Tag Archives: tomatoes

Creamy Tomato Soup

There was a time years ago when people found comfort in a can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup. It was all they knew: a creamy, warm meal that flowed smoothly down their throats, and straight to their hearts. Often, the soup was rounded out with the addition of a grilled cheese sandwich. A simple comfort yes, but it was cheap and it was good.

Little did those people know, they were missing out big time.

The real appeal of canned soup is its convenience; it’s quick, easy, and tasty. All you’ve got to do is pop open a lid and heat it up. But did you know how incredibly easy homemade Creamy Tomato Soup is? All you need is a handful of ingredients to create fresh, flavorful soup in next to no time. You can have this meal on the table in ten minutes, or you can cook it then let it sit over low-heat and eat when you’re ready. It’s a perfect weeknight dinner because it takes so little effort. You practically just pile the ingredients into a pot and call it a day. Let’s be honest; after a long, hard day, you need something hearty and replenishing that won’t diminish whatever small bit of energy you have left to make.

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Secret Ingredient Vegetarian Chili Topped w/ Caramelized Onions

Vegetarian recipes are tricky. For one to really be a success, it’s got to satisfy the vegetarians AND the meat-lovers out there. A true vegetarian recipe isn’t just delicious; it’s deceptive. It uses tasty tricks and alternative forms of protein to distract you from the missing meat. You see, with a good vegetarian dish, you forget it’s vegetarian at all. When you’re eating, you shouldn’t be concerning yourself with whether or not your food has meat in it; you should be focusing on how good it is.

Now, that being said, accomplishing a satisfying vegetarian chili ain’t easy. The good news is: this was a task I was willing to tackle. I knew the chili was going to need something special, something to make it so stand-out good & satisfying that the absence of meat mattered not. So what was it about this particular recipe that intrigued me?

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The Only Spaghetti Sauce I’ll Eat

Pretty much everyone loves spaghetti, right? It doesn’t contain any controversial or offensive ingredients and, well, it’s pasta. This classic dish is a crowd-pleaser, one that most of us have grown up with. Our mothers made it for us, and our mother’s mothers made it for them. So, besides being delicious, spaghetti is comforting. But I’ve got to be honest.

I’m not a huge spaghetti fan.

It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that I’d choose a million other foods over it. I like cheesy or creamy sauces. I can even get behind blush sauces. But straight up marinara just doesn’t thrill me. However, there is one exception (there’s always an exception, isn’t there?): My Mother’s Spaghetti. I grew up on this stuff. And I’ve got to tell you something, I love it. It’s one of those old favorites that I never get sick of. Nowadays, I skip on my mother’s meatballs (man, were those good!), but I still enjoy a heaping helping of pasta and smooth, zesty marinara sauce. It’s sweet but not too sweet, and you can control all of the flavors. It can’t be beat.

So what’s so special about this sauce that actually makes me enjoy it? Well, it was passed down from my grandmother on my father’s side. I never got to meet her; she passed away before I was born. It’s really cool though to have a little piece of her with this recipe. I love that about cooking. It brings generations together.

This sauce is not over-complicated. It’s got just the right amount of every ingredient and a modest number of components. Using fresh herbs provides supreme flavor, and letting the sauce simmer low & slow intensifies that. Three different kinds of tomatoes provides the absolute perfect texture. I’ve never seen another sauce in my 18 years with such an ideal consistency. It’s thick and sturdy, but not too thick. It’s still smooth enough to perfectly coat every pasta noodle. The best part is that it’s simple enough to make so that you always get it right. Once you have this spaghetti sauce, you’ll never need any other.

Now, spaghetti sauce has a well-known partner in crime: the meatball. Don’t think that just because I’m a vegetarian, I’m going to leave him out. No, I understand that, for some of you, spaghetti just isn’t spaghetti without meatballs. Well, you folks are very lucky because my mom makes a mean meatball. Sure, it’s been years since I’ve had one, but I don’t forget something that good. They aren’t overpowering or overdone; they’re simple and absolutely perfect. Juicy with an ideal balance of flavors, these are the epitome of classic meatballs done right.

Vegetarians, whip up this sauce with some spaghetti and enjoy a hearty, comforting dinner beyond your most delicious expectations. Meat-eaters, make this easy, sublime spaghetti and top it with a couple perfect meatballs. Everyone’s happy.

 A few tips before you get cooking:

  1. Chop up your herbs, onion, and garlic before you start cooking so you don’t get behind or have a melt-down trying to multitask.
  2. There’s a lot of can-opening to do! Take care of it before you get going.
  3. You can adjust the sugar/seasoning to your tastes.
  4. Multigrain pasta adds so many health benefits to this dish, including protein for vegetarians. Plus, I love it’s heartiness.
  5. Note: You may need more herbs than listed. It’s to taste. So have a little extra you can toss in if you want more flavor.

The Best Spaghetti (and Meatballs)

Recipe by Carol-Ann & Bonnie Bierstine

Meatball Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. 85% lean burger meat
  • 1 envelope of onion soup mix
  • 1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan
  • 2 tbsp. Heinz 57 Sauce
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • 1 egg

Sauce Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 tbsp. butter
  • One onion, chopped
  • 2 8oz. cans of tomato sauce
  • 1 6oz. can of tomato paste
  • 1 29oz. can of tomato puree
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar (or less, if you don’t like your sauce sweet)
  • 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp. fresh oregano, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp. fresh basil, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • kosher salt, to taste
  • optional: parmesan cheese, for topping

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 35o degrees.
  2. To make the meatballs: Put all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix it together with your hands until everything is well incorporated.
  3. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil & sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes or until juices run clear. Turn off oven and set meatballs aside.
  5. To make the sauce: Melt butter and olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent, 5-7 minutes.
  6. Add the tomato sauce, paste, and puree. Fill the tomato paste can with water. Add to sauce. Repeat once more.
  7. Add the parsley, oregano, basil, and salt. Stir until well-combined.
  8. Turn the heat down to low. Cover and let simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Test the sauce along the way, adding more sugar/spices as needed.
  9. If using meatballs, add them. Re-cover and cook for at least another 30 minutes.
  10. When ready to serve, cook spaghetti according to box directions (make sure you salt the water!). Drain pasta. Serve a heaping portion of pasta with lots of delicious sauce and a couple meatballs for meat-eaters! Top with parmesan, if desired.

I know everyone probably has their go-to spaghetti recipe, but give this one a try. It won’t let you down. It’s so easy and SO GOOD. It’s a big bowl of comfort (and pasta, hello!).

Healthy Cookie: Thin & Crispy White Pizza

200 cal pizza? Yes, please!

Life is hard.

No, not because of unemployment, taxes, SAT’s, or any of that stuff. Life is hard because really good food is really high in calories.

(…And maybe because of that other stuff too, but that’s irrelevant.)

Take pizza for example. Who doesn’t like pizza? Besides that one random guy/girl you’ll meet in your life who will say, “You know, I just don’t like pizza that much,” and you’ll be like, “ADKLFJDSLKFJDS WHAT?” and he/she will be annoyed because they have that exact conversation EVERY SINGLE DAY, then you’ll lay awake for nights on-end, pondering this impossibility, only for you to eventually eat some pizza and decide that said person is simply not sane and move on with your life…besides that one person, everyone loves pizza.

It’s just so good. Essentially, pizza is hand-held cheese and sauce. And the vessel that delivers it to your mouth is a crisp crust, which is a starch, my friends, and we all love our starches (hello, potatoes?). But pizza has its downfall: it’s ridiculously high in fat and calories! Every now and then, I can shift that knowledge to the back of my mind and indulge, but the time in between those rare moments is torturous. How can we get through it?

I’ll tell you how: with 200-calorie Thin & Crispy White Pizza. Yes, you heard me right, 200 calories. This whole personal pizza has less calories than one slice of the regular stuff. That sounds too good to be true. You may be getting suspicious at this point, concluding, “Well, it must taste horrible.” And that’s a completely logical conclusion to draw.

But it wouldn’t be correct.

This pizza is ridiculously tasty, perfect for lunch or a light dinner. And, for a vegetarian, the fact that it packs 17 grams of protein ain’t bad either. Then, there’s the fact that these pizzas are super easy and quick to make, no dough-making required! Pizza lovers, rejoice! There is guilt-free pizzawesomeness in your future.

A few tips before you get cooking:

  1. Get out all your stuff before you start cookin’!
  2. Serve with veggies of your choice or light marinara sauce to dip in for extra indulgence without any guilt.
  3. Try using different vegetables in place of the tomatoes every time you make the recipe so you can switch things up a bit!
  4. This recipe originally used shredded part-skim mozzerella instead of parmesan. A tablespoon is such a small amount of cheese that mozzerella just doesn’t cut it. You can’t taste it. Parmesan will give this pizza better flavor.

Thin & Crispy White Pizza

recipe adapted from Hungry Girl

Makes one Serving

Ingredients:

1 large low-fat, high-fiber, burrito-size tortilla with about 100 calories (like this kind by La Tortilla Factory)
1/3 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1 tbsp. grated or shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced onion (I used red onions)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
kosher salt to taste
Dash black pepper
4 thin slices plum tomato
4 fresh basil leaves

 Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put tortilla on a baking sheet sprayed lightly with nonstick spray. Bake in the oven until slightly crispy, 3 – 5 minutes per side. Leave oven on.

In a small bowl, mix ricotta cheese with parmesan cheese. Set aside.

Bring a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat on the stove. Add onion and, stirring occasionally, cook until softened and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Immediately stir onion into cheese mixture. Add garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and mix well.

Spread cheese-onion mixture evenly on top of the tortilla. Top with tomato slices and basil leaves. If you like, sprinkle with a dash of salt.

Return pizza to the oven and bake until hot, about 5 minutes. Slice and enjoy.

PER SERVING (entire recipe): 200 calories, 3.25g fat, 930mg sodium, 33g carbs, 7g fiber, 7g sugars, 17g protein – PointsPlus® value 5*

Easy, yummy, and healthy. That’s a tripe threat!

Healthy Cookie: Pizza-Stuffed Eggplant

Healthy food is a touchy subject. Some people have a huge vendetta against healthy eating (*cough* my parents *cough*). Other people just don’t like the way healthy stuff tastes. It is extremely difficult to make healthy meals that satisfy equally as well as a big, cheesy pizza or a juicy burger. Difficult it is, but not impossible. You just have to know what you’re doing.

Pizza-Stuffed Eggplant is a miracle dish. It’s carnivore & vegetarian-friendly. You will eat it. You will love it. You will never know your portion was LESS THAN 200 CALORIES. You’re thinking that sentence was a paradox. It’s impossible to be delicious, healthy, and low-cal. Well, it’s not, so get that idea out of your head right now. I hate to be blunt, but we’ve got to fix this misconception.

Pizza-Stuffed Eggplant is so delicious, just as good as, say, a slab of lasagna or a twice-baked potato.

This dish starts out with one lonely little eggplant. He’s got a lot of potential, but he’s under dressed and understated. He needs somebody to polish him up and take him to the next level. So what do you do?

You slice the eggplant down the middle and scoop out all of his stuffing. Sound a little drastic? Don’t worry. We’re breaking him down to build him back up. Next, you take all of the eggplant’s inner workings, chop it up, and mix it with the tasty tidbits you’re likely to find on a pizza: parmesan cheese, green & red peppers, tomato sauce, onions, garlic, and sausage. Well, okay…there’s a bit of a disclaimer on the sausage part. It’s not sausage per say; it’s Morning Star Beef-Style crumbles. They’re made from soy. No, they’re not meat. I know, the whole “beef-style crumbles” thing doesn’t sound very appealing. Let me tell you something.

My father is the world’s biggest carnivore (figures he would spawn a vegetarian, right?). He hunts, he eats what he hunts, and there’s a…um…charming deer head hanging in our living room. He has got to have meat in every meal or he’s just not happy.

So, I decided to be a little coy and served him this pizzafied eggplant while “forgetting” to mention that there was not any real meat in the dish.

My dad loved it. He ate a whole half an eggplant himself, remarking, “You can cook for me anytime!” When I told him there was vegetarian “meat” in it, he had no idea. This dish completely satisfied the world’s most stubborn meat-eater. My mother raved about the eggplant too, even though she can also be a bit picky when it comes to these things. So never fear meat-lovers and friends of meat-lovers. This dish is bound to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters.

In a nutshell (or should I say an eggplant shell?), this recipe is perfection. It’s hearty, filling, pizzafied, completely delicious, AND you don’t have to feel a bit of guilt over eating it. So enjoy, my friends. It doesn’t get better than this.

A few tips before you get cooking:

  1. This dish takes time. There’s a lot of prep work and a total of 45 min baking time, so give yourself plenty of time to cook.
  2. Like I always say, get your ingredients out and veggies chopped beforehand!
  3. There was originally Fiber One cereal in this recipe. I left it out because I thought it was unnecessary. Fiber One really just doesn’t taste good, even when you try to camouflage it in dishes like this. Plus, you only need a small amount so that box will end up going to waste. Not many people sit down to a bowl of plain Fiber One for breakfast (and if you do, god bless you).
  4. Have several bowls at the ready for putting your ingredients in as your prep them.

Supremely Stuffed Pizza-fied Eggplant

Adapted from Hungry Girl

PER SERVING (1 large piece, 1/4th of recipe): 170 calories, 3g fat, 608mg sodium, 26g carbs, 9.75g fiber, 9.5g sugars, 14.5g protein — PointsPlus® value 4*

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red and green bell peppers
1 cup frozen ground-beef-style soy crumbles (like the kind by Boca or Morningstar Farms), slightly thawed
1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 tbsp. reduced-fat Parmesan-style grated topping
2 tsp. chopped garlic
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes
2 sticks light string cheese, pulled into strings

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice about 1 inch off the top (stem side) of the eggplant. Halve the eggplant lengthwise.

Carefully cut along the inside of each half, about 1/2 inch from the skin. Scoop out the insides with a spoon, and chop them into small pieces.

Place the hollow eggplant shells, cut-side up, on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray; set aside.

Bring a large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove. Add chopped eggplant, onion, and peppers. Stirring often, cook for 7 – 8 minutes, until soft. Transfer to a bowl and let cool slightly.

Once cooled, add all other ingredients except crushed tomatoes and string cheese to the veggie bowl. Mix thoroughly. Equally divide between the eggplant shells, lightly packing down until even.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Then remove but keep the oven on.

Spoon 1/4 cup crushed tomatoes evenly over the top of each stuffed eggplant shell, and lay string cheese pieces over the crushed tomatoes. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes, or until cheese has melted. Let cool slightly and then cut each piece in half. Now enjoy!

I have to ask  you a favor. Please don’t skip over this recipe because you don’t like “healthy foods” or “vegetarian foods.” This dish really is neither (well technically it is, but who needs labels?). I promise, if you make this, it’s going to rock your world. Doors will open. Birds will sing. Sun will shine. At the very least, you’ll have one happy tummy.

Orecchiette with Mascarpone-Parmesan Sauce & Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Let’s talk creamy. If you want that essential adjective to apply to your pasta sauce, what do you do? You might add some heavy cream. However, achieving this ideal texture can be a project, even with the addition of cream, especially if we’re talking pasta bakes. You want a creamy pasta sauce? You’ve got two options:

  1. Build a sauce from the bottom up, starting with a roux. A roux is a butter & flour mixture prepared before adding any additional sauce ingredients. Its purpose: to act a a thickening agent. This can get tricky. You don’t want to over-thicken, but at the same time, you don’t want your sauce to better resemble soup. But you could always…
  2. Create a simple cream & cheese sauce. This is how I make my Alfredo sauce (which, yes, I will be posting soon). You start with butter and cream and melt in the cheese of your choice. Simple, right? Yes, except there’s one problem: this can get tricky too. There is a fine balance that must be found between too thick and too thin. In this scenario, cheese is the only thickening agent. Sometimes, it just doesn’t come together as you planned. Luck ain’t always on your side.

The good news? There’s a simple shortcut out there for you creamy sauce lovers. It’s name is Mascarpone Cheese. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this luscious beauty, it’s often referred to as “the Italian cream cheese.” Let’s take note that it really doesn’t taste much like cream cheese at all, but the two are similar in that they have a creamy texture and are often used in the preparation of desserts. Mascarpone, however, is a bit more soft than cream cheese.

So how does this Italian ingredient come into play? I mean, we’re talking pasta sauce, not Tiramisu. Well, like cream cheese, Mascarpone is not limited to sweet dishes; it’s a great addition to savory ones as well.

Basically, Mascarpone Cheese = instant creamy sauce with no fuss & no muss. Yeah. Your life just got one million times easier.

This pasta dish is surprisingly easy and not-so-surprisingly tasty. The Mascarpone in the sauce makes for a lusciously creamy dish without fussing with a roux. It’s like magic, Magic Mascarpone (I should trademark that).

Throwing some salty, tangy Parmesan cheese into this mix certainly doesn’t hurt anyone. Then, you top this dreamy creamy pasta with these fantastic roasted cherry tomatoes and shallots. Oh an did I mention there’s garlic? This pasta is basically flavorpalooza.

Oven-roasting the tomatoes and shallots really is key here. This cooking technique brings out mounds of flavors. You will wind up popping a few two many of the juicy baby-sized tomatoes into your mouth. Confession: I’m not a huge tomato fan, and I was still guilty of this.

A few tips before you get cooking:

Cast of Characters


  1. Orecchiette(means “little ears”) really is the pasta of choice here. Not only is it the most adorable pasta in existence, but its cup-like shape is ideal for filling up with sauce. Therefore, you get an extra burst of creamy sauce in every bite.
  2. Get all your ingredients, pans, and such out beforehand (this includes chopping the tomatoes & shallots).
  3. How much cooking water you add to the sauce is up to you. It all depends on how thick you like it.
  4. Yes, you really should salt the pasta water. It adds flavor & we like flavor!
  5. Cooking the pasta until al dente is key because the pasta will continue to cook in the oven. Al dente is basically when the pasta is almost done, but still holds that slight firmness.

Orecchiette with Mascarpone-Parmesan Sauce & Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 6 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 3-4 shallots, sliced
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 lb pasta (I used Orecchiette)
  • 1 1/2 cups mascarpone cheese
  • pinch red pepper flakes
  • 2 oz (1 cup) finely grated Parmesan cheese (added some more to taste)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Combine the tomatoes, shallots, and garlic on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spread in a single layer and roast for 15-20 minutes, or until slightly plumped. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and cool slightly, then remove the garlic cloves and mince them.

While the tomatoes roast, cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water. Transfer the pasta to a large bowl, add the mascarpone and stir until melted and combined.

Add the reserved pasta water, little by little, until the sauce has thinned a bit (I only used about 1/2 cup of the water). Gently mix in the red pepper flakes, minced garlic, tomatoes, shallots, half of the Parmesan cheese, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Pour the pasta into the baking dish and top with the remaining Parmesan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the pasta is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling. Garnish with extra cheese if you like!

Super. Easy. Sauce.

And yet, so full of flavor! This dish is hearty and creamy, a must-try.