Italian Vegetable Soup

Vegetable Juice

Featured Ingredient: V8 Vegetable Juice and a cast of Characters from the Land of Misfit Vegetables.

My husband and I have a Saturday night ritual of watching a movie. Last Saturday's selection was a movie called Paper Man.  It stars Jeff Daniels as a reclusive less than successful author with an imaginary friend and desperate need to connect with someone that understands him.  I would recommend it.  It has a nice story and it doesn't hurt that Ryan Reynolds is dressed up in a skin tight Superhero outfit. 

This recipe was actually inspired by the movie.  In the movie Jeff Daniels hires a babysitter for himself and she makes him soup.  The soup is more of a metaphor than a meal.   I don't know what was in her soup besides a carrot, potato and beer, but she created the soup using what he had in his kitchen, so that was my objective as well.   This soup was a great affirmation that something so wholesome and wonderful can come from a big mess of ingredients.  I think that is true metaphor.  Here's some more info on the movie if you are interested http://www.papermanthemovie.com/

I noticed as I was collecting the veggies from my fridge that the majority of them were the kinds you would find in Italian dishes, so I figured that was the culinary direction in which I would go.

Italian Vegetable Soup

1 1/2 fennel bulb - sliced and roughly chopped
1/2 cup onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
2 cups tomatoes on the vine. Halved and seeds removed
6 cups chicken broth

2 5.5 oz. cans V8 Vegetable Juice
1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp marjoram
2 bay leaves
1 cup carrot thinly sliced
1 cup potato diced

1 tsp salt - plus more to taste
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 cup orzo (or other small pasta)
2 cups roughly chopped zucchini

Heat oil over medium heat in a 5qt soup pot.  Add fennel, onion, and garlic, season with a dash of salt, saute about 3 minutes.  Add tomatoes, broth and vegetable juice, herbs, bay leaves carrot, potato and orzo, salt and pepper.  Stir ingredients to make sure none are sticking to bottom. Heat to boil and reduce to simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally or until vegetables are near tender.  (NOTE: fennel takes the longest to soften).  Add zucchini and simmer for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.  Enjoy.
This recipe is merely a guideline depending on what you have on hand.  Maybe you will come up with a new family favorite. I'd love to hear what bit of wonderfulness you create!



Italian Vegetable Soup



Holy Mole Chili con Carne with Corn Muffins

Kidney Beans, V8, Diced Tomatoes

Featured Ingredients: Kidney Beans, Vegetable Juice, Diced Tomatoes

Tomorrow is apparently the big game? At least that is what my husband told me.  It will determine whether Pittsburgh or the Jets go to the Super Bowl.  Events like this call for a manly meal... so we have a pre-Super Bowl and definitely winter staple.

This chili has layers upon layers of flavor.  Where else can you get "a whole serving of vegetables" and your chocolate fix in one pot? 

To accompany this I made home made corn bread.  Since I made the chili and corn bread from scratch I settled on Minute Rice.

The base of this recipe comes from "Old Faithful."  My Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book.  Forget the La'Gastronomique Reference Bible I received from Culinary School.  It's too pretty to get dirty. This is my go to reference book.

Chili Con Carne - Serves 6

12 oz. ground round
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
2-3 cloves garlic minced
2 14.5 oz. cans Petite Diced Tomatoes
1 5.5 oz. can V8 Vegetable Juice
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp salt
2 tsps chili powder
1 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp spanish paprika
2 tbsps Unsweetened "Special Dark" Cocoa Powder (here's where the "mole" comes from)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 15 oz. can Kidney Beans
Handful of parsley finely chopped
White cheddar cheese for topping or Sour Cream on the side

1. Heat a small amount of oil in a 5qt Dutch Oven.  Add peppers, onions and garlic until fragrant add ground beef and saute until beef is browned.  If you use a lean ground round, there is no need to drain.

2. Stir in undrained tomatoes, vegetable juice, tomato paste, spices, chocolate and brown sugar.  Mix well.  Add Kidney Beans.  Bring to boiling and reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for 25-30 minutes.  Season with additional salt and pepper if desired. Or more chili powder if you like more heat.  This chili is relatively mild.

Corn Muffins - I got this off the Quaker Yellow Corn Meal Box.  I found these to be bit on the dry side, but a great compliment to a moist dish like chili.  For a less labor intensive muffin you can use one of those Jiffy Mixes or Trader Joes.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup corn meal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400

Mix dry  ingredients. Mix wet ingredients.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour in wet ingredients until just combined.  Grease 12 count muffin tin with cooking spray.  Pour batter into cups using a 1/4 cup measuring cup.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Do I really need to give you the recipe for Minute Rice?? :)

Chili con Carne