Veggie Pot Pie

photo by sara tady ©

I made a vegetable soup a few weeks ago and froze about half.  This is sooo easy and will bring you back to your childhood.  All you have to do is heat up the soup, make a simple roux, and bake the flaky topping.  Virtually no prep and dinner will be on the table, or in my case, breakfast bar, in less than 30 minutes.  So simple and you'll feel like a pro!

Ingredients:

leftover soup- already cooked

5 tbsp of flour

4 tbsp of butter

1 1/2 cans of chicken stock

1 sheet of puff pastry

1/2 cup of cream or milk

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400.  

2) Unfold the puff pastry sheet. Trace the top of your serving dish with a knife, cutting through. (Save the excess!!!) Pop into the oven for 13 minutes or so.

3) In a non-stick skillet, make the roux using the above measurements.  

4) Mix in the leftover soup and the 1/2 cup of cream or milk.

5) Pour into serving dish and top with the flaky puff pastry. 

Bonus Dessert:
Cinnamon-Sugar Twists

photo by sara tady ©

Directions:

Cut the leftover pastry dough into 1 inch strips.  Brush with some melted butter, sprinkle on cinnamon, sugar and twist.  Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes.  You can bake these at the same time as your pot-pie topping!

Salmon Chowder with Garlic Bread

photo by sara tady ©

Happy Academy Awards night!  I love when there's something fun to watch on Sunday nights!  I made this chowder earlier today and now it's time to dig in while watching the stars walk the red carpet :)  This is super easy!  You could always sub in clams for a traditional clam chowder.  There's quite a few ingredients in this, but don't be too intimidated- they are all very affordable!

Ingredients:

2 boxes of Chicken Stock

3 chopped golden potatoes

3 cloves of chopped garlic

1 bag of frozen corn

1 large leek (or 2 small ones) (you can use 1 medium onion instead)

2 stalks of celery

2 salmon filets (enough to serve 2 adults)

1/2 of a small carton of Half and Half

1/2 stick of butter

1tbsp of red pepper flake

2 heaping tbsp of fresh, chopped dill

1-2 tbsp of chopped parsley

1 tbsp of chopped chive

4 spoonfuls of flour

1 bay leaf (optional)

olive oil 

salt and pepper

Directions:

1) Place salmon on a baking sheet, salt and pepper both sides. Place into a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

2) Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil- low to medium heat.  Drop in chopped leeks, celery, garlic, red pepper flake and 1 whole bay leaf.  Salt and pepper. Saute together until vegetables are soft.

3) Drop half stick of butter into pot.  Let melt.  Sprinkle 4 spoonfuls of flour on top of vegetables.  Whisk  everything together.  Continue to whisk every 10 seconds or so for the next 3 minutes.  

4) Slowly pour in about 1/4 of the vegetable stock.  Whisk vigorously until clumps are dissolved.  Add the rest of the box as well as the 2nd box.

5) Drop in the chopped potatoes. Put the lid on and turn the heat up.  Let the potatoes cook until they are fork tender.

6) Remove the bay leaf. 

7) Stir in Half and Half and the entire bag of corn. Reduce heat to low.

8) With a fork, carefully break the salmon into 1 inch bites.  Drop into the chowder.  Stir slowly.

9) Drop in chive, dill and parsley.

Garlic Bread

Toast a piece of artisan french baguette under the broiler.  As soon as you remove it, rub the open end of a garlic clove across the entire surface.  Drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle a little parsley on top.  That's it!  

Vegetable Soup

photo by sara tady ©

Brrrr!  The Blizzard of 2011 left me stranded inside today so I whipped up a big pot of soup with the vegetables I had on hand.  Here's what I used, but please, there are no limits on what you could come up with.

Ingredients:

1 Box of Chicken stock (I use Organic and Free Range)

2 potatoes, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 half yellow onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 large, peeled rutabaga (this came in my box of produce)

8 large leaves of Kale, roughly chopped

1 cup of whole wheat Rotini pasta

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1) chop all vegetables in roughly the same size- this is key for even cook times :)

2) coat the bottom of a large pot with a thin layer of olive oil, low-med heat

3) drop all vegetables into the pot and simmer, add a liberal amt of salt and pepper - 8-10 minutes

4) add the chicken stock to the pot, turn heat to med, put the lid on, let simmer for another 10 mins

5) in a separate pot, bring water to a boil, salt and drop in pasta- 8 minutes

6) after the noodles are cooked, strain, and drop into the soup

7) salt/ pepper to taste- feel free to drop in other dried herbs you have on your spice rack (think parsley, oregano, thyme, etc)