Turkey Meatball Soup

The summer so far has been kind to us. Its hot, but not humid,with a nice breeze. And after all the BBQ's and grilled steaks on the weekend, I crave something light, delicious and nourishing...

Turkey Meatball Soup fits the bill.

This is how I make it:

Turkey - around 3/4-1 lb

1 Large carrot

2 Med. onions 

2-3 potatoes

1-2 stalks celery

1-2 cloves of garlic

Salt, pepper

1. Put a pot with water on the stove to boil
2. Grind your turkey + 1 onion + garlic, add salt, pepper to taste
3. Once the water comes to a boil, start forming small turkey balls, around 1" dia, and add as you go to the the boiling water. Reduce heat to med so its simmering nicely during this process.
4. If you have any scum rising to the top, remove it with a spoon, until you have a clear broth.
5. Add stalks of celery, peeled carrot, 1 halved onion, circled potatoes ( circled potatoes are potatoes diced into circles for my kids-  you can do it the grown up style - "quartered")
6. Add salt, pepper, bay leaf ( optional) and finely chopped fresh herbs of your preference. I like dill+cilantro, my classic version.
7. Reduce heat to low and cover partially with a lid. Leave for 30-40 min.

Voila! You have just made a delicious, light, healthy soup from scratch!

You can also add cooked rice, or small pasta directly to the serving bowl, to beef it up a little. But that's totally optional.

I hope you are proud of yourself.

Enjoy!

Chicken wings in an iron skillet

Easiest dinner ever!

15-17 chicken wings

1 Spoonful of Mayo

1 Squirt of Ketchup

Salt, Pepper to taste

1. Put everything in an Iron skillet 

2. Mix well

3.  Cover tight with parchment paper

( I try  to avoid using foil with heat, 

as I found out  from a friend chemist

that it is not healthy to do so)

4.  Bake for 30 min on 350

5. Uncover and let the wings brown till golden and crispy

( may use broiler setting to speed up the process)

They come out crispy and sticky and yummy!

Eggplant hearty dip

Eggplants are in season now. I've got three in my fridge now, waiting to play major roles in three different dishes within the next week. Here is the first one:

Eggplant Hearty Dip

• 1 Eggplant
• 1 Carrot large
• 1 Red bell pepper, large
• 2 large ripe tomatoes

All the above to cut into 1/2" cubes

• 1 Onion, medium, chopped
• 3-4 garlic, minced
• Fresh herbs - I used cilantro, dill- a handful
• Oil, generously cover the bottom of the saute pan
• Salt, pepper

1. Heat the oil on medium, add onion, saute until golden and soft
2. Add carrots, bell peppers, saute until just soften, 5-7 min
3. Add tomatoes, saute 5 min
4. Add garlic, herbs, eggplant, saute 5 min
5. Reduce to low, cover, and leave for 20-25 min, until all eggplant softens and becomes almost invisible in the mix
6. Cool, and serve with toasted bread.
Enjoy!

A healthy alternative to store-bought juices & soda

I had some random fruit laying around and they looked kind of sad ( no one was eating them)

I had a whiny baby walking around who kept asking for something to drink... ( his 5th-6th drink?? yes, it is HOT today)

So I put two together and made a fruit punch ( no booze here!) as a healthy alternative to store-bought juices for kids.

All you need is: some fruit ( whatever you have on hand) , sugar, water.

I used 5 apples, 1 pear, some cherries, a couple of a strawberries, 2 slices of lemon, 6 cups of water, 3/4 cup of sugar ( you can adjust it per your taste)

Cut all your ingredients into large bite pieces, cover with water in a pot, add sugar and let it come to a boil. Then simmer for 5 min. Done!

Let it cool, strain the liquid and enjoy!

My mom's famous raisin & walnut squares

No, no, no - I did not make it today... As I said before it is WAY too hot to bake. But I have documented this process a few weeks earlier, and today after lunch when the usual craving for something sweet came over me, I remembered about these raisin & walnut squares. And I thought I'd share them with the world, if I cannot have them, does not mean you can't. So if your weather permits to bake, I urge you to try these. You won't regret!
Thank you MOM for this recipe!


Raisin & Walnut Squares

2 sticks of butter, very cold, I even put them in the freezer for 15 min
3 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 container of sour cream ( 16 oz)
1 tsp salt
1.5 cup of raisins
1.5 cups of walnuts
1 egg, separated
1/2 cup of sugar

1. Working fast, grate 2 sticks of cold butter ( large holes side) into 2.5 cups of flour. Add salt, sour cream, and quickly mix together. Gradually add the rest 1/2 cup of flour as you mixing. As soon as you can put together a ball, stop mixing! Wrap with plastic and put in the coldest ( not freezer!!!) part of your fridge for 1-2 hours.
While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling. Whisk the egg white with sugar, add to the mix of nuts and raisins. Easy, right? When the dough is ready, take out of the fridge and divide in two parts. Wrap one with plastic & put back in the fridge. Put the other one on a piece of parchment paper to fit 17x14 baking sheet and roll it out thinly. Carefully transfer parchment+dough together onto the baking sheet. Spread the filling evenly. Now put another parchment sheet on the counter and roll out the second part of the dough from the fridge. Immediately after that pick up the parchment from the counter and put it dough side down on the filling. Peel off the parchment paper. Pinch the edges.
Everything needs to be done quickly so the butter pieces in the dough wouldn't have a chance to melt. Parchment paper prevents the dough from sticking to your hands.

Now add a little water to the egg yolk and whisk. Brush all over the top of the dough, poke a few times with a fork, and into the 375F pre-heated oven for 45 min or until golden! Once it cools down, cut into desirable size pieces and sprinkle with powdered sugar if you want to make it extra fancy.

Enjoy!