The Three B's: Broccoli with Bacon Balsamic Sauce

This picture doesn't capture the gloss of the dressing, therefore it looks kinda dry, but it really wasn't. I promise.

When you've got a moment while waiting for your dinner to finish cooking, this is a really nice extra addition to the regular old steamed broccoli side dish. And let's face it, most nights I DO NOT have an extra minute to whip up something fancy for the broccoli while waiting for dinner to cook. I'm most definitely gonna take those minutes to fold a load of laundry or give the baby a bath or yell at the two older kids to stop trying to kill each other....you get the picture. Luck had it that the boys were busy terrorizing the neighbor kids on the other side of the fence outside and the baby was most-cooperatively napping. :)

What you need:

2 slices of bacon, diced (I cheated and used bacon bits)
1 small shallot, minced
1 ½ T. balsamic vinegar
1 T. fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp. Dijon mustard
3 T. olive oil
salt
pepper
1 to 1 ¼ lb. steamed broccoli or any other vegetable

How you make it:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp and golden, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a dish lined with paper towels, leaving the bacon fat in the pan. Add the shallot to the bacon fat and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1 T. of the vinegar and scrape the bottom of the pan with a spoon to dissolve the browned bits stuck to the pan bottom. Off the heat, stir in the remaining ½ T. vinegar, the lemon juice, and the mustard. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Season with ¼ tsp. salt and some fresh ground pepper to taste.
Drizzle sauce over the steamed veggies and sprinkle with the cooked bacon bits.

Since I used already cooked bacon bits this time, I just heated up some oil in the pan, started sautéing the bacon bits and the shallots together, and went from there, adding the vinegar and so on, without removing the bacon. Hope that makes sense. Sometimes you gotta improvise. And you could most certainly make this sauce ahead of time and just reheat if needed.

This is a great vinaigrette sauce for any steamed vegetable. Potatoes, cauliflower, carrots...whatever. Of course, it's got bacon in it. As, Jim Gaffigan says, "Bacon is the fairy dust of the food world". And he would be 100% correct in that statement.

Split Pea and Ham Soup (or Green Soup for the kids)

You gotta call it green soup for the kids. Somtimes I add meaningless extra adjectives to it too, like "Amazing green soup" or something like that, just for good measure. Those darn picky kids....anyway, I can understand why "split pea" doesn't exactly sound like something that makes them race to the table. But I love this soup so much. It's also great for gluten-free cooking, because there's no added thickeners to worry about. Peas are a natural starch. The ingredients are simple and easy. As is how you make it, however you do need to allow time for the peas to soak. Read on and I'll explain.

What you need:
3½ cups dried green split peas
1½ cups sliced onion
1 cup celery, chopped a bit
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed
1 cup diced carrots
1-2 cups diced ham

How you make it:

In large stock pot or Dutch oven, cover peas with 2 quarts cold water; bring to a boil and simmer gently 2 minutes; remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hour.

Add onion, celery, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and marjoram.  Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer (don’t boil) 1½ hours.  Stir occasionally.  If water has evaporated, you may need to add more water as the soup continues to cook.

Let mixture cool a bit, then purée using a blender.  Be careful, it will be somewhat hot!

Return mixture to pot, add meat and carrots.  Cook slowly, covered, 30 minutes or so – until carrots are tender.

Serves 6-8.

Note: Since you're puréeing the whole thing in the end, you don't need to worry about chopping the celery and onion too uniformly or very small. Any sort of chunks will do.

Serve with bread and fruit salad, if desired.

Grocery List for Last Week's Menu

Shopping List for Menu:

Shrimp Noodle Soup

Feta Mushroom Burgers

Tender-ist Pork Chops

Yummy Chicken and Tomato Avocado Salad

Taco Night

1/2-1 pound tail-on peeled and deveined medium shrimp
Frozen hamburger patties, or fresh ground beef/sirloin
1 pound pork chops
1-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
1 lb. ground beef

chicken broth, check ingredients for gluten-free
clam juice, 8 oz. bottle
lemon juice
dijon mustard
tomato sauce, 8 oz. can
chili garlic sauce or crushed red pepper
olive oil
canola oil

ginger
red bell pepper
yellow onion, 2
garlic
sugar snap peas
cilantro
Lime
mushrooms, 1 package
tomatoes, 2 medium or 1 package grape or cherry tomatoes
avocado, 3
lemons, 1-2
spinach leaves

garlic salt
pepper
thyme
cumin
chili powder
salt

Feta cheese

Hamburger buns
Taco shells
rice sticks (aka, Asian rice noodles)

Your crowd's fave taco toppings (cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, etc.)

Tomato Avocado Salad

Totally busted. Me. That's right. By the Mom Who Loves to Cook and Mr. Wonderful; both. The first, when she found out I had been totally short-cutting and just tossing this in store-bought italian dressing; and the latter, when I served this (the real way, as seen below) for dinner, and he couldn't believe how good it was and that I had been cheating by using lame-o italian dressing the other times. Now, all is well. I hope I have redeemed myself. And, I am sorry to all I may have offended in the family by not sticking to the best (and easy, so what was my problem??) recipe. Here you go. Make it, and be ready for your tastebuds to jump out of your mouth in jubilation.   

What you need:

2 large avocados
2 medium size, ripe tomatoes, diced or a large handful or two of grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
1-2 T. fresh lemon juice
2-3 T. canola or olive oil
garlic salt
fresh ground pepper, (it really is better with fresh ground, but I'm saddened to say, I've never splurged and bought a basic pepper grinder. Wow, that is truly sad.)

How you make it:

Peel and slice or dice avocado. Dice tomato. Toss with lemon juice and oil. Sprinkle to taste with garlic salt and pepper. Generously with both.

The end.
And let the record show that I regret my past salad faux-pas and vow to stick to what's best.

*Make it a meal: I think this would make a tasty meal by adding in some cooked, chilled, diced chicken, and cooked, chilled pasta noodles like bow-tie or fusilli. Oh, also some jarred artichoke hearts. Oh yeah.
My mother, the aforementioned, Mom Who Loves to Cook, loves it just as is, with a whole grain baguette from Panera. I admit, the former eater-of-gluten in me agrees.

Shrimp Noodle Soup (Spicy Shrimp Noodle Bowl, Cooking Light Magazine)

Brand new recipe here. Tried it for the first time tonight. And we were all in heaven! I can't believe how easy and quick it was. Even our oldest, who's only 8, had a second and third bowl of it. This is definitely going to be a new family favorite. It is considered spicy, but only as much as you use of the red chili flakes or chili sauce. Yes, it's another steal from Cooking Light magazine. They never disappoint. While it's not exactly the most inexpensive dish, (with the shrimp coming to about 8 bucks a pound, on sale) we all concurred that there was more than enough shrimp, and it could easily be made with ½ pound shrimp instead and still be plenty to go around. Of course, the gluten-free part of me loved that it wasn't a recipe specifically made to be GF, but was since it's made with traditional Asian rice noodles.

What you need: Don't be alarmed with all my little "notes" in italics. It really is fast and easy; I'm just wordy.


1 pound tail-on peeled and deveined medium shrimp (but like I said, could easily get away with half that.) It didn't specify raw or cooked. I went with the cooked.
1½ C. water
1 C. lower-sodium chicken broth, read labels for gluten-free
1 (8 oz.) bottle of clam juice ("CLAM JUICE??" you say? I admit, I'd never heard of, used, let alone PURCHASED such a thing. But apparently it is a must in these sort of dishes, and I am a believer now. This soup is amazing. I found the jar of this stuff in the aisle with the canned tuna. Up on a top shelf. It was cheap. $1.85)
2 (¼-inch-thick) slices of peeled ginger (ginger root is found in the produce aisle near the garlic, usually, I think.)
1 tsp. olive oil
¾ C. red bell pepper, thinly sliced 
¼ C. yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced (I used a press)
1/2 C. sugar snap peas (I couldn't find any bags of frozen sugar snap peas only; they seemed to only carry them in a "stir-fry" mix of them with carrots, onion, and mushrooms. I thought that sounded just wonderful for this soup, so I used that. It didn't disappoint to use those added veggies. YUM! So it was about a cup of total veggies.)
2 tsp. chili garlic sauce or ½ tsp. crushed red pepper (Warning! If you or those you are serving might be sensitive to heat/spice, I would HIGHLY recommend using half this amount. I used 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, and I admit, the broth still had quite a kick. I'm not sure I would have liked it as much with any more heat.)
¼ tsp. salt
3 ounces uncooked rice sticks (aka, Asian rice noodles, again, easy to find and cheap, found on the bottom shelf in the Asian food aisle.)
2 T. fresh cilantro leaves
Lime wedges, not pictured with ingredients, but we did use.


How you make it:


Remove shrimp tails; set shrimp aside. Combine shrimp tails, water, broth, clam juice, and ginger in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Strain broth mixture through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids. 


Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, yellow onion, and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Add reserved broth; bring to a simmer. Add shrimp, peas, chili garlic sauce (or crushed red pepper), salt, and noodles; cook 5 minutes or until noodles are done. 


Top each serving with cilantro and serve with lime wedges. Makes 4 servings.


Served with a green salad. The recipe noted a cucumber/radish salad recipe to go with this, which sounded awesome. I couldn't find a link, but I'll put it below. I like radishes, but seem to never have them or think to buy them. Guess that should go in our new garden this year...


Cucumber Salad: 
Combine 4 tsp. rice vinegar, 2 tsp. dark sesame oil, ¼ tsp. black pepper, and 1/8 tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Add 2 C. thinly sliced cucumber, ½ C. thinly sliced radishes, and 3 T. thinly sliced green onions; toss well to combine. 4 servings.

Grocery List for Last Week's Menu

1 new recipe and 3 repeats (we had a leftover night, a waffle night, and a date night for the other 3)

Shopping List for Menu:

Flippin' Omelets

Fajita Night!

Loaded Potato Soup

Roasted Chicken

eggs, 5-8

turkey or chicken legs (or any other pieces like thighs or breasts)

boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 2

cooked ham

3 bacon slices or bacon bits

potatoes, 6-12

lime

green pepper

onion, 2

tomato (optional for fajitas)

green onions

poultry seasoning

cumin

chili powder

garlic salt

oil

salt

pepper

olive oil

low sodium chicken broth

3 T. flour (GF all-purpose or rice flour for gluten-free)

milk

sour cream, reduced-fat

shredded cheddar cheese

tortillas, corn or flour. (corn of course, for gluten-free)

taco sauce and/or sour cream, (optional for fajitas)

Loaded Potato Soup

Now that I look at this again, I'm thinking, this might be my best "food photography" attempt yet!

I was reminded of a potato soup recipe I had from Cooking Light magazine, that I wanted to try because it was olive oil-based instead of butter. I wasn't sure how you make a creamy soup without producing the traditional base of a butter and flour roux. But you can. It's easy. And lower cal. And deliciously satisfying. Kids loved it. Without the "weird green things" of course. I would never try and "torture" them with such flavor enhanced goodness...

This shows doubled ingredients. Recipe as written below serves 4. We needed extra.

What you need:
4 red or any kind of potatoes
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 C. onions, chopped
1 ¼ C. low sodium chicken broth
3 T. flour (GF all-purpose or rice flour for gluten-free)
2 C. milk*, divided (recipe calls for 1%, which I used)
1/4 C. sour cream, reduced-fat
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 bacon slices, halved (I had bacon bits that I used instead)
1/3 C. shredded cheddar cheese
4 tsp. green onions, sliced thinly
*you can use rice milk or unsweetened almond/coconut milk as well.

How you make it:


If you don't use leftover baked potatoes: Wash and scrub potatoes. Pierce potatoes with a fork. Microwave on high 13 minutes or until tender. Cut in half; cool slightly.


While potatoes cook, heat oil in a saucepan or large stock pot over medium high heat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add broth. Combine flour and 1/2 C. milk. Add to pan with 1 ½ C. milk. Bring to boil, stirring often. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream, salt and pepper.


If you aren't using pre-cooked bacon bits: Arrange bacon on a paper towel on a microwave safe plate. Cover with a paper towel; microwave on high for 4 min. Crumble bacon. 


Discard potato skins. (I like some skins in the soup, so I kept half of them on.)
Coarsely mash potatoes into soup. Top with cheese, green onions, and bacon. 
4 servings at about 1 ¼ C. each.


Served with a green salad. And some crusty french bread would be wonderful too. But this woman wasn't that ambitious to bake up some gluten-free bread of her own this time. Truth be told, the starchiness of the potatoes was enough for me.