Summertime: chilled beet soup

I'm going to take a photo of the finished product and post it, but trust me: it's a beautiful, ruby-like red as a finished product. It is so much better, pureed and chilled, than it would be as chunks and hot. Perfect starter for a summertime meal!

Chilled beet soup

Trim one bunch beets (3-4 medium beets): remove leaves (save), and trim off the bottom (root) so that you have a roundish beet left. Do not peel. Quarter and steam with: 3-4 medium carrots, cleaned and cut into one inch chunks; one medium red onion, cut into chunks; 1/4 red cabbage, cut into chunks. Steam until all veggies are soft but not mushy. Add cleaned, chopped beet leaves and steam 1-2 more minutes. Take off heat and allow to cool (may take a few hours).

When cool, pick out the beets and rub off the skins (so much easier than peeling!). They should come off very easily. Puree all veggies in a blender with water (may take 3-4 batches, depending on the size of your blender). Use only the amount of water needed to puree, so that you have a thick soup. Add batches to a bowl or other container. Add lemon juice and salt to taste (approx the juice of one lemon, and I like about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt). Stir and allow to chill in the fridge.

To serve: Ladle out about 1 cup into a bowl, and top with 1 teaspoon sour cream. You can put finely minced herbs on top: dill, chives, parsley, or whatever you wish. One cup of this is about two of those daily servings of veggies that you may have heard are so good for you. In this case, so tasty, too! Mangiamo!

Salsa!

Okay, for a very basic salsa, all you really need is chopped tomatos, finely finely minced jalepenos (take out the seeds first), and salt. Really, for a milder salsa, you could use a different kind of pepper. You could roast the tomato and the pepper first, rub off the blackened skin, and chop and mince to your hearts' content for a nice smokey flavor. The proportions are up to you.

But there is the issue of add-ins for salsa, and really, the sky is the limit. Here is a list of things to consider adding to your next batch:

- fresh cut off the cob corn
- cooked black beans
- minced onion (can be roasted first)
- finely minced garlic (can roast first, too - a much milder garlic flavor)
- finely minced cilantro or parsley
- chili powder
- minced chives
- finely chopped basil
- finely chopped watermelon
- finely chopped, roasted pineapple

Really, the sky's the limit - I wouldn't add all of the above at once, but any one of these is tasty. Yummy!

It's still chilly hear, but I hear summer is coming!

So I need to start thinking in terms of summertime recipes: grilling, salads, cooling drinks ... are there any preferences or ideas?

I'm thinking of trying grilled portabello mushrooms later in the week (perhaps stuffed with a garlicky ricotta cheese) -- they'd be good with a nice salad and perhaps roasted potatos.

And lately I've thought of a cool cucumber soup dressed with dill. Basically pureed cucumber (peeled and seeded first), pureed with buttermilk and a pinch of salt. Dress with finely chopped dill. It might need some other seasoning; I'm still in the idea process with it.

Fruit waters

There's a lot of buzz about making fruit and flavored waters out there. There are some gadgets that are for sale, but basically, you can use a clean glass jar with a lid. All you need to do is cut up some fruit or herbs, add water, screw on the lid, and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. Drain off the water, and it's very nicely flavored. I first heard this from someone who suggested the following combo:

A few slices of peeled cucumber, a slice or two of lemon, some slices of thinly sliced ginger, and mint (you could use a mint teabag -- it makes cleanup a bit easier).

She loves it -- I haven't tried this particular combo, but I have tried just lemon and ginger. BTW, my massage therapist commented that my skin was much MUCH softer than usual last night, and this is just after a few days.

Other possible combos:

Slices of melon and mint

Frozen fruit -- berries, mango, peaches (solo or in combo)

Lime and raspberry

cucumber-mint

Basil and canteloupe

slices of orange

etc etc etc.

It's easy, and cheap with a glass jar. No need to spend 20 bucks on a special container to "brew" this water! Leftover fruit can be eaten, or added to a smoothy. It's a great way to stay hydrated! Have fun with it, let me know if you find a particularly tasty combo. :-)

Homemade ice treats

Here's a thought -- get some molds for making homemade ice cream, or frozen juice treats. I got mine from Ikea, but I've seen them at other stores, too. I just puree the desired ingredients together, freeze for a few hours, and run hot water over the molds to get them to unstick. They come with their own handy plastic handle.

You can freeze any one of the following, or make up your own recipe:

- any fruit juice, plain, or blended with other fruits. For example, one whole banana pureed with pomegranate juice.

- pureed plain fruit, such as strawberries or raspberries. (this would be good if you brought home a large amount of fruit on sale and needed to put it up fast for later use)

- milk with cocoa powder and a banana

- milk with a banana, and a spoonful of maple syrup and a dash of vanilla (DECADENT)

- peaches and cream

- steamed winter squash with a splash of cream and maple syrup and a dash of nutmeg (pumpkin pie-like treat)

You could even get exotic with ingredients like rose water or cinnamon or nuts.

Have fun! I am.

Humor (kinda food related)

In the beginning, was the Cola, made from sugar, water, and cocaine. And the Lord God saw that it was good, and said, let ye sip this for hangovers.

And then, the Federal Government said, ye should no longer partake of cocaine; this drink is illegal. And their was a wailing and gnashing of teeth, and much headachiness upon the land.

But then the scientists discovered caffeine, from the lowly coffee plant.

The Lord God said, let ye use this instead of cocaine.
and the headaches vanished, and all were happy again.

And THEN, the people became accustomed to their caffeine; they began to ask for more. And with more sugar, too. and a little different flavoring. And thus was the begetting of the Great Rift: Pepsi versus Coke.

And the people and their God were pleased; and the workers were ever more able to wakefully complete their daily tasks.

But then, the people became used to the amount of caffeine in these popular, sugary, fizzy drinks. And too, the Corporations invented: The Night Shift.

and lo, The Night Shift was long, and it was dark, and it was Sleepy. And the people prayed for More.

And then was invented: Mountain Dew. More caffeine, more sugar, more MORE!

But still, The Night Shift did not bubble and fizz.

And So Mountain Dew begat the Energy Drinks: More Caffeine, More sugar as High Fructose Corn Syrup, and other stimulants added to make The Night Shift bubble and fizz.

Guarana! Ginseng (both Panax and Eleuthero)! EPHEDRA!

And lo, The Night Shift both bubbled AND fizzed!

And then those drinks with Ephedra, led to heart palpitations, and bubbling and fizzing was perhaps a bit much.

And so the so, the Federal Government said: drink not of the Ephedra, for it is harmful.

And there was some gnashing of teeth, for Ephedra was said to help with weight as well. But not too much gnashing.

For still The People, including The Night Shift, had caffeine, HFCS, guarana, ginsengs, and other herbs to drink. Some fortified with B vitamins!

To partially replace the vitamins stripped away from the corn to make sugar.

And hosanna, all did bubble and fizz. Pass the Pizza and Ho-Ho's. Amen.

Vegetarian Crock Pot Chili

Yesterday, it was time to cook something ... I was going to be out to class last night, had plenty to do, not much time. But enough to start up the crockpot around 2 or so, just enough time for chili around 5!

Got out the crockpot, added a spoonful of butter, 2 heaping spoonfuls of chili powder, and a smaller spoonful of cumin seeds. Also about 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne. Turned on the pot to let the butter melt and the spices warm up a bit.

Found in the refrigerator: The last of a bunch of celery, plus an onion. I diced these up and set aside. When the butter and spices were melted and mixed a bit (about 15 minutes), I added the diced veggies. Let it all brew for about 30 minutes. I stirred it a couple of times.

Found in the cupboard: 3 cans (16 oz size) of various kinds of beans: kidney, pinto, and garbanzo. Opened them up, and gave them all a very good rinse in a colander. Added them to the crockpot. 2 cans (same size) of tomato (I think one was diced and one was crushed). Added to crockpot. Rinsed out the tomato cans with a little bit of water (no more than a 1/2 cup total). Added that water to the crockpot.

This is the very basic recipe, but it's decent enough, and feeds two people dinner for about 3 days. It's good on toast with melted cheese on top.

Do you see how you could add things to this, if you have them around? Mushrooms? Ground turkey or beef? Minced garlic? Red, yellow, green peppers? A jalepeno pepper (carefully deseeded and minced)? Zucchini? Etc? Hmmmmmm? Have fun!