Recipes @ MindSay

About a month ago, I was inspired to make French Onion soup due to a delicious and  nearly painful post that Nomad made!

So I made this awesome French Onion soup Sunday night - a night of "chunky taints" and revealing menage trois tendencies (how appropriate, being that the soup was French!)  It came out fantastic... and it's low-carb!  Best of all, it's one of those re-used meals!  As in, the broth came from an Italian Beef recipe we make!  So it's a money-saver too!   Make Italian Beefs one night, probably have enough to have them a second night, use the broth to make this soup!

These quantities are only what I used with what I had on hand, but I'm sure you could switch it up a little and it'd be just as tasty!  I think you could also use all store-bought beef broth instead of the Italian Beef broth and it'd be just fine!

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 medium yellow onions, sliced
• 2 medium red onions, sliced
• 1 cup shredded carrots
  
• 2 bunches of scallions (green onions), julienned
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons flour
  
• 3 cups Italian Beef broth - no fat (see Doug's Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwich recipe)
• 4 cups beef broth
• 1 cup dry Marsala wine
• 2 parsley cubes
  
• 2 tablespoons Caldo de Pollo
  
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon dried marjoram
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 loaf bread (we used an artisan olive bread, but French or Italian would be fine)
  
• cheese (provolone, swiss, gruyere, or mozarella)

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil and butter.  Add yellow and red onions and carrots.  Sauté until the onions are almost translucent.  Add scallions and garlic and sauté until garlic is cooked.  Sprinkle flour over mixture and cook until flour is browned. 

Stir in beef broths, parsley cubes, Caldo de Pollo, and Marsala - bring to a boil.  Add thyme, marjoram, rosemary, and bay leaves - reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently for 20 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Remove bay leaves when soup is done.

While soup is simmering, slice your bread into 1" - 1.5" rounds and toast until crisp.

Ladel soup into oven-safe bowls or ramekins until soup is about 1.5" from top of dish.  Gently place toasted bread on top of soup and cover with cheese.  Place bowls onto a foil-lined cookie sheet and carefully bake under your oven's broiler until cheese is melted and just starts to brown (about 5 minutes).

I just picked a few figs off of our fig tree out back. Washed one up, peeled the skin off ( they say you can eat the skin, but I have never been a fan favorite of fruit skins) and I found the taste to be delicious and now I cannot wait to try something besides a fig newton :) I may try making a pie.

 

The fig is:

• Low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium
• High in Dietary Fiber

The nutritional value of raw figs make them ideal for:

• Maintaining optimum health
• Weight loss

Figs played an important part in the diet of both the ancient Greeks and Romans. The ancient Greeks fed large quantities to their athletes, the Spartans, in the belief that the fruit encouraged strength and swiftness. The Roman's fed fresh figs to their slaves, particularly the agricultural workers, but dried figs were also widely consumed.

 

I don't give a fig
 

Meaning:	Complete lack of concern about an event.
Example:
Origin:	This phrase comes from the Spanish Fico (Fig) which gave its name to a traditional gesture of contempt made by placing the thumb between the first and second fingers. The gesture was common in Shakespeare's time and was known as The Fig of Spain. The modern-day equivalent is the "V" sign.

This afternoon I decided to try my hand at making my own granola!  I love granola in my yogurt, but the stuff at the store always seems expensive and some of them are really high in calories... so I looked over some recipes and created one of my own.

2 cups oats

6 tbsp flaxseed meal

1/4 cup sliced almonds

3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup apple juice

4 tbsp brown sugar

4 tbsp honey

1 tbsp vanilla extract

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Combine oats, flaxseed, almonds, and spices in a large mixing bowl.

 

Combine apple juice, brown sugar, honey, and vanilla extract in a saucepan over medium heat 10 minutes or so (don't let it boil).  Stir frequently.

 

When liquid mixture is hot and beginning to thicken slightly, pour slowly over dry mix, folding it in to coat the entire mix.

 

Spread mixture onto parchment paper covered (or tin foil) cookie sheet (I had to use 2) and bake for 20 minutes (longer if desired).  Half way through, remove from oven and move granola around to ensure even cooking. 

 

Watch carefully to prevent burning.  Done when golden brown -- may still be pliable when you take it out of the oven, but will firm up when cooled.

 

Makes 10, 1/2 cup servings

And for those of you who may be interested, here are the nutrition values:
Calories: 149.2
Total fat: 3.8 g
Sodium: 2.6 mg
Total Carbs: 26.7 g
    Dietary fiber: 3.5 g
    Sugars: 10.5 g
Protein: 3.5 g

Let me know if you end up trying it.  I enjoyed it thoroughly :)

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