Carbs and Tomatoes

Carbs and tomatoes are two of my favorite things, meaning a plate of well cooked pasta and simple tomato sauce in this case. 101 cookbooks "5 minute tomato sauce" is something I make fairly often, it really only takes a few minutes and is so delicious. I've really only tried it on pasta but if you're a fan of lemony sauce it could be used for pizza, lasagna, chicken, etc. The red pepper flakes can be a bit much depending on where they are from, and how spicy they are / how spicy you like your sauce. And the recipe specifies san marzano tomatoes (don't they all) which are very tasty, but if you have a can of say hunts tomatoes, they will do the trick too. (although the san marzanos are on sale at Gelsons this week, fyi)

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/five-minute-tomato-sauce-recipe.html

Recipe from 101 cookbooks

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
3 medium cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 28-ounce can crushed red tomatoes
zest of one lemon

Combine the olive oil, red pepper flakes, sea salt, and garlic in a cold saucepan. Stir while you heat the saucepan over medium-high heat, saute just 45 seconds or so until everything is fragrant - you don't want the garlic to brown. Stir in the tomatoes and heat to a gentle simmer, this takes just a couple minutes. Remove from heat and carefully take a taste (you don't want to burn your tongue)...If the sauce needs more salt add it now. Stir in the lemon zest reserving a bit to sprinkle on top of your pasta.

Makes about a quart of tomato sauce.

Soup is Good Food

Potato Leek Soup

I. Love. Soup. I'm not sure if this is a weird thing. I grew up with a lot of soup, my parents are all about it, if you go out to a meal with them they almost always order the soup. It's no secret, Flahertys are all about soup. (at least my little branch of them)

 

I actually had no idea that the saying "soup is

good food" had been put in my head by the

campbells soup people from an early age. Growing up my sister and I had these bowls that we would always eat soup from that said "at the bottom of the bowl, soup is good food" and that soup was mostly campbells if my dad made it, home-made if my mom did. Home made soup is awesome, but campbells is not bad either, if you've lived with me you know that I will never hesitate to just have a can (most likely tomato) of soup for dinner, annnnddd I totally just spent at least 1/2 an hour looking for that bowl online,and totally found it on ebay. Yeeeaaaa!

Annnyyywaaayyyss, potato leek soup is healthy and tasty and this is a soup Max and I make pretty often. It's great for a chilly night, but also makes really good leftovers. It's a recipe modified from an old weight watchers cookbook, and is great even if it does look a little bit like baby food. 

Potato Leek Soup

4 Large Leeks, white and green parts only, cleaned and chopped

4 Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I used russets this time, it was still good, but the yukon golds definitely add more richness so I would recommend those)

1 large onion, chopped

5 cups (at least) veggie or chicken broth

3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

olive oil or butter

red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Heat about a TBSP of olive oil or butter (or both) in a large pot, add onions and leeks and red pepper, if using. Saute until leeks look a little wilted and onions are a bit translucent (about 7-8 minutes). 

Add the potatoes and saute for a few minutes, add garlic and cook til fragrant.

Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until veggies are tender, 25-30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.

Your goal now is to puree the mixture, do that with your favorite puree tool, whether it be an immersion blender, food processor or regular blender.I normally put it back in a the soup pot and check for seasonings or add extra broth if it ends up too thick.

Serve with some sort of crispy onions on top (like Ina's fried shallots) and bread or a big salad. Noms