My Aunt Mary sent me a lovely photo and accompanying recipe for ribollita, an Italian vegetable bread soup. Knowing my great love for soups, I had to post the recipe! Mary used a recipe from Ina Garten, found here.

Her changes:

1.  I used 2-15 oz cans of cannellini beans instead of cooking the beans.  You still need to drain and rinse the canned beans but that’s much faster than soaking beans overnight and cooking for one hour.
2.  I used fire roasted canned tomatoes.  I use these in all recipes calling for canned tomatoes - much more flavor.
3.  I used only 1/2 Tbl of salt when cooking the vegetables, allowing me to add more salt at the end if needed.
4.  I used a whole grain rustic loaf instead of sourdough.  I thought this would be healthier and added additional flavor.
5.  Because I did not cook the beans, I used chicken stock to puree half the beans.  I also had to add 8 cups of stock to the soup since I did not have any bean cooking liquid.
6.  I removed the crusts on only half the bread.  The half without crusts I placed in the soup per the recipe.  The cubes with crusts I made into croutons and placed on the soup when serving.  To make croutons, place bread cubes on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Season with salt or garlic salt and toast in a 400 deg oven for 7-10 minutes, stirring halfway through.  Keep an eye on the croutons because they can burn easily.

She suggests kale chips as a crunchy topping for the soup. Brilliant idea!

It should come as no surprise to anyone that my favorite part of visiting a new city is taste-testing all the food. I love everything about going out to eat: the ambiance, being waited on, getting to try a little bit of everyone’s dish, etc. Obviously, I got to enjoy my favorite hobby many times while vacationing in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. Here are some of the highlights:

Authentic Greek salad from a place in Ft. Lauderdale called Greek Garden (I think!). I love this kind of Greek salad (no lettuce, clear dressing, rather than creamy, big chunks of feta rather than little crumbles). This was probably the best Greek salad I’ve ever had. This place was the real deal! For my main meal, I got chicken stuffed with spinach and feta (and some kind of cream sauce on top).

It came with flavorful green beans and rice.

Kilwin’s ice cream while wandering around in the warm sun. Kilwin’s actually started in Michigan, so I can pretty much get it whenever I want, but it’s always a treat!

Linguine with clams, potatoes, and cherry tomatoes at an Italian bistro in Miami. We also had a glass or two of Pinot Noir. I loved dining outside under the heat lamps (because it wasn’t HOT hot yet). I actually got sort of obsessed with the heat lamps, if you ask my boyfriend. Speaking of which, here we are before a night out:

You can’t really see, but he was rocking the white shoes!

For whatever reason, when it starts to get warm, I crave slurpees like no one’s biz. And since we were on vacation, I didn’t hesitate to indulge. The classic Coke flavor is the best.

I also dined at more than my fair share of chains (because my boyfriend loooves some of the ones we don’t have in Michi, like Cheesecake Factory and Houston’s). Though I can’t say the food is bad, I know it’s not unique and not good for me. But there is one chain in Florida that I love! You’ll find out what it is tomorrow on More Than Mary.

My lovely mama celebrated her 55th birthday this past Sunday. She is an amazing woman, and someone with a healthy appreciation of delicious (yet nutritious) food. The following photos, from her birthday brunch, are proof that you can celebrate in style, while keeping it relatively healthy. This kind of food will help you have many more birthdays!

Brunch apps: dried fruit and nut trail mix, chocolate-covered dried fruit. My mom decoupaged the pattern on that table!

The set up. She invited 20 people (all important women in her life) to help her celebrate.

On the menu: three different kinds of frittata, made by my dad. 1) Spinach, feta, and dill (vegetarian); 2) Broccoli, gruyere, apple-smoked bacon; 3) Roasted root vegetable (vegan). My mom wanted to be inclusive of all types of eaters!

My sister and I made Gypsy Soup from a Moosewood cookbook. I can’t publish the exact recipe here, but it had sweet potato, chick peas, onion, celery, red bell pepper, and lots of yummy Spanish-style spices. It was fab (if I do say so myself).

My mom made a white bean turkey chili. I love this stuff. So good on a cold winter day.

Caesar salad made by my dad. He made the dressing and the croutons from scratch.

For dessert, the best cupcakes I’ve ever had. There were three kinds: banana chocolate chip with chocolate frosting, banana chocolate chip with butter cream frosting, and mint chocolate with chocolate frosting.

My parents have two cats, both named after spices. This is Basil (the other one is Rosemary, or Rosie for short).

My plate… Beautiful food for a beautiful day!

Reader Wendy says she tries to make the week days count, since the weekends tend to bring more celebratory eating. She seems to love Trader Joe’s as much as I do. Her day in food and comments (my comments in italics):

Breakfast: Steel cut oats (love me some steel cut oaties!) with blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. I added some flax seed meal as well. Sometimes I add a banana which is really yummy; Lipton’s Green Tea with Citrus. (This green tea doesn’t seem as “earthy” as others.) I had about 3 cups of green tea today. It was cold in the office! It’s always cold in mine, too.

Mid-morning snack: Pear

Lunch: Veggie burrito (beans, rice and cheese) from Trader Joe’s (it tastes a lot better than it photographs); Salad with feta, cucumbers, red pepper, cherry tomatoes topped with balsamic vinaigrette from TJs; Chocolate bar from TJs. Chocolate rounds out many meals for me, so these 100-calorie bars are great!

Afternoon snack: Orange; Cashews, almonds and cranberries (TJ’s of course)

Dinner: Dinner was random as I am moving next week and trying to use up whatever I have. I love sauteing spinach in olive oil, garlic and slivered almonds. It’s quick and a great way to use up spinach that is wilting; Leftover roasted red peppers and red onions; Black beans with corn and salsa; Glass of skim milk So many pretty vegetables!

Thanks, Wendy! Your day in food looks delish.

Oh, I just love pizza. Really any kind will do, but this one was particularly delicious (if I do say so myself). I dreamed this one up when I realized I had a ton of leftover quality BBQ sauce from my BBQ Baked Beans & Sausage. I found some mango chicken sausage at Trader Joe’s (where else?) that I thought would go perfectly with the BBQ sauce, and a dream became reality. Don’t be scared to dream, guys.

I spread pre-made TJ’s whole wheat crust over a square baking sheet, and then added a thin layer of BBQ sauce. After that, I added mozzarella cheese, a ton of spinach, orange bell pepper (this added a mango color!), and some red onion. Last but not least, I added the chicken sausage. Before cooking:

After:

Not much different. Perhaps I went a little crazy with the toppings? No, never. Though my pizza did start to look a little bit like salad. Um, so my sister just informed me that I totally did it backwards. The toppings go first, then the cheesed. WHOOPS. Still yummy.

A bit messy, but oh so worth it. If I made this again, I would be careful to only use enough BBQ sauce to barely wet the dough. It got a little sweet for my taste. Another way to temper the sweetness would be to combine a bit of BBQ sauce with some marinara.

Homemade pizzas are so easy and tasty! Do you know what else is tasty? My sis’s little kittens, Charlie and Olive.

How adorable! But I guess I can barely call them kittens anymore. Sad face.

Another winner from Eating Well! Get the recipe here. I’m a fan of baked beans, and this dish tasted exactly like beefed up baked beans. You could easily leave out the sausage to make it vegetarian since beans have plenty of protein on their own. Here’s the profesh version:

I made two small changes: I only had two chicken sausages on hand, and I added a shallot because we had them (and when are shallots not a good addition to a dish?).

I used Lum Taylor’s Riverboat Style BBQ Sauce. My sis did the grocery shopping this week, and I asked her to find a BBQ sauce without HFCS or other weird ingredients. She reported that it was pretty hard to find one where the first or second ingredient wasn’t high fructose corn syrup (and YES, HFCS IS problematic!). Ugh. She did well with this one, even though it does contain a small amount of corn syrup (as part of the Worcestershire sauce). Check out the ingredients:

Nothing weird! Well, except anchovies, but only because I’ve never heard of putting anchovies in BBQ sauce. But it tasted fab!

This recipe was filling and tasted like a classic comfort food. When they say it only takes 30 minutes, they mean it. To make it into a bigger feast, I support Eating Well’s recommendation to serve it with coleslaw. I recommend a mayo-less firecracker slaw like this one.

The new decade looks promising for us foodies.

maryrambin:

I already posted some predictions from Bon Appétit, but if I could predict the top ten food trends of 2010 (especially as they relate to nutrition), here’s what I’d pick.

—By Nutritionista

1. Real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. 2009 was all “is he or isn’t he?” in terms of corn syrup’s real threat. But with news that some corn syrup-producing plants are also producing a less benevolent byproduct (mercury), I’m thinking manufacturers are going to be switching over to another sweetener. PepsiCo has already done this with their “throwback” line of drinks (made with real sugar). I’ve tasted the throwback Pepsi and actually prefer it, though I’m not a pop drinker to begin with.

2. Chia is the new flax. Flaxseed, though still a nutritional powerhouse, will be overthrown by new kid on the block chia. Understandably so. Chia seeds have 11g of fiber and 4g of protein per ounce, and they’re just as versatile as their flaxy friend.

3. Cutting way back on meat. Like I’ve mentioned before, as meat manufacturers’ practices become more transparent, people will start reevaluating their need for meat. Vegetarian proteins, like beans, will start becoming the star ingredient.

4. Local over organic. Though both are and will continue to be important for many people, buying local is starting to be emphasized over buying organic.

5. Rejection of “diet” foods. People are no longer fooled by the promise of “low fat” and “low sugar.” They want real food that tastes great but won’t give them a heart attack. We’ve seen the evidence on artificial sweetener already.

6. Healthy fast food. Everybody’s doing it. Have you guys seen the commercials for Taco Bell’s Drive-Thru Diet (aka, the “eat fewer calories and you’ll lose weight, you morons” diet)? However they can swing it, fast food chains will continue to try and jump on the health bandwagon.

7. Paying more for higher quality food. This goes along with #3 and 4. People are willing to shell out more dough if it means their food will be pumped with fewer hormones and chemicals.

8. DIY produce. I know many people whose goal for 2010 is to start their own veggie garden. Community urban gardens are also rising in popularity. If you want to start your own, check out the five must-have books for urban gardeners.

9. Let’s do potluck. Instead of fancy-pants dinners, people are trying to cook more. That’s a great thing! Expect to get invited to potlucks instead of restaurants for celebrations.

10. Roasting every vegetable in sight. From kale chips to eggplant bacon, people are always creating new and delicious things with vegetables.

I’ve had so many delicious meals this year. This list seems to barely scratch the surface. For anyone who thinks I only eat kale chips and tofu, know that my life is full of delicious, nutritious (and some less-than-nutritious) food. This new year, I hope you can eat, drink, and be merry. In no particular order:

1. My pre-half marathon meal at Zingerman’s Roadhouse (best part? The doughnut sundae!).
   
2. Dinner at Zinc with my man (Zinc no longer exists… so sad).
   
3. My and Lin-Chi’s delicious dumpling soup.
   
4. My 25th birthday dinner: steak au poivre, mashed potatoes, green beans with crispy fried onions, and banana pudding for dessert (all homemade).
5. My dad’s Thai dinner.
   
6. Polenta pizza.
   
   
7. Spiced Pumpkin Glo Bites during Vegan Week.
   
8. Real Deal Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls (another one by my dad).
   
9. And of course, we can’t leave out banana soft serve.