Hearty mix of flavors and the arrival of company--this veggie soup is synonymous with both

Company arrival and the preparation of Easy Vegetable Soup--they seem to accompany each other like the moon and the stars.

That's how I first got onto this delightful and welcome soup, which bespeaks of comfort food and health and hearty flavors. I was getting ready for company--not just any company, but the very first visit of my birthfamily to Texas. This happened more than 30 years ago, when I had the good fortune to locate my birthmother and her husband, who wanted to travel to see us. They brought with them my birth sister and her fiance. What an amazing time we had! Although this visit happened in the middle of summer, this most fall-like dish was a joyful accompaniment and always will be remembered for that momentous time.

Now my kitchen's the scene of much busy hubbub as we anticipate another red-letter visit--the arrival of our kids from Arizona to meet our newest family member, that sweet grandson who was born in Texas just a few weeks ago. Three little cousins, all under 5, will have their first chance to play. Into the kettle on the stove again go the familiar ingredients for this scrumptious dish, which I want to have on hand to welcome our guests. Healthy, soothing vegetable soup seems to be a great first meal to serve once they arrive from their plane flight.

For the frozen veggies in the recipe, I rely on an airtight plastic bowl I keep in my freezer. After a meal, if I have any vegetable leftovers, I scoop them into the bowl and freeze them. When I'm preparing Easy Vegetable Soup, I already have my frozen veggies collected for it--a great way to recycle.

My hands can hardly grasp the utensils because I'm so jittery from excitement, but somehow I manage to get the dish put together and put away for our welcome time a few days hence. At least I can relax in knowing that a healthy dinner already is prepared and that I won't have to spend precious family moments slaving away in the kitchen over a meal. Thanks to Easy Vegetable Soup, a most healthy and colorful one awaits!

Easy Vegetable Soup

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey

1 cup chopped onion

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup sliced carrots

1 cup sliced celery

1/4 cup uncooked regular rice

2 (16-ounce) cans stewed tomatoes

3 1/2 cups water

5 beef bouillon cubes

1 tablespoon parsley flakes

1 teaspoon salt (I use salt substitute)

1/4 teaspoon basil

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, unthawed

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can low-sodium tomato soup

Cook ground beef or turkey; drain fat. Add all ingredients except frozen vegetables and tomato soup. Cook covered for 40 minutes. Add frozen vegetables and tomato soup. Cook additional 10 minutes. Serves 10-12.

Apples give winter squash extra ooomph in this fall veggie combination

Hubby commented that our neighborhood grocery had winter squash on sale.

Winter squash? Much as I loved preparing all varieties of garden-grown veggies--and winter squash definitely would help me segue into a new season--winter squash was not among my repertoire. The rippledy, tough skin always seemed too challenging to peel. Furthermore, my source for unusual recipes, Celebrating a Healthy Harvest, was silent where winter squash was concerned.

I didn't peruse far enough. Under the "apples" category in the aforementioned booklet, lo and behold was a combination of roasted apples and winter squash that cooked both in the oven and made provision for the squash's tough outside (cut it in chunks and boil it briefly so the skin peels right off). The honey drizzled over it before cooking combines with the apples' natural sweetness to rub off on the squash.

What a great side dish using a veggie I don't normally cook! What made the dish even better was drizzling the tiniest amount of honey over the warm vegetable mixture! Now I'm headed down the fall road (since Wednesday's the first official day of autumn) for sure!

Roasted Apples & Winter Squash

3 firm apples

1 pound winter squash

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt (I used salt substitute)

1 teaspoon honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees; lightly grease a baking sheet. Peel squash and remove the seeds. Cut into 1-inch chunks. (You may need to cut squash into chunks and boil for about five minutes to enable the skin to be peeled more easily.) In a bowl drizzle oil over squash and mix to spread oil evenly. Sprinkle with salt. Pour onto prepared baking sheet. Cut apples into quarters and remove stem and core. In a bowl sprinkle apple slices with lemon juice; stir to spread lemon juice evenly. Pour onto baking sheet as you combine the apples with the squash. Bake for 60 minutes; stir every 20 minutes (may cut cooking time to 45 minutes if squash already is tender. Squash is done when a fork can be easily inserted into it.) Makes 4-5 servings.

Out-of-order watermelon patch continues to inspire creative use, such as this Melon Salsa

Back to that watermelon again--that out-of-order surprise that cropped up, not in the midst of summer but just as fall was arriving. We're out of picnic season; July 4th celebrations have passed. Watermelon-seed-spitting contests don't accompany fall festivals and Halloween carnivals. Yet here we are with a fall bumper crop of a summer wonder.

In a treasure-hunt for watermelon recipes, I hit the jackpot with Melon Salsa. A more oddball combination of ingredients I've never seen (I know I say that every time, but read this list and tell me if I'm not correct at the oddity of it), but Melon Salsa was a true winner.

It took a cup of our watermelon, finely chopped, along with cantaloupe, onion, mint, and . . . cucumber? Then jalapeno?

The recipe (from "Celebrating a Healthy Harvest"--my dependable source for the healthy but offbeat) called for letting the melange chill for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors absorb into each other, but I was fortunate to be able to let it meld for 24 hours. By the next evening when we sat down to our meal of homemade chicken nuggets and piled the salsa onto our plates, the flavors were as though they had been joined at the hip forever. Outstanding!

The recipe for Melon Salsa suggests that it be served atop chicken or fish. The chicken I had on hand happened to be nuggets, which I was preparing in advance for the visit of grandkids a few days from now, but I've saved some behind to use atop baked salmon for tonight's meal. Or it could be a salad served by itself and not as a relish or condiment.

Beautiful, colorful, unusual . . . you'll never see or taste anything quite like Melon Salsa. Thank you, watermelon patch, for arriving out-of-order and for giving us a reason to search out melon recipes and to avoid relying on the obvious usage.

Melon Salsa

1 cup watermelon, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 cup cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1/4 cup onion, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh mint or cilantro, chopped

1/2 to 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped, or hot sauce to taste

1/4 cup lime juice or lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

In a medium-sized bowl stir together all ingredients. Taste and season with more lemon or lime juice or honey, if desired. Add salt and pepper if desired. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes. Serve over grilled or broiled fish or chicken. Makes 5 1/2-cup servings.

Quick apple-sausage skillet meal brings on healthy flavors of the autumn harvest

Let's get those apple recipes in high gear. More and more days have a fall tinge to them. Sure, the temps here in Texas continue to be in the summer category, but the rain has broken the drought. After last night's rain shower, as we stepped outside Hubby remarked, "A fall evening almost." And the dinner in our skillet was a perfect accompaniment.

Prevention magazine named them this month's "superfood" and notes that from September through November apples are at their flavor- and nutrition-packed peak. It tells us that apples pack a wallop of vitamin C and cancer-fighting antioxidants as well as more fiber than a bowl of bran cereal--for less than 100 calories each.

Pair apples (today's featured recipe recommends Granny Smith or Idared for their tartness) with sausage and maple syrup and you have a meal that's great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

When Hubby and I dined on this "breakfast for dinner" meal, we accompanied it with toast and Peach Preserves (made from our orchard's peach trees and mentioned in an earlier blog this summer.)

And talk about quick! Apple-Sausage Saute was on the table in the blink of an eye. Love it, love it, love it!

No wonder Hubby sensed fall in the air. We can live with a few more weeks of those steamy Texas high temps as long as we cling to that promise; Apple-Sausage Saute helps a bunch.

Apple-Sausage Saute

4 teaspoons olive oil

1 pound precooked turkey sausages, cut into 1/2-inch diagonal slices

4 medium tart apples (such as Granny Smith or Idared), peeled, quartered, and cut into 1/2-inch wedges

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup

Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add sausage and cook, turning often, until lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Remove from pan. Add remaining 2 teaspoons oil to pan. Put in apple, pepper, and thyme and drizzle with syrup. Cook, tossing often, until tender, 12 to 14 minutes. Return sausage to pan and toss with apple to heat through. Makes 4 servings.

This "odd-couple" pairing of tomato and watermelon draws superlatives

As fall as apples and pumpkins and acorn squash and . . . watermelon?

Huge, juicy, ripe watermelons hardly seem as though they are similies for autumn. Who ever saw a watermelon used in a Thanksgiving cornucopia?

Yet that's exactly what our fall garden is producing right now. About a month ago Hubby examined some vines twining around the spent tomato bushes he was about to hack out to make room for his fall plantings. Hiding underneath the curls and twists were some baby watermelons--possibly 10 or 11 of them. At this late date? We'd never grown watermelons before. Planted them, sure, but to no avail.

Hubby remarked that if these happened to produce, which he doubted would happen, this would represent the first time since his childhood that he'd been able to grow watermelons.

Then when the melons did begin to burgeon, more skepticism reigned. Would they actually ever ripen? Would they rot out first? Tenderly, under each of the promising ones, he installed some pieces of wood to keep the moisture away. Even during our recent monsoons the melons held. At least four of them approached the picking stage. But would they be any good? Hubby wondered as the moment of truth arrived.

Cameras flashed at the proud instant in which he actually toted his (well, his and God's) handiwork, a sizable, green-striped melon, into the kitchen and plunked the knife down into it to split it apart. Still doubtful it would taste worth anything, Hubby took the first exploratory bite. A smile of pride slowly crept over every molecule in his face.

"It is good," he pronounced with wonder in his voice. He then kept sampling and sampling.

For this magic moment I had saved just the perfect recipe. The August 2010 issue of Prevention magazine featured Tomato Watermelon Salad. This "Odd Couple" pairing--tomatoes and watermelon, along with fresh mint and pistachios--held a huge fascination for me since I first read it. Tomatoes and watermelon? Oh, well, we're always being reminded that the tomato indeed is a fruit. Truthfully, once this salad was prepared and tossed, one hardly could tell one red bite from another.

"I've said it before, but I mean it this time," Hubby pontificated as he savored. "This is absolutely the best salad I've ever tasted." (I think its containing his home-grown watermelon had something to do with his effusiveness.)

Still about five promising melons remain in the garden. At this rate we'll still be dining on them as we sing "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town."

Tomato Watermelon Salad

4 cups coarsely chopped tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)

2 cups coarsely chopped seedless watermelon

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon alt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1/4 cup chopped pistachios

1 avocado, peeled, halved, seed removed, and sliced into 1/2-inch chunks (optional)

In a serving bowl combine chopped tomatoes and chopped watermelon. Toss with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and mint. Stir in avocado, if desired. Top with pistachios. Serves 4.

Apples make delightful, healthy addition to fall-like Carrot Salad

No coincidence that my spotting a clever new recipe for Carrot Salad, a staple I enjoyed in my childhood, and frequent drives past the setting for that enjoyment--the Casa Linda Shopping Center in Dallas--occurred within the same week.

Hubby and I motored by this east Dallas treasure--in my growing-up days known as Casa Linda Plaza and once home of the revered Wyatt's Cafeteria--on the way to the Dallas hospital which housed our newborn grandbaby.

No, August, did not turn out to be Baby Month as we expected. That little guy, with a mind of his own, must have decided that August was just too hot and that he'd wait until September, that great fall harbinger, to make his entrance.

But once September swept in, Precious Grandboy did, too. As Hubby and I blitzed past Casa Linda (now home of the revitalized Highland Park Cafeteria, a successor to the beloved Wyatt's of former day) to get to our many hospital visits, I again recalled to Hubby the story of my dining on carrot salad there so often that my hair could have turned orange.

Lo and behold, what should appear before me that same week but a delightful new recipe for Carrot Salad--not mimicking the cafeteria legend but an enjoyable one nevertheless. I was drawn to this recipe, featured in my "Celebrating a Healthy Harvest" cookbook from the Chickasaw Nation, because it featured grated apples along with the standard carrots and cabbage. Resembling coleslaw, on preparation this dish immediately was tasty but became even more delectable after it marinated for about eight hours.

Apple days and more apple days are ahead of us. (What says autumn--especially September--more appropriately than does a shiny red apple?) My apple recipes already are getting a dusting off as I shelve my summer recipe binder and replace it with the one that says "fall".

Besides apple crisp and apple cobbler and some of the more expected apple-based menu items, I was happy to find apples in this most unexpected place--"healthening" up Carrot Salad.

Carrot Salad

2 red delicious apples, grated

1 lemon, juiced

1/2 pound carrots, raw, shredded

8 cups cabbage, shredded

Dressing:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon mustard

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

salt and pepper

Put the oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, honey, and oregano in a screw-top jar. In a large bowl sprinkle the grated apples with the lemon juice; toss to coat. Add carrot and cabbage; mix thoroughly. Shake the dressing, pour over the salad, and toss well. Chill and serve. Makes 4-6 servings.

Banana pepper crop gets left out but ultimately inspires great chicken-salad dish

I asked Hubby whether our summer garden had grown anything that I had not blogged upon, or had I covered all my bases? In a very hurt tone he quickly pointed out that I had written not a single syllable about our banana pepper crop--first-timers to our garden this year.

That prompted me to dredge up this recipe for Parisian Chicken Salad, in which banana peppers were star attractions. Once they sampled it, even some family members not big on bragging about chicken salad dishes were begging for the recipe for this healthy, attractive combination.

Our banana peppers showed up in the garden quite by accident. Hubby, thinking he was buying regular green pepper and jalapeno pepper plants, unsuspectingly slipped a banana pepper one into the soil. We were surprised when it began appearing but thought about the banana peppers we often request when we get our subs custom-made at restaurants such as Subway. We thought we'd have fun growing our own.

Like my French Cabbage recipe that appeared in this blog several months back, I'm not sure why this chicken salad has "Parisian" in the title, but we're thankful for the Better Homes and Gardens website for originally supplying it. Like many others, for several years it's hung around my summer recipe binder waiting to be prepared.

I'm grateful to our unexpected but appreciated crop of banana peppers for giving me excuse to try Parisian Chicken Salad. Like most of us it just gets better with age. The longer the chicken can soak up the marinade (either overnight or at least 8 hours), the more flavorful the end result.

Parisian Chicken Salad

4 medium skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)

2 teaspoons finely shredded orange peel

1/3 cup orange juice (juice for this addition as well as for the one below may be obtained from juice generated when you section the orange in the step below)

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons honey

1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme, crushed

1/2 teaspoon salt (I use salt substitute)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped green onions

4 cups torn baby salad greens

2 medium banana peppers, halved, seeded, and thinly sliced

2 medium oranges, peeled, sectioned, and membrane removed

2 tablespoons shelled pistachios, unsalted

Place chicken in a heavy, large self-sealing plastic bag set in a shallow dish. For marinade, in a bowl combine orange peel, the 1/3 cup orange juice the 4 cloves garlic, the honey, and thyme. Pour over chicken. Seal bag; turn to coat chicken. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight; turn bag occasionally. Drain chicken; discard marinade. Place chicken on unheated rack of a broiler pan. Season with half of the salt and half of the pepper. Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat for 12 to 15 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Turn chicken once halfway through broiling. Meanwhile, for dressing, in a screw-top jar combine olive oil, vinegar, the 2 tablespoons orange juice, the 2 cloves garlic, the green onions, the remaining salt, and the remaining pepper, Cover; shake well. To serve toss greens, chicken , oranges, peppers, and pistachios. Pour dressing over and toss. Makes 4 servings.