Green beans....again???

I really love vegetables. A lot. There are very few I can think of that I don't love. In fact, one time, at a get-together of family friends my mom said to me (in a very matter-of-fact, stern and embarrassing way), "Sara, back away from the food," as I hovered over the veggie tray. True story. In my defense, at least it was veggies and not nachos, meatballs, or any other food item that may make me seem like more of an oinker than I already am. Moral of that story is - I love vegetables.

But for some reason, when it comes to dinner time, it seems like we always have the same old things! Green beans, asparagus, zucchini, and occasionally a salad. I absolutely adore the way I typically make green beans (blanch green beans, drain from water, throw into saute pan with olive oil, garlic, and sometimes a guest appearance by shallots) - the trick is taking the green beans from the boiling water once they change color to that really vibrant green. I need my veggies tender with a tiny bit of crunch still in them. But despite how well these turn out each time, a girl needs some variety in her life. And so I concocted a new method for preparing my beloved green beans.

Sara's Green Bean Salad

Ingredients:

Fresh green beans (enough for however many you're serving...I eat tons of them so I probably get close to a half pound just for 2 of us!)
Half pint of grape, cherry or Campari tomatoes
1/3 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
~1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & cracked black pepper to taste

Preparation:

First snap the ends off of your green beans. They really should be fresh. I suppose you could use frozen, if you had to, but they get watery and just don't have the same texture or flavor. While I acknowledge that fresh produce can sometimes be more expensive than frozen, green beans don't typically have a high price per pound and are very affordable. Also worth noting: if you even considered using canned green beans for this recipe - we can't be friends. I don't do canned green beans. Ick.

Toss the beans into a pot of salted boiling water. They should take only a few minutes to cook. Once they turn a really bright green, I usually snatch one from the water (carefully - it's boiling!) and take a nibble off the end to check for doneness.

While the water is boiling or green beans are cooking, prep the other veggies. If you're using grape or cherry tomatoes, halving them is sufficient. Because we had Campari tomatoes, I cut mine into quarters or sixths, depending on their size. Mmmm Campari tomatoes (drool)


You should also slice your onions at this time. For the record, I almost always buy sweet onions, unless a recipe specifically calls for red onion. When Vidalia onions are in season I go for those, but my supermarket carries just plain "sweet" onions from Peru year round. I like their flavor both raw and cooked and truth be told, they don't make my eyes water when I cut them! Win-win situation!

To make the "dressing" for this salad, you'll combine the dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Start with a good squirt of mustard in the bottom of a bowl. Another confession: I am horrible at measuring (probably why I'm horrible at baking) - I eyeball everything...but I'd say about a tablespoon of mustard. Err on the low side to start because you can always add more. As you make this vinaigrette more and more, you'll get a sense of the proportions you like. Then add a few shakes of balsamic vinegar.


It is important that you save the oil for last so that the dressing mixes properly.


You will want to whisk the ingredients in one hand while you drizzle the oil with the other. This happens to be a difficult process to capture on camera for those of us who don't have three hands.


Your dressing will end up looking like this.


Once the vinaigrette is made and the green beans are through cooking and have been removed from the water, toss the veggies in there and refrigerate it for a few minutes. It doesn't have to be served cold, but I like it better when the beans aren't steaming hot!


Now no more excuses for boring green beans!

One of my most favorite things

I’ve been told before by some people that they don’t like soup. If you happen to be one of these people, forgive me for what I’m about to say, but…what the heck is wrong with you? Seriously. I love soup. What’s not to love? Especially on a cold day. And especially with the perfect bread – crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside. Mmmm. One of my all-time favorite soups is potato-corn chowder. It’s got a fantastic consistency that fills you up, has a perfect balance of salty and sweetness (from the corn), and this particular version is topped with bacon, among other things. I ask again – what’s not to love?

We’ve tried a number of recipes for potato and corn chowders at our house and ultimately came up with our own version that not only hits all the high notes from other recipes, but is easy enough to pull together on a crazy weeknight!

Sara & Jon's Potato-Corn Chowder

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 slices thick cut bacon

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

5 to 5 1/2 cups diced petite red skin potatoes (about 8 potatoes) - uncooked

3 cups corn - uncooked

4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

2 cups water

2-3 sprigs, fresh thyme

~ 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)

~ 1/2 tsp cajun seasoning (to taste)

~ 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

~ 1/2 tsp sea salt (to taste)

1 cup milk

2 tbsp flour

1 cup half & half

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/3 cup chopped chives

Preparation:

Cut the bacon into bite-sized pieces and fry it in the same pot you'll use to cook the soup. You could definitely use any enameled cast iron here but I just opted for my 8 quart stock pot. Once the bacon is cooked, remove it from the pot and drain most of the bacon grease.

Because you’ve removed most of the yummy bacon fat goodness, add up to a tablespoon of olive oil to the pot. Replacing one fat with another – don’t ask me. My brain just told me to do it. Then toss in the onions and garlic.

Cook these for a few minutes until they soften but don’t caramelize. Then add the raw diced potatoes and the uncooked corn. I prefer baby red skins but yukon gold or even fingerling potatoes would work fine here. Avoid russet/Idaho potatoes (the kind you’d use for a baked potato) – the texture is different due to starch content. In terms of corn, the fresher the better, but if it is February and the store is void of (reasonably priced) fresh corn, I won’t judge if you use frozen. Because I did.

Next add the chicken broth and water. You could use any combo of broth/stock and water here as long as it adds up to 6 cups. I like to add some flavor from the broth but mix in some water so my soup doesn’t come off as too “chicken-y”. Now’s also the time to add the herbs and spices. If you don’t have fresh thyme, use dried, but reduce the amount to under a teaspoon. It’s really worth it to get fresh thyme though. It lasts a long time in the fridge and goes so well with so many things…like sautéed mushrooms and roasted potatoes off the top of my head. We like to add the crushed red pepper flakes and Cajun seasoning to put a little warm punch in the background of the soup’s flavor. It is by no means an obvious taste but if you shy away from spice, feel free to omit. And be careful of how much you salt you add during the cooking process. We finish the soup off with shredded cheese and the bacon from earlier, which are both packed with sodium. Overly salting at this point would lead to an undesirable end result!

Allow the soup to come to a boil and simmer long enough for your potatoes to cook through. Depending on your potato dicing style, this could be anywhere from 10-15 minutes. As your potatoes are almost through cooking, create a slurry to use for thickening the soup. A slurry is simply a mixture of thickening agent + liquid. In our case it is milk + flour but you could also use cornstarch and water, etc. Be sure to really mix the flour into the milk before pouring the slurry into the soup. As with any food you’re trying to thicken, it will need to come to a boil before you can really judge its thickness. Add the half and half here as well, for both thickness and general creaminess for the soup.

At this point in our preparation, we decided that the soup wasn’t quite at the consistency we would like. I’ve seen recipes where you are instructed to remove part of the soup or potatoes, run it through the food processor, and return it to the soup. Brilliant idea because the mashed up potatoes lend great texture and avoid adding unnecessary flour. However, not being one to dirty more dishes than needed (and having an impatient baby on a schedule), I took a short cut. Prompted by my darling husband, we grabbed our potato masher and gave the soup 5 or 6 good smashes. Voila! Instant texture! Between the slurry, half & half, and last-minute mashing, this soup had a perfect consistency and I didn’t have to bother with the food processor.

To finish one of my most favorite soups off, I top with a few tablespoons of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, the lovely crisp and salty bacon bits and a sprinkling of chives. And of course, the obligatory bread.

Now you wanna tell me that you don’t like soup!?