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Hearty, Healthy Vegetable Soup

Hearty, Healthy Vegetable Soup

This hearty, healthy vegetable soup will get you through until the farmers’ markets are cranking out peak of the season produce again. A dollop of pesto will brighten the flavors and get you jonesin’ for sweet summer corn and tomatoes. 

Hearty, Healthy Vegetable Soup

It probably seems like it’s way past soup season but bear with me. It’s about time that we take a second to think again about food waste and making a difference in the way we take advantage of the bounty of the season. If you have been following me for a while, you know that I am a big fan of taking any produce that you overbought and saving it in the freezer until you can use it. Ziplock it fresh, oven-dry it or sauté it and cover in broth before freezing…all to add to sauces, salads, pastas and soups through out the year. Now that we are looking down the barrel of summer, it’s time to clean the freezer and put all last season’s produce to good use. Healthy vegetable soup to the rescue!

Unfortunately we are still wasting 40% of the products that our hardworking farmers produce every year. Some are deemed too ugly to make it onto our supermarket shelves. Some are past their use by date. I love this campaign by the Ad Council. Best if used. Period. Look closely. $1500. That’s how much a family of four spends on food that goes into the trash every year. How great would that extra cash be? 

Chicken breast on deli tray with label saying "best if used" and price of $1500. A family of four spends $1500 a year on food they don't eat.

And landfills filled with rotting food result in higher greenhouse gas emissions than US beef production. All that wasted food AND it is bad for the environment? No bueno!! So think about ways to re-purpose this produce and extend its life.

How to Save Vegetables

  • Fresh corn: cut it off the cob and ziplock it to freeze
  • Tomatoes: oven-dry and once cooled, ziplock and freeze
  • Zucchini, peppers: sauté and cover with broth, then freeze to add to soups and stews
  • Leafy greens: steam and squeeze out the excess liquid, then ziplock and freeze
  • Peas: shell and ziplock raw and freeze
  • Winter squashes: peel, seed and cube, then ziplock and freeze

Here are some of the things coming your way soon, so start thinking about it now. Of course, try to buy the right amount, but don’t throw out your excess. Respect the food and preserve it. Or if you are like me and know the corn will never be better, do buy extra and save it for the long, cold winter. 

Sweet corn
Sweet corn and sweet peas. 
Sweet peas
Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes
Heirloom cherry tomatoes definitely worthy of oven-drying to preserve for winter. 
Crazy Greens
If you think this Kale is Krazy, wait until you see the farmer.
Krazy Kale and the Farmer
Told ya!

Best Ever Healthy Vegetable Soup

This soup takes advantage of many things I had in my freezer. I just made a big batch this weekend. I will put a few quarts away in the freezer for upcoming long days, but much I will eat this week. Saturday I start eating like a Syrian refugee as part of the Ration Challenge. More on that in the next post, but suffice it to say I am in a full-on panic about no fresh veggies for a week. Whole lotta rice and beans, with a sardine here and there. 

You can customize this yummy, healthy vegetable soup to your own palate, but I found corn, butternut squash, edamame, and spinach all in the freezer. The canned cannellini and diced tomatoes I had in the pantry. And the remaining ingredients consisted of only a few fresh vegetables – leeks, zucchini, summer squash, and potatoes. In fact, this soup started as a leek and potato soup and then became a runaway vegetable extravaganza! You could even go so far as to add some chicken – either leftover roasted, poached or a rotiserrie chicken – to add a little lean protein. 

How to Clean a Leek
Photo credit: Heather Gill for Unsplash

How to Clean a Leek

Sidebar note on cooking with leeks: LOVE THEM!!! They always seem to be available because they scare people and they get left behind. They add all the depth of flavor of an onion, with none of the bite. And they are really easy to use. However, they retain a lot of dirt, so they need a thorough wash first. Trim off the woody dark green leaves at the top (and save them for a stock pot), but leave the hairy root end intact for now. Once the top is trimmed, slice lengthwise down toward the root (without cutting through), first in half, then in quarters, using two long cuts. Now holding onto the root end, run it under cold water, fanning it out to remove all the grit. It’s a bit like a brush with long bristles. Shake, shake, shake. Once thoroughly cleaned, towel off excess water and cut crosswise in desired slices. Discard the root end when you get there. Some prefer to slice and then clean and here is a quick video on that. 

I finish it off with a dollop of pesto – homemade or store-bought. That is how I finished it off on our spring vegetable soup with pistou on the very first menu at New World Grill. The vegetables were very precisely and finely minced. That’s a far cry from the hearty chunky way I cook today. Gone are the tedious and tiny tidbits. Welcome, chunky and hearty veg. 

What Vegetables are best?

While I am tempted to say you can’t go wrong, I can actually think of a couple that I might pass on. I love all vegetables that keep their shape and color. With this being a relatively quick cooking time, that would include most. Eggplant probably deserves a pass. It can get bitter and breaks down to a seedy, gummy mess. And I would avoid certain mushrooms that will absorb too much liquid and get squeaky. Know what I mean? Like a portabello. Tiny enoki might be nice in here though. In general, I prefer mushrooms in a more dry sauté dish or when pureed. Lastly, beets are going to bleed and will overly flavor the broth. But you do you, I’ll do me. Give it a whirl and see how you like it. 

Veggie Soup

A Note on Prep Time Listed

In spite of 3 decades of foodstyling for television, where every ingredient is in its ramekin for a dump and stir demo, and despite 15 years as a chef/restaurateur, where all mise en place (prepped ingredients) are ready in the reach-in for cooking during service, I do not cook that way at home, nor should you. It takes a lot more time to get everything ready for dump and stir. I’m not saying you shouldn’t pull all your ingredients together in advance. However, if an onion is going to cook until golden for 12 minutes, I don’t chop the next ingredients until I get that on the burner cooking. I prep as I go. Multi-task anyone? The prep time I give in a recipe is just the minimal prep time required in order to start cooking. Once cooking commences, I start the count-up clock to track how long it takes to finish the recipe. There will be some prep during the cooking time. You may note that the ingredient list calls for the items to be already prepped (e.g., 1 cup diced zucchini). I have detailed it this way simply to space-save on a recipe printout. Don’t think you need to get it all done before you start. The more you know 🙂

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Healthy Vegetable Soup: white bowl with edamame, chicken, carrots, peppers, corn, zucchini and pesto

Hearty, Healthy Vegetable Soup


  • Author: Katy Keck
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 5 1/2 quarts 1x

Description

This hearty, healthy vegetable soup will get you through until the farmers’ markets are cranking out peak of the season produce again. A dollop of pesto will brighten the flavors and get you jonesin’ for sweet summer corn and tomatoes.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided per below
  • 2 leeks, cleaned and sliced
  • 3/4 pounds mini potatoes, such as Boomer Gold, cut in half or quarters depending on size
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 pounded winter squash, such as butternut or acorn, peeled and diced
  • 2 32-ounce chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 medium zucchini, trimmed and diced
  • 1 medium yellow squash, trimmed and diced
  • 1 15.5-ounce can cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 pound shelled edamame, lima beans, or peas
  • 1 pound frozen, chopped spinach
  • 1 pound sweet corn
  • 1 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • Optional Garnish: Dollop with pesto

Instructions

In an 8-quart stock pot, heat two Tablespoons olive oil over high heat. Add the leeks and cook until wilted and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Push to the side and add the remaining Tablespoon of olive oil. Add the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Stir potatoes and leeks to combine.

Add the carrots and winter squash. Stir to combine.

Add about one cup of the stock, to deglaze the pan, scraping up the brown bits.  Add the zucchini and yellow squash and remaining stock. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat.  Simmer for 30 minutes. Check the doneness, especially for potatoes and squash.

Add the cannellini beans, tomatoes, edamame (or lima or peas), spinach and corn. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Top with a dollop of pesto (recipes linked below).

Notes

  • Optional:  add 1 pound cooked chopped chicken, about 2 cups. Yield will be higher, if chicken is added.
  • Recipes for pesto available here, here and here.
  • If any of the vegetables you are using are commercially frozen, check to see if they are par-cooked. If so, you may want to add them toward the end with the quick cooking ingredients like corn and spinach.
  • If freezing, I like to wait to add seasoning until later when I serve it. I also find I may need to add a bit more stock if it’s been frozen.
  • Prep time in the recipe includes only the time needed to get cooking. You can continue prepping while the first step is cooking. While total time accurately reflects the total time required, the prep time is the shortest time til you fire up the stove, not the time required to prep all ingredients to their ready-to-use state.
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 50
  • Category: Soup
  • Method: Cooktop
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: healthy vegetable soup

More Favorite Soups:

Roasted Blueberry Mulligatawny

CaribBean One Pot Wonder

Mexican Pork Posole

Three Onion Soup with Prosciutto Parmesan Crust

Kicked Up Chili

Veggie Soup

© Copyright: KatyKeck.com 2019. All rights reserved.

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Apple Crisp…Bourbon-Spiked…a Thanksgiving Feast Grand Finale

Apple Crisp…Bourbon-Spiked…a Thanksgiving Feast Grand Finale

Apple Crisp with Ice Cream

Though I know you are all set with the full menu I linked to in the last post, I couldn’t in good conscience send you off for Thanksgiving without a new dessert to be the crowning glory to your feast. A simple apple crisp at its heart, the addition of Jim Beam Apple liqueur with Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey elevates this fruity finish to something truly special. Must be that American oak wafting over the apples that sets this apart. I had house guests while working on this dish and one or two of them may or may not have had three or four portions. Who’s counting? If you don’t use spirits, you can easily sub with non-alcoholic extracts – vanilla or almond – or a dash of cinnamon, clove, or nutmeg. As written below, this dish is largely unseasoned, letting the farm-fresh apples and healthy splash of apple liqueur with bourbon do the heavy lifting. If you want to swap out the JB Apple, try a straight bourbon, Hotel Tango Whiskey (from a new-ish Indiana distillery run by friends), Gentleman Jack, or even Calvados. I’ll do me, you do you. 

Apples at the farm

There are just so many apple varieties available these days, whether you shop at the farmers’ markets, the grocery or with instacart. But it’s really important to grab a cooking variety so, kids, don’t try this at home. We need an apple whisperer to the rescue. This fall I have really enjoyed Sweet Tango and so I asked my local farmer – Skinner’s Homestead Acres out of Fennville, MI – how they would fare. No bueno. He said they had tried to cook Sweet Tangos a few ways and they cooked to mush. Good to know, since they are super crispy and very flavorful. Try one raw if you can. I heart!!! I suspect it may have to do with the water content – too much and there is nothing but pulp left. So it’s a balance between crispy, juicy, and flavorful that makes the perfect cooking apple.

Cooking classics are Jonagold (“fluffily crisp,” juicy, and aromatic), Ida Reds (firm, tart, and juicy) and Northern Spy (juicy, crisp, and mildly sweet with a high acid balance). The farmer recommended Snow Sweet which was new to me and so perfect. It was fantastic raw too – very white flesh which is slow to oxidize. On a subsequent test, I used Northern Spy and they worked well too. I always ask which apples will store well and load up before the season ends. I go with the farmer’s rec on “good-keepin’ apples”. 

Farmstand Apples

A friend introduced me to the apple cutting technique below (note that the apples should first be peeled for this recipe). Just cut through the center on both sides of the stem, top to bottom. You can get a slice off that center slab on either side of the core. Take the two halves and lay them cut side down and slice thinly from bottom to top. It is so much easier than trying to cut a rolling side and makes it simple to get uniformly thin slices. It’s really upped my apple cutting game, and I use it for everything including cheese boards, snacks, salads, and more. It’s perfect for a Crisp when you want uniform slices for even cooking. 

Cutting the apple

So this raises that age old question – Cobbler? Crisp? Slump? Crumble? Grunt? Betty? Pandowdy? Buckle?  There is definitely both a geographical and time element to these names. While they are all fruit-based, I’m ruling out Cobblers off the bat. They have biscuits dropped on top and resemble cobblestones (old English). Grunts are right behind – New England and named for the sound the dough makes while cooking and – like Pandowdy and Slumps  – are typically cooked on the stove top. Legitimate Bettys are layered with crumbs or grahams and are more cakey, and a Buckle (which is very cakey) tends to buckle around the bubbling fruit. So finally we arrive at Cobbler or Crisp – and drum roll please…the Crisp has oatmeal. Voila! That’s what makes it more crispy than a Cobbler, which is generally pure sugar, flour, and butter streusel. Exhausted from that marathon around the dessert aisle? Hmmm…think we better dig into this delicious dessert RIGHT NOW.Bourbon-Spiked Apple Crisp

Bourbon-Spiked Apple Crisp

Now that we have the recipe name – CRISP! – and the perfect apple (your choice), and we have made the decision of adding hooch or not, there is little else to do but get peeling. This recipe comes together very quickly and then you can be on your way to worry about other details of the feast – namely is the Prosecco cold enough. I make the topping in the food processor because I like to chop the oats and the nuts just a bit. So I start by putting the other ingredients – cold butter, brown sugar, flour, and salt in the processor and pulse that until it resembles coarse meal. Then I add the oats and walnuts, in turn, giving each their half-dozen pulses. Oats will get a few more pulses than nuts, but both retain some texture. As with all things baking, set the timer 10 minutes early, so you can keep an eye on the browning factor. If it seems to crisp up before the apples are tender, lay a loose layer of foil over the top. You don’t want anything to steam, but you also don’t want it blackened. 

However you celebrate and with whomever, I send Thanksgiving blessings to you, your friends and family. It’s so wonderful to spend a day, or even a part of a day, during this season of running too fast in gratitude for our many blessings. Have a wonderful, food-filled day! Gobble! Gobble!

Apple crisp

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Apple crisp with vanilla ice cream in a scalloped edge bowl on a white square plate, twisted handle spoon underneath

Bourbon-Spiked Apple Crisp – a Thanksgiving Feast Grand Finale


  • Author: Katy Keck
  • Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 8

Description

Though a simple apple crisp at its heart, the addition of Jim Beam Apple liqueur with Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, elevates this crisp to something truly special. Must be that American oak that wafts over the apples that sets its apart.


Ingredients

Scale

Topping:

  • 2 ounces cold butter, cut into bits
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Filling:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/3 cup Jim Beam Apple Liqueur infused with Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thinly (see notes)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350oF. Butter an 8×8 or 2 quart baking dish. 

Prep topping: Add butter, brown sugar, flour and salt to the workbowl of a food processor. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add the oats and pulse about 4-5 times, chopping coarsely. Add the walnuts and pulse 6 times more. The goal is that the butter/sugar/flour is fine, but that the oats and nuts retain some texture. Sprinkle ½ cup of the topping in the baking dish.  Refrigerate remaining topping until needed.

Prep the filling: In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, sour cream, bourbon, flour, eggs, and salt. Add the apples. Pour the mixture into the baking dish.

Bake on a sheet pan to avoid spills, in the center of the oven for 50 minutes. Sprinkle remaining topping over fruit, baking an additional 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm with ice cream.

Notes

Be sure to choose an apple that can stand up to cooking. Sometimes we tend to grab a favorite eating apple, but that is not always the best choice. On my first try, the farmer suggested Jonagold, Snow Sweet or Ida Reds. I chose Snow Sweet and they were perfect, though I suspect not that easy to come by. They are also delicious “eating apples”.

The next time I tested the recipe, I used Northern Spy – a classic cooking apple. This fall I have fallen in love with Sweet Tango, but my farmer told me don’t bother. They cook to mush. That was a real surprise because they are so very apple-y tasting and super crunchy. But, I trust the farmer.

For the non-drinkers in the crowd, feel free to omit the bourbon and consider some extracts like vanilla or almond. I used vanilla on one of my tests but found it in competition with the bourbon, so ended up eliminating it. If you are not using the alcohol, try adding in some alcohol-free extracts.

For those adding the alcohol, consider a straight bourbon, Hotel Tango Whiskey (from a new-ish Indiana distillery run by friends), or even Calvados, in lieu of the JB Apple.

Serve with ice cream. Vanilla is classic or salted caramel would be a serious upgrade.  

  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Cook Time: 80 minutes
  • Category: Desserts
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: Apple Crisp

Apple crisp with vanilla ice cream

Thanksgiving Desserts

Tennessee Whiskey Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake

Gentleman Jack Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake

Be Inspired by these Cupcakes for a Cause

Cupcakes for a Cause Thanksgiving cupcakes: drumpstick, pumpkin pie; cherry pie and mashed potatoes and gravy

Day After…Going Cold Turkey?

I know you probably can’t come down from your L-tryptophan rush on Thursday cold turkey, so how about easing in with some breakfast pumpkin chia pudding (though it has been served for dessert by many) or the best turkey leftover recipe ever!!

Pumpkin Chia Pudding – Dessert or Breakfast Porridge – you decide!!

Pumpkin Chia Pudding in glasses topped with coconut milk, coconut strips, and almonds with a pumpkin behind

Turkey Tetrazzini – best use of leftovers EVER

Heaping Helping turkey tetrazzini on a square white plate with a salad

© Copyright: KatyKeck.com 2018. All rights reserved.

 

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Thanksgiving Harvest Salad & Menu Must Haves

Thanksgiving Harvest Salad & Menu Must Haves

Thanksgiving Harvest Salad

Before you hit delete thinking “Who needs a Thanksgiving Harvest Salad when I can have fat, fat, and more fat on Thanksgiving?” I am here to tell you – YOU DO!! I talked my friend Cozy into this a couple years ago and I know it was a hit because she called me brilliant. I don’t often forget those who think I am brilliant. 🙂  As she quickly found out, this is all about the herbs. If I didn’t have to measure them for a printed recipe, I might just call for a crap-ton. You’ll want just that much. 

The Thanksgiving Harvest Salad is everything you want in a salad, lots of green goodness with just enough rewards to make it not quite a salad and a bit more of an indulgence: fall fruit, tangy cheese, and sweet and spicy nuts. Think of it as your cheese board dumped on some greens. Genius, right? 

Just as I was last making this salad, I found a new produce vendor on its maiden voyage to Michigan’s organic Sweetwater Market. I was squealingly happy! I thrived all summer on Summer Blend Gardens’ lettuce mix which included colorful nasturtium flowers and more. Highlight of the summer. But ba-bye, Marty. It’s fall now. Meet my new besties Caleb and Cindy-Beth at A Garden in the Woods. They bring the most gorgeous array of produce to this indoor winter market after spending their summer outdoors in Pentwater. How lucky am I? Even if you don’t live in the area, treat yourself by checking out their Instagram. Gorgeous. Stunningly beautiful!

Picking the Greens

For this salad, pick any assortment of greens you want, but I like a mix of colors and textures. Some salad blends at the grocery, like baby romaine, are heavy on young greens that don’t have much texture. So if that is your base, be sure to throw in some arugula or watercress. These add both pepper and bounce.

More Salad Greens

Even though I had no intention of adding radishes to the harvest salad, once Caleb told me these were not baby beets, but purple radishes, I had to. I just had to. Check out the cut radish in the salad photos – a gentle sponging of lavender fading across the cut surface. 

Purple Radishes

Thanksgiving Harvest Salad

I see this wave of comprehension starting to wash over you, yet I still feel your skepticism – salad with lots and lots of herbs for Thanksgiving? I wasn’t kidding about the crap-ton of herbs. For 8 ounces of greens, I would add up to a cup of chopped, mixed herbs. I know I am still in sales mode on this herby addition, so I am ratcheting the herbiage down to a mere 1/2 cup in the recipe below. But be bold. Go for it. Add additional herbs if you are so called. Cozy reported that she ended up with arugula and spring mix with lots of fresh herbs. “You were right! The herbs made the complexity of the greens jump.” So trust us on this. 

Lots of Herbs

Now that you have a base in place, my go-to accoutrements are fall fruit, bits of cheese and sweet & spicy nuts. I used apples here, but if you have ripe juicy pears, they would be wonderful, as well as figs or persimmons. And while I used Barber’s Vintage Cheddar 1833 (it’s white) in small cubes (more interesting texture than grated), a perfect pearing (get it??) might include a blue like Roquefort or Stilton. Persimmons and fresh goat cheese anyone? I made that once at the request of Florence Fabricant of the New York Times, using Indiana’s Wabash Canonball, so if it’s good enough for her…………

Like most things in food and in life, winning combos are based either on similarities or contrast. Remember my celery root slaw? It was both! I made all the ingredients look the same (similarity), so you didn’t know til you tasted that there were three very different textures and tastes (contrast). Celery root, white cheddar and apple – all white, all grated. Surrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrprise! Similarity and contrast all rolled into one humble slaw.

For the vinaigrette, I chose a lemon olive oil and a maple Balsamic. Gobble! Gobble! I have also used a pear Balsamic when using fresh pears. When using flavored Balsamics, I tend toward a one to one ratio with the olive oil because they are so much sweeter than a traditional vinegar and don’t require a lighter hand. In this case, the maple Balsamic is quite dense, so I scaled it back. If you are choosing your own flavors, start testing with a two to one oil to vinegar ratio and add more vinegar, as you need. Because this dressing is special to this menu, I am only making a small batch, and I short-cut the prep by putting it all in a bottle and shaking before serving. A proper vinaigrette, as you know, has the oil added last in a drizzle so that it can incorporate and emulsify. We are streamlining today because we are busy!! Of course you can prep all your ingredients and the dressing a day or so ahead, except any fruit that would oxidize like the apple. Just keep the ingredients wrapped separately in paper towels and zip bags, and assemble toward serving time. 

Harvest Salad with Apples & Cheddar

Now that we have settled on this glorious, fresh and palate-cleansing salad, there are a few other things that you might need to get on that table. Perfect roast turkey and gimme-more gravy? Check. Goat cheese and thyme mashed potatoes. Done. Brussels sprouts and prosciutto. You bet. And some delish cranberry ginger kumquat chutney. Done,done, done. All that is left is a winning Tennessee whiskey pumpkin ginger cheesecake. I have got you covered. All these recipes, complete with tips and must have equipment – looking at you potato ricer – are linked below. 

I will be back in a few days with another dessert idea – a Bourbon-laced Apple Crisp – so check back in. Above all, remember we are giving thanks in an extra special way right now – so take a deep breath, be grateful that you have food to cook with and people to cook for, and leave that stress at the grocery check out lane. And if Dear Abby were around, she’d probably ask you to put a basket at the door for cell phones and ask your friends and family for the gift of presence. Enjoy this week with a heart full of gratitude. Be back soon. 

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Harvest Salad overhead shot On a white plate with candied pecans, mixed greens, apple chunks and cheddar chunks, with purple radish slices

Thanksgiving Harvest Salad & Menu Must Haves


  • Author: Katy Keck
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 8

Description

The Thanksgiving Harvest Salad is everything you want in a salad, lots of green goodness with just enough rewards to make it not quite a salad and a bit more of an indulgence: fall fruit, tangy cheese, and sweet and spicy nuts. Think of it as your cheese board dumped on some greens. Genius, right? 


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/2 pound mixed greens, 8 cups
  • 1/2 cup chopped mixed herbs, including parsley, cilantro, dill and mint
  • 4 scallions, chopped
  • 1 apple, chopped, or other fall fruit such as pears, figs, persimmons, or dates
  • 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped
  • 1/4 pound white cheddar, cut into small cubes (I use Barber’s cheddar)
  • 4 radishes, sliced
  • 1/3 cup lemon olive oil
  • 1/4 cup maple Balsamic vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 5-ounce package of sweet & spicy pecans

Instructions

Combine greens, herbs, scallions, apple, avocado, cheddar and radishes in a large salad bowl. Toss to combine. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.

Make the vinaigrette, by combining the lemon olive oil, maple Balsamic, salt and pepper in a bottle and shaking to emulsify.

At serving time, drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to coat. Top with the sweet & spicy pecans.

Notes

The herbs really define this as a special green mix, so don’t skimp here.

I always like to use a fruit for sweetness, the cheese for richness and a tang, and the nuts for crunch. All other ingredients rotate in and out depending on what I have around. The purple radishes were calling out to me and that avocado wasn’t getting any younger. Both were fresh new twists at Thanksgiving.

Trader Joe’s is a good source of several sweet & spicy nut mixes.

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: Salad
  • Method: No Cook
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: Thanksgiving Salad

Menu Must Haves

Thanksgiving Essentials: Roast Turkey Perfection and Gimme-More Gravy

Roast Turkey Perfection with herb garnish

Goat Cheese & Thyme Mashed Potatoes with a Thanksgiving Must-Have: The Potato Ricer!

Pot of Mashed potatoes with butter,goat cheese and fresh thyme

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Shallots & Prosciutto

Brussels Sprouts with Prosciutto

Spiced Cranberry Ginger Kumquat Chutney

Spiced Cranberry Chutney in a cranberry glass pedestal dish with fall hydrangea

Tennessee Whiskey Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake

Gentleman Jack Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake

© Copyright: KatyKeck.com 2018. All rights reserved.

 

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Fig Prosciutto Pizza with Blue Cheese & Arugula

Fig Prosciutto Pizza with Blue Cheese & Arugula

Fig Prosciutto Pizza

This Fig Prosciutto Pizza is a far cry from those sticky Newtons you grew up on. Sweet jammy fig butter, with crispy and salty Prosciutto, creamy rich Cambozola and fresh luscious figs let this pizza span a meal from appetizer to dessert, while achieving rock star status along the way.  If you are like me, your first exposure to figs was the famous Fig Newton. Can’t say I was really a fan. It was kind of gummy and way too seedy for a kid. But yet, against all odds, the Newton became a fan favorite. Must be all that sugar. What really surprises me though is that Newtons are almost always the end of the line for the poor fig. After childhood, we fickle feasters don’t look back and all too often have never seen a fresh fig, much less tasted one. I ran across them in the garden when staying with friends in Italy some thirty years ago. My hostess was not a fan of the texture, and I get that, especially if you pull it from the tree and chomp into it, apple-style. But the flavor!! Oh my. It is a perfect foil for a creamy rich blue cheese and some salty Prosciutto. Hmmm…let me think what else? Thinking. Thinking. Thinking. Pizza dough? Now we’re cooking with gas!!!

Black Mission Figs

Fresh figs have a fairly short season – found both in the spring and the fall, or if you are in Cali maybe a bit longer. They date back to 9000+ BC and were cultivated more than 1000 years before wheat or rye. Their existence is well documented from Aristotle to the art world. I mean, where would we be without fig leaves? Spanish missionaries brought them to the US in the late 1700s, where the Mission variety thrived in the California sunshine. To this day, Black Mission figs are among the most popular and that is what I used here.

Dried figs used to be a bit tough and required soaking (brandy wouldn’t be so bad) to use. But today there are unsulfured, wonderful, juicy varieties available in resealable pouches. Valley Fig offers organic dried  Mission figs and Made in Nature offers dried Smyrna figs that are velvety and have “hints of honey, jam and butterscotch.” If you can’t find fresh figs, try chopping some of these in place of the fresh. As Made in Nature’s package says, “… congrats, nature. You really nailed it on this one.” They’re “figgin awesome.”

Prosciutto, Cambozola, Fresh Figs and Fig Butter

For the cheese, I used Cambozola, but there is a wide range of blues from which to choose, especially Stilton or Roquefort. I like the creaminess and richness of Cambozola as an offset to the salty meat and juicy fruit. This cow’s milk cheese, made in Germany, is a triple crème-ripened blue cheese and you might liken it to a cross between a blue and a brie. You would not be all wrong. While the name appears to be a portmanteau of Camembert and Gorgonzola given its similarity to the rich creaminess of Camembert and the blue bite of Gorgonzola, the name is also a nod to its terroir. It is made in Kempten (in Bavaria), whose Roman name is Cambodunum.

Fig Prosciutto Pizza

Fig Prosciutto Pizza

This is really another non-recipe recipe, which I know y’all love. Proportions are not essential when topping pizzas. Actually, even choosing the ingredients is not critically important. Just remember to aim for a balance of sweet, salty, fat and acid and a mix of textures, and if you dare, a contrast in temperatures. As written below, the jam provides sweetness; the cheese and meat are salty; the cheese adds creamy fat and richness; the vinegar add acid and serves as a light (just a drizzle) dressing for the arugula. The textures range from creamy to crispy, and the temperature is hot pizza with cold salad. Done and Done!

Fig, Cambozola and Prosciutto Pizza with Arugula

Let me know how it goes, and – as always – I love to read your comments on the website and see your photos on Instagram.

Happy Fall!

Arugula atop a fig prosciutto pizza

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Fig, Cambozola and Prosciutto Pizza with Arugula with a slice out - overhead shot and close up

Fig Prosciutto Pizza with Blue Cheese & Arugula


  • Author: Katy Keck
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 8 slices 1x

Description

This Fig Prosciutto Pizza is a far cry from those gummy Newtons you grew up on. Sweet jammy fig butter, with crispy and salty Prosciutto, creamy rich Cambozola and fresh luscious figs let this pizza span a meal from appetizer to dessert. 


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1-pound fresh pizza dough (see notes)
  • 11-ounce jar of Fig Butter (or fig jam) – may have leftovers
  • Favorite oil for drizzling on crust (I wouldn’t be mad if you used truffle oil once it comes out of the oven, but brush the crust with something less delicate before baking. Lemon oil is nice)
  • 8 fresh figs, about 1/3 pound, sliced
  • 1/2 pound Cambozola cheese, or other creamy blue like Gorgonzola
  • 8 slices Prosciutto
  • 3 cups of arugula
  • Crema di Balsamico, or a balsamic reduction
  • Flaky sea salt to finish – like my beloved Maldon’s

Instructions

Preheat oven and pizza stone to 425oF. Check pizza dough directions to confirm this is best for your dough.

Lightly flour a work surface and stretch or roll the pizza dough into a 12” diameter round. If you are using the roll-out dough that comes in a popping-fresh canister, follow those directions and roll into a rectangle, but plan on using more topping ingredients. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled pan.

Spread the fig butter to create a thin layer, leaving a 1/2 “ border of dough around the outside. (See notes.)   Brush the exposed outer ring of dough with a favorite oil.

Set the pan on the pizza stone and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the crust is set.

Carefully remove from oven, adding the figs, some dollops of Cambozola and the Prosciutto. I like to take a half-slice of Prosciutto and twirl into a rosette, but some prefer to chop it and distribute the flavor more uniformly. Maybe you should be making two pizzas?

Return to oven and bake for 10 more minutes or until the crust is golden and the Prosciutto starts to crisp. The cheese should be melty.

Remove from oven and top with the arugula. Drizzle with a balsamic reduction (or Crema di Balsamico) and sprinkle with a flaky finishing salt.

Notes

Dessert Pizza or Appetizer? Actually, I have served it both ways. Spread the fig butter according to taste and purpose. If you use the whole jar (don’t judge) it will be pretty sweet. But it will also be nice and jammy. Depending on your taste, you might want to load up a bit more on the salty items like the cheese and Prosciutto.

Trader Joe’s makes a great fresh pizza dough, stashed in the cheese and prepared food refrigerator case. You can find it made with white flour, whole wheat and even gluten-free.

Stonewall Kitchen makes a lovely Fig & Walnut Butter and Valley Fig offers three flavors of fig spread. For this test, I used the Trader Joe’s Fig Butter.

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Category: Main, App, Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: Italian, American

Keywords: fig prosciutto pizza

Fig Prosciutto Pizza with Arugula

© Copyright: KatyKeck.com 2018. All rights reserved.

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Skillet-Burst Tomato & Corn Pasta

Skillet-Burst Tomato & Corn Pasta

Fresh Mozzarella, Tomato & Corn Pasta

This late summer quick and easy pasta dish needs no introduction – corn, tomatoes, and summer squash? Why, hello friends! Welcome!! In a word – YUM! I found myself with a zucchini/tomato bounty post farmer’s market and wanted to whip up something that screams, “I see you Indian summer and I beg you to stay.”

There’s always so much to do this time of year, so why waste time getting dinner on the table? I say that it takes 25 minutes in the notes below, but that is really for the non-multi-tasker. If you get that water boiling first, start your sauté, drop the pasta, and add the veggies to the tomatoes, all while sipping a nice glass of vino, you will be done in far less time. Or at least you won’t notice. This dish is inspired by those that want no fuss, yet full flavor. Skillet-burst tomato & corn pasta has got your back. 

Picking the Produce

Was your sweet corn as amazing as mine this summer? Dutch Love, Silver Queen, Peaches & Cream! Yes, please!! I am partial to the white corn, but the key to me is tiny kernels, sweet enough and oh-so-tender that you can eat it raw.

But corn shopping can get competitive where I come from. It might not be at the market by 8:15, because they are still picking, and by 9:15 you might be disappointed. A total shut out. Thanks to Ham Family Farm and my really pointy elbows, I was corn-endowed all season. Do you remember Everything But the Farmer Farmer’s Market Salad? Same joint. That is a salad that is also epic this time of year. And as long as you are buying tomatoes, buy extra and put up a batch of oven-dried tomatoes. You will thank me all winter. 

Corn and Tomatoes

Skillet-Burst Tomato & Corn Pasta

To get started, drop the cherry and grape tomatoes – I love heirlooms for their gorgeous hues – into a sauté pan with garlic. Whirl the pan to coat the tomatoes with the EVOO and sizzle til they start to char and burst. Add the summer squash and cook until caramelized.

Thyme-Scented Veggie Saute

Toss in some corn, arugula, and seasonings, then add the al dente-cooked pasta and Parmesan. I am using rigatoni here, but any short-cut shape will do. Divide among bowls, top with hand-torn fresh Mozzarella and fresh basil. As always, check the seasoning. I like to use a finishing salt like Maldon, and of course some fresh pepper or hot pepper flakes. 

Adding Pasta to the Veggie Saute

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Close up of Skillet Burst Tomatoes Pasta with Fresh Mozzarella in a black bowl with opal basil

Skillet Burst Tomato & Corn Pasta


  • Author: Katy Keck
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 6

Description

This late summer quick and easy skillet-burst tomato & corn pasta dish needs no introduction. Corn? Tomatoes? Summer squash? Why, hello friends! Welcome!! This dish highlights the bounty of late summer produce. Tumble onto a bed of pasta, shred some fresh mozzarella, garnish with basil, and you have yourself a feast. 


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 4 cups heirloom cherry tomatoes, about 1 1/2 pounds
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • Pinch of salt and pepper
  • 1 1/2 pounds summer squash, about 8 extra small, trimmed and sliced (if using larger squash, cut into half-moons)
  • 1-pound rigatoni, or another short-cut pasta
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • 2 ears of fresh corn, cut from the cob
  • 1 cup thinly sliced arugula
  • Red pepper flakes to taste
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
  • 2 balls fresh Mozzarella
  • 2 Tablespoons thinly sliced basil (chiffonade)
  • Finish with Maldon sea salt or other flaky finishing salt

Instructions

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large sauté pan. Add garlic, tomatoes and thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Stir to coat the tomatoes, smashing garlic further. After 6 minutes, add the summer squash, stirring occasionally. Cook for an additional 5 or 6 minutes until the summer squash start to brown and caramelize.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, according to the package instructions, about 12 minutes.

Turn the heat down to low on the sauté pan, and stir in butter, corn, arugula and season with red pepper flakes. Cook for three minutes, scrapping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Remove the thyme.

Drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup of pasta water.  Add the pasta to the vegetable mixture and add the Parmesan. Stir to combine, adding pasta water to thin, if desired.

Divide among six bowls and top each with 1/3 of a ball of fresh Mozzarella, torn by hand.

Garnish with basil and finish with flaky sea salt, adding more red pepper flakes if desired.

Notes

Use a bit of the pasta water, if you prefer a more saucy pasta and feel free to hit it with more butter. What could be bad?

Not going to lie – I wouldn’t be mad if you threw a Tablespoon or two of pesto on this. I did however create this combo of ingredients to let stellar tomatoes, sweetest corn and gorgeous squash be the rock stars. The more things you add, the less they are the standouts. This pasta mimics a fresh ear of corn slathered with butter. You be the master of your destiny!

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: Pasta
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Italian, American

Keywords: Tomato, Corn, Pasta

Skillet Burst Tomatoes Pasta with Fresh Mozzarella

To source the Maldon salt and see more of my must-have kitchen tools, visit my shop. (affiliate links)

© Copyright: KatyKeck.com 2018. All rights reserved.

 

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