Vegetable Minestrone Soup

Soups are so comforting on a cold, wet, rainy day... and you will know what I mean when you live in a place like seattle :)
My daughter loves soups and end up getting one everytime we go to a restaurant..So I have always wanted to make her a soup and here's a starter..
Who doesn't like minestrone? Pretty much every likes it...Its healthy, hearty, filling and comforting..Now what more do you need in a food anyway?
I saw this episode of Ina make a winter minestrone soup and immediately wanted to make one..But as usual, I did not have most of the ingredients and waited next week until I could go shopping..
I have never made anything with butternet squash and I really loved it in the soup..
Here's the recipe for Vegetable Minestrone soup adapted from Ina's.

Ingredients:
French Baguette - 1, thinly sliced
Yellow Onion - 1 very large, diced

Carrots - 3 large, diced

Celery - 4 stalks, diced
Garlic - 5-6 cloves, crushed

Butternut squash - 1, diced

Cannelloni beans - 1 can

Tomatoes - 4 ripened/1 can, diced

Small Pasta - 1 cup (cook as per pkg directions)

Vegetable/Chicken stock - 7-8 cups
White wine - 1/2 cup (optional)

Dried thyme - 1/2 tsp

Dried basil - 1/2 tsp

Dried oregano - 1/4 tsp
Bay leaves - 2

Cayenne pepper - 1/4 tsp

Paprika - 1/4 tsp 

Black Pepper - 1 tsp

Salt - 1 Tbsp

Olive oil

For Pesto: 

Cilantro/Parsley/Basil leaves - 1 cup

Pine nuts - 2 Tbsp

Parmesan cheese - 1 Tbsp, grated

Olive oil - 2 Tbsp

To add chicken: (optional)

Chicken breast - 1 piece, diced

Cayenne pepper - 1/4 tsp

Paprika - 1/4 tsp 

All purpose seasoning - 1/2 tsp

Salt, to taste

Method:

Pesto:
Process all the ingredients from the list into a food processor and blend until coarse.

Garlic Bread: 

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees .
• Thinly slice the baguette to 1/2-1 inch thick pieces and line up on a cookie sheet and bake for about 7-8 minutes until slightly crispy. 
• Once the bread is out of the oven, cut the tip of a garlic clove and rub on each slice of the bread.

Minestrone Soup:

• Heat 1-2 Tbsps of oil in a large pot or pan and add all the vegetables - onions, celery, butternut squash, carrots, crushed garlic, basil, thyme, bay leaves, oregano and salt. Adding salt makes the veggies cook faster.
• Once the veggies are soft and cooked, add tomatoes, vegetable/chicken stock, pepper, cayenne and paprika, mix well and let it come to a boil.
• Once the liquid starts boiling, simmer and let it cook for about 25-30 minutes until it reduces down.
• Now add the spinach, pesto, cooked pasta, beans and white wine (if using) and let it cook for about 5 minutes until the spinach is cooked and shrinks to a dark green color.
• Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve with a garlic bread

Tips:

• You can peel and cut all the vegetables ahead of time. I did this one day in advance as this could eat up your time.
• You could always use any store bought pesto. I did not have pesto, so I made my own version.I used cilantro as I did not have other herbs. I would have used basil preferably, but was surprised that cilantro tasted just as good in the soup. 
• While toasting the bread, if you prefer it less crispy (like my husband), remove it earlier around 5/6 minutes or simply cut the baguette and dip into soup and enjoy.
• If the soup is too thick always feel free to add more stock and let the whole pot come to a boil.
• If you're adding chicken, mix the chicken well with all the spices and saute in a pan with olive oil until well cooked and add to the soup along with the pasta.

Eggs Cocotte

A healthy breakfast to get your veggies and eggs in! These can be totally customized with any kind of veggies or meat you have..

Ingredients:
Eggs: 4
Spinach, chopped -  1/2 cup
Onions, chopped - 1/2 cup
Garlic, grated - 4 cloves
Chilli Paste (like Sriracha) - 1/8 tsp
Milk - 2 Tbsp
Crushed Red Pepper - 1 tsp
Parmesan - 1/4 cup
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Divide the onions, spinach and garlic between the ramekins. Add salt, pepper, chilli paste in each and mix.
3. Add one egg in each ramekin and top with 1/2 Tbsp of milk in each.
4. Season with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and parmesan or gruyere cheese. 
5. Pop in the oven for about 6 mins for half cooked and 15 mins for fully cooked egg. 

You can top it with crumbled crispy bacon or chicken to get an extra crunch!

Easy chicken dish

Hungry for a mid afternoon snack or have no time for a perfect curry for your chapatis? Here's a curry type dish which is super easy and can be made in a few minutes. All that you need is some frozen chicken and frozen spinach..

Ingredients:
Frozen Chicken strips - 1 cup
Frozen spinach - 1/2 cup
curry powder - 2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salsa - 1/4 cup
Salt, to taste
Mozzarella cheese, Shredded - 1 Tbsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a small pan and add the chicken and spinach and saute until cooked and the spinach is all wilted.
2. Add salsa, chilly powder, curry powder and salt and cook for a few minutes.
3. Add the cheese and cook until the cheese melts and makes a gooey gravy like consistency.

Can be served with chapatis, rice or even as filler for your panini..Enjoy!
If you don't have salsa, you can try adding diced tomatoes as well..just let it cook for a few extra minutes. I bought the chicken strips from Costco which is my lifesaver for instant sandwiches, dishes and salads. Try and let me know how you made it..

Spinach Mixed Veg Rice

My toddler is becoming a very picky eater these days..and making her eat anything is a struggle..One of our good friends makes coriander rice during get togethers and my daughter gulped that without any fight..since then I've been trying different kinds of rice varieties for her and she likes those mixed rice varieties a lot, apparently. So I attempted making Spinach Mixed vegetable rice which was a success!!
I like trying new recipes and I sometimes google before I start cooking, for any ideas..And of course, I did find some recipes with Spinach mixed veg rice..but I like taking bits and pieces of several recipes and trying out my own!

Ingredients:

Mixed Vegetables, frozen - 1 lb
Onion - 1
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1tbsp
Chilli powder - 1tsp
Sambar powder - 3tsp
Jeera powder - 1tsp
Garam masala - 1tsp
Curry powder - 2 tsp
Sabji masala - 2tsp (optional)
Salt for taste
Spinach, frozen - 2 cups
Coconut, frozen shredded - 2/3 tbsp
Spices - 1 cardamom, 2 cinnamon sticks, 3 cloves, 1 anise
Basmati Rice - 2 1/2 cups

Method:

1. Cook rice in a rice cooker with a tbsp of oil and all the spices with 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 cups water depending on how well you want the rice to be cooked.
2. In a large pan, heat very little oil and add frozen spinach and blanch it until thawed and until the raw smell goes away.
3. Transfer spinach to a mixer or food processor and leave it to cool down. Add thawed frozen coconut to this and keep aside. Once cooled down, make a puree out of this.
4. In the same pan, heat 2tbsp of oil and add the cumin and onions. As soon as the onions are translucent, add ginger garlic paste and sauté until the raw smell goes away.
5. Add Mixed vegetables and let it cook with a covered lid for a few minutes in medium flame.
6. Add all the masalas - sambar powder, jeera powder, chill power, garam masala, curry powder, sabji masala, salt and cook until the vegetables are soft.
7. Add the spinach-coconut puree to the vegetables and sauté for a few more minutes.
8. Discard the spices from the rice and add the cooked rice to the vegetables and sauté for a few mins until well mixed.

Serve hot with raita or papad. I found this the best way to get my daughter to eat all the greens and vegetables. Anything processed or pureed, she won't have a choice to separate it out :)