Squash in tortilla soup a wonderful addition to a dime-a-dozen dish

Whoever heard of squash in tortilla soup? Yet that’s exactly the feature that drew me to this recipe. One-half pound yellow summer squash floating in chicken broth with grape tomatoes alongside it (and garnished with avocado, cilantro, and baked tortilla strips) sounded as though it would be a winner of a meal. It was.

Tortilla soup recipes are a dime a dozen; I usually love every one I try, but none ever has been a standout quite like this one (thanks, Prevention magazine, September 2011 issue).

While the squash appealed to my taste buds, Hubby called attention to the chipotle “kick” after the first few bites had settled in. “It’s a good kick, though,” he explained. I noted that anything labeled tortilla soup has to have that South of the Border jolt. We both also liked the toasted tortilla strips cut up to top the soup—good way to use up extra tortillas that (at our house, at least) seem to just lounge around in the fridge.

This recipe made enough to warm the insides of the two of us for a couple of days. With the pre-autumn temps lowering slightly this week, we didn’t mind the “inside-warming” a bit.

Tortilla Soup

1 medium white onion, quartered

1 1/2 pounds grape tomatoes, halved

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 pound yellow summer squash, sliced

8 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon adobo sauce (from canned chipotles)

1 avocado, chopped

1/2 cup cilantro sprigs

3 (6-inch) yellow corn tortillas, sliced and toasted (I broiled mine briefly in the oven)

On foil-lined baking sheet broil onion and 1 pound of the tomatoes; broil 5 inches from heat. Turn until slightly charred, about 5 minutes. Coarsely chop in food processor; add garlic and chop further. Into a kettle add tomato-garlic mixture, squash, broth, adobo sauce, and remaining tomatoes. Simmer 20 minutes. Serve in bowls topped with avocado, cilantro, and toasted tortilla strips. Makes 6 servings.

"Good for Your Botty" Dip, with spinach and artichokes, lives up to its nickname

A most unorthodox photo in "Newfangled" today, but the event was not one that happens along every day. Our grandmunchkin—the one who's visiting this week for Camp G&G—turned 1 over the weekend. All stops were pulled out to help him celebrate.

The author of this blog looks slightly daft because she's wearing a robot headdress and gears earrings to blend in with the party's robot theme. The little one’s daddy, in his spare time, is a dedicated high-school robotics coach, so robots are highly significant in this family. What better birthday party theme than having ’Bots galore decking the halls?

That’s why I called my dip, pictured here, “Good for Your Botty” dip. That wasn’t its official name. In the Kroger grocery circular in which the recipe was featured, it was called Spinach Artichoke Dip. But when you got through reading the ingredients, it indeed was “Good for Your Botty”, so that’s what I nicknamed it to contribute to the spirit of the party.

Fresh spinach (the recipe called for frozen, but I had a bag of fresh on hand) and canned artichoke hearts were the key elements of this dip, which can be used with crackers, tortilla chips, or bagel chips. Mayo (I used the Kraft olive-oil variety), fat-free sour cream, and Parmesan and pepper jack cheese rounded out the items on the ingredient list.

The dip was very good for the “botty”. The Kroger circular featured it as a tailgate/game day fave; it certainly was a star among our ’bot enthusiasts.

Spinach Artichoke (a.k.a. “Good for Your Botty”) Dip

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, or 10 ounces fresh spinach

2 (13-ounce) cans of artichoke hearts, drained

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

1 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 1/4 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook the spinach in microwave for 5 minutes (4 minutes for fresh spinach); squeeze dry. Place artichoke hearts in food processor and chop. Combine spinach, artichoke hearts, mayo, sour cream, Parmesan, and 1/4 cup of pepper jack cheese; stir well. Spray baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; transfer mixed ingredients to the baking dish. Cover the top with the remaining 1 cup pepper jack cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with bagel chips, tortilla chips, or crackers. Refrigerate any leftovers. Makes 6-8 servings.

Apple Cinnamon Waffles a delight for all ages and appetites

This is a repost of today's blog. A thoughtful reader noted that the cup-and-a-half of chopped apples, although mentioned in the first paragraph, didn't make it into the ingredient list. So here is the addition. You'll love this recipe!

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Never have a cup-and-a-half of chopped apples had such a special mission. They went into a batter for some Apple Cinnamon Waffles to be served during the first breakfast of Camp G&G, just after the enrolled camper arrived for his first day on site.

Camp G&G is the activity this week for our 1-year-old grandmunchkin, who’s camped out at our place while his parents are gone for a much-deserved getaway. Hubby and I have set aside the week for his entertainment. Naturally we wanted the inaugural breakfast to go well—and to get things off to a healthy start. Since I’m still hard-charging to help bring on fall by cooking as many apple dishes as possible, a breakfast item containing apples just had to be in order.

A tad of cinnamon added to the fairly traditional batter recipe with the apples folded in (recipe courtesy www.southernfood.about.com) gave these waffles on the griddle a wonderful aroma. When they were done, Munchkin dined on baby-sized bites, while Granddaddy’s bites were a bit more sizable. Both gents seemed perfectly pleased with their apple delectables. (A note about the recipe: I didn’t have egg whites from the separated eggs, since we use egg substitute, so I didn’t have the beaten egg whites to fold in but simply used 3/4 cup egg substitute, the equivalent to 3 whole eggs. I didn’t find that this substitution hurt the recipe one bit.)

I confess that I don’t think I’ve ever added apples to a waffle recipe before, but after trying these and enjoying them immensely, I don’t know why I waited so long. This made for a wonderful breakfast; if an apple a day truly keeps the doctor away, we’re destined for a healthy Camp G&G week.

Apple Cinnamon Waffles

2 cups sifted flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

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

1 1/2 cups skim milk

5 tablespoons melted shortening

1 1/2 cups chopped apples (I used about 2 rather large Granny Smith apples)

Mix and sift dry ingredients. Combine beaten egg yolks, milk, and melted shortening. Beat until smooth. Stir in chopped apples. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour or spoon apple waffle batter into each section of a hot waffle iron. Cook waffles until they are crispy and browned. Makes 6 servings.

Roasted red bell pepper makes Pimiento Cheese Quesadillas a standout.

As already has been established in this blog, I’d walk a mile for a good pimiento-cheese sandwich. If any magazine contains a PC recipe, I’m drawn to it like a magnet. I blitz to add it to my collection of great ways to prepare this Southern concoction.

But I never had imagined pimiento cheese spread on tortillas to make quesadillas. Prevention magazine’s September 2011 edition took care of that with its recipe section on perfect pairings. It paired the quesadillas featured here with Tortilla Soup, which I’ll feature in the very near future (attractive to me since the soup recipe includes squash).

The appealing feature about these quesadillas is that instead of opening a jar of grocery-store-ready canned pimientos, you make your own by sautéeing a small amount of chopped red bell pepper in a small skillet coated with cooking spray. When the pepper begins to brown and starts to soften, take it off the burner and mix it into the grated cheese. The red pepper’s what unlocks the door in this recipe. It kicks what could be just another spread WAY up another notch.

Once the spread covered half the tortilla, I folded the top over it and cooked it on my countertop grill. Easy! Waiting to cut it into wedges until after the quesadilla cools is important so the little cheese sandwiches will harden a little and not cut jaggedy.

Don’t need to convince me that pimiento cheese is God’s ultimate gift to the palate; here’s just one more way that it shines.

Grilled Pimiento-Cheese Quesadillas

2 ounces yellow Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated

1 tablespoon 0% Greek-style yogurt

2 tablespoons chopped roasted red bell pepper

1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoon minced onion

1/4 teaspoon minced garlic

8 (6-inch) corn tortillas

Mix together the first 6 ingredients for pimiento cheese (makes 1/2 cup). Spread each of 4 tortillas evenly with 2 tablespoons of the pimiento cheese. Top with remaining tortillas; press to adhere. Heat grill pan coated with olive oil spray over medium-high heat (can also use countertop grill sprayed well). Grill quesadillas in batches; turn once until golden on both sides and cheese is melted, about 4 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut into wedges. Makes 4 servings.

Homemade applesauce—you’ll think you’re hearing the crunch of fall leaves

Bring-on-Fall Attempt #4—and boy, the aroma that filled every molecule of space in my home couldda convinced anyone that we were smack-dab in the middle of November. What’s more, you would have thought that what was brewing in the kettle was filled with spices.

Not so (on either account). November is still two months away (sigh); the thermometer still reads way up there (groan). And nothing spiced up the kettle except 12 chopped apples, sugar substitute, and lemon juice. Amazing that the air hung so heavy with what seemed like cinnamon-y goodness.

Hubby suggested this happened because I used several variety of apples in the applesauce. The merger of Gala, Granny Smith, and Golden Delicious brought out the best in each one. (The recipe, a part of Southern Living’s applefest in its September 2011 issue, suggested using a mixture of apple types for the best taste and texture.)

Only tough thing about this whole endeavor was the peeling and chopping and coring of 12 apples. Hubby, who often takes on this assignment, was involved in other pursuits. Once this onorous task was done, in the kettle I brought the apples, lemon juice, and sugar to a boil (no water added), let them simmer about 25 minutes until tender, then poured into jars. This fresh concoction should last in the fridge about two weeks.

Nothing like it atop hot biscuits—a treat I learned from Hubby’s family. Biscuits with warm applesauce greeted me when I made my first “meet-the-fam” visit to his house before we were engaged. After we married, Hubby and I appended it to fare served in our own nuclear family. Even it had taste like dirt, Hubby probably would have liked this Fresh Applesauce over biscuits, because for him it was a walk down memory lane. However, I knew that his exultations as he dove into this dish were absolutely sincere. It indeed was terrific.

Fresh Applesauce

12 large apples, peeled and coarsely chopped (6 1/2 pounds)

1 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/2 lemon, sliced

In a Dutch oven over medium heat bring all ingredients to a light boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer (stir often) for 25 to 30 minutes or until apples are tender and juices thicken. Remove and discard lemon slices. Serve warm or let cool to room temperature (about 2 hours). Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Twenty-minute prep-time max for this Chopped Chicken Salad: that's for me

Any recipe that bills itself as requiring only 20 minutes of prep from start to finish catches my attention. When I saw Prevention mag’s Chopped Chicken Salad featured as a 20-minute meal (August 2011 issue) , I grabbed it and ran to my kitchen counter. Twenty minutes was absolutely ALL I could spare to ready that night’s repast; I had the ingredients on hand—at least with a few subs.

Chopped chicken, avocados, carrots, red onion, plus the makings of the vinaigrette dressing—everything went together swimmingly. Shredded chicken? Waiting in the wings in the freezer compartment of the fridge. Didn’t have the cucumber Prevention suggested, but a couple of nice, fresh avocados should sub—after all, like a cucumber, they’re green. Mixed greens? Didn’t have those, either, but did have almost a full bag of fresh spinach. Carrots weren’t in the recipe, but I had some freshly grated ones from the Lightened Squash Casserole the day before—couldn’t resist adding some bunny food. Same thing with radishes—why not toss in a couple?

Thinking about it, pretty much the entire recipe was a makeover, but so what? I did have the red onion from my garden. With most everything burned up by now, we’re glad to have a few home-grown success stories still to brag on despite this heat.

The meal absolutely got turned out in 20-minutes flat; I looked as though I had slaved all day, and dinner was terrific and healthy. Who could ask for more?

Chopped Chicken Salad

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

8 cups (about 8 ounces) spring mix with herbs

4 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered

1 small cucumber, sliced

1 1/2 cups chopped chicken (about 8 ounces)

1/3 cup chopped red onion

In serving bowl whisk together, vinegar, oil, mustard, salt, and pepper. Add remaining ingredients and gently toss to combine. (Avocado, radishes, carrots, and spinach can be subbed.) Serve salad in bowls. Refrigerate any leftovers. Makes 4 servings.

Squash is everywhere right now; grab some up for a healthy remake of an old recipe

Move over, my trusty and long-lived Squash Casserole recipe. I’ve made you at least several times a year since I can remember. You’re always sought-after on a buffet table. I could prepare you with my eyes closed.

But I’ve found a new best friend in the squash casserole department—Lightened Squash Casserole. Southern Living’s July 2011 issue did a healthy remake of an old fave. A topping of French-fried onions and crunchy cereal plus innards that mingle grated carrots amidst the squash slices make this recipe the one I’ll sub at bring-a-dish events from now on. (My initial oldie-but-goodie recipe, incidentally, can be found in my first cookbook, Way Back in the Country.)

A can of reduced-fat cream of chicken soup (I actually used the reduced-sodium brand) and a container of light (or fat-free) sour cream help give Lightened Squash Casserole its name. The addition of 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives added to the lively flavor. Although the recipe called for crushed cornflakes, I had chex cereal (tried with Corn Chex) on hand and crushed that to use it instead. It worked just fine.

Hubby gave his seal of approval; I saw him snacking on a few tablespoons full of it during the day. That’s a pretty good sign of a winner recipe.

Lightened Squash Casserole

3 pounds yellow squash

1/2 cup chopped sweet onion

1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided (I used salt substitute)

1 cup grated carrots

1 (10 3/4-ounce) can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup

1 (8-ounce) container light sour cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

1/2 cup crushed cornflakes cereal

1/2 cup crushed French-fried onions

2 tablespoons melted butter

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut squash into 1/4-inch-thick slices; place in a Dutch oven. Add onion, 1 teaspoon salt, and water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook 5 minutes; drain well. With paper towels pat squash dry. In a large bowl stir together grated carrots, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 1/2-teaspoon salt. Spoon into a lightly greased 2-quart oval baking dish. In a small bowl stir together cornflakes and next 3 ingredients. Sprinkle over squash mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until casserole is bubbly and golden brown. After 20 to 25 minutes shield casserole with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.