Chopped MInestrone Soup

The first day of snow and we had to have soup and this one was the winner. It is delightfully beautiful and deliciously tasty. It's not like any other Minestrone soup because - PESTO! Oh, I love Pesto so much. It adds the perfectness to this yummy soup. There is some work chopping everything into nice little bite-sized pieces, but well worth it.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups diced carrots
1 1/2 cups diced celery
2 1/2 cups peeled and diced butternut squash
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 large can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 (15 oz) can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups ditalini past, uncooked
2 Tbsp store-bought pesto
freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for topping
12 oz precooked bacon, chopped, for topping

Directions:

1. In a large pot heat up the olive oil until rippling. Add the onions, carrots, celery, squash, garlic, and thyme and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 - 10 minutes, until the vegetables being to soften.

2. Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, bay leaf, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper and bring the soup to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

3. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, according to package directions.

4. Stir in the beans and pesto. Heat through. Add additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed, and add any additional chicken broth if the soup is too thick. We like it on the thick side.

5. Serve with the Parmesan cheese and bacon.

adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Catalina Salad

I've had Catalina dressing a few times and thought it was pretty awful, but this homemade version is divine. I had to pour it over my salad 3 times just that I could savor every single bite with dressing. My husband and I raved and raved about this recipe and I promised him I'd save it here on our blog. There's something about almost being 40 with a handful of kids and not having much brain space left to remember where we had found a fantastic recipe. If only we could remember what the name was or some of the ingredients in that amazing chicken recipe we had a few months back. We're kicking ourselves we didn't save it here. 

We adapted this recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey

1/2 head romaine lettuce, chopped

1/2 head ice berg lettuce, chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1 cup cubed cheese, cheddar, Monterey Jack, etc.

1 cup corn

1 can olives, sliced

1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

crushed tortilla chips

Dressing:

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup onion finely chopped

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large, nonstick skillet, brown the ground turkey with 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper until cooked through. 

2. For the dressing, combine all the dressing ingredients together in a blender and process until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve. The dressing can be made up to 3-4 days in advance.

3. We like to make our salads individually, so the original recipe called to add all the salad ingredients into one large bowl. We put each ingredient in small individual bowls at the center of the table and everyone makes their own salad with the toppings they enjoy.