Quinoa and Spinach Soup

This is one of the best home-made soups I've ever tasted.


1 medium red onion, diced (1 1/4 cups)
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
10 oz. spinach leaves

Coat large saucepan with cooking spray, and heat over medium heat. Add onion, and saute 5 minutes, or until soft. Stir in broth, and 4 cups water, and bring to a boil. Add quinoa, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover, and simmer 15 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes and spinach leaves. Simmer 5 minutes, uncovered, or until spinach and quinoa are tender. Season with salt and pepper, if desired, and serve immediately.


Vegetarian Times, January 2009

Tangy Carrot-Apple Salad with Cider Vinaigrette

We have a subscription to the Vegetarian Times, and this recipe (and others) have come from there. It's a great resource for vegetarian and vegan dishes.

1 1/2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1 small clove garlic, minced (1/2 tsp)
2 cups grated carrots (I just made 1 cup)
1/2 red apple, diced (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
1 tsp agave nectar or honey
1 Tbs olive oil
2 cups baby spinach leaves

Combine cider vinegar and garlic in small bowl. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Stir together carrots, apple, green onions, parsley, and cranberries in large bowl. Whisk nectar or honey and oil into cider vinegar mixture. Add to carrot mixture; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Cover, and chill for 2 hours, or overnight. Serve on bed on spinach leaves. I decided to combine everything together before chilling, and it was fine.


Vegetarian Times, October 2010

Broccoli Noodle Bake

Very good, and very easy to make!

1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped (I used a small yellow onion)
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 or 4 ribs celery, chopped
2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
8 ounces spaghetti, uncooked
10-12 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated (about 2 cups), divided (I just bought the shredded cheese in a bag, even though I have a grater, and it worked fine)
2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/2 soup can milk
1 can (4 ounces) whole or sliced mushrooms, drained (the smallest can I could find was about 6 ounces, and it was fine)

Melt margarine in a large saucepan; saute onion, green pepper and celery. Put broccoli on top; cover and simmer 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain.

In a buttered 3-quart casserole dish, layer spaghetti, vegetable mixture and 3/4's of the cheese. In a small bowl, combine soup and milk; pour over mixture in dish. Spread mushrooms on top. Sprinkle remaining cheese on mushrooms. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 35-45 minutes, or until hot and bubbling.

Makes 10 servings (good for left-overs!)

Soups, Stews and Casseroles, various contributing editors, 1990

skillz? my husband haz them.

We bbq'd with some friends over the weekend. At the last minute, it turned into a kind of fancy burger party, and we were responsible for bringing burger toppings. the husband and I both decided to make some kind of relish or chutney. It wasn't a contest or anything, of course it wasn't. ;) After much consultation of cookbooks and the interwebs I made a tomato based relish, and my other half made a mango based salsa type thing.

Tomato Burger Relish
3 cups chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup minced green pepper
1/2 cup white vinegar
heaping 1/4 cup sugar
salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a shallow bowl and refridgerate at least once hour. taste and add more sugar and or salt as needed.

Mango Salsa
1 Mango, peeled and diced small
about 1/4 cup minced sweet pepper
pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 cup pineapple, chopped small
garlic powder to taste
2 green onions, minced
1 tbsp oil
1-2 tbsp lime juice
salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together, refridgerate at least one hour. Taste and season with salt, garlic and red pepper flakes to taste.


In case you can't figure it out from the vinegar to sugar ratio in the tomato recipe, the tomato burger relish was an epic fail. after multiple attempts to make it taste like something that wasn't vinegar, I ended up not even taking it to the BBQ. It's still sitting in my fridge, and I am very afraid of it.

the mango salsa however, was such a success we were using it as a salad topping, and our friends kept the leftovers.

my first Robin Hobb

I just picked up Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb, and I'm about 100 pages in. I don't usually read high fantasy, and a title with the word Assassin in it? really? yuck.

anyways, the story follow Fitz, whose about 6 years old at the beginning. He's the illigimate child of the eldest prince of the realm. 20 pages in I felt the writing was just OK. After recognizing his bastard, the prince steps down and retires to the country. The king takes a liking to his grandson, and brings the boy to the castle where he is educated in reading, writing, numbers, horses, swordplay, and how to kill people. If you were a shrewd king (and he is), why would you have your illegitimate trained in the art of assassination? Unless perhaps, umm, you wanted to have someone killed? a ha! that happens around page 90, and the novel suddenly takes a turn for the fascinating.

So we shall see what happens!

some new reviews. . .

woohoo! New reviews up!

Neal Stephenson's Zodiac - this book had me laughing, running scared, and cheering for the "terrorists" to win.

Ted Chiang's latest novella The Lifecycle of Software Objects - This could double as a parenting book.


other than that, I've been in a major cooking rut lately. Maybe it's the crazy hot weather? been doing lots of salads, lots of rice and beans, lots of fresh cold veggies chopped and thrown with some pasta.

drooling fan girl.

I'm trying to write an updated review of one of my favorite books of all time.  It was written in the last 5 years or so, and I've probably read it half a dozen times. In an accidental fit of over-caffeination I have e-mailed the author (and got a response!), google mapped him, stalked him via livejournal and facebook. This book turned me in a drooling fan girl.  This book is theraputic.  When i'm feeling depressed, or down, or scared, or anxious, I pick it up and I feel better.  The rampant swear words make me giggle.  it is pure unadulterated FUN.

this book is full of con-jobs, thieves, violence, weapons, scary people, scarier people, revenge, manic sharks (without the lazer beams attached to their heads), and some more con jobs and scary people. And there is a sequel which has plenty more con jobs, violence, liars, thieves, and swear words.

and I find it theraputic. What the hell does that say about my psyche?  and how do I write this review without sounding like a drooling fangirl??