Tortilla Soup

I cant express how much it means to me to see so many hits on my recipe blog each day from around the world and when people send me great recipes to share with others to try, I'm honored!! I love sharing great tasting and healthy recipes!!!

This is a great crockpot recipe!! I'm a huge soup lover and it's so hard to find Gluten free and dairy free soups out there that taste good.   This one is Gluten free and can be dairy free if you opt to leave the cheese and sour cream garnish off.  A friend of mine at work shared this recipe with me and it is full of veggies and so great for you!  Thanks Kate!  I hope ya'll enjoy this one!  Fall is quickly approaching here in the states and this one will be excellent for the cooler weather!

This one freezes and cuts in half beautifully if you’re just cooking for 1 – 2 people.  Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

28oz chicken broth (make sure you use a Gluten Free brand)

28oz diced tomatoes

28oz tomato sauce

1 or 2 cans black beans

Shredded cooked chicken (if desired, 2 breasts) – great use for leftovers

Olive oil to sauté:

1 large onion, chopped

3 jalapenos seeded and chopped (or leave the seeds, or substitute ½ - ¾ small can diced jalapenos if you want it spicy)

2 – 3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 zucchini, chopped

 2 TBSP ground cumin

1 TBSP oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

For garnish: (if/as desired)

Chopped avocado, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream

Broken tortilla chips (make sure they are 100% corn)

Directions:

Get out your crockpot!

Add broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce and black beans (rinsed and drained).

Saute onion, jalapenos, garlic, zucchini in a little olive oil, just to soften, then add to crockpot.

Season with cumin, oregano, salt & pepper.

Stir in chicken if desired (you can leave chicken out if you want).

Simmer on medium for 2 – 3 hours to blend the flavors.

Garnish as desired!

Three-Vegetable Penne with Tarragon-Basil Pesto

This has to be one of my all time favorite pasta dishes.   I found this one about a year ago form Rachel Ray and I fell in love with it!!  Pretty easy to make and it can be made with Gluten Free Pasta.  You can also add chicken to this dish if you would like. This one is great with a salad and garlic bread (for those of you who eat wheat). 

The pesto sauce you make with this recipe is really great - one of the better recipes I have had.  This one will serve 4.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 lb of penne rigate (ridged) pasta (or whatever Gluten Free Pasta you choose)
1/2 lb of asparagus, tough ends trimmed
1 small zucchini
1/4 lb thin green beans or regular green beans (stem ends trimmed)
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 cup fresh basil, about 20 leaves
1/2 cup fresh tarragon, leaves stripped from 10-12 stems
A handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
zest of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Course Black Pepper
1/3 cup olive oil

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.  Salt the water, add the pasta, and cook according to the directions on the package.  Cut the asparagus spears on an angle into 2-inch pieces.  Cut the zucchini into match sticks.  Cut the green beans on an angle into 2-inch pieces.  Add the vegetables to the pot with the pasta after the pasta has been cooking for about 5 minutes.  Boil the veggies and pasta together for 2 minutes. Do NOT overcook your veggies!

While the pasta is working, toast the pine nuts in a small dry skillet until golden, then cool.  Place the nuts, basil, tarragon, parsley, lemon zest, garlic, 1/2 cup cheese, and a little salt and pepper in a food processor.  Turn the processor on and stream in the olive oil until a thick sauce forms.

Scrape the pesto into a large, shallow serving dish.  Add a ladle of hot, starchy pasta water to the pesto.  Drain the pasta and veggies and immediately add them to the pesto.  Toss to coat the pasta and vegetables evenly.  Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with extra graded cheese.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Here in the States, it's Labor Day...so Happy Labor Day everybody!!  And what do I do on holiday when I'm off from work?  Yes, I cook :) 

My little girl brought home a book from her school library about Amelia Bedelia.  As my mom was reading this book out loud to my 2 kiddos, she read about all the things Amelia Bedelia does wrong...but the one thing she does right is make a fabulous lemon meringue pie....and I thought, it's been forever since I made a homemade lemon meringue pie!!

So here it is!  I make mine with a graham cracker crust.  If you are Gluten Free, they sell graham cracker crust mix in a box so you can make a Gluten Free pie shell!  Kinnikinnick makes a great one!

For all you non-gluten free folks, if you want to make your own graham cracker pie crust...I have a good recipe for you below or you can buy a premade graham cracker crust pie shell.

This one takes a little bit of time and is in the medium range of difficulty.  See below for the recipe and I hope you enjoy it!!

Ingredients:

Graham Cracker Crust (This one is not Gluten Free):

• 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers (about 8 whole crackers)
• 6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooked
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Lemon Filling:

• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 Tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

Meringue:

• 5 large egg white, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

Place oven rack in the center of the oven and heat to 375 F.

For the graham cracker crust:

1. Combine crushed graham crackers, melted butter, sugar and salt in a medium bowl and mix well.  Press mixture evenly into a 9-inch metal or ceramic pie plate and bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.

For the Lemon Filling:

1. Combine cornstarch, sugar, egg yolks, and lemon juice in a medium-size heavy saucepan.  Add water and whisk until blended; use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the pan to make sure mixture is well combined.

2. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture comes to a boil.  Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, add butter and lemon zest and stir vigorously until butter is completely melted and ingredients are thoroughly combined.

3. Pour mixture into graham-cracker crust, cover with a round of waxed paper or parchment paper, and let cool to room temperature.

For the Meringue:

1. Combine egg whites and salt in a large, clean bowl and whip with a hand mixer on high speed until soft peaks form.  Gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff, glossy peaks form.

2.Remove the paper from the pie, and spoon meringue over lemon filling.  Spread meringue with a spatula so that it covers the entire surface of the pie, sealing in the filling.  Be sure meringue meets the crust, otherwise it will shrink inward, exposing filling.

3.  Bake until meringue is golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature on wire rack, the refrigerate until filling is cold, at least 4 hours.  Slice and serve chilled.  Store in refrigerator.