Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c. chicken broth

1 small onion, diced

1/3 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. butter

1/2 t. pepper

1/2 t. salt

2 c. milk

1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese, preferably sharp or extra sharp *

1/2 c. shredded Swiss cheese *

2 1/2 to 3 c. chopped, lightly steamed or blanched broccoli **

* When I went to put the cheese in the soup, I realized that I only had a half cup of cheddar left! So, I improvised! I threw in the 1/2 c. of cheddar and then made the other 1 1/2 c. of cheese parts of Provolone (not Swiss, never Swiss!), Parmesan, and mozzarella.

** Totally forgot to chop my broccoli, but it turned out fine.

Recipe:

1. Simmer chicken broth and chopped onion for 15-20 minutes in a covered small saucepan, until onions are soft.

2. Heat milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes.

3. In a separate medium-sized stockpot, melt butter then add flour, salt, and pepper. Cook together, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, then whisk in warmed milk.

4. Stir and heat together on medium heat until soup starts to thicken, about 5-8 minutes. Add warmed chicken broth and continue to stir until well blended.

5. Add cheeses and stir until completely melted.

6. Stir in steamed broccoli. Add more salt and pepper to taste, if needed.

7. Serve immediately in bowls or bread bowls.

Rating: 4 of 5

Since I changed the quota of cheeses, I'm not sure what this is supposed to taste like. But, since this was sooo good with my mix-ups, I can only imagine the real thing is delicious too! That being said, I do love a good broccoli and cheese soup. Anyways, this soup is thick and creamy. But, not so thick that it's like eating mashed potatoes. The base is so good in this soup, that if you don't like broccoli, then I'm thinkin' you could switch it out for your favorite vegetable or any combination of vegetables.

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe, Broccoli Cheese Soup

Balsamic Marinated Vegetables

Ingredients:

Vegetables:

1 1/2 c. uncooked broccoli, seperated into florets

1 1/2 c. uncooked cauliflower, seperated into florets

1 medium zucchini, sliced

12 baby carrots, sliced

1/2 sweet onion, sliced thin and seperated into rings

Balsamic Dressing:

1/2 c. water

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar, plus

2 T. balsamic vinegar

1/4 c. finely snipped fresh parsley

2 T. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 t. black pepper

salt

Recipe:

1. Combine the vegetables in a large glass or ceramic bowl.

2. Mix dressing ingredients and pour over vegetables.

3. Stir well, cover and refrigerate for 6 to 24 hours, stirring occasionally.

4. Cooking time reflects time to marinate vegetables.

Notes:

I used purple onion, broccoli, baby carrots, red peppers, and cucumber instead of the veggies they suggested. I also ended up making more sauce/marinade than they called for. I had more veggies than they asked when I was done chopping, and the marinade seems pretty skimpy when you just do the amount they call for, so i doubled the water and tripled the vinegar and oil and garlic, and just shook in a bunch of pepper. i didn't have any parsley so i left it out. I think it's pretty flexible so do what you want!

Rating: TBD

This one looked really good, however, I didn't try it because I've learned, through the recipes on this blog, that I really don't like the balsamic flavor. I'm sure it was delicious for those who like that flavor though!

Source: Julia Axtell, adapted from food.com

Broccoli and Four-Cheese Calzones

I'll just start off by saying that I didn't even do the broccoli and four-cheese part, but here is the recipe if you want it!

Ingredients:

1 1/3 c. warm water

2 T. olive oil

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. dried oregano

4 c. bread flour

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1 10-oz. frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

1/4 t. garlic powder

2 T. olive oil

1/2 c. shredded provolone cheese

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

1/2 c. ricotta cheese

1 T. olive oil

Recipe:

1. Place the water, 2 T. olive oil, salt, oregano, bread flour, and yeast in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough setting and press Start.

2. Meanwhile, squeeze out excess liquid from broccoli. In a large skillet, saute the broccoli and garlic powder in 2 T. olive oil. Stir in the provolone, Parmesan, mozzarella, and ricotta cheese.

3. Once bread cycle has finished, remove dough from machine and roll in to 6 8-inch circles. Spread filling on one half of each circle, leaving a border around it for closing. Close the calzones and crimp the edges closed with your fingers or a fork. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Let rise in a draft-free area for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

4. Brush tops lightly with 1 T. olive oil. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. *

* For my oven 20 minutes was long enough to turn the dough the a dark brown. I think 15 minutes is probably long enough as long as the dough gets cooked.

So, instead of the broccoli and four-cheese filling here's what I did.

Ingredients:

Michelle's Alfredo Sauce

1 pkg. frozen broccoli florets

2 can. chicken breast chunks in water or 2 chicken breasts shredded or cubed

Recipe:

1. Mix all three ingredients together and spoon into dough.

Rating: 3.5 of 5

I liked my version of the filling. I didn't have the other ingredients on hand, so this was a pretty good substitute. The dough was pretty good, but like I said, it got a little too cooked. Daniel loved it which makes me happy that he ate broccoli no-questions-asked.

Source: AllRecipes, Dinner Tonight, pg. 181 and Michelle Knebel, and my brain

Sausage and Broccoli Skillet

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. ground pork sausage

1 medium onion, chopped *

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 10.75-oz can condensed cream of broccoli soup **

1/2 c. milk

1 16-oz. package frozen chopped broccoli

1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

4 1/2 c. fusili pasta, cooked and drained ***

red pepper flakes, as needed

*I, of course, just replaced it with dried chopped onion.

** I could only find Broccoli and Cheese, so I used that. Also, I recommend 2 cans of soup. The end result is really chunky and not so saucy.

*** When I went to the store, I had no idea what fusili pasta was. Turns out, it's just corkscrew type pasta. I used angel hair. I don't like corkscrew type pasta anyway.

Recipe:

1. Cook the sausage in a sauce-pot over medium-high heat until the sausage is well browned. Stir frequently to break up the meat.

2. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and garlic to the pot and cook until tender. Pour off fat.

3. Stir the soup, milk, broccoli and 1/4 c. of the cheese into the sauce-pot. Heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the broccoli is tender, stirring occasionally.

4. Put the pasta in a large serving bowl. Pour the sausage mixture over the pasta. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Serve with red pepper, if desired.

Rating: 3 of 5

This was pretty good. I think next time I will cut the meat and broccoli in half. It was just a little to thick. This was a pretty good dish.

Source: Food on the Table