Hearty Soups and Pasta Sauce from Roasted Vegetables

 

Roasting vegetables and fruits brings out the best flavors in them without requiring much seasoning because the natural flavors come out during the roasting.

 

Roasted or baked sweet potatoes are sweet and flavorful enough that they can be eaten as is. We had baked sweet potatoes growing up. There was a time that was what we had for lunch! And nobody starved or suffered from malnutrition.

 

We enjoyed those fresh garden vegetables, fruits and berries from the area. If anything arrived by truck back then, it was from a few miles out from nearby farms. I remember seeing people bartering with vegetables for meat or poultry or eggs.

 

The last trip I took along US 49 in Arkansas heading West to Brinkley, there was a little shed with fruits and vegetables for sale. Every trip I’ve taken down that highway, there was always that little shed! Oh, and we always stopped even though we were days away from home!  Most of the time, we ate the fruit we bought within a day.

 

Most cities have large farmers markets, but those aren’t the same as those individual “stands”.  Sometimes you actually knew the family or even if you didn’t, you remembered them from year to year and knew their life stories.  Although the large farmers markets have some really good food, it’s the ‘knowing the providers/growers’ that make it more interesting.

 

If you have never roasted or baked vegetables or fruits, it’s time to try it.  That roasted or baked food will make you go …. um yum good!

 

It’s about time to heat up some of the last batch of soup, just writing about it makes my mouth water!

 

From September

From August

 

September - soup with roasted vegetables

This one included roasted potatoes, carrots, winter squash, peppers, green beans and corn.  It also has ‘fresh’ carrot juice instead of tomato juice.  I do not recommend canned or non-refrigerated bottled carrot juice! Basically if it does not taste like fresh squeezed, it will not have a good effect on this soup.

The finished soup - it comes out like stew, with potatoes doing some major thickening! Delicious for sure!

soup with roasted potatoes and carrots served this one is very thick

 

Soup - roasted vegetables with black and kidney beans added

 

Pasta Sauce

Roasted Vegetables served

 

Preparing soup with a few roasted vegetables

I needed to add other ingredients here, because there was only about 2 cups of roasted vegetables left.
over-ripe tomatoes, frozen mixed vegetables, roasted carrots, roasted corn, roasted potatoes and roasted squash. Cooked sliced okra will be added last

Adding a small amount of quinoa, which will thicken the soup, prior to adding the fresh tomatoes

 

Finished it off with fresh carrot juice

Preparing the okra separate

Added the okra - would be ready to serve in about half an hour

The finished soup  -  Delicious for sure!

Leftovers

                                                                            served with cranberry flax muffin

Prepping the Vegetables

I cover the pans with foil and rub oil over to prevent sticking.  The oil is absorbed into the vegetables. Makes for an easy clean-up.  These can also be roasted in a large covered grill.

Cut the summer squash in cubes

Winter squash

Winter squash carrots and corn

peppers in slices and strips

End pieces of the peppers can be diced for salads or adding to omelets

eggplant and summer squash

Potatoes

 

Get to it!   Roast those veggies and fruits!

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© 2013 http://retiredwithnoregrets.blogspot.com/

Quick & Easy Meals - Dirty Potatoes Breakfast Skillet

Dirty rice is supposed to be good, but I have never eaten it!  I think it was about the little bits of stuff in it that I did not know where it came from…  I am a picky eater from way back!

I really love the ‘Golden’ or ‘Gold’ potatoes because they seem to not get mushy as quick as the other yellow or white fleshed potatoes.  Since I shouldn’t eat potatoes every day, I look for ways to ‘season’ without lots of sodium.   Although this dish has more sodium than normally added, it is a side dish, rather than the main.

Everyone tend to have little bits of this and that in the fridge.  Some just dump everything the night before ‘trash’ day! 

My little bits tend to be things like chopped peppers, chopped bacon, mushrooms, spinach, chili peppers…    I will add all of those to an omelet, except the chili peppers.

Last night was the time to prepare for ‘trash’ day, so I quickly went thru the fridge to see if I would be throwing anything.  Nada.  But I had placed four small ‘golden’ potatoes on the counter by the sink and realized that I now had a potato dish recipe!  In “Minnesotan”, that’s ‘hot dish’!

This is probably not the dish to have ‘man-sized’ servings, because it is loaded with carbs and sodium in larger quantities.  It is meant to be a side dish with another food item to complement it such as egg or small steak.

The chili peppers gives this dish that little ‘kick’ that some of us love!  It’s not hot, just a little ‘kick’.

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Dirty Potatoes Breakfast Skillet

 

 

Ingredients

 

4 small golden potatoes, sliced, as if for French fries, cut to 2-inch lengths

1/4 cup   sweet peppers, finely chopped

1 thick slice bacon, cooked, chopped (used baked)

1 link sausage, cooked, diced (used Bistro Sensations - GF)

1 tbsp dehydrated onions or 2 tbsp raw, diced

1/2 can (4-oz) chili peppers

1 tsp Southwest savory seasoning, sodium free

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp dried herbs seasoning, sodium free

2 tbsp olive oil for cooking

 

Procedure

 

Heat the olive oil in the skillet to medium high, place the potatoes in the skillet and stir to coat the potatoes.  Add remaining ingredients except the chili peppers. Sauté and stir, scraping the bits from the skillet for about 5 minutes. 

 

 

Stir in the chili peppers to mix.

 

 

Reduce the heat to low, cover and allow to steam about 5 minutes. Scrape the skillet as you stir to mix everything.

 

Remove from the heat. The potatoes should be crisp with a soft center, not mushy.

 

 

 

Serve, scraping bits from the skillet so each serving has some of the 'dirty' mix.

 

 

served with spinach omelet..

 

No additional salt is needed as the sausage and bacon has sufficient amounts

 

 

Servings: 4 (4 to 6)

 

Nutrition (per serving): 221 calories, 9g total fat, 5.3g monounsaturated fat, <1g polyunsaturated fat, 0g trans fatty acids, <1g linoleic acid, 1.7g saturated fat, 15.9mg cholesterol, 219mg sodium, 54.8mg calcium, 738.6mg potassium, 14.1mcg folate, 18.2mg phosphorus, 15mg phytosterols, <1mcg lycopene, 1.3mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, <1mcg vitamin b12, <1mg vitamin b6, 46.2mg vitamin c, <1mg zinc, 28.9g carbohydrates, 2.8g fiber, 26g net carbohydrates, 1.9g sugar, <1g fructose, 0g galactose, <1g glucose, 0g lactose, 0g maltose, 0g sucrose, 8.3g protein.

 

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© 2012 retiredwithnoregrets.blogspot.com

Quick Meals - No Time or Energy for Making a Full Meal..

The past few days have been rather strenuous for me to just go into the kitchen. So I thought about what to grab and quickly fix. Of course, all food in my home is gluten-free.

Last night, I made a  quick potato dish with julienne cut potatoes, roasted red peppers and baby bellas.  I sprinkled a bit of coriander, cumin, red pepper and salt-free Perfect Pinch spice over the potatoes.  I also sprayed a splash of garlic infused olive oil over the potatoes before cooking.

Quick Savory Potatoes


Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil (EVOO)
1 medium white potato. about 6 to 8 ounces
2 tbsp chopped roasted red peppers in oil
1/4 cup baby portabellas, sliced
1 splash garlic infused olive oil (I use a Misto sprayer)
1 pinch cumin
1 pinch coriander
1 pinch Red pepper flakes
1 pinch salt-free Savory Perfect Pinch spice

Procedure

 Cut the potatoes into thin strips like a julienne cut.
 Place all ingredients into a non-stick frying pan.
 Sauté, stirring until potatoes begin to get translucent.



 Cook only until potatoes are soft, yet still has texture. (I heard on Dr. Oz, that the longer you cook potatoes, the higher the starch content)


Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Servings: 1
Yield: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 376 calories, 9.8g total fat, 6.8g monounsaturated fat, 1.2g polyunsaturated fat, 1.3g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 67.2g carbohydrates, 8g fiber, 59.1g net carbohydrates, 4.1g sugar, 29.9mg sodium, 2708.5mg potassium, 11.6g protein, 33.9mg calcium, 715.5IU vitamin a, <1mg vitamin b6, <1mcg vitamin b12, 83.4mg vitamin c, 1.4mg vitamin e, 5.4mcg vitamin k, 2.2mg iron, <1g lysine, 25.3mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, 2.6mg zinc, 0mg caffeine.

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I avoid soy where possible, but the tuna I bought is packed in water and broth  which contains soy.  For a late breakfast(brunch) today, I made tuna salad.

Tuna Salad for Breakfast(Brunch)




Ingredients

1 6-oz can  Solid White Albacore Tuna, water packed, drained
1 pinch cumin
1 pinch coriander
1 pinch turmeric
1 tsp horseradish sauce
3 tbsp canola mayonnaise (used Hellmann's Canola)
1/3 cup broccoli florets, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup finely diced celery
1 cup raw green peas

Procedure

Scald the peas or cook in microwave just to get hot.

Spray the broccoli florets with olive oil, cover.  cover celery with cellophane. Microwave both together 45 seconds.

 Place broccoli, peas and celery in a larger bowl.


I prefer to just drop the frozen peas in boiling water and drain.  Today I microwaved 3 minutes - a little bit too much for my taste.


 Drain and press water from Tuna. Place Tuna in a smaller bowl. This drainer is for the 9-ounce can, so I had to press the tuna  with a spoon to remove the liquid.


 



 Add spices to tuna and use fork to break it up. I find I use less seasonings, if spices are added to the main ingredient.




Mix in the horseradish sauce and mayonnaise. The horseradish sauce kicks it up a bit!




Mix the tuna into the vegetable bowl.



Serve as a side or as a meal. 



The ingredients - sometimes I also add small (cooked) pasta shells





Servings: 2 (or 1, if really hungry!)

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 237 calories, 9.1g total fat, 3.8g monounsaturated fat, 3.4g polyunsaturated fat, <1g saturated fat, 35.7mg cholesterol, 12.6g carbohydrates, 4.3g fiber, 8.3g net carbohydrates, 4.6g sugar, 0g starch, <1g fructose, <1g galactose, <1g glucose, 3.6g sucrose, <1g maltose, 520.3mg sodium, 476.3mg potassium, 24.6g protein, 49.3mg calcium, 995.3IU vitamin a, <1mg vitamin b6, 1mcg vitamin b12, 41.3mg vitamin c, <1mg vitamin e, 24.6mcg vitamin k, 2.3mg iron, 2.1g lysine, 57.9mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, 1.4mg zinc, 0mg caffeine.

© 2012 http://retiredwithnoregrets.blogspot.com/