Blogher Month in Review for February 07

Besides writing Kalyn's Kitchen and teaching school, I also write for a site called Blogher, which features women bloggers, and sponsors a fabulous conference for bloggers (men and women!). Blogher 07 will be in Chicago this year! At the end of each month I'm sharing links to the things I've been writing about on Blogher this month:

A Blogher Conference Success Story featured Pastaqueen from Half of Me.

If you'd like to learn more about cooking Thai Food, read Try Something Thai.

Did you know there's a new Holiday featuring Nutella? Check out Nutty Over Nutella on World Nutella Day.

An interesting food blog event was featured in Veggies for Valentine's Day.

For Chinese New Year, I wrote about Delicious Food for the Year of the Pig.

Can You Name That Food was a mini-quiz on unusual dishes, and there's been a request for more posts like this. (No one could name them all, not even me.)

I've been thinking of trying my hand at making South Beach Diet approved pizza, so I spotlighted pizza recipes in Pizza, Pizza!

Last, but not least, I pondered What's the Role of Escarole?

TECHNORATI TAGS:
Food Recipes Cooking

Roasted Asparagus with Garlic

Asparagus was on sale at one of my favorite markets in Salt Lake, so last weekend I made Chicken with Asparagus and Three Cheeses, and then I had more asparagus in the fridge, so I created this recipe, an adapted version of Roasted Broccoli with Garlic. It was a great tasting dish, and a simple way to dress up plain roasted asparagus. I tried it out on some friends who came for dinner, and they loved it.

I used the big pre-peeled garlic cloves that come in a jar, but if I had to stand there and peel them, I might have used less. Maybe not though, because garlic is one of the World's Healthiest Foods, and has many health benefits. Garlic is widely used around the world, appearing in nearly every cuisine, and has been used since ancient times, both for the taste and for health benefits. Since I love garlic so much, and any plant, herb, veggie, or flower is eligible for Weekend Herb Blogging, I'm featuring garlic this week.

In this method of cooking asparagus, large garlic cloves are sliced and placed in a bag with the asparagus and some extra-virgin olive oil and left to marinate a few hours.

Then the asparagus and garlic are roasted at high heat for about 20 minutes, and served hot.

Roasted Asparagus and Garlic
(2-4 servings, depending on how much you like asparagus, recipe created by Kalyn with inspiration from Roasted Broccoli with Garlic from the Food Network.)
1 pound asparagus, cut off woody ends of stalks, then cut into 2 inch pieces
3 T extra virgin olive oil
8 large cloves fresh garlic, each sliced into 3-4 pieces
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Break off the woody end of one piece of asparagus; use that as a guide to tell where to trim the other pieces. Cut off woody ends, then cut asparagus into 2 inch pieces. Cut each large garlic clove into 3-4 slices. Put asparagus, garlic, and olive oil into large ziploc bag and let garlic marinate 1-2 hours. (You can skip this step, but the asparagus will be more garlicy tasting if you marinate it.)

Preheat oven to 450 F. Place asparagus on large cookie sheet and season with fresh ground black pepper and salt. Roast until asparagus is slightly softened and edges are starting to brown slightly, about 20 minutes. Serve hot.

South Beach Suggestions:
This is a perfect vegetable dish for any phase of the South Beach Diet. For phase one, you could serve it with something like Roast Chicken, Grilled Spicy Tuna, or Balsamic and Onion Pot Roast. For phase two or three, add something like Brown Rice with Cashews and Herbs.

Reminders:

Weekend Herb Blogging is home at Kalyn's Kitchen this week, and I'm already getting entries. Here are the rules for Weekend Herb Blogging if you don't know what it's all about. Send your permalink to kalynskitchen AT comcast DOT net by 3:00 P.M. on Sunday if you want to participate. Be sure to link to Kalyn's Kitchen somewhere in your post with the words Weekend Herb Blogging.

To Print Recipes:
You can print any recipe without the header, sidebars, or photos by clicking on the main title of the post, then printing.

Tags:
Food Recipes Cooking South Beach Diet Recipes
Low Carb Recipes Low Glycemic Index Recipes
Weekend Herb Blogging

Recipe Update: Chicken with Asparagus and Three Cheeses

I'm going through my recipe archives and updating recipes that don't have photos. Sometimes I'll make a few slight changes to the recipe, like I did this time. You can see the original recipe if you'd like, or just trust me and go for this updated version with a little less sauce and less cheese. It's still rich and creamy enough that this should be a "once in a while" treat for South Beach Dieters.

I used low fat sharp cheddar for the cheese to sprinkle over the top. It tasted great, but the low fat cheese definitely doesn't melt as attractively as higher fat cheeses do. If I was making this for a special occasion, I'd splurge and go for something like Gruyere cheese instead of the low fat cheddar.

First, seasoned, browned chicken breasts and lightly blanched asparagus are layered in a casserole dish.

A sauce made from chicken stock, sour cream, goat cheese, and parmesan is poured over and sharp cheddar is sprinkled over, then the dish is baked.

Chicken and Asparagus with Three Cheeses
(4 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)

4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, each cut in two pieces
olive oil for browning chicken
salt, pepper, poultry seasoning for seasoning chicken
1 lb. fresh asparagus
1 cup chicken stock, simmer until reduced to 3/4 cup
1/2 cup low fat sour cream
3 oz. soft goat cheese (Chevre or Montrachet type)
3 T parmesan cheese
1/4 cup low fat sharp cheddar

Preheat oven to 375. Trim all visible fat and membrane from chicken breasts and cut each one in half crosswise.

Season chicken with spices, then saute in large frying pan in about 1 T olive oil. Cook until chicken pieces are well browned on both sides. (You will have to turn each piece a couple of times to get this result. Don't rush this step.)

Meanwhile, cut off woody ends of asparagus. (Snap one piece to see how much to cut off, it will break off right where the woody part starts.) Cut asparagus diagonally into 2 inch pieces. Bring pan of barely salted water to a gentle boil, put asparagus in and boil 3 minutes, drain, then put asparagus in cold water to stop cooking and drain again. Let it drain well.

Spray casserole dish with nonstick spray. Layer browned chicken, then asparagus. Use chicken stock to deglaze pan that you cooked the chicken in and scrape up all little browned bits. Let stock simmer about five minutes. Lower heat and wisk sour cream into sauce and continue to heat over very low heat. When mixture is hot (but not boiling) add goat cheese and parmesan and wisk into sauce until melted. Do not boil or the mixture will separate.

Pour sauce over chicken and asparagus and sprinkle sharp cheddar over top. Bake 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and mixture is just starting to bubble. (Don't cook it too long or the sauce will separate.)

South Beach Suggestions:

Due to the relatively high fat content in the sauce, this is a "once in a while" treat for any phase of the South Beach Diet. Serve with a healthy salad for phase one or something like Georgette's Really Lemony Greek Pilafi for phase two or three.

Reminders:

Weekend Herb Blogging is home at Kalyn's Kitchen this week, and I'm already getting entries. Here are the rules for Weekend Herb Blogging if you don't know what it's all about. Send your permalink to kalynskitchen AT comcast DOT net by 3:00 P.M. on Sunday if you want to participate. Be sure to link to Kalyn's Kitchen somewhere in your post with the words Weekend Herb Blogging.

To Print Recipes:
You can print any recipe without the header, sidebars, or photos by clicking on the main title of the post, then printing.

Tags:
Food Recipes Cooking South Beach Diet Recipes
Low Carb Recipes Low Glycemic Index Recipes

Chicken and Pinto Bean Soup with Lime and Cilantro

If you haven't been watching as the huge collection of soup recipes has been coming in during February, there are a whole lot of them collected now over at A Veggie Venture. Go check out all the soups. I'm sharing one more soup recipe before the event ends.

This recipe started with left-over rotisserie chicken, and I had in mind for this to be a white bean chili, but when it came time to put the beans in, I only had pinto beans. It didn't matter because when the soup was finished, I thought the combination of pinto beans, lime, and cilantro was perfect. The mystery ingredient this time is a little bit of hummus, giving a bit more body to the soup.

The other soups I've created for this month of soup included Lentil and Sausage Soup with Cabbage, Chicken Soup with Collard Greens, Carrots, and Brown Rice, and White Bean and Ham Soup with Chard. I'd say it's been a pretty good month of soup making!

Chicken and Pinto Bean Soup with Lime and Cilantro
(6-8 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)

1 onion, diced small
1 T chopped garlic
1-2 tsp. olive oil
8 cups homemade chicken stock (or 5 cans chicken broth)
2 ts. dried oregano (preferably Mexican Oregano)
1 T ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground Chipotle chile powder (or use a small amount diced canned chipotles in adobo or your favorite hot sauce)
2 cans pinto beans with juice
4 cups diced, cooked chicken
1 4 oz. can diced green chiles (Anaheim chiles, not jalapenos)
1/2 cup hummus (or refried beans)
1/4 cup lime juice
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or use less if you're not a cilantro lover)

Heat olive oil in frying pan, then saute onion 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and saute a couple of minutes more.

In large soup pot combine chicken stock, onions, garlic, oregano, ground cumin, and chipotle chile powder and let simmer on low about 15 minutes.

Add 2 cans pinto beans with juice, cooked chicken, diced green chiles, and hummus or refried beans and simmer one hour or a little longer, until flavors are well combined, and beans are quite soft.

Turn off heat and stir in lime juice and chopped cilantro. Serve hot, with more chopped cilantro to be sprinkled on top if desired.

South Beach Suggestions:Pinto beans are considered a "good" carb for the South Beach Diet, and soup like this is perfect for any phase of the diet. I would consider this to be a complete meal, but if you wanted something more, this would taste great with Cucumber and Tomato Salad with Marinated Garbanzo Beans or Tomato and Garbanzo Salad. For phase two or three, you could pair this with 100% whole wheat bread, or whole wheat tortillas.

Reminders:
Weekend Herb Blogging is home at Kalyn's Kitchen this week. Here are the rules for Weekend Herb Blogging if you don't know what it's all about. Send your entry to kalynskitchen AT comcast DOT net by 3:00 P.M. on Sunday if you want to participate.

To Print Recipes:
You can print any recipe without the header, sidebars, or photos by clicking on the main title of the post, then printing.

Tags:
Food Recipes Cooking South Beach Diet Recipes
Low Carb Recipes Low Glycemic Index Recipes

Bengali Red Dal Curry from Jake

I've written on this blog more than once about my feelings of intimidation about making authentic Indian food, and confessed that I use things like Pataks Biryani Paste when I get that Indian food craving. This fear of Indian cooking is still alive somewhere in my cooking psyche, but when my 20-something nephew Jake raved about a dal recipe he'd made, and then showed up at my house with this fantastic dish, I realized I need to get over it.

Jake is a good cook, an almost-vegetarian, and a fan of Indian food, and he found this recipe online and pretty much followed it exactly except for removing the dried red chiles at the end. The recipe was posted by Jonathan Kandell, but I don't know if he created the recipe or was just reposting it. Maybe he'll google his name sometime and find it here. However the recipe came about, it was an incredibly flavorful blend of interesting tastes. If there are readers who are more knowledgeable about this type of food than I am, please chime in about the five spice mixture used here, something I'm learning about for the first time.

Bengali Red Dal Curry

(Recipe posted online here by Jonathan Kandell, shared with Kalyn by her nephew Jake. Reposted with only slight editorial changes to the recipe by Kalyn.)

Key spice used in this recipe:

Panch Phoron Mix, also known as Five Spice - do not substitute Chinese Five Spice! Mixture consists of equal proportions of whole cumin, fenugreek, anise, mustard, and kalunji ("Indian black onion" seed). You will need to go to an Indian Store to get the last ingredient. It is not related to the onion.

(Note from Kalyn added 2-26-07 - Jonathan Kandell spelled the spice mixture Panch Phanon, but after reading about this Bengali Five Spice Mixture online, I have changed the spelling, since it seemed to be spelled with an *r* everywhere I saw it. Thanks to Sandeepa for the tip to look up Panch Phoron on Wikipedia. Apparently you can buy the Panch Phoron already mixed or you can mix your own. )

1 1/2 C red lentils
3 1/2 C water
6 serrano chilies (or 3 jalepeno?) either whole or sliced in quarters
1/4 t turmeric, or more to taste
1 1/2 t salt

4 T ghee, butter or vegetable oil
1 C minced onions
1 C chopped tomatoes
1 T grated fresh ginger

2 T ghee or vegetable oil
1 T panch phanon mix
4 dried small red chilies
1-3 cloves garlic

There are three basic steps to this recipe: cooking the lentils in water, making a tomato/onion/ginger mush, and making a spiced oil.

1. Rinse lentils well, add water, serrano chilies, turmeric and salt. Bring carefully to boil and cook over low to medium heat, partially covered, for 25 minutes. Cover and cook another 10 minutes. Adjust salt.

2. While lentils are cooking, cook onions in a frying pan in the oil until they are golden brown (approximately 10 minutes), stirring constantly. Add tomatoes and ginger and continue cooking until the tomatoes decompose into a delicious and fragrant mush (approximately 8 minutes.) Stir constantly so that tomato mixture doesn't stick. Turn heat to low if necessary.

3. Scrape out this mush into the lentils and stir it in. Let lentils sit while you make the spiced oil.

4. Do a quick rinse of the frying pan, without soap, and dry thoroughly. Add the remaining 2T oil and heat over medium high heat. When oil is hot add panch phanon mix and heat until the seeds begin to pop, about 15 seconds. Add red chilies and fry for another 15 seconds, until they turn a little darker. Turn off heat and add the crushed garlic and let sizzle for about 30 seconds. Stir this mixture into the lentil/tomato mixture and serve with rice. Adjust salt.

Jake adds this note to the recipe: Dried small red chilies have a burnt taste and should be taken out of the final dish.

This would be great served with rice, but when Jake brought it to my house, we just ate a bowl of it alone. I had eaten nearly half of mine with enthusiasm before I had the presence of mind to try to take a few photos so I could share it here.

South Beach Suggestions:
Dried beans and lentils are considered a "good carb" for any phase of The South Beach Diet. I've previously shared recipes for Indian Spiced Lentils and Lentils Rice and Sausage (good tasting but bad photos from my old camera.) Another dish I loved was Sausage and Lentils with Fried Sage (more bad photos.) Much less authentic than this recipe, but still pretty tasty was Curried Rice and Red Lentils.

Reminders:

This week the host of Weekend Herb Blogging is Anna from Anna's Cool Finds. You can send your entries to annalou AT ix DOT netcom DOT com until 3:00 today, Utah time. You can always find Who's Hosting Weekend Herb Blogging and The Rules for Weekend Herb Blogging in the right sidebar. Anna reports there are some wonderful entries coming in this week, so check back later tonight at Anna's Cool Finds to see the Recap.

To Print Recipes:
You can print any recipe without the header, sidebars, or photos by clicking on the main title of the post, then printing.

Tags:
Food Recipes Cooking South Beach Diet Recipes
Low Carb Recipes Low Glycemic Index Recipes

Calling All Food Bloggers: Help Plan Blogher 07

Were You There Last Year?

Many of you may remember me writing about attending the Blogher conference last year and meeting other food bloggers. Planning is now getting underway for Blogher 07, which will be in Chicago this year. I'm involved this year as a co-chair of a track called The Art of Life, which will will "be devoted to the passions about which so many of us blog...food, art, photography, crafts, knitting, writing, poetry, music and more."

You did notice the word food in there didn't you? While my specific task doesn't give me control over the food content at Blogher 07, I do get to help screen ideas for sessions and/or presenters for the track of which food will be a part. So naturally, I want to do what I can to help insure there will be a lot of exciting sessions which food bloggers will find interesting.

What's the Blogher conference?
Blogher is a site which features women bloggers, and this year's Blogher Conference will be the third annual conference. However, both the site and conference are not limited to women. Here's the conference agenda, as outlined by Elisa Camahort: "BlogHer's annual event continues to be dedicated to bringing bloggers together, and to celebrate the fact that although there are, in fact, many blogospheres, we can find common ground."

How Can You Help Give Input into the Planning of Blogher 07 or Become a Presenter Yourself?

You have until March 16 to submit ideas about Blogher 07 sessions to the planning committee . Blogher welcomes your ideas whether you're letting us know about a topic you'd love to see covered, someone you would recommend as a presenter, or would be interested in participating as a presenter yourself. Here is the link for full information about how to submit ideas for presenters or propose yourself as a presenter for the Blogher 07 conference.

I'd especially like to encourage anyone who was there last year to get involved to help recommend presenters for the food blogging sessions for this year. (If I didn't have a full time job teaching school in addition to my blog, I'd love to be making the invitation to last year's participants in a more personal way.)

TECHNORATI TAGS:
Blogher Conference

Easy South Beach Recipes: Arugula Salad with Marinated Artichokes and More

By far the most popular category in my recipe archives is Easy South Beach Recipes, where I share recipes for things that are delicious, South Beach Diet friendly, and which have only five main ingredients or less. I loved this recipe so much that I ate it two three days in a row and decided it was fabulous enough to be my offering for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Anna from Anna's Cool Finds this week.

I've written about arugula before for Weekend Herb Blogging, but it's been a while. Did you know that it's also called rocket, garden rocket, rocket salad, rugola, rucola and roquette? Arugula is easy to grow, and will self seed for years. It's slightly peppery flavor combines well with things that are more smooth in flavor, like the goat cheese in this recipe. Arugula is most often used in salad, but it's also often combined with pasta, used on pizza, or used to make pesto. It's low in calories, and high in vitamins A and C.

What's unusual and so easy here is that this salad uses marinated artichoke hearts, and then uses the marinade for the "dressing." I got the idea from a cookbook that's more than ten years old, and I've found great recipes in this book, Bon Appetit 30-Minute Main Courses. Much to my surprise, you can still buy it on Amazon.com (less than $3.00 for a used copy!)

Arugula Salad with Marinated Artichoke Hearts and More
(recipe adapted from Bon Appetit 30-Minute Main Courses)

For 2 salads:
6 oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts
(get artichokes marinated in oil if you can, drain and save the marinade)
2-3 large handfuls of washed arugula leaves
2 slices of goat cheese (about 1/2 inch thick) crumbled
6 mini-peppers, sliced into rings

For the "more" part of the recipe, choose one:
8-10 marinated mushrooms, cut in half
1/2 cup sliced hearts of palm
1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives (pictured)
leftover cooked asparagus spears, cut in 2 inch pieces

Drain artichokes, reserving marinade. While testing this recpe I found some brands of artichokes have a marinade with less oil than vinegar/water. You can use only part of the marinade and add some olive oil and balsamic vinegar until it tastes good to you if you need to. Be sure to add a good portion of the marinade for that artichoke flavor.

Slice mini-peppers into rings, removing seeds. Combine artichokes, mini peppers, and whichever of the "more" ingredients you're using with the artichoke marinade or marinade/olive oil/balsamic combination. Let veggies marinate 30 minutes or more if possible. To serve, arrange a handful of arugula on each plate. Spoon over half the vegetable mixture and dressing, and crumble goat cheese over.

South Beach Suggestions:

This is a perfect salad for any phase of the South Beach Diet. Goat cheese is a "limited" food, so be sure your serving is one ounce or less. (For the one pound loaf of goat cheese I have, one ounce is about one-half inch thick.) If you're cooking for one, simply marinate the extra portion of veggies in the refrigerator and make a second salad the next day.

More Arugula Salad Recipes:
Arugula and Gorgonzola Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Arugula Salad with Roasted Tomatoes and Pine Nuts from Stephen Cooks
White Bean and Arugula Salad from Chez Megane
Chicken Apple Arugula Goat Cheese Salad from Simply Recipes
Chick Pea Salad with Purslane and Arugula from Kitchenography
Arugula with Peaches, Concord Grapes, and Feta from A Veggie Venture

Reminders:
This week the host of Weekend Herb Blogging will be Anna from Anna's Cool Finds. Send your entries to annalou AT ix DOT netcom DOT com. You can always find Who's Hosting Weekend Herb Blogging and The Rules for Weekend Herb Blogging in the right sidebar.

To Print Recipes:
You can print any recipe without the header, sidebars, or photos by clicking on the main title of the post, then printing.

Tags:
Food Recipes Cooking South Beach Diet Recipes
Low Carb Recipes Low Glycemic Index Recipes
Weekend Herb Blogging

Please Comment: This Reader Survey is Floating in Front of My Eyes

No food today. Instead I'm hoping you'll take the little survey below and leave your answers in the comments.

I admit I am totally ripping off this idea from Adam, The Amateur Gourmet, but I have a very good reason for not posting a recipe today. It all started Saturday while I was working away in the kitchen, when suddenly something that looked like a piece of brownish-purple yarn started floating in front of my face. After much squinting and blinking, and a fair amount of Googling, I discovered I have what's called a "floater."

Apparently they're no big deal, but I had to go to the eye doctor Wednesday night after work. He dilated my eyes, and right now I can't really see well enough to edit photos, therefore I can't finish writing about Arugula Salad with Artichoke Hearts for Thursday's post. (I write my posts after school and publish them the next morning.)

I can see well enough to read blogs (barely) so when I saw this survey on Amateur Gourmet, I thought it would be fun to do the same survey on Kalyn's Kitchen. Recently I've been happily amazed by how many of you read this blog every day, and quite seriously, I'd love to know more about who's reading. (And I promise I will not take it personally if Adam gets a whole lot more comments than I do.)

Here's the survey:

Name:
Location:
Age:
Sex:
Five Foods You Can't Live Without:
Five Foods You Can Live Without:
How Long Have You Been Reading Kalyn's Kitchen?:
How Did You Get Here?:
What's For Dinner Tonight?:

Thanks! I'll be back tomorrow with Arugula and Artichoke Heart Salad for Weekend Herb Blogging, I promise.

Here's where to find Who's Hosting Weekend Herb Blogging and The Rules for Weekend Herb Blogging if you're interested in participating yourself.

TECHNORATI TAGS:
Food Cooking

Recipe Favorites: Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Arugula

There's nothing I like more than Italian Sausage, unless it's arugula, so a dish that combines the two of them has to be a recipe favorite. And did I mention there's freshly grated parmesan cheese? It just doesn't get much better than this. This is a photo from my old camera, but still I think this looks pretty tasty. I wish I had some right now.

There are a couple of things that are important if you're wanting to keep this South Beach Diet friendly. First, of course, you need to use Dreamfield's pasta or your favorite whole grain pasta. Second, use turkey Italian Sausage, which is much lower in fat than the Italian Sausage made with pork. If you follow those two suggestions this can be a great South Beach Diet dinner.

Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Arugula
(2-3 servings, can be doubled or tripled)

2 links (about 1/2 pound) turkey Hot Italian Sausage
2 tsp. olive oil
4 oz. (1/4 box) Dreamfields spaghetti
3 oz. arugula, preferably organic
(I used Earthbound Farms Organic Baby Arugula)
1 tsp. finely minced garlic (or less, to taste)
1/2 cup pasta cooking water
2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
(I buy lemons at Costco, squeeze them, and freeze the juice)
parmesan cheese for serving, preferably freshly grated

In nonstick frying pan, heat olive oil, then squeeze sausage out of casing into pan and brown well, breaking up into small pieces as it cooks. While sausage is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add spaghetti and cook 8-9 minutes, or until barely done and still *al dente* (with a little bite to it.)

Put arugula into large bowl, glass or crockery is best. When sausage is well browned, drain if there is very much fat, then pour sausage over arugula. Put frying pan back on stove, turn heat to very low, add garlic and saute about 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup pasta cooking water and lemon juice and heat 2 minutes.

When spaghetti seems done, scoop out 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water in case you need it, then drain pasta well and put in bowl with arugula and sausage. Let sit 2 minutes to wilt arugula. Then add water/lemon juice/pasta water mixture from frying pan and toss all ingredients together. If it seems dry, add a bit more of the reserved pasta cooking water. Serve hot, with parmesan cheese over top.

South Beach Suggestions:

For phase two I'd eat a small serving of this combined with something like Absolutely Perfect Restaurant Quality Salad and a vegetable like Cauliflower with Garlic and Lemon. For phase three you could skip the extra vegetable and have more spagetti.

More Recipes with Turkey Italian Sausage:
Sausageand Basil Marinara Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes
Italian Sausage and Zucchini Soup
Italian Sausage and Bean Soup with Chard
Spicy Cherry Tomato Sauce for Pasta
Baked Penne with Sausage
Italian Sausage with Tomato Sauce

Reminders:
This week the host of Weekend Herb Blogging will be Anna from Anna's Cool Finds. Send your entries to annalou AT ix DOT netcom DOT com.

To Print Recipes:
You can print any recipe without the header, sidebars, or photos by clicking on the main title of the post, then printing.

Tags:
Food Recipes Cooking South Beach Diet Recipes
Low Carb Recipes Low Glycemic Index Recipes

White Bean and Ham Soup with Chard

Surely you've heard about it. Alanna of a Veggie Venture is collecting soup recipes for February. There's probably nothing I love to make more than soup. I'm having fun creating recipes for soups with greens, and this week it's chard for the surprise ingredient.

I love chard, and knew it would add great flavor to what would have otherwise been a fairly ordinary white bean and ham soup. What I didn't know was that when I used red chard, it would give the soup a lovely color. This is truly one of my best soup recipes yet.

I'm also including a bonus with the recipe. Here are two tips for getting more flavor into ham and bean soups. I use one or both of these tricks every time I make a soup with ham.

Tip #1. Buy a type of ham that has a rind. Then cut the rind off and put it in the soup while the beans are cooking. Try to keep the pieces big so they're easy to fish out at the end.

Tip #2. If your bean or split pea soup still doesn't have as much ham flavor as you'd like, add a small amount of "ham bouillon" such as the one above made by Goya. This is my favorite brand, but other brands I've used include Penzeys, Better Than Bouillon, or Knorr ham flavor base.

White Bean and Ham Soup with Chard
(8-10 servings, recipe created by Kalyn. This will freeze very well.)

3 cups dry white beans, soaked 8 hours or overnight
10 cups homemade chicken stock or 6 cans chicken broth (1 can is slightly less than 2 cups)
4 cups water
1 T minced garlic (I used garlic puree in a jar)
1 tsp. dried sage
3-4 dried bay leaves
1 tsp. ground fennel seed (optional but recommended)
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups diced ham plus ham rind if available
1 bunch chopped red chard (about 4 cups)
Goya ham buillon if needed (depends on how flavorful your ham is)
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Soak dried beans in cold water for 8 hours or overnight. Rinse well.

Put beans in large soup pot. Add chicken stock, water, garlic, sage, bay leaves, fennel, onion, celery, carrots, and ham rind if available. Simmer on low heat for one hour.

Add diced ham and cook 30 minutes more, or longer if needed, until beans are quite soft.

Trim center stem from chard leaves and discard, then cut each leaf in fourths lengthwise, and slice crosswise into strips about 1/2 inch wide. Wash chard after chopping. (If the leaves are big, cut the pieces in half again.)

Add chard to soup with one cup additional water. Taste for flavor and add ham bouillon if desired. (I nearly always add a small amount.) Cook about 20-30 minutes more, until chard and beans are starting to break apart. Season with fresh ground black pepper and serve hot.

More White Bean Soups:
White Bean Soup with Ham and Rosemary
White Bean and Ham Soup from Simply Recipes
Artichoke and White Bean Soup from Bakingsheet