Tomato Sauce- on a budget

We found this recipe on our favorite blog and it was so intriguing we had to try: 3 ingredients! Hello budget friendly, so how perfect to follow up with last weeks posts. This recipe is so easy, so affordable and so good we can’t wait to share it and hopefully you will give it a try! You will not believe how these ingredients transform until you taste it—

Adapted from Marcela Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking

Serves 4 as a main course; makes enough sauce to lightly coat most of a pound of spaghetti

2- 28 ounces can crushed tomatoes (San Marzano, if you can find them)*
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt to taste

Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan- 3-quart, over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally.  Remove from heat, discard the onion, add salt to taste  and keep warm while you prepare your pasta.

Serve with whole wheat angel hair spaghetti, with or without grated parmesan or fresh mozzarella and basil…

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Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette

 

 

First, this is another way to save: cook vegetarian meals!  We cook 80% vegetarian, and not on purpose, we just love our veggies and pastas and grains and bread and cheese and don’t miss meat every single night of the week.  We love our steak, don’t get us wrong, but at 9.99-15.99/ lb, it’s hard to buy often.  So if you are looking to save, save on meats, but mushrooms to substitute ground meat in chili ( you won’t miss it!!) and make recipes that are so so so amazing you won’t even notice it is meatless- like the gorgeous Galette.  What’s upsetting is that we’ve never made one of these before- we love making pizzas and tarts and this is BETTER then both of them.  It holds all this amazing filling on a flaky crust of perfection, mouth-watering just remembering it!  True to savings from, we use fall favorites in here- Butternut Squash at 1.19/ lb with caramelized onions, cheese and sage… please try this, you will want to keep making it for your family every week…

 

 

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

For the pastry:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into
pieces
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup ice water

For the filling:
1 small butternut squash (about one pound)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons butter (if you have only non-stick, the smaller amount will do)
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced in half-moons
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
3/4 cup Fontinella ( or Fontina) cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces), grated or cut into small bits
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves, or 3/4 tsp Ground Sage

1. Make pastry: In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Place the butter in another bowl. Place both bowls in the freezer for 1 hour. Remove the bowls from the freezer and make a well in the center of the flour. Add the butter to the well and, using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Make another well in the center. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add half of this mixture to the well. With your fingertips, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Remove the large lumps and repeat with the remaining liquid and flour-butter mixture. Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Prepare squash: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Peel squash, then halve and scoop out seeds. Cut into a 1/2-inch dice. Toss pieces with olive oil and a half-teaspoon of the salt and roast on foil lined (for neatness sake) sheet for 30 minutes or until pieces are tender, turning it midway if your oven bakes unevenly. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. Caramelize onions: While squash is roasting, melt butter in a heavy skillet and cook onion over low heat with the remaining half-teaspoon of salt and pinch of sugar, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes. Stir in cayenne.

4. Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Mix squash, caramelized onions, cheese and herbs together in a bowl.

5. Assemble galette: On a floured work surface, roll the dough out into a 12-inch round. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Spread squash, onions, cheese and herb mixture over the dough, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Fold the border over the squash, onion and cheese mixture, pleating the edge to make it fit. The center will be open.

6. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature. Serves 6.

Trick! Chop it Up

It Halloween and I know these carrots aren’t the treats you are looking for- BUT they are another example of great ways to save on your groceries each and every week.  This one seems so obvious but not as many people as you’d expect chop their own snack veggies. Maybe you buy a veggie tray in a rush or just grab a bag of baby carrots or pre cut apple slices at the store. A bag of actual whole vegetables and fruit is always the better deal- and it tastes so much better! So grab a bag of carrots and peel away the savings, enjoy the healthy snacks and have a fun and safe Halloween out there!

Food for thought… and Autumn Vegetable Curry

This morning was one of those amazing fall days in Chicago, the kind we all reflect back to when the snow and slush and icy winds start to bring us down.  After an admittedly challenging couple of weeks, there is so much change in the air, not only the seasons.  In times like these it’s important to remember that our lives are only as good as the choices we make, whether they are good choices, hard choices, wrong choices; they all shape who we are, who we will become and the life we will have.

Inspired by two friends today, I took a long break to get outside and bike+ run, not just to work out but to slow down, think, walk, and soak in the great day.  Everyone I passed was smiling, the sun was shining, the lake rippled in the wind and colorful leaves rustled along my path, the skyline gleamed in the contrast of the blue skies, it was as if everywhere I looked, a gorgeous photo presented itself.  It got me thinking about how charmed our lives are, if we can just take a moment to step back and enjoy it.  If the choices we make define who we are, we should make each one count; they should enrich our life, they should inspire us, they should make us happy- it’s our choice, right?  In lou of all the changes a new season brings, our family is faced with all kinds of challenges and choices, our near future of where we will end up is hovering within reach and it’s overwhelming.  It’s helpful to reflect, jot stuff down and just take a moment to put things in perspective.  This is life, it is glorious, we have the ability to make choices and that is pretty great.

Now, to the food!  After all that thought, I bet you are ready to make a choice on what’s for dinner this fine fall evening.  We’ve been loving all the in season produce- fennel, pears, squash and sweet potatoes.  This recipe is another Ellie Krieger gem; we can’t go on enough about how much we love her.  It’s warm and hearty and full of big flavors and so many veggies, you would never guess it’s simplicity could be so good.  This recipe makes a big batch so you can enjoy leftovers over and over!  Enjoy,

Ingredients

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 1½ -inch long piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into chunks

1 ½ tablespoons curry powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more to taste

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups low sodium vegetable broth

1 cup light coconut milk

1 cinnamon stick

¾ teaspoon salt plus more to taste

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ head of cauliflower, broken into 11/2 inch wide florets (about 3 cups)

1 pound sweet potatoes (garnet yams), peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch rounds

2 tomatoes, cored and chopped

Zest of 1 lime

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 15-ounce can of garbanzo beans, preferably low-sodium, drained and rinsed

5 cups baby spinach leaves (5 ounces)

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Method

Put the onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder and cayenne pepper into the bowl of a food and process until combined. Add the oil and process until a smooth puree. Cook the curry puree in a large pot over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture begins to darken, about 5 minutes more.

Add the vegetable broth, coconut milk, cinnamon, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cauliflower, sweet potato, carrot, tomatoes, salt and pepper and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick. Stir in the lime zest and juice, the garbanzo beans and the spinach and cook for 5 minutes more, until the spinach is wilted. Season with additional salt to taste.

Serve garnished with cilantro, over rice if desired.

 

Makes about 10 cups Serves 4

 

Per Serving: Calories 420; Total Fat 12 g; (Sat Fat 3.5 g, Mono Fat 4.6 g, Poly Fat 2.3 g) ; Protein 13 g; Carb TK g; Fiber 16 g; Cholesterol 0 mg; Sodium 780 mg

 

Excellent source of: Copper, Fiber, Folate, Iron, Magnesium, Molybdenum, Manganese, Phosphorus, Potassium, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Vitamin K Good source of: Calcium, Niacin, Riboflavin, Pantothenic Acid, Thiamin, Zinc

 

Copyright 2011 Ellie Krieger. All Rights Reserved.

Asparagus Salad

After a long hot workout, a power packed salad is the way to recharge, refuel and fill up.  Searching through the fridge for some extras to toss with mixed greens, we found asparagus spears and homemade pita crisps ( a few left from a separate Bobby Flay recipe we tried out last week), hard-boiled eggs ( great to keep on hand if you buy extra eggs), and cherry tomatoes.  This is how to make it magical:

Serves 1

2 cups mixed greens, loose packed

7 cherry tomatoes

6 asparagus spears, trimmed

1- 2 teaspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided

Fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp nutmeg, grated fresh if you have it

salt and pepper

1/2 pita, cut in to bite size pieces

1 hard-boiled egg

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  On a rimmed baking pan, toss asparagus spears in a drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  On a separate baking sheet, toss pita pieces with a drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place both sheets in the oven and bake for 5 minutes.  Remove the asparagus from the oven, give the pita chips a toss but continue to cook for an additional 3-5 minutes until slightly browned.  Let pitas cool ( and turn your oven off- this heat! whew)  Meanwhile, squeeze some lemon juice and sprinkle nutmeg over your cooked asparagus, toss together, then transfer to a cutting board and chip in to 1″ or bite sized pieces.  Then in your favorite salad bowl, I recommend one with some sides, add your mixed greens, then add the tomatoes, chopped hard-boiled egg, asparagus pieces, and pita pieces, drizzle with more olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and salt and pepper to taste.

Corn Cakes

http://www.jasonrobertscott.com/

With the holidays upon us, so quickly as usual, easy and fast meals are the ticket!  Here you can use easy ingredients that you most likely have in your pantry and fridge to whip up these cakes.  This whole meal is surprising decadent, and filling.  Serve with a small mixed greens salad with fresh cilantro and lime vinaigrette to really round it all out.

Serves 4

adapted from Eating Well

Ingredients:

1 cup instant brown rice

6 scallions, trimmed and sliced

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 large eggs

4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed

1 cup tomato salsa, mild, medium or hot

Method:

1.Cook rice with the amount of water called for in the package directions, adding scallions, garlic and thyme to the water. Remove from heat and stir in corn, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Let stand for about 5 minutes to cool slightly.

2.Whisk eggs in a large bowl until frothy. Add the rice mixture and mash with a potato masher until the mixture holds together (it will be fairly soft), about 1 minute. Shape the mixture into 8 patties.

3.Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully transfer 4 patties to the pan with a spatula and cook until browned and crispy, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate; cover to keep warm. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil and repeat with the remaining 4 patties.

4.Meanwhile, combine beans and salsa in a small saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until hot, about 5 minutes. To serve, divide the beans among 4 plates and top with 2 patties each.

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Orange-Pistachio Wild Rice Salad

As hinted before in our last quinoa post we made a favorite recipe of ours with our large amount of excess oranges we had on hand… for some reason?   Anyhow, this combination of nutty delicious wild rice and crunchy pistachios, with fresh basil and oranges, is truly unique and so so satisfying it is hard to call it a salad, yet here it is.  This is so easy to make for a busy work week, just cook the rice while you are watching a movie on the weekend, or while you enjoy dinner tonight in anticipation of a ‘salad’ tomorrow.  If you do cook it after work, it will take 1 hour for the rice to cook and 1 hour ( minimum) for it to cool.  If you want to, you can serve it warm ( heck we have!), I found that the oil in the dressing doesn’t work as well in that application however- so drizzle a bit on top before eating and then add some in the next day when it all as cooled off.  This keeps very well for 5-6 days, and is super portable for lunches ( no micro action needed!), and it is filling enough to be called dinner- you can’t lose with this salad!!  What is your go-to salad dish?  Do you make your own salad dressings?  Let us know!

Orange-Pistachio Wild Rice Salad

adapted from Ellie Kreiger So Easy
 
6 servings
 
Ingredients

2/3 cup brown rice
2/3 cup wild rice
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 oranges, peel and pith removed, segmented and sliced (about 2/3 cup)
10 large basil leaves, sliced into ribbons (about 1/3 cup)
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup chopped pistachios, lightly toasted
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

For the dressing:
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:
Combine brown rice, wild rice and chicken broth in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until all water is evaporated and rice is fully cooked, about 45 to 55 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely, or overnight.

When rice is cool, add orange slices, basil, red onion, pistachios and orange zest; mix to incorporate.

For the dressing:

Combine the red wine vinegar, olive oil, orange juice, mustard, honey and salt in a metal bowl and whisk to incorporate.

Pour over rice mixture and toss to incorporate.

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44 clove garlic soup

Fall has arrived, and with it some busy schedules and some terrible allergies!  So, apologies for not blogging more this month.  Hopefully this unique recipe perks you up, fights off any colds, and allows you to forgive us our slacking ways…?  I read about this recipe earlier over the summer and had it tucked away for a rainy, cold autumn day such as this, to pull it out and give it a try.  We LOVE garlic, and go through more then 4 full heads a month ( that’s a slow one…) so after reading the reviews on this, I just had to find out for myself if it really was yummy- I mean, how can you go wrong with roasted garlic and Parmesan and cream?  There are 2 things I wish we’d known that the directions did not include- so that’s where this helpful blog comes in to the rescue!  First, when you buy your garlic, use LARGE heads that have large cloves ( you’ll need between 2-3 heads of garlic).  More importantly you need to use those larger cloves for the roasted garlic portion.  We used the whole head including those tiny cloves and they got too golden and gave our soup a slight ( but not terrible) sharp flavor.  Second, this soup really only serves four and it is a thin broth consistency after blending.  The Parmesan and lemon are integral components as they add a really bright and complementary flavor to the garlicy goodness in your bowl.  Now, as for the taste- it was really really garlicy fantastic!  You can certainly taste the roasted garlic flavors up front and then you get that sweeter garlic flavor and Parmesan to finish.  We mopped this up with fresh French bread hot out of the oven.  If we make this again, I’d roast the garlic for 35 minutes, then add some diced veggies like parsnips, carrots or corn and white beans or diced potatoes to really bulk up the soup and thicken the broth ( after it’s blended) and top with fresh parsley. 

44-Clove Garlic Soup with Parmesan Cheese

Adapted from Bon Appetit, February 1999

Serves 4

26 garlic cloves (unpeeled, large cloves)

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups sliced onions ( about 1.5 regular size onions)

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme ( we used dried)

18 garlic cloves, peeled

3 1/2 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)

4 lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place 26 garlic cloves in small glass baking dish. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake until garlic is golden brown and tender, about 35-45 minutes ( check them!). Cool. Squeeze garlic between fingertips to release cloves. Transfer cloves to small bowl.

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and thyme and cook until onions are translucent, about 6 minutes. Add roasted garlic and 18 raw garlic cloves and cook 3 minutes. Add chicken stock; cover and simmer until garlic is very tender, about 20 minutes. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return soup to saucepan; add cream and bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide grated cheese among 4 bowls and ladle soup over. Squeeze juice of 1 lemon wedge into each bowl and serve.

Do ahead: Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

*** A recent camping trip to New Glarus was an inspiration for an exciting new post, stay tuned for yummy fall HEALTHY apple recipes… 

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Slow Roasted Balsamic Tomatoes and Leeks

Jamie Oliver.  ( period) He is such a cool guy!  We have 2 of his cookbooks and often find ourselves overwhelmed with the simplicity of ingredients in recipes that bring this incredible complexity of flavor.  He cooks like we wish we could all the time, from his freshest garden at home, lots of herbs and lots of real food.  This recipe was so simple, but unique, and intriguing- the photos alone are just so pretty… we made served this as a warm tomato salad with french baguette slices for dinner and it is heavenly.  Something about roasted vegetables, of course they are warm, but the flavors all meld and become this rich fresh mixture that explodes flavors in your mouth.  The next day we sliced some of the leftover tomato into chicken paninis and also had some warmed and sliced with soft boiled eggs and toast for breakfast.  Give this one a try and you won’t be disappointed!  Now, we couldn’t find baby leeks, so we used the smallest we could find and used just 6, sliced and rinsed VERY well.  You’ll want to slice them and put them in a big bowl, fill it with cold water and plunge the leeks a few times to loosen up the sand, then let sit for a few minutes before skimming the leeks out with a slotted spoon to a towel to dry.  The sand sinks to the bottom and you will be glad you took the time to rinse them after you see what’s left over!  Also, we used dried bay leaves because we already had them, and they worked just as well.  We fit 8 plum tomatoes into a 8 x 8 glass dish, since we don’t have a large enough dutch oven, if you go our route use less balsamic ( 1/2 cup)

Slow Roasted Tomatoes and Leeks

( adapted from Jamie Oliver’s recipe)

Ingredients:

• 8 plum tomatoes

• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

• 1 handful of fresh basil, leaves picked and torn up

• 8 fresh bay leaves

• 6 leeks, trimmed, sliced in 1/2″ rounds and washed

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 4oz cheap balsamic vinegar

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 

Method:

 

325°F

Score the tops of the tomatoes with a cross. Take an 8″ x 8″ dish that the tomatoes will fit snugly into, and sprinkle the garlic and basil all over the bottom of it. Stand the tomatoes next to each other in the pan, on top of the garlic and basil, then push the bay leaves well into the scores in the tomatoes and season well. Lay the leeks on a board and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Using a rolling pin, press down on top of the leeks to really squeeze the seasoning into them. This will also loosen their texture. Weave the leeks in and around the tomatoes. Pour over the balsamic vinegar, drizzle over the olive oil, and bake in the preheated oven for an hour. Before serving, remove the bay leaves.

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Warm Corn + Green Bean and Quinoa Salad

The idea that a recipe is not only sustaining our bodies, but also nourishes it and is so good for you makes us happy here at Urban Kitchen.  So when we find one with ingredients we know we love, have on hand and help us use local in season produce- well we just had to make it.  This recipe was altered a bit of course as usual to suit what we have in our pantry and to bulk it up as a warm salad dinner to fill up on.  Quinoa has been a long time favorite of ours + we always keep it stocked for quick and easy meals ( cooks in 15 minutes!)- you can use red or black varieties to punch up the color contrast of this dish.  We had the most GLORIOUS corn ever from Bob’s corn in Coloma Wisconsin from our trip- the call it ” honey dipped corn” it is naturally super sweet and amazing.  Green beans are plentiful right now, and even though it’s a pain to trim a pound of green beans- they really make this salad crunch, you can do it while the quinoa cooks!  So please make this and feel amazing while you eat it, after you eat it and when you eat it as lunch the next day!  

Warm Corn + Green Bean and Quinoa Salad

adapted from Sprouted Kitchen

Dressing
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Tbsp. Light vinegar, like white balsamic or Champagne
2 tsp. Honey
1 Clove Garlic
1/4 cup Basil Leaves
Pinch of Salt + Pepper

1 Cup Quinoa 

4 ears of corn, hulled, boiled and chopped from cob
1 lb. Green Beans, ends trimmed
3 Scallions/Green Onions
1/2 Cup Macadamias, toasted and skins removed, roughly chopped
1. In a blender or food processor, whirl all of the dressing ingredients together. Taste for salt and pepper and set aside in the fridge.
2. Bring 2 Cups water to a boil and add the quinoa, turn the heat down to a simmer, cover and cook for about 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
3. Meanwhile boil your corn and in another pot steam the green beans until just barely softened. Drain well. Add the drained green beans and chopped corn to the quinoa. Thinly slice the scallions and add them, and half of the chopped macadamias to the bowl and toss with the dressing. Finish the salad with a few grinds of fresh black pepper and the rest of the macadamias. Serve warm or chill in the fridge. The leftovers hold up great.

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