Recipes Discovered

Vegetable Beef Soup Recipe

With all the fresh garden vegetables we have, soup seemed to be a good solution to using them up. This is my mom’s vegetable beef soup recipe. It takes a bit of time, but it’s worth it.

Start by searing either chuck roast or broil over high heat in an 8 quart pot. Chuck roast has a little bit more flavor (more marbling), but I can’t always find it at the grocery store. Once the meat was browned on both sides, I add lots of tomatoes and onions. Canned tomatoes work well in the winter, but since we have hundreds of tomatoes in the garden, I used fresh. To peel the tomatoes, I added tomatoes to boiling water just for a second and then drained them. The skin just peeled right off. I allowed that to simmer for about 2 1/2 hours before adding celery. A half hour after I added the celery, I removed the meat and added carrots, potatoes, and cabbage. When the meat was cool enough to handle, I shredded it apart and added it back to the soup along with fresh corn cut from the cob, peas, and string beans. I let the soup simmer for about an hour before checking for seasoning. I added 4 cups of beef broth and about a 1/4 cup of fresh parsley, and let the soup simmer another hour. Since we all like it seasoned differently, I didn’t add any salt or pepper, but I put it on the table with the soup.

This soup is good at any time. In the winter, it’s a warm comfort food. In the summer, it’s a fresh, healthy meal. It’s also a nice dish to take to someone who needs a little pick-me-up.

Spaghetti Squash Recipe

Meatball Recipe

Marinara Sauce Recipe

Since my mom is careful about the amount of carbs she eats, her and my dad don’t have pasta much anymore. My dad loves spaghetti and meatballs though. There is a type of squash that the flesh separates into strings and looked just like spaghetti (obviously called a spaghetti squash). Luckily, my family likes pretty much any vegetable and the spaghetti squash makes a great substitute for pasta.

The squash is really easy to cook. I cut it in half and scooped out the seeds. Then, I put it in a glass dish, cut side down, with about an inch of water. It took about 40 minutes to bake and become tender. Then I scraped out the flesh and served it with sauce and meatballs, just like spaghetti.

The squash is a little sweeter than pasta and is a little thinner than traditional spaghetti. I would compare it to angel hair pasta in size and texture. It is delicious on it’s own but it also taste great with spaghetti sauce and is an excellent substitute for diabetics watching their carb intake.

Goulash with Gnocchi Recipe

Gnocchi is one of my favorite “pastas”, although it’s not really a pasta. It’s a small dumpling usually made with potatoes. Gnocchi is cooked and served in the same way that pasta is, boiled gently in salted water and generally served with a tomato or butter sauce. They taste wonderful and are a unique alternative to traditional pasta.
This recipe for goulash called for ground chicken, but I needed to use up some ground beef, so I just omitted the oil and butter and substituted the beef for the chicken. I drained the browned meat before adding chopped onions, peppers, mushrooms, and garlic. After the veggies cooked for a few minutes, a seasoned everything with paprika, salt, and pepper, and then added stock and tomato sauce. Instead of canned tomato sauce, I used Prego. I think it made the sauce a little thicker and added a lot of flavor. I simmered everything for another couple of minutes before removing the pan from the heat and stirring in sour cream and parsley. The sour cream, although it sounds like an odd addition, adds a wonderful, rich flavor.
For the gnocchi, I boiled a large pot of water, salted it, and then added the frozen gnocchi (my grocery store doesn’t have fresh). The dumplings only cooked about 2 minutes before a couple floated to the top. As soon as the first few started floating, I drained them and added them to the goulash.
This makes a delicious, hearty meal. The sauce is thick and rich, and the gnocchi has a wonderful chewy texture. There are a lot of veggies that bring freshness to the dish. It’s quick, easy, and very filling. It would make a great meal to warm up in the middle of winter, or just when you want to try something that’s a little out of the ordinary.

Greek Pasta Skillet Recipe

I have made this dish several times and each time, I am astounded at the amount of flavor it has. It’s a very quick and easy one pot recipe that is absolutely delicious.

The recipe calls for ground lamb or beef. I have always used beef and usually go for the lean beef (93/7). After sauteing the beef and onions in a skillet, add a can of undrained, diced tomatoes, tomato juice, water, instant beef bouillon, cinnamon, and garlic powder. First of all, you need a very large skillet with a lid for this dish. Since the pasta cooks in the liquid, the pan gets very full. Second, I know the cinnamon sounds weird, but trust me, it gives off such a wonderful aroma and taste phenomenal. Third, I have only found 8 ounce cans of tomato juice in my grocery store, so I add the whole can and then cut down on the water a little bit. It works out fine. After the mixture comes to a boil, stir in uncooked macaroni and frozen green beans. When the mixture comes back to a boil, cover the pan, turn the heat to low, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes until the pasta is tender. I usually stir it once or twice in between, just to make sure all the pasta is covered with liquid. If there isn’t enough liquid to cover the pasta, I add some extra water. When the pasta is cooked, take the skillet off the heat, top with feta cheese, and serve. It’s simple, easy, and delicious.

Greek Style Stuffed Peppers Recipe
Stuffed Dates Recipe
Greek House Dressing Recipe

Tonight’s dinner was definitely a Greek delight. Greek Style Stuffed Peppers, Stuffed Dates wrapped in Prosciutto, and a Greek House Salad with homemade dressing.

Have you ever seen a recipe that just seemed to healthy to be good? This recipe for Stuffed Peppers is one of those recipes. Lean ground beef, spinach, zucchini, and bulgur stuffed into a red pepper half and topped with tomatoes. I do like all of the ingredients though, so I tried it out. The recipe really couldn’t be any easier. Squeeze the water out of a package of frozen (but thawed out) spinach, grate a zucchini and mince an onion. Mix all the veggies together with lean ground beef (I used 93/7), bulgur, an egg and some seasonings. Cut some red peppers in half, seed them, and then stuff some of the meat mixture inside. Top the peppers with canned tomatoes and feta cheese. Simple. It takes a long time to bake though – 30 minutes covered and another 30 – 45 minutes uncovered. Theresults are so good though, it’s worth the wait. >> Read more