I'm baaaaaaack!

OK - so in the past week or so I've had to wrestle with Blogger to get my log in information back because it's been so long.... and when I was able to log in, I realized just how long it's been since I've blogged.  My last post was around Christmas in 2010.  Whoa.  In that time frame, I was in the midst of selling my townhouse and Stefan & I were buying a new house.  To say the least, it ended up being a very stressful sale and purchase transaction.  The entire move was very hard, and the whole process left me scarred for a little while... ha :)  Needless to say, blogging took a back seat and our world turned into one weekend project after another.  I'm not saying that the weekend projects have stopped... but I've been cooking a lot since the holidays and I realized how disappointed I was that I wasn't sharing some of the recipes.

Another trigger that brought me back into blogging is that my Mom was recently diagnosed as Celiac.  (Hi Mom, I know you're reading!!)  Poor Mom had a rough winter... back in March she started to get violently sick and spent some time in the hospital.  The doctors were unable to figure out what was causing her to be so sick... it was extremely frustrating.  They tested her for everything under the sun and never once considered that she could be Celiac, since her blood tests for Celiac Disease antibodies were coming back negative.  Once she started a strict gluten free diet, she started to get better... and now, 4 weeks later, she's feeling like her old self again.  Probably even better than her old self... and I couldn't be happier.  So part of what brought me back here is that I know Mom's reading, she likes my cooking ideas, and I want my 5 years of gluten free survival experience to help her and others like us.  You realize really quickly that gluten free cooking is not that hard - you need to use mostly fresh ingredients and there are occasionally some swap outs.  You also need to find stores and brands of prepared foods that you can trust.  But I've done all of that, and I've never once felt deprived in my eating.

So that's where I've been and where I'm going.  I hope that you'll follow along and take some of my ideas into your own kitchen.  Enjoy!

Soup's On!

In a quest to find healthy, one-pot meals that are both comforting and delicious, a clear winner is soup.  Even though we're getting into warmer, summer-like weather, it's been rainy, which makes soup slightly more appropriate!  Lately, my green obsession has been kale.  It's not a green that I grew up eating... in fact, I didn't really eat many greens or vegetables growing up.  My poor mother would rejoice when I ate a forkful of spinach!  Anyway, kale is one of those greens that holds up well in a soup because it doesn't fall apart and get mushy when cooled and reheated like spinach would.  A great combination that I've found is Italian sausage, kale and some type of bean.  Lentils are a great option, but I've found the combination of white beans and kale to be my favorite.  In an effort to make this soup as healthy as possible, I decided to use ground turkey breast to make a low fat turkey sausage.  Here's what you'll need:

Roasted Garlic, Turkey "Sausage", White Bean & Kale Soup

Turkey "Sausage"

• 1 lb. ground turkey breast (99% fat free)
• 2 tsp whole fennel seeds
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning (McCormick)
• 2 tsp black peppercorns
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp red pepper flake
• 1 T extra virgin olive oil

Soup

• 1 head of garlic, roasted (yes, the entire head of garlic)
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• I cup of diced pancetta (or bacon)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 3-4 ribs of celery, diced (including the leafy greans)
• 2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 2 T tomato0 paste
• 1 cup dry white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
• 1 quart, or 4 cups, low sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups of water
• 1 15 oz. can of white beans
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 pound kale greens, thinly sliced
• freshly grated whole nutmeg, to taste
• salt and pepper, to taste

First, you'll need to preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Take your head of garlic and slice the end off lengthwise.  Lay the head of garlic cut-side up on a sheet of foil and season with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Wrap the foil up in a small packet and toss it in the oven for approximately 40 minutes, when the garlic is roasted, soft and sweet.

In the meantime, take your sausage seasoning mixture - the fennel seed, Italian seasoning, black peppercorns, red pepper flake and salt - and grind it finely in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle.  Sprinkle the seasoning mixture and olive oil over the ground turkey breast meat and stir it together so the meat is evenly coated.  The "sausage" is done.

So to start the soup.... heat up a large cast iron pot and add the olive oil, over medium heat.  Drop the pancetta in the pot, and let it render out for a couple of minutes.  Once the pancetta darkens in color, crank up the heat to medium/high and add the turkey "sausage".  Allow it to brown on at least one side and break it up with a wooden spoon into bite-size pieces.  Once the turkey is substantially cooked through, add the onion, carrot, celery and fresh herbs.  Add salt and pepper to help sweat out the veggies.  Keep the veggies on medium/high heat for about 4-5 minutes.  Once your garlic is roasted and cooled slightly so you can handle it, squeeze out the roasted garlic cloves into the pot and add the tomato paste.  Smush the roasted garlic cloves and tomato paste with your spoon, and stir it into the mixture so it is evenly distributed and becomes fragrant.  Then add the white wine to deglaze the pot.  Scrap up the brown bits of goodness and allow the wine to cook out for a minute or so.  Add the quart of chicken stock and 2 cups of water, and some salt and pepper to taste (keep seasoning along the way).  Cut the lemon in half and juice the entire lemon into the soup.  Drop the halves of lemon into the soup to simmer.  Don't skip this step!  The lemon adds so much flavor to this soup!!  Drain and rinse the beans and add them to the soup.  Bring the soup up to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Add the thinly sliced kale in batches - season with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg on each layer, then stir the kale into the soup until it wilts down.  Once all of the kale is added, keep the soup at a simmer for about a half hour.

This soup is delicious on its own, or with some gluten free rolls or french bread on the side for dunking.  I've found that the two best ingredients to boost the flavor of any soup are lemon and nutmeg.  The lemon balances out the flavor to the broth and the nutmeg creates a slightly spicy warmth.  We just scooped out a bowl of soup and topped it with some grated parmigiano reggiano and black pepper.... and dinner was served!

It's delicious, low in fat, naturally gluten free and high in protein and vitamins.  This batch will make about 6-8 servings, so be ready to have plenty of leftovers for lunch.  Enjoy!