Kitchen Sink Sweet Corn Soup with Bacon

What to make for dinner...Hmm… I’ve got some bacon, questionable freezer corn, wilted cilantro, can of green chilis…Corn Soup! That is about the thought that went into this supper. But what came out—SOUPER DELICIOUS! I hope you enjoy this easy summer soup. I bet you have these things lying in the back of your freezer and pantry somewhere. But if you have some fresh sweet corn, please substitute!

Sweet Corn Soup with Bacon

Ingredients:

1 large yellow onion, diced

4 stalks of celery, diced

6 thick strips (about 5 ounces) good bacon

3 cups low sodium chicken broth

12 oz can condensed cream of chicken soup, I use Pacific Organic

4oz can diced green chilis

16 oz bag frozen sweet corn

½ diced red pepper

Salt and pepper

Green onion, cilantro and sour cream

Tortilla chips

Preparation:

In a bit of canola oil, saute onion with celery until translucent—about 10 minutes. Add bacon and continue to cook until the bacon is cooked through.  Empty the bag of sweet corn into the pot and sauté for 5 minutes. 

(You'll notice I didn't drain the bacon...that was on purpose. Yum.)

Stir in the broth, condensed soup and green chilis and bring to a boil. Add the diced red pepper and reduce the heat. Simmer the soup for 15-20 minutes covered until the corn is cooked through and begins to break down.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls and allow to cool slightly. Stir in a tablespoon of sour cream, and a bit of green onion and cilantro. Top with crushed tortilla chips and serve. 

Time to eat! Enjoy!

-Nikki

Banana Bran Muffins with Walnuts

I love banana bread, muffins—you name it. Last week it was Banana Snack Cake, but this week with still more overripe bananas to spare, I’m all about muffins. I’ve adapted this recipe from Eating Well. If you haven’t heard of it, this magazine is definitely worth checking out. It is one of my favorite food magazines because it has lots of healthy ideas and each issue centers around what’s in season. 

I've made these muffins Finn-style. Viili is a Finnish cultured milk that is essentially a yogurt. If you would like to start culturing, I will give you some starter! But if you are far away, or you can’t wait, you can substitute the viili for plain fat-free yogurt. 

Banana Bran Muffins with Walnuts

Ingredients:

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

3 medium super-ripe bananas

2/3 cup viili or plain (not greek) yogurt + 1/3 cup skim milk

1 cup wheat bran

3 Tbsp flax seed

1/4 cup safflower oil

1 teaspoon vanilla or coconut extract

Dry ingredients:

1 3/4 cup white whole-wheat flour, such as Gold Medal

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400. Grease your muffin tin (12) with canola spray.

In a large glass bowl, whisk together the egg, brown sugar, milk and viili until well blended. Mash the ripe peeled bananas in a small bowl. Add the bananas to the wet egg mixture along with the canola oil, vanilla, flax seeds and wheat bran. Whisk until well combined. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, toss the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon together with your fingers until fluffed and well combined.  Pour the dry ingredients on top of the wet ingredients and add the chocolate chips. With a rubber scraper gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet until they are just barely mixed. The batter with be lumpy. Be careful not to over mix or the batter will become tough.

Spoon the batter into your muffin tins and fill until they are just barely to the top. The batter is heavy with bran, so these will not rise as high as typical muffins.  Sprinkle the chopped walnuts on top of the muffins. The walnuts will get nice and toasted! Mmmm….

Place the muffins on the center rack and bake for 15-25 minutes until they are golden brown and spring back when touched.

I hope you enjoy this healthy treat! Go Bananas!

-Nikki

Tip: Ever wonder what to do with the left over muffin batter?

I have found that my muffin tins are small enough that there is always some left over batter. Rather than wait for the batch to cook and refill the tin, I found the thing for this very problem:  the mini-loaf pan. At a thrift shop a bit ago I found this adorable mini loaf pan. I have a weakness for anything milk glass, so I bought it and finally through this muffin making have found its calling. If you have one lying around, here is one way to get that thing dusted off and in use again!

Southwestern Pot-Pie

The last couple of months have been crazy busy, so I apologize for the absence! I was playing in Thunder Bay, we moved to a new apartment, we eradicated a pest problem, I taught in Salt Lake City, stayed in Park City, and then I did a Suzuki training in Denver. Even though it was more work than vacation, I do have lots of fun recipes, restaurants and vendors to tell you about. Stay tuned for some fun posts in the coming weeks.

Now that I am home, it is time to make some good old-fashioned comfort food.  After talking with my buddy Emily Galegher about pie crusts and how I always forget to use them in my recipes, I decided tonight is the perfect night for a Utah inspired pot-pie!

Southwestern Pot-Pie

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey breast

1 large onion, diced

2 jalapenos, seeded and minced

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 ears of corn, kernels removed

1 tsp dried oregano

1 ½ Tbsp ground cumin

Dash black pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup light sour cream

1 ½ cups Mexican melting cheese like enchilado, queso quesadilla, or monterey jack

½ cup green onions, chopped

¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Finnish Cottage Cheese Pie Crust

(see previous post)

Preparation:

In a cast iron skillet or oven proof fry pan, cook onion in 1 tbsp of canola oil until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add your minced green pepper, garlic and corn and sauté for 3 minutes. Stir in ground turkey breast and cook completely. Pour in spices and chicken broth and allow the mixture to reduce for about 3 minutes on high heat.

Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and cheese. Bring back to the stove on medium-low and simmer 10-15 minutes stirring constantly until the mixture bubbles and thickens --when you stir you can see the bottom of the pan clearly, and your spoon makes a track. Remove from the heat again and stir in green onion and cilantro.

Roll cottage cheese pie crust so that it is large enough to rest ½ inch up the side of the pan. Vent with a knife and spray the top of the crust with canola oil.

Bake at 400 degrees until the pie crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes.Let the pie cool 10 minutes before serving. Top with chopped cilantro, salsa, avocado and sour cream. 

I hope you enjoy!

-Nikki

Sweet Basil Walnut Pesto

It’s springtime and time for everything green! One of our most favorite spreads and sauces is pesto. Store-bought pesto is pretty pricey, and making your own can be too (especially if you use pine nuts). We came up with a thrifty recipe that uses less oil and walnuts. It is just as good. This recipe makes LOTS but it freezes really well.  In fact, we had pesto tonight from last September. This is a recipe you will want to have on hand when your garden is bursting with basil this summer.

Sweet Basil Walnut Pesto

Ingredients:

6 cups loosely-packed, washed basil leaves

1 cup of your favorite hard cheese, shredded 

       (like aged gouda, parmesan, asiago...)

1/3 cup walnuts

3 Tbsp herbed white wine vinegar

2 -3 cloves of garlic, minced

½ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

In a small fry pan, toast walnuts over medium -heat until fragrant and beginning to brown. Remove from the pan to cool.

In a food processor, chop the basil, walnuts, cheese and garlic. Add the white wine vinegar and gradually add the oil. Puree until it reaches your desired consistency, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. We like ours a little chunkier, so we only pulse, but you can make this as smooth as you like.

Pesto will keep in the refrigerator for a week, or you can freeze for about 3-4 months. It has been 5 months for our pesto and it was still good! You will only use about ¼ cup for 4 people. You can also freeze in an ice-cube tray and then put in a zippy for single servings.

Got other herbs/greens in your garden?  You can make pesto out of anything-- even a combination of herbs and greens. It is a great way to experiment and use up every bit of whatever in your garden. I have even seen recipes that use jalapeno and anaheim peppers, too. Yum! Got a favorite pesto combination? I would love to hear it!

-Nikki

Creamy Pesto Pasta with Chicken

Here is a fun and tasty way to enjoy your pesto sauce using ingredients you probably have around the house. You can substitute chickpeas or cannellini beans for your protein if you like. Enjoy!

6 oz whole-wheat pasta

¼ cup pesto

¼ cup half and half (can be fat-free)

4 Tbsp low-fat cream cheese or Neufchatel

½ cup reserved pasta water

Combine the noodles with the cream cheese and ½ cup of reserved pasta water. Toss in the pesto and the half and half. Serve with chickpeas or chicken breast and a green salad. Serves 4.

Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs & Healthy Egg Salad

I haven’t always been a fan of hard-boiled eggs. Actually, it was really the yolks that were a turn off as a kid—I didn’t like the texture (unless it was blended into something like mayo!). But when I started having them in restaurants, I came to love them! The whites weren’t rubbery, there wasn’t an ugly green ring around the yolk and the yolk was so delicate and creamy. Yum! I’ve tried making my own, but they were never as good as the ones I ordered…until now. After a lot of trial and error, I believe this is secret to the perfect restaurant-worthy hard-boiled egg.

Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

12 fresh large eggs

Cold water

In a large saucepan, cover the eggs with cold water until there is an inch of water above the tops of the eggs. Bring the eggs to a boil and cook exactly one minute. Remove from the heat and cover immediately. Let them sit for exactly 12 minutes.  

 Immediately drain the hot water gently into the sink. Place the saucepan until the water faucet and run the coldest water possible over the eggs, stirring the water gently with your hands. When the eggs are completely chilled remove from the water and enjoy! If you like, you can shell them immediately, or if you need them, later here is a trick:

                Bring a large pot to boil and drop each egg in for one second. Remove and peel immediately.

Healthy Egg Salad

Now that I finally discovered how to make eggs without having a complete disaster on my hands, I like to make this egg salad-- It’s a recipe inspired by Eating Well’s Deviled Egg recipe.

5 hard-boiled eggs, peeled

2 Tbsp light mayo

1/3 cup cottage cheese

1 stalk of celery, finely diced

1 green onion, chopped

¼ tsp onion powder

¼ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp prepared yellow mustard

Dash black pepper and cayenne

In a food processor, combine the cottage cheese, mayo and mustard. Remove the yolks from two of the eggs and add to the cottage cheese mixture. Process until smooth and creamy.  Discard the other three yolks and chop the whites from the 5 eggs. In a small bowl combine the celery, green onion and the cottage cheese mixture. Season to taste with pepper and cayenne, garnish with paprika if desired and serve!  This makes 3 sandwiches. Yum! Hope this helps you use up some of those Easter eggs!

Egg Salad per serving (3): 110 calories      6grams fat      11grams protein

-Nikki

Mustikkapiiraka

Mustikkapiiraka is the Finnish word for Blueberry Pie: mustikka=blueberry and piiraka=pie. Traditionally this pie is made on a flat baking sheet rather than in a pie plate. This gives you lots of room to be artistic with the dough, shape and design.  I made it in this traditional, rustic style for Easter—but I couldn’t resist spicing it up with a drizzle of Lavender Cream.  Here is the recipe I created after lots of research:

Mustikkapiiraka

Finnish Blueberry Pie

Crust:

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

Pinch of cardamom

1 ½ sticks cold salted butter, cubed

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

¼ cup heavy cream

Filling:

3 cups frozen wild blueberries

1/3 cup sugar (I like raw cane sugar for this one:)

2 Tbsp + 1 tsp corn starch

Combine the cardamom, flours and sugar in a medium glass bowl. Using a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour until only pea-sized chunks remain. Gently beat the egg and cream together and add to the flour mixture. Once combined, knead gently and make into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 5 minutes.

In another bowl, gently toss the blueberries in the sugar and cornstarch until they are well coated.

Using a generous amount of flour, turn the dough out onto the counter and roll out into large circle about 1/4 inch thick.  Lay a large dinner plate (about 12 inches) on the rolled dough and using as your guide, cut two inches out from the edge to form a clean 14 inch circle. Keep scraps for decorating the top later. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll onto a large baking sheet with an edge.

Mound the blueberries into the center of the circle and spread to fill about 12 inches. Fold in the outside edge of the dough on top of the blueberries to make about 1 to 1 1/2 inches around, pinching on the folds as necessary.  Roll and cut the remaining dough scraps to make your desired pattern on top of the pie. You can sprinkle the dough with sugar, or use an egg wash if you like.

Bake for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees until the crust is golden brown and the blueberries are thick and bubbly. Serves 8.

Lavender Cream

In a saucepan combine 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, ¼ cup honey and 1 tsp lavender or 1 TBSP earl grey tea with lavender.  Over medium low heat, bring to a bubble and reduce to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Using cheese cloth or a tea bag, strain into a glass bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve. Best served cold over the warm pie. This would also be a great base for ice cream or whipped cream;)

I hope you enjoy this Finnish delight!

-Nikki

Finnish Cottage Cheese Pastry Crust

Rahkakuori is a traditional cottage cheese pastry that is used for everything from quiche to blueberry tarts. I was inspired by the one in Bea Ojakangas’  Scandinavian Cooking book and have adapted it to use less butter, more cottage cheese and whole-wheat flour. Whole wheat crusts are known for being a bit more dry, but with the cottage cheese, this crust is deliciously moist and flaky—and I think better than traditional pie crust! It makes for a very flexible dough that is easy to work with AND it’s quick and healthy! Try it with your favorite filling. This is scaled for a single 9-inch crust. Yum!

Whole-Wheat Rahkakuori

Ingredients:

½ cup whole-wheat flour

½ cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup low-fat cottage cheese

5 Tbsp salted butter, cold

Preparation:

In a medium glass bowl combine the flours. Cut cold butter into cubes and using a pastry blender, work into the dough until you see pea-sized crumbles. Add the cottage cheese and combine—the dough will be crumbly. Gently work the dough into a ball.

Tips: If the ball is just barely sticking to your hands it's perfect! I did not need to add anything to mine, but some cottage cheeses are very wet. Use your instincts.  If the dough is wet and not holding its shape, you may need to add a Tbsp or 2 more of whole-wheat flour. If is dough is very dry and does not form a ball, add a Tbsp or 2 of ice cold water.

Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 10 minutes. Dust a board or the counter generously with whole-wheat flour and roll out, flipping and dusting as necessary. Gently roll the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll over your glass or stone pie plate. Crimp the edges, and prick with a fork. Fill according to your favorite recipe! (If it is a long baking pie, consider foiling over the crimped edge and removing towards the end of cooking.)

I used this recipe to make my Spring Quiche! I hope you enjoy this recipe as you begin your holiday baking!

-Nikki