C'mon, winter blast: we're ready for ya with Zesty Tomato Soup

OK, let no doubt exist: we needed something warm and with a kick to it. The weather was icy and lingering (is again today, as well. Thank goodness I have a sealed container of this mixture left over for my lunch.); we needed something that warmed down to the toenails. For such a time as this I'd been saving my Zesty Tomato Soup recipe. Out with the ingredients.

For the 1 can vegetable stock called for in the recipe I subbed 14 ounces of my own brew. I boiled 2 stalks of fresh celery, 1/2 cup chopped green peppers, and 1/2 cup corn (fresh veggies I had on hand) in about two cups water and let it simmer for about 30 minutes to make my own broth so I could control the sodium content. I measured the liquid to be sure I was adding 14 ounces. Then besides the broth I added to the soup-makings these veggies as well.

The minced garlic and red-pepper flakes did their job well. This garden-fresh soup with a kick kept us warmed up (in a good way) long after mealtime. When the ice blasted us, we were ready with this delicious warmer.

Zesty Tomato Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon oregano, dried

4 cups fresh tomatoes, diced (or 2 28-ounce cans diced no-salt added tomatoes)

1 (14-ounce) can vegetable stock, reduced sodium (or your own homemade vegetable stock)

2 cups water

1/2 cup fresh corn cut from cob, 1 stalk celery, 1/2 cup chopped green pepper (add these if you've made your own stock)

In a stock pot heat olive oil. Add garlic, red pepper, and oregano. Saute until garlic simmers. With your hands crush the tomatoes over the stock pot. Add the vegetable stock and water. (If you've made your own stock, add the vegetables in the stock at this point.) Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

“Say-what?” Pudding for breakfast? This one turned out to be a very good idea.

This was another one of those “say-what?” recipes. Who heard of a breakfast pudding—plus one that contained pineapple, bananas, and raisins? Pudding was supposed to be something with chocolate or butterscotch or vanilla in the name. What commended this unusual dish, and why should I make it?

The answer to that last one is that brown rice is BIG, BIG, BIG right now. Its health benefits are legion. Just one cup of brown rice is said to provide us with 88 percent of our daily value for manganese, a trace mineral that helps our nervous system and in the production of good cholesterol. Women who eat whole grains are said to gain less weight. And of course the fiber factor of brown rice is high. Many health benefits are thought to be stripped from the rice when it is being changed from brown to white. One cup of brown rice a day is recommended.

Therefore anything that gives that brown rice serving some variety and makes it seem more of a treat is ideal. This is what happened when the additional ingredients are added to the brown-rice pan in the preparation process. Although the recipe called for crushed pineapple, it would be even more dynamite if you had a fresh pineapple on hand and wanted to cut up some slices to make 8-ounces of crushed (saving the juice, of course). I found that the more banana that I added, the sweeter the pudding tasted. Also for color, along with regular raisins I added some cranberry raisins—again, magnifying the sweet taste.

Long story short, I became a believer in this brown-rice pudding with add-ins that make it tasty and healthy. And it was good for breakfast as well as for lunch and dinner or as a dessert.

Tropical Breakfast Risotto

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup pineapple juice

1 cup brown rice, dry

1/2 cup evaporated skin milk (not to be confused with sweetened condensed milk)

1 (8-ounce) can pineapple, crushed, drained

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup coconut, shredded

1/4 cup almonds, sliced

1 banana, diced

cinnamon

In a sauce pan combine water, pineapple juice, and rice. Cook over high heat to boiling. Cover and reduce heat to low heat; continue cooking with the lid on until most of the water is absorbed and rice is tender—15-20 minutes. Add evaporated skim milk and heat on high. Stir occasionally. When mixture becomes creamy and the milk is absorbed, reduce heat to medium-high and add crushed pineapple. Heat pineapple; then add raisins, coconut, almonds, and banana and stir. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl. Sprinkle cinnamon over top. Serve warm or cold. Makes 6 (1/2-cup) servings.

Younger generation scores big with this new Apple Dumpling recipe that's making the rounds

Not only did I acquire the wonderful Sante Fe Stew recipe when I went for my marathon sleepover visit with my college roomie, but she also had on hand a new dessert recipe that her daughter had just emailed her. Her daughter is the same age as is my grown daughter; they were in the same college class at our university. I know my roomie is thrilled, just as I am, when the younger generation sends new recipes our way and we see our girls learn to be good cooks. At the time she gave the recipe to me, I was gathering my collection of what would become my Super Bowl snack spread for this past weekend’s game. I knew Apple Dumplings would be perfect on my munching/grazing table for the game.

Actually I haven't made anything this simple (to be so tasty) in a long time. Wrapping the crescent-roll dough around the plump apple slice makes a nice, fat, fluffy little dumpling. The butter/sugar/cinnamon sauce on top cooks down into the bottom of the baking dish so that when you remove the dumpling, it's ensconced in tasty pie filling. Covering the top with the buttery mixture makes the dough bake up golden brown.

Hubby and I enjoyed these for breakfast as well as for Super-Bowl dining. They're super enjoyable, also, with a touch of sugar-free ice cream or fat-free whipped topping. The younger generation scored big with this little keeper!

Apple Dumplings

2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored

2 (10-ounce) cans refrigerated crescent-roll dough

1 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups white sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 (12-fluid ounce) can or bottle lemon-lime carbonated beverages

(such as Sprite or Mountain

Dew)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13-inch-by-9-inch glass baking dish. Cut each apple into eight wedges and set aside. Separate the crescent-roll dough into triangles. Starting at the smallest end roll each apple wedge in crescent-roll dough. Pinch to seal and place with the point-end down in the baking dish. In a small saucepan melt butter stir in the sugar and cinnamon. Pour over the apple dumplings. Then pour the carbonated beverage over the dumplings. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown. Makes eight servings.

As power outages abound, good to have a recipe that's as tasty cold as it is warm

In these days of rolling blackouts that have visited our Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex alongside the winter storm, having access to food that tastes as good cold as it does warm has been a daily preoccupation.

Believe it or not, this Greek Pizza falls into that category. Prepared earlier in the week before we had to wonder whether any task we began by using an electrical device could be completed before the power shut down, this pizza is absolutely terrific when served piping hot from the oven. But because its toppings are tomatoes, onions, olives, and cheese—the kinds of ingredients you’d find in a salad—it's just as tasty served fresh from the fridge. Believe me, we kept an eye on that fact as we sat in wait for the power outages about which we'd been warned through email and on cellphones by Garland's new Red Alert system.

Because the recipe (which, even though it was "Greek", hailed from the Chickasaw Nutrition Services) called for making a yeast-bread crust that had to rise, I initially had pause about trying this recipe. However, the rising process required only 20 minutes without any kneading, which made it as simple as (pizza) pie. The fuss-free dough turned out not to be sticky at all and thus rolled out and transferred readily to the pan.

One word of warning, however: be sure you AMPLY spray with cooking spray the pan you use. Keeping the crust from sticking to the cookie sheet was a challenge. Getting the crust un-adhered for serving turned out to be the biggest task of this recipe.

Greek Pizza ended up being an amazing entree that lasted the two of us through several meals, which, thankfully, saw our power remaining on each time we sat down to dinner. But you better believe we had our matches and lighters ready in case dinner had to be completed by candlelight.

Greek Pizza

1 package active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 cup water, warm

1 1/4 cup flour, whole wheat

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

2 tablespoons olive oil

cooking spray

3 cups spinach leaves

1 cup tomato, seeded, chopped

3/4 cup red onion, sliced

1/4 cup black olives, sliced (from 2.25 ounce can, drained)

4 ounces Feta cheese, reduced fat

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in flours, salt, and oil. Beat until smooth. Let stand for 5 minutes. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat and roll it into a rectangle. Generously spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Transfer crust to the baking sheet. Spread spinach, tomatoes, onion, olives, and Feta cheese on pizza crust. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. When cooled, spray lightly with olive oil. Makes 12 servings.

Nobody knows country cooking like these East Texas folks; carrot casserole is but one example

While I was on the visit to my college roomie's house (I mentioned this in yesterday's blog), I spotted what I knew would be a dynamite cookbook. The book on her shelf was produced by the First Baptist Church of Longview, TX, and contained favorite recipes from members over the years. Now, you talk about a group of smokin' hot cooks—difficult to imagine any collection of folks who have it more together food-wise than these folks do.

Understand that the East Texas cook is just a different breed than are people in the rest of the world. People from East Texas tend to be gourmet country cooks. They just KNOW how to do everything to perfection—from the world's best stovetop fried chicken to everything-from-scratch. My cookbooks, Way Back in the Country and Way Back in the Country Garden, are paens of praise to this region of the country (from which my own forebears hail) and the good, basic foods that emanate from it. Many East Texas cooks are from families that originally migrated over from the Deep South, so the moonlight-and-magnolias ways of food prep are deeply ingrained. Furthermore the rich East Texas soil promulgated vegetable gardening at its finest, so East Texas cooks became inventive in their veggie dress-ups.

Time didn't permit me to leave with every recipe from this book that caught my eye. But Cafeteria Carrot Souffle was a must-copy. Anyone who's ever dined at Luby's or Wyatt's cafeterias remembers this dish from the serving lines. Hubby’s response when he tasted a sample: “Isn't this dessert?” It definitely could be, but the use of sugar and egg substitutes makes it a healthy choice and a good way to get all those benefits that carrots offer.

Thanks to Katherine Doane of FBC Longview for submitting this scrumptious choice for her church’s recipe book collection.

Cafeteria Carrot Souffle

2 pounds carrots, cooked and mashed

3 eggs, beaten (or 3/4 cup egg substitute)

3/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

powdered sugar

Combine mashed carrots with next 8 ingredients. Pour into greased 8-inch-by-8-inch casserole dish. Bake 350 degree for 30 minutes. Top with a sprinkling of powdered sugar. Makes 6-8 servings.

Warm soup, loads of laughter a winning combination on a cold night

I loved the occasion but hated the reason for it. The event was a Sunday-school class social held in the home of my college roommate. I had traveled to her city for us to have a two-night “sleepover”. During the time I was there, she was scheduled to host a “Winter Soup” party for her church group. Various members were signed up to bring hearty, warm soups as the dinner meal. My roomie asked whether I would help her toss the party. I said sure I would, except I expected to go home with a new soup recipe to include in my blog. She said no problem there: her class members were legendary good cooks.

Great event; lots of girltalk and good feasting. All of us females need do things like this more often.

But a desperately sad happening prompted my trip to visit her for this slumber party. Only a few months ago my friend lost her husband to an untimely death. My trip was designed to offer companionship while she makes her way through some of the lonely nights that face her in the weeks ahead. If only I could do more to help!

However, having the gals in for fellowship put some smiles on all our faces and evoked lots of laughter; laughter is some of the best medicine anywhere, as we all know.

Although all the Winter Soup offerings were wonderful, my favorite was named Santa Fe Stew. It was brought by Carmen Rolf, whom I had known when we were college students but hadn't seen in at least four decades. The green chiles made it just Southwestern/spicy enough. Canned corn could be subbed with fresh off the cob if you have some on hand.

At the time we didn't know the winter snow/ice event was headed our way this week. Santa Fe Stew warms on the inside and out—a reminder of a heartwarming gals' gigglefest that hopefully brought some cheer.

Santa Fe Stew

2 pounds very lean ground beef (or ground turkey)

1 (6-ounce) can chopped green chiles

1 medium to large onion, chopped

2 (14- to 16-ounce) cans stewed tomatoes

2 (14- to 16-ounce) cans corn (or 2 cups fresh corn off the cob)

2 (14- to 16-ounce) cans Ranch Style Pinto Beans (not Ranch Style beans)

2 packages taco seasoning mix

1 large package dry Ranch Style dressing mix (original)

Brown ground beef, onion, and green chiles until all grease is absorbed. To beef mixture add next five ingredients. Stir thoroughly; let simmer for about 30 minutes on medium-low heat.

Do not drain any of the canned ingredients. Serves 10-12.

Mixed Veggie Casserole with Cheese a great side for barbecue at celebratory meal

OK, we had the barbecue beef and the salad for the dinner to be served after our little munchkin's baby dedication. But what about other sides? My daughter was set to prepare her favorite Company Potatoes recipe (appearing in my first cookbook, Way Back in the Country) that goes great with just about anything. But our crowd was not big on baked beans or any of the traditional barbecue match-ups.

I did an Internet search for vegetable casseroles. On nancysrecipes.wordpress.com in a feature called "A Recipe a Day" I discovered this mixed-veggie casserole that resembles the legendary green-bean dish that's stock-and-trade of Thanksgiving fare—baked with French-fried onions on top and mixed in and featuring cream of mushroom soup as part of the sauce. The original recipe called for frozen mixed veggies to be added, but I modified it so we could serve it the "garden-fresh" way, of course. Steaming some fresh veggies I had on hand made the mixture more healthy and was a good way to use up some leftovers.

Munchkin didn't get to sample any of our goodies that were prepared in his honor for the after-dedication meal. He was very content to nurse and have his supplemental bottle. But because of him we had a good excuse to indulge in some wonderful food. Mixed Veggie Casserole with Cheese was a big hit with the partygoers.

Mixed Veggie Casserole with Cheese

1/4 cup fresh corn, cut from cob

4 carrots, peeled, sliced into 1/2-inch slices (enough for 1 cup of carrots)

1 cup fresh trimmed green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

1 (14-ounce) can reduced-sodium cream of mushroom soup

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1 cup nonfat sour cream

1 (6-ounce can) French-fried onions

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside 1/4 cup cheese and 1/4 cup French-fried onions. Steam fresh carrots, corn, green beans, and cauliflower 3-4 minutes on high in microwave until vegetables are tender. Drain. Add peas. In large bowl combine veggies, soup, 3/4 cup cheese, sour cream, 3/4 cup onions, and pepper. Pour all into greased 2-quart casserole dish, Bake 30 minutes. On top sprinkle reserved cheese and onions. Bake 5 more minutes. Serves 6-8.