Minestrone Experiment

Yesterday I got a craving. I know, I know. Pregnant lady with a craving? Weird, right? But I figure a craving for minestrone is a pretty healthy one! I had been thinking about our friend Wendy who is an AMAZING cook. We had dinner at their house well over a year ago, maybe even 2, (for the record, we have gotten together with them more recently as well) when she made the most amazing minestrone I have ever had. And let me tell you, I have had a lot of minestrone! I have even tried making it once or twice, but it was never memorable. I think one of my mistakes was using big pieces of pasta that just ended up soaking up the soup and that is no fun! Or it would end up too watery without much flavor.
Minestrone is kind of an amazing soup because it is different everywhere you go. Some people use pesto. Some use a beef base, some veggie, tomato, or bean. Some use cabbage, pasta and special vegetables. I knew I didn't want cabbage in it. I just don't like my leafy greens wilting away in my soup.
Needless to say, beyond that, I didn't really know where to start, so I went to the source and emailed my minestrone muse, Wendy. She gave me some good tips.  She recommended to start by sweating onions, carrots, celery with garlic, peppers and zuccini in olive oil. Then she adds stock, peeled tomatoes, a rind of parmesan (aha! the secret ingredient!), bay leaf, fresh thyme and oregano. She then said to simmer, season and add white beans, green beans. I thought her most interesting piece of advice was to not add inappropriate vegetables. I definitely kept that in mind when I went to the store. I had come across some recipes that called for butternut squash and things like that, that I had never seen in minestrone before. Then you can add pasta at the end.

I felt well armed and ready to hit the store. I tried to imagine Wendy standing over me and saying "No inappropriate vegetables!" So I bypassed the squash and the asparagus, especially since I am making some chili crusted tofu with asparagus later in the week anyway. Unfortunately they were out of green beans and Callie isn't really a fan of bell peppers, so I left the store without those particular items.

So here are the ingredients I worked with:
2 cans of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
1 potato (that might be considered inappropriate, but I can't say no to potatoes in soup!)
minced garlic
olive oil
carrots
peeled tomatoes ( I was pressed for time so I bought ones in a can even though I had some in the garden. I know...I feel ashamed)
zucchini
salt
1/2 - 2/3 cup white wine (I opted for Grgich Hills Fume Blanc since Whole Foods had it in a half bottle)
bay leaf
Parmesan cheese rind
herbs from the garden (since I forgot to buy herbs at the store!): basil, sage, oregano, rosemary

And here is what I did.

Heated up some olive oil in a big pot and added crushed garlic. Then added the vegetables: potato, carrots, zucchini and salt. Cooked them for about 5 minutes. While the vegetables were cooking, I cut up my tomatoes. I quartered them. Next time I think I would cut them even smaller. The chunks just ended up too big. I also took half of my beans and blended them with 1/2 cup of water to make a bean paste to help thicken the soup. Once your vegetables are softening and getting nice and sweaty, I added the wine. It might be because I'm pregnant and I can't really drink, but OH MY GOD. It smelled amazing! Then I added the herbs, beans, bean paste, tomatoes, Parmesan rind and some chicken broth. I brought it to a boil and then simmered it for about 25-30 minutes. Near the end I added some orzo. Once the pasta was cooked enough we took it off the stove, chilled some for callie and ate. We served it with a couple of pieces of olive oil and rosemary bread.

So here is my verdict.
This was definitely my best attempt so far. I am not quite convinced in my minestrone abilities quite yet. Of course by the time we packed away the leftovers for lunches, the orzo had swelled to about 3 times its size. Ugh. I know by the time I have it for lunch today there won't be much liquid left. I might opt out of pasta completely next time. Or cook it separately and ahead of time instead of in the soup.
I also think I would cook the vegetables longer. They were cooked well, but the carrots were still a bit crunchy and it was a little distracting from the rest of the soup. I think I would add more tomatoes next time as well. I do like the tomatoey taste in minestrone.
The nice thing about the soup was that you really got to taste the vegetables, but I think I need more seasoning next time. Maybe some pepper and some other italian herbs like marjoram? I don't know. The thickness at the time was very nice with the bean paste.
Its still a work in progress, but I think it was a good start! Thank you Wendy!!

Callie's Verdict
Callie loooved the beans and the pasta and not much else:) She did go for a couple of pieces of zucchini but definitely not the carrots. I think they probably weren't soft enough for her liking.

*Sadly, I did not think to take pictures of this one. Oh well. Sorry folks!*

Getting a taste of being a workin mama!

So for the last two weeks, I have been working almost everyday as a substitute at my old school. Now, obviously, as a stay at home mom I "work" everyday but you know what I mean!
It definitely has been tough. When the alarm went off the first couple of days, it didn't bother me. But by the 4th or 5th day? Groan.
Luckily, Bill has been able to drop Callie off at our day care in the mornings, so I didn't have to work that into my morning schedule. Otherwise I probably would have to get up at 5, not 6!
But by the time I am done for the day I am definitely excited to see my girl. I do think about her throughout the day, when I get some down time. By the time I get her home, I am pretty much toast. It is exhausting. I am used to the physical exhaustion of dealing with a toddler all day, but the mental exhaustion from work and being "on" all day is really tough. There usually is some downtime when I stay at home with Callie while she naps, but usually by the time I pick her up she has already napped so I am out of luck! There has definitely been a fair amount of Elmo watching going on in the early evenings when we have both had it!
I am not at my best with Callie by the time  Bill gets home, to be sure. And forget making dinner! There has been quite a bit of takeout and leftovers in our house lately. This week I am trying to be better about it, but its hard. The good news is that after this week I just have some sporadic sub dates planned in october and one in november.
So hats off to you workin mamas. I don't know how you do it! And I don't even have to worry about grading with being a sub. It makes me glad that I decided not to go back full time after all! The break from toddler craziness is nice though. And it has been wonderful to be able to spend time with my friends, people that I don't necessarily get to see very often. And it is so wonderful to be able to have uninterrupted conversations! What a luxury!
It is definitely giving me a lot to think about for our plans for next year.

Fresh Tomato Soup Recipe

Here we go again! Another recipe. Oh Shush.

I had a bunch of tomatoes laying around from our tomato plants (duh. what other kind of plant would they be from?) and I was worried they would go bad. And come on, let's be honest, you can only eat so much salad with cherry tomatoes on top! Plus a friend had posted pictures of her tomato soup and it just sounded sooo good and comforting. Especially after a fun filled day in Santa Cruz, some home cooked comfort food just sounded perfect. After looking online for a few recipes, I discovered that we had everything we would need at home and started tinkering. So unusual to not have to go to the store, but a very welcome sensation!

So here it is.

About 2 pounds of tomatoes (any combination: cherry, slicing tomatoes, heirlooms, whatever)
Herbs from the garden: sage, rosemary, basil, tiny bit of mint
2 bay leaves
garlic
chicken broth
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup olive oil
salt, pepper

Take your tomatoes and wash, core and cut them in half. If you are throwing some cherry tomatoes in the mix (like I did), I would leave them whole, otherwise they end up getting stuck to the baking sheet. Arrange tomatoes on a baking sheet. You could also add some sliced yellow onion, if you like that sort of thing, but I have a toddler that hates onions, and I'm not a huge fan either. Add crushed garlic (you could also use whole cloves if that's what you have on hand), 1/2 cup olive oil, salt and pepper and toss. Bake in a 450 oven for 25-30 minutes until they are carmelized. (If tomato skins bother you, you could probably remove them after waiting a bit, but I found that most of the skins got blended into the soup anyway).

Roasted Tomatoes! It really is a shame the internet isn't scratch n sniff. Cuz...damn. It smelled awesome!

Put tomatoes and their juices into a stockpot with butter and herbs. Just about cover the mixture with chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30-40 minutes. Use your stick blender to make it smooth. You could add cream to it at the end, but it was pretty creamy all on its own, but its up to you! Next time, I might add a little splash of red wine to give it a little something extra, but it was great as it was. Maybe a little shaved parmesan on top would be good too!

And what does perfectly with tomato soup? Grilled cheese, of course! We had some left over bread from the other day, so we got out the panini press (one of my best uses of $20 at target ever) and grilled up some sandwiches with some yummy sage cheddar cheese we had bought at the farmers market a while back with some tomato slices. And voila! Perfect comfort meal.

Now the real test. Would the picky toddler eat it? Thankfully yes!

Thanks for the soup mama!