Celery Soup

Last week I made chicken salad and I had extra celery left over. I love celery, but there is only so much I can eat of it raw. I remembered when my parents were here in March my dad made a celery soup, so I decided to pull out the recipe. This is a GREAT recipe to use up the extra celery, so I don't end up throwing it away when it goes bad. I know it is over 100 degrees here right now, and hot soup does not sound the best, but it was delicious! You can always freeze to soup, and eat it when it gets cooler too! It is super simple to make, and REALLY healthy! And of course gluten free + dairy free!

Here is what you need!

Let the onion, celery + potatoes cook a bit

Add the broth and bring to a boil. Then cover, simmer and cook for  about 30 minutes

Puree the soup and enjoy!

Celery Soup

5 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 TBSP butter (I used my vegan Good Earth butter)
1 large onion, diced
1 large Idaho Potato, peeled and diced
1 bunch celery, trimmed, in 1/2 inch pieces (I used the leaves and everything)
1/4 TSP kosher salt
1/8 TSP white pepper (you can use black if you don't have white)
2 TBSP cream, optional (I used my almond milk and it was perfect + makes it dairy free)


Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and stir well to coat. Let the onion cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently then add the potato and celery. Stir frequently. Add the broth, salt and pepper. and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until celery is soft (about 30 minutes).


Puree the soup using a immersion blender (or food processor or blender) until smooth. If you use food processor or blender, do it in 2-3 batches. Enjoy!

xoxo

Meggan

Seafood Pesto Pasta

One of my favorite parts of summer is having a garden. I love just walking outside to pick what I need for dinner.  As we are trying to eat more organic, nothing is better than a home grown garden. I love the smell our garden produces especially as I am down in it picking our biggest tomato or picking fresh basil. One of my favorite things too is the smell basil leaves on your fingers. It is an aroma that will stay with you and of course I always want to make pesto when I smell it.

I feel that pesto is one of those staple summer foods. I ♥ pesto! I will put it on anything I can. I don't remember growing up with pesto, so I am not sure where my love for it began.  My first memory of pesto was actually at my Uncle Jeff's house when I was in middle school. We were over there for some family gathering and he had just made it. I remember watching him use the fresh basil from his garden and adding all of the ingredients.  I just remember how wonderful it smelled. Anything that smells good has to taste good too...right! I am sure my parent's made it when I was younger, but it is curious how our brains will tie something to a specific memory.

It is starting to get hot here in Arizona and pesto pasta just seemed like a perfect meal to make. I have a fantastic recipe from non other than my amazing MIL (mother-in-law). Pesto calls for Parmesan cheese, and since I cannot eat dairy I substituted it for my dairy free cheese. I use daiya cheese, and it is definitely the best I have found. I have found it at Sprouts and Whole Foods! It was fantastic! Bill had no idea until I told him ☺ which always is my test when I am cooking..."if Bill can't tell than it must be okay!"

I had a seafood medley (shrimp, scallops + calamari)  from Trader Joe's in my freezer ($5.99) and gluten free pasta in the cupboard. For our sides we had caprese salad (I don't have cheese on my salad) + zucchini all from our garden. This entire meal was gluten and dairy free!  We had one of my favorite Oregon wines too...Evolution from Sokol Blosser. Our entire meal (minus the wine) was less than $10 and we got 3 meals out of it! The wine doubled our meal price, but as my FIL (Father-in-Law) says "Life is too short to drink bad wine!"

Here is what you need!

mmm...i love pesto!

Pesto
1 cup tightly packed fresh basil (stems removed), washed and dried on paper towels
1/2 cup olive oil
3 TBSP freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I used my dairy free cheese)
2 TBSP pine nuts
3 small gloves of garlic
1/2 TSP salt or to taste
1/4 TSP ground white pepper


In the bowl of food processor, place in all ingredients. Pulse until well blended and smooth. 

Makes about 1 cup

Seafood Pasta

Cook pasta according to package.

Add olive oil to a saucepan. When warm, add seafood and cook 3-5 minutes or until opaque color. While cooking add salt + lemon pepper to taste.


Add pesto to pasta. DO NOT ADD ALL OF THE PESTO. Keep adding pesto in small doses and mix until all pasta is covered. Add seafood and mix. Enjoy!

xoxo

Meggan

Black Bean Quinoa Salad

Well I officially on summer break, so one of my goals is to blog more! I have tried some amazing recipes recently, and I need to share them with. My first recipe today is perfect for hot summer days!

With it being a 100 degrees today, I decided I wanted a nice cold salad for dinner tonight. This has become one of my favorite salads, and it can definitely be a complete meal. The best part is it's healthy, gluten free + dairy free! Quinoa can be expensive, so I recommend getting it at Costco. You will obviously get a lot, so if you have never had it before Trader Joe's had great price for organic quinoa in smaller box. All of the fruit, veggies and herbs were on sale, so I made this enter salad for less than $5. We will get at least 4 meals out it, so it is a VERY cost effective meal! 

The first time I saw this recipe it made me think of something I would take to a family potluck. As many of you know, my family is LARGE so for every family gathering everyone brings something to share. From pastas to salads, we never run out of food! I will have to make this next time I am in Oregon ♥

Black Bean Quinoa Salad

1 mango, peeled and diced small
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced small
1 cup thinly sliced scallions
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 TBSP canola oil (vegetable oil works too!)
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1/4 TSP salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled (about 3/4 cup raw)
1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1-2 finely diced jalapeno peppers (optional)


Mix everything together. Put in the refrigerator to cool completely + serve cold if possible. Enjoy!


xoxo

Meggan