Leek Soup with Brie Toasts

Spring has sprung in my household. Deep cleaning shall commence along with tasty quick recipes while being so busy. I am making this tonight! I’ve always eaten leeks in food that I’ve purchased, but avoided cooking with them for some odd reason. But not tonight! It’s time to turn over a new leaf and explore new things. I love brie and on toast …. can’t wait, my taste buds are watering already. Ever made a pesto, brie and tomato grilled cheese?

Prep: 15 min. Cook: 25 min.

Yield: 6 Servings

Ingredients

• 6 medium leeks (white portion only), thinly sliced
• 1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 tablespoons plus 6 teaspoons butter, softened, divided
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 7-1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 12 slices French bread or bread of your choice (1/2 inch thick)
• 1 round (8 ounces) Brie cheese, cut into 1/4-inch slices

Directions

• In a Dutch oven, saute the leeks, mushrooms, tarragon and pepper in 2 tablespoons butter for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in flour until blended; gradually add broth and cream. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
• Place bread slices on an ungreased baking sheet. Broil 3-4 in. from the heat for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown. Spread one side of each slice with 1/2 teaspoon butter. Place Brie on buttered side of toasts.
• Broil 3-4 in. from the heat for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Ladle soup into six 8-oz. bowls; place two toasts in each bowl. Enjoy! ~ Lori
  Lori approved recipe courtesy of Taste of Home.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I have made this cake several times, and it always disappears.

While at first it may not seem appetizing to think of eating chocolate and zucchini in a dessert, have no fear, it is very good. Zucchini gives this cake texture and moisture. Furthermore, I have gone so far as to add strawberries to this cake for a “surprise” element.

Try it, you’ll like it!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups regular all-purpose flour, unsifted
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cup soft butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• Glaze (directions follow)

Dark Chocolate Fruit Hearts

Another Lori approved recipe, this time from her Valentine's Day archive.

She'd like to remind everyone, it is NOT too late to make a homemade treat. So get to your kitchen and get busy.

Sweet, adorable, and healthy bite size hearts. Skip the box of chocolate candies, and indulge in these heart shaped fruits dipped in dark chocolate.

Ingredients:

Strawberries

Banana

1 bar of dark chocolate of choice

Small Heart Cookie Cutter, I used a 1/2 cutter from a kit from William Sonoma

Instructions:

Cut 1/4-inch slices of banana and using small heart cookie cutter cut heart shapes out of banana slice or strawberry slice.

Once you have cut the hearts out - place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.

While the fruit is in the freezer, melt chocolate in the microwave or double broiler.

Remove fruit from freezer and dip fruit hearts in chocolate using a fork.

Tap the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate and then place on wax paper.

Repeat until all your banana slices or strawberry slices are covered in chocolate.

Indulge! And don't forget to save some for your Valentine!

~ Kelly

Image & Content Credit for Lori's approved recipe from Multiply Delicious

Hearty Meatball Stew

A Lori tried, true, and approved recipe … delicious stew!

Lori Comments: "VERY good and healthy".

Enjoy!

Details

Total Time ~ 1 hr 10 min
Prep ~ 30 min
Cook ~40 min

Ingredients

Meatballs:

• 1 slice white sandwich bread, torn into small pieces
• 8 ounces 20-percent-fat ground beef (about 8 ounces)
• 2 sweet mild Italian sausages, casings removed
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Hearty Meatball Stew:

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, sliced (about 1 cup)
• 1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch strips
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 pound large white mushrooms, quartered
• One 8 to 10-ounce russet potato, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced into 1/3-inch slices
• 4 ounces green beans, trimmed, cut into 1-inch-long pieces
• One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Directions

For the meatballs: Place the bread and 3 tablespoons water into a medium bowl. Mash to a paste with a spatula. Add the beef, sausage, egg, parsley, salt and pepper. Blend the mixture thoroughly with your hands or a flexible spatula. Form the mixture into 10 to 16 meatballs. Arrange the meatballs on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet until ready to use.

For the hearty meatball stew: Sprinkle the meatballs with the flour and turn to coat with any flour still on the foil. Heat a large heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat for 1 minute. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Drop the meatballs into the skillet, spaced apart. Cook until the bottoms are set and brown, about 2 minutes. Using a flexible thin spatula, turn each meatball onto an uncooked side and cook until the bottoms are set and brown, about 2 minutes longer. Turn and cook a third side, until set and brown, about another 2 minutes, so the meatballs are browned and set all over. Transfer the meatballs to a large plate.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, peppers, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Cook until soft, 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and the remaining salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have softened, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, beans, tomatoes, red pepper flakes and broth. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan and cook until the potatoes are tender and the meatballs are cooked through, about 20 minutes.

~ Lori

Original Recipe for Hearty Meatball Stew from Giada De Laurentiis via Food Network.

Image from Back to the Cutting Board

Fat Free & Sugar Free Brownies

By special request I came up with a fat free / reduced or sugar free recipe for brownies.  For those of you who’ve made a resolution to eat healthier or are perhaps a diabetic, here’s the recipe you don’t have to feel guilty eating.

Although I don’t recommend eating the whole pan of brownies at once.  One word I’m trying hard to adopt when it comes to food is “MODERATION”.

While we are faced with making choices every day… this one’s a hard one for me, but I’m trying, and to me, that’s what counts.  Try out the recipe and let me know what you think.

Fat Free / Reduced Sugar or Sugar Free Brownies

Preheat oven to 350° (325° if baking with sugar substitute) and lightly greasing your baking pan with a light coconut oil spray or calorie-free vegetable oil spray.

Assemble the following ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 2 very ripe bananas (or ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce)
• ½ cup sugar substitute (I like Truvia^® the best) (or split ¼ cup sugar & ¼ cup Truvia^® for best results – See special tips for baking with Truvia^{® -}
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup chopped nuts

To make:

Combine the cocoa, oil, and bananas in a mixer or blender and puree until smooth.  You can also blend by hand, if needed.  In a separate bowl, mix the sugar substitute, eggs, flour, and the banana puree.  Blend this and then stir in the chopped nuts.

Pour the batter into your lightly greased 9x13 inch pan and bake for about 15-20 minutes.  One way to see if the brownies are done is to insert a toothpick into them.  If they are done, the toothpick will come out clean.  When the brownies are cool, cut them into small squares.  If you want delicious, warm brownies, cut them with a plastic knife using sawing motions.

Making your own diabetic brownies is as easy as making a batch of regular brownies from a mix, and they are certainly healthier for you and your family.  One caution: Sometimes, when we’re eating healthier foods, we tend to let our sense of portion control go.  Don’t!  Too much of a good thing is just too much.  For this recipe, cut the brownies into 24 or 48 squares.  If cut into 24 squares, each brownie will have 115 calories, 2 grams of protein, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fat, and 104 milligrams of sodium.

• Cooler oven: Baking with Truvia^® natural sweetener often requires using lower temperature than sugar based recipes. Lower the oven temperature by about 25 to 50 degrees F and increase baking time by 5-10 minutes.
• Replacing sugar in baked goods: The most difficult recipes to replace sugar in are baked goods like cookies, cakes, muffins and brownies. Sugar contributes a lot of functionality to baked goods beyond sweetness - like structure, tenderness, spread and browning. For best results, leave about 1/4 cup sugar in your favorite recipe and replace the remainder with appropriate amount of Truvia^® natural sweetener from the conversion chart on www.truvia.com. Use brown sugar for more chewy and moist baked goods.
• Fudgy brownies: If you bake brownies a little shorter, you get a more fudgy brownie. If it's baked a little longer, it will have a more cakey texture.

Enjoy!!

~ Lori