretty low effort. The prep work takes about 20-25 min, and the actual oven time about 90 minutes. You get tons of veggies, protein, and full belly. Plus, I got to use the fabulous Dutch oven that Daniel got me for my birthday last year!

Meat and my Dutch Oven. Also making an appearance in this photo is a plastic storage container.

 What you'll need:

• 12 ounces uncooked lean beef (I used a top round sirloin, but you can use whatever), trimmed of all visible fat and cut into 1 1/2'' pieces
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 cup of frozen green peas
• 2 medium uncooked red potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth or vegetable broth (I used chicken)
• 1 cup of canned crushed tomatoes
• rosemary, thyme and parsley (dried, about a 1 teaspoon of each)
• salt and pepper (to taste)

Before you start cooking your meat, do all the prep work for the vegetables. I like to cut my vegetables on the "chunky" side for stews, because it makes it just a little more hearty, but if you prefer you can cut yours thinner. After you've chopped the carrots, celery, potatoes, and onion, put them aside in a separate bowl.

I like to chop the carrots and celery, and then slice big pieces of onions. I kept the potatoes separate. I'm weird that way. Also, I may have gotten distracted by something shiny.

Make the broth and add the herbs to the liquid. Allow the herbs to meld with the broth while you start the beef. (sorry~I forgot to take a picture of this!)

Cut your beef into pieces, about an inch and a half or so.

Season the beef with salt and pepper.Heat a large skillet on the stove with 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil. Cook the beef in the pan until there is a nice brown sear on it.

I ended up draining a little bit of fat, but if you use extra lean meat, then you won't have as much.

After the meat has browned, remove it from the heat. Add the remaining teaspoon of oil to the bottom of a Dutch oven, or other oven-safe container. Add the meat, fresh vegetables, broth and the canned crushed tomatoes. Add about a teaspoon of salt and pepper to the stew.

Cover and put it into the oven at 325 degrees for an hour and a half (90 minutes). About 10 minutes before the 90 minutes ends, add the frozen peas to the stew and mix well. Remove from the oven and serve. If needed, add more salt and pepper to taste.

I love how rustic it looks!