Breakfast Soup!

Okay, that's sort of a misnomer. It's not exactly a breakfast soup, but I've been making it at breakfast time several days in a row this week, and I love it to pieces. It uses up my leftover veggies, keeps me from skipping breakfast, smells delicious, gets my appetite going, and makes enough that I can eat it for several tasty meals. I also appreciate the fact that it's very light, lacking the processed-ness of bread or tofu. Sometimes you just need your food to be simpler. Your tummy will thank you.

This is the exact version I made today.

Breakfast Soup

2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped fine
1 green bell pepper, chopped
5 small carrots, sliced
1-14 oz. can petite dice tomatoes
3 cans water
2 large vegetable bullion squares
5-6 baby red potatoes, quartered, sliced and rinsed
1-14 oz. can navy beans (including liquid)
1/4 tsp each marjoram, ground thyme and garlic powder
1/2 tsp. agave syrup (sugar would be fine)
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup cooked rice

In a dutch oven or large saucepan, cook onion in vegetable oil over medium to medium-high heat until it starts to soften. Add peppers and carrots and continue stirring over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except for the cooked rice. (Note: rinsing the potatoes will wash off some of the starch and prevent icky foam from forming on top of your soup.) If you're not using leftover rice like I did, you can throw in 1/3 cup or so of uncooked rice at any point before you bring everything to a rolling boil. Once it's boiling pretty good, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. If you're using cooked rice, add in the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Delicious with ritz-y crackers, rye toast, or just by itself.

One-Pot Spinach and Pasta

This is another one of those recipes that you can make when you have literally nothing fresh in the house... you just need a few essentials from the pantry and freezer, and a few basic seasonings to make it happen. Of course, adding strips or chunks of mock chicken and some kick-ass tofu ricotta makes it that much better. My 7 year old absolutely loves this, tomatoes, spinach and all, and will eat as much as I let him. (I try to make sure he doesn't eat so much that he comes to me afterward clutching his belly and saying "I hurt my body..." again.)

Here are some extra tips, since I'm feeling excessive this morning:

• If you like it, double the spinach for extra veggie love here... those little boxes of plain frozen spinach are a fantastic deal at around $1 each, and packed full of vitamins and minerals.
• Make this extra-nice if you *do* have fresh produce. Chop an onion and saute it with a clove or two of fresh minced garlic, then add 1/2-1 lb of sliced mushrooms or zucchini and stir till the veggies are cooked. Complete the recipe as follows (omitting the onion and garlic powder, of course).
• I "thaw" my spinach by dropping the sealed plastic pouch into the pasta water and taking it out when it boils.
  

One-Pot Spinach & Pasta

1 lb medium shell pasta, cooked (rotini and macaroni work great too)

1 package frozen spinach, thawed
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 can navy beans, drained
2 T olive oil
1 cup chopped chicken substitute (optional)
1 recipe Basil-Tofu Ricotta (also optional)

1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional but delicious)
1/2 teaspoon each garlic and onion powder
1/2 tsp each thyme, basil and oregano or 1 T italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions while you open cans and get out your sauce ingredients. Drain pasta in a colander and set aside. Add all other ingredients to the now-empty pasta pot (hooray, fewer dishes) and stir over medium heat till bubbly. Taste it for salt now- this is important, since a lot of these ingredients can vary widely in salt content and once you put it in, you can't take it back out! When you're satisfied with the tastiness of your sauce, add the drained noodles back to the pot and stir well. Makes a LOT, and refrigerates very well for leftovers. Serve by itself, or with garlic bread and a salad.

Chili Mac

This ain't gourmet. This is "we need to go shopping, TOMORROW" food, but it's tasty and you can make it with a few ingredients from your spice cupboard and pantry. We eat this once or twice a month at my house. If you have an onion (I usually do), chop it up and saute it in the margarine before adding the other ingredients.

Chili Mac

1/2 lb dried pasta, cooked
1/4 cup margarine
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chili beans in sauce (plain pinto beans work too)
1 T ground cumin
1 T chili powder (the blend, not straight-up red pepper)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside. In a saucepan, mix margarine, tomatoes, beans and spices and bring to a boil; add nutritional yeast, cooked pasta and stir. Remove from heat and serve.

Spicy Lemon Marinara

Is it dinnertime already? What's in the kitchen? Half a lemon, ruffly pasta, can of tomatoes. A couple nights ago I was too hungry to care if it would be weird... put enough sugar or salt in something and it'll turn out okay, right? Well, it was tangy, sweet and with just enough spice to warm me up. I bought a whole bag of lemons to keep experimenting. Enjoy!

Spicy Lemon Marinara

1 T olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb button mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 can petite-dice tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
2-3 tsp dried herbs (any combination of basil, thyme, rosemary, and/or oregano)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
a few shakes of red pepper flakes
salt to taste

Put oil in a large, shallow pan over medium-high heat, add onion and saute until fragrant and just starting to turn translucent (about 3 minutes), then add garlic and mushrooms. Cook another 3-5 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is soft and the mushrooms are cooked through. Stir in tomatoes, sugar, herbs, lemon juice, and pepper flakes. When it bubbles, add salt to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp), turn down the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes while you cook your pasta. Add water to thin the sauce, if needed. Serve over the hot, cooked pasta of your choice, with steamed asparagus or broccoli and garlic bread.