Potato Spinach Leek Soup

     April brings spring. When you live in the South the temperatures are already rising. We've still had lingering cold nights and chilly mornings, but as the month ends they are fewer and farther between. I've been wanting to try out leeks for a long time and decided earlier in the week that soup was the way to start. This is perfect for those lingering cold nights and great for the terribly stormy nights we've been having lately.

Potato Spinach Leek Soup

 

 

Soak leeks in water to get all the grit gone!

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. olive oil

3 Leeks, trimmed, tender parts only.

2 Cups fresh baby spinach

1 Clove garlic, minced.

3 Large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped.

32 Oz. chicken broth

1 Cup half-and-half

Salt to taste

Parmesan for garnish, optional

 

Directions:

 

1.  Heat oil in medium soup pot to med-high heat. Cook leeks, stirring often until soft. Reserve 1/4 cup cooked leeks for garnish. Add garlic to pot and cook for 2 minutes with leeks.

Add chicken broth and potatoes. Bring heat to high and cook covered for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender.

 

 

 

3. Add half-and-half , spinach, and salt to taste. Spinach will wilt. Working in batches, puree soup in blender. Garnish with reserved leeks and parmesan. Enjoy with crusty bread and a nice salad.

 

 



This is a great comfort food. Mr. P really liked it and he usually doesn't prefer any kind of potato soups. As for me, I'm a soup fan already so this was right up my alley. What are your favorite soups? I'm thinking of trying out cold soups this summer!
 

Dinner Duo

Mama Bear and I made this together the other night. We haven't got together in a little while and decided to make dinner at my place. We did a quick Pinterest search for something easy and this is what we found!

Chicken Tetrazzini

Ours differs from the original because we didn't prepare our chicken in a crock pot in advance. Also, we omitted the green peppers. We also used colby jack cheese, our selection at the grocery store was slim not sure if that's "Longhorn" cheese. 

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 TB butter
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken (we pan cooked very thin natural chicken breasts)
• 1 12 oz pkg thin spaghetti broken in half, cooked according to directions
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup (10.75 oz)
• 1/2 cup butter melted
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• 8 oz colby cheese jack, grated
• 1-2 TB olive oil

Directions:

1. Cook your chicken breast in skillet with olive oil. We used very thin breast so this shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes for 3 cups worth.
2. Saute onion on med/high heat in 2Tbs butter in saucepan. Add garlic when onion is beginning to soften. Meanwhile, have water boiling for noodles. We broke our noodles in half. Boil spaghetti based on box instructions.

     3.  Mix noodles, mushroom soup, and chicken together in onion/garlic saucepan. I folded it all together to be evenly coated.

     4.  In a seperate saucepan, combine the melted butter and flour over med. heat. Similar to a roux, creating the thickening agent for the sauce.

     5.  Slowly add milk. Stir with a wire whisk until mixture thickens. Stir constantly, don't want it to clump!

     6.  Stir in grated cheese and pour over noodle mixture.

We had made some awesome spinach dip dinner rolls. It was also super easy and went well with the meal. I'll eat anything loaded with carbs. Bread being my favorite. Then pasta.

Baked Spinach Dip Bread Bowls

For this recipe we used drained canned spinach for the filling and switched up the mini part. We made ours in a regular size muffin pan. Also, I already had some canned biscuits, so we used that instead of french bread dough. And it turned out wonderfully yummy. Our variation is probably the less healthy option.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of biscuits, pastry dough, french bread your choice
• 2 TB olive oil
• 2 cups of drained canned spinach
• 1 clove fresh minced garlic
• 3 oz. softened cream cheese
• 2 TB parm. cheese
• Dash of chile pepper, galic salt, salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup shredded ched/moz mix or just moz!

Directions:

     1.  Pre-heat oven to 350F. We made 8 biscuits for our dip bowls, but I'd follow the original recipe for smaller "party" portions! So, flatten dough into a rounds and press onto bottom and up sides of muffin cups.

 
      2.  Heat oil in skillet. Saute garlic. Add drained canned spinach and stir.
      3.  Mix all ingredients, except the shredded cheese, together in a large mixing bowl. Combine well.

      4.  Scoop into bread bowls. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Bake 15-17 minutes until edges are browned. Let cool and enjoy.

I have added these recieps to my official "go to" easy dinner list. It really took no time at all. A really good comfort food.





Taco Cupcakes

The title isn't the sweet type of cupcakes. Got to state that right off. These are simply baked in a cupcake pan. I found the idea randomly on Pinterst (as most recipes are found now!) Mr. P loved them. I strayed away from the recipe I found, but they're not an exact science. I have to stay away from black beans and olives if Mr. P is going to eat it!

The original recipe that inspired mine can be found here.

Taco Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2tsp olive oil
• 1lb ground beef
• 1/3 cup water
• 1  packet taco seasoning (or your own spicy mix)
• Chipotle sauce, enough for 12 "cupcakes"
• Verde Salsa, enough for 12
• 1 bag of Mexican Shredded cheese
• 12 Flour Tortillas, the smaller "fajita" size

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375. Spray cupcake tin with cooking spray.
2. Heat oil in skillet. Begin browning beef and taco seasoning. Breaking beef up. When not completely browned add the water. Let simmer, about 10-15 minutes till water is mostly gone. Drain.
3. Line cupcake tin with tortillas. I ripped a "seam" on mine and folded them nicely in each cup.
4. Pour chipotle sauce in to each cupcake, then divide taco meat and disperse in each cup.
5. Top with verde salsa and shredded cheese.
6. Bake 12-15 minutes, do not overbake or the tortillas will crisp too much.

Yummy and easy. My kind of dinner.