Refreshing summer soup - chilled cucumber beet

I have obviously been on a crazy beet kick for a few months...I also have a very short attention span, so I quickly got bored with eating sliced beets over and over (but I still wanted beets).  Oh, first world problems...

My boredom with sliced beets coincided with the explosion of my deck garden.  I have tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, and cucumbers in the produce section this year, and the only thing that the squirrels and the doberman leave for me are the cucumbers.  (Sidenote: I must have the most healthy wildlife in the city given the amount of veggies that have been plucked in their prime).

Winning.

The obvious solution, inspired by one of my favorite, now-defunct lunch spots, was to combo sweet beets and refreshing cucumber into a delicious combo of healthy goodness.  I combined a number of recipes that I found online to get the combo that I wanted, and this is the result:

What you need:
1 large cucumber
4 beets
4 scallions/green onions
1 tsp creamy horseradish
1 tbsp wine vinegar
up to 1 cup of low sodium chicken stock
3/4 cup light sour cream
a food processor (please note, this is NOT a mixer - this thing has blades...you may substitute with a good blender)

Step 1:  Clean and cook the beets per my previous entry.  After they are cooked, let them cool for about 60 mins.  SAVE the beet juice/water from the cooking.

Pretty purple

Step 2:  Peel and dice the cucumber, and place it into a food processor.

Step 3:  Chop the green onion up to where the stem turns to leaves into pieces similar in length to the cucumber dice length.  Place the onion in the food processor.

Step 4:  Cube the beets into the same size as the cucumber.  Place the beets into the food processor with the other veggies.

Ready to rumble.

Step 5:  Run the processor until things start to look smooth.  Then add the horseradish and the wine vinegar.

Step 6:  Now comes the tricky part...you will need to add the chicken stock to taste.  I like a stronger flavor in mine, so I added almost the whole cup.

Am I allowed to call a 1-cup carton of chicken stock "adorable?" 

Step 7:  You will want to use the beet juice/cooking water in order to regulate the consistency of the soup - I only used about a half cup to thin mine out.

Step 8:  Mix with the food processor til everything is well blended.  Your mix will be a deep purple color.  The fun part is adding the sour cream, since it will take it to a vibrant violet color and will add the sour element to balance out the sweetness of the beets.

before

After

Step 9:  Pour into an easy container for refrigeration.  Cool for at least 6 hours before eating.  Enjoy!

Cooking tip:  Remember to always taste as you cook!  This keeps you on top of your seasoning.  Nothing is worse than bland or overly seasoned food...you want to find that happy medium, and you need to taste as you go in order to do that.

Chili throwdown...Texas "meats" Bucknell

Bison chili, baby!!!  This is a VERY lean chili, which therefore goes against all the usual chili rules of using an 80-20 fat mix for flavor.  BUT, the flavor is so good and smoky, you can get away with breaking the #1 chili rule.  Also, make sure you invest in a crock pot, because it is the greatest invention on earth.  Chili, of course, needs to cook low and slow to make sure all the flavors really get in there...I find it is easier to throw it in a slow cooker overnight instead of staying awake to make sure your stove doesn't burn down the house.  This is a "two step crock pot", meaning that you have to do a little cooking before you can throw it in the crock pot.

First step: Find ground buffalo meat.  Since I made the mistake of moving out of Texas, it took me a full 2 weeks, many desperate phone calls and emails, and visits to random butchers to track some down.  I finally obtained the last two pounds in the greater Richmond area.  Win.

Step two:  Get your other ingredients:
3 cans of dark red kidney beans (this breaks another Texas rule - no beans in chili...but this one needs the healthy fat due to the bison)
4 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1.5 c diced onion
28 oz. can of diced tomatos
23 oz. can tomato sauce (note - this is NOT pasta sauce)
5.5 oz. can tomato paste
1 tsp salt
3 oz. bottle of real bacon bits

Step 3:  Make your dry spice mix - combo the chili, cumin, coriander, garlic, oregano, and cayenne in a bowl and mix it up with a fork til it is mixed uniformly

Step 4:  Spray a non stick skillet with Pam and pour in the onions on medium heat - cook them for about two minutes, at which point they will just start to go from white to clear.  Stir in the spices from step 3, and let that simmer for about 1-2 mins.  Add the ground bison and stir until lighty browned and evenly mixed with the onions/spice.  Make sure you smash apart and big "meatballs" so that it stays ground.

Step 5:  Throw the meat mix into the crockpot.  Drain and add the beans, thn add all the tomato stuff, the salt, AND the bacon.  Stir it all up, and cook it on low heat for 10 hours.  Serve over rice, quinoa, or plain with some cheese on top!  Congrats, you just made easy and super healthy chili.

Snow day soup - Creamy sherried tomato soup

Or cold rain.  Or sun.  Or whatever weather really, because it is THAT good.  I have to thank Elaine for finding this recipe...I have stolen it for my stomach and for this blog.

Ingredients:
6 tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onion
46 oz. tomato juice
28 oz diced tomato
1.5 tbsp chicken base (you can find this next to the chicken boullion in the grocery store)
5 tbsp. sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cooking sherry (you can find this next to the vinegar in the grocery store)
1.5 cups of heavy whipping cream
parsley to taste
basil to taste

Step 1:  Melt the butter in a large pot, and throw in the chopped onion.  Simmer over medium heat until the onions are transluscent.

Step 2:  Add the juice, tomatoes, chicken base, sugar, salt, and peper.  Stir, cover, and heat until it almost reaches a boil.

Step 3:  Chase the hound dog out of the pantry.

Step four:  Add the sherry and the cream.

Stir and bring to a simmer.  Add basil and parsley to taste and serve.  Thank me later, because this stuff is AMAZING.