Golden Chowder

Across most of the country it is spring, but here it is rainy and dreary.  The perfect day for a bowl of hot, steamy soup to take the chill out.  This soup is another recipe of my Mom's.  It is perfectly creamy and delicious.

I'm not sure why my picture is loading sideways.

Golden Chowder

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 2 cups carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 lb fresh or frozen broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 cups milk
• salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2-4 cups shredded cheddar
• 2 cups ham, cubed

*In a large saucepan combine broth, celery, carrots and onion.  Boil, reduce heat.  Simmer covered for about 5 minutes.
*Add broccoli. Cook until broccoli is tender crisp.  (Leave lid slightly open to keep bright green color.)
*Remove from heat.  Do not drain.
*Melt butter in a large pan.  Blend in flour, salt and pepper.  Cook for 1 minute.
*Stir in milk.  Cook until mixture thickens, stirring frequently.
*Stir in cheese and cook until melted.
*Add the ham cubes and the vegetable/broth mixture.  Stir to blend.
*Garnish with paprika.

I hope you enjoy this as much as our family does!  Feel free to omit the ham ( I usually leave it out) and add whatever vegetables you have on hand.  The recipe adapts well.

Enjoy!
- Carla :)

Green Bean Casserole

Green bean casserole is a classic at most holiday tables.  The debate for me was do I go with the classic cream of mushroom soup variety or switch it up with something a bit better for you...  Amazingly, better for you won!

I think the result was pretty good.  It definitely wasn't the original, but close enough for me to want to make it again.  I love that it does not contain anything canned.

Image from allrecipes.com.  I thought there might be mutiny if I brought out the camera and started snapping pictures of the casserole instead of just eating it!

Green Bean Casserole

(recipe adapted from: Amy Barry)

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (taste to see if you need more)
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 1 can waterchest nuts, drained and diced
• 2 cups sour cream (light or full fat, not fat-free)
• 2.5 lbs green beans, cooked
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

*Preheat oven to 375.

*Saute onions and mushrooms in a small amount of oil (or butter) until the mushrooms have released their water and it has evaporated.

*Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook for one minute. Stir in the salt, sugar and sour cream.

*Add green beans, onion and mushroom mixture and waterchest nuts to sauce. Stir to coat.

*Transfer the mixture to a greased casserole dish. Spread shredded cheese over the top.

*Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until the cheese is bubbly.

(I made mine the day before and took it out a few hours before cooking to warm up a bit.  It worked well.)

Hope you like it!

-Carla :)

Roasted Cauliflower

Okay, I know that Toffee Pretzel Bark is a pretty hard act to follow, especially with a vegetable, but I figured I might need to eat a bunch of this to make up for eating too much of the Toffee Pretzel Bark.

I made this the other night with baked potatoes and salmon.  G immediately told me he didn't like cauliflower, but I put some on his plate anyway.  He ate his potato, then reluctantly put a piece of cauliflower in his mouth.  I waited for the complaint, but it never came.  He gobbled it up and then said, I do like cauliflower!

This was a great change from steamed cauliflower.  I have also done this with broccoli.  It was yummy but I liked the cauliflower better.



Picture from Flicker ex.libris.  Ours got eaten too quickly to take a picture! (Mine looked exactly like this though!)

 This recipe is super simple...

Roasted Cauliflower

• 1 head cauliflower
• olive oil
• crushed garlic cloves
• salt (sea salt if you have, if not regular works too)
• pepper

*Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (375 if you have convection).
*Break cauliflower into bite sized pieces and place into a large bowl.
*Add crushed garlic.
*Drizzle with olive oil.
*Season with salt and pepper.
*Spread on a cookie sheet (I used my Pampered Chef stone).
*Bake for 20-30 minutes or until browned (that's what makes it taste so good).

Enjoy!

-Carla :)