Delishytown

Garlicky Swiss Chard Soup with Pesto Meatballs

This was our lunch on this very cold and rainy L.A. day. It was scrumptious! These were the most delectable meatballs I've ever made, and the easiest too, because I seasoned them with leftover pesto. Pesto, mmm..  

The best thing about the food in this picture is that the Swiss chard and celery were harvested today from our front yard edible garden. It's my first time growing celery and it's so easy to grow that I'd say it grows like a weed. You just have to be patient for the stalks to get big, and water the plant frequently since celery is mostly water. 

For the soup: In a soup pot: Saute 1/2 large chopped onion, 2 carrots and 3 celery stalks. Cook for a minute then add chopped chard stems, 1 cubed red potato, 3 large crushed garlic cloves, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, and 1 bay leaf.  Once fragrant, add one carton of chicken stock, or 1 tblsp chicken base and 2 cups of water. Bring to boil, then  reduce to simmer. 

Meanwhile, for the meatballs: finely chop the other half of the onion and sauté in a little olive oil. Let it cool.

Into a mixing bowl crumble 2 pieces of bread on a box grater, (or just use 1/2 cup bread crumbs), add 1/4 to 1/2 cup leftover pesto and a splash of milk. Season with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly with 1 lb. grass fed organic ground beef (or turkey), 1 egg, 3 large basil leaves chopped, a pinch of dried basil, 1 tsp dried parsley and the sautéed onions. Roll into balls and place on a buttered cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for 15 to 20 minutes depending on how big you made the meatballs. Once they are cooked remove the  meatballs to a plate lined with a paper towel.

De-vein and chop Swiss chard leaves and add them to the soup. 

Serve the meatballs in a shallow dish with the vegetable soup ladled generously over them. Yumm. Enjoy! 

Orange Maple & Ginger Tempeh 

So, this makes it official. I'm a crunchy granola, tempeh eating California hippie. I've lived here for twelve years. It had to happen sooner or later.

I bought this organic tempeh at Trader Joes and had it in the cheese drawer of my fridge for a couple weeks, unable to decide what dish it would become. I've never really cooked tempeh, until now. I cook with tofu sometimes.  I'm always trying to eat healthy. I bought tempeh because I like to experiment with new ingredients, & it's supposed to be really good for you. It's whole soy beans and other grains which have been fermented. It has all sorts of probiotics and protein and fiber. The package didn't expire till July, but it's already mid-May, so I figured I'd better get on with it.

I decided to try cooking it in my favorite orange maple reduction, which I usually do with pork tenderloin. This recipe is based on an LA Times recipe from about 12 yrs ago. It's YUMMY! Actually this sauce is one of the best flavors of all time. Sweet and savory and tangy and just really good. I was surprised that I kept sneaking more bites of it after I took the photo & went to put it in the fridge for dinner. I'm curious to see how much more of the maple ginger flavor will be absorbed through the day. If you eat meat, and don't want to try tempeh yet, maybe just go ahead and try this reduction on pork chops or chicken. 

In a sauce pan, heat 2 tblsp olive oil, (not extra virgin, just regular), add 1 chopped sweet onion & saute for a minute. Add 1 inch of fresh ginger, grated, 3 chopped & smashed garlic cloves, salt and pepper to taste. Let this mixture caramelize for a minute and then add 2 cups of orange juice, (about 3 large oranges worth), 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1/2 cup veggie stock. Season with a pinch of ground coriander, and 1/2 tsp Ancho chili powder. Let this mixture reduce on low heat for about 10 minutes.

While the most delicious sauce in the Universe reduces, chop and stir fry some veggies & set aside. Cook some basmati rice. Heat the skillet you used for the veggies, add about 2-3 tblsp olive oil and saute the thinly sliced tempeh, searing it until it's golden brown on both sides. Place the seared tempeh in the orange maple sauce and let it soak up the flavors for a few minutes. Serve with the rice and veggies. Yum-o!

Pasta with White Beans, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Basil

I love roasted tomatoes!  They get really sweet when you caramelize them in the oven. For this recipe I used big cherry tomatoes, but you can also do this with plum tomatoes cut in half. Or any tomatoes for that matter.

Boil water for pasta. I used 3 kinds of pasta because I had three different boxes with just a little bit left in each. You can use whatever type of pasta you like. This recipe would be great with gemelli.

Pre-heat oven to 375

Chop 1 small onion into slivers and toss it in a shallow roasting pan with a couple tablespoons oilve oil and some salt and pepper. Roast the onions till they get a little bit golden & sweeten up a bit, about 15 minutes.  This step is important if you are using small tomatoes because the onions take longer to caramelize than the little toms.

Cut a slit into the side of your cherry tomatoes so they don't explode all over your oven when you roast them. However, If your day is a bit boring, exploding tomatoes might be a fun change of pace. It's up to you.

Add the cherry tomatoes to the roasting pan of caramelized onions along with a couple crushed garlic cloves and  another drizzle of olive oil. Toss them all together and put it back in the oven for another 20 minutes till the tomatoes cook and the whole thing gets a little bit bubbly.

If you're using plum tomatoes cut in half, you can just mix all the veggies together at the beginning and cook for about 30 minutes.

Cook the pasta. When it's just about done, add 1 can of rinsed and drained white beans to the boiling pot to heat them through. Strain the beans and pasta and add to a big serving bowl. Drizzle a bit of olive oil, a small drizzle of honey, and a pinch of dry basil or Italian seasoning.

Chop a bunch of fresh basil and toss that in.

Add the roasted tomatoes and onions and stir gently to combine. 

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

YUM!