Heart-friendly Minestrone

This plant-based soup is hearty and heart-friendly, too! The basil pesto, added near the end, really boosts the flavor.

Heart-friendly Minestrone

1 ½ to 2 tablespoons olive oil

½ large white onion, diced

1 cups carrots, diced

¾ cup celery diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes

2 bay leaves

2 cups vegetable broth

1 ½ cups V-8 or tomato juice

1 to 2 cups water (start with less and add more if needed)

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

½ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¾ cup zucchini, diced

1 (15 oz.) can cannellini beans (or great northern beans), drained

1 (15 oz.) can red kidney beans, drained

½  cup small-sized macaroni

About 1/4 cup basil pesto (homemade or purchased) + additional pesto for garnishing if desired

Grated Parmesan for garnishing if desired

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.
2. Sauté onion, carrot, celery and garlic in the oil until onions begin to turn translucent.
3. Add tomatoes and bay leaves.
   
4. Add broth, tomato juice and water + Italian seasoning and salt/pepper.
   
5. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until carrots are tender.
6. Add potatoes and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until potatoes are almost tender.
   
7. Add additional water or other liquids (could use additional broth or tomato juice) as needed. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
8. Add zucchini, beans and pasta and continue to cook (about 15 minutes) until pasta is tender.
   
9. Stir in pesto to taste.
   
10. Serve with additional pesto and Parmesan if desired. 
    

Recipe without photos . . .

Heart-friendly Minestrone 

1 ½ to 2 tablespoons olive oil

½ large white onion, diced

1 cups carrots, diced

¾ cup celery diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes

2 bay leaves

2 cups vegetable broth

1 ½ cups V-8 or tomato juice

1 to 2 cups water (start with less and add more if needed)

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

½ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¾ cup zucchini, diced

1 (15 oz.) can cannellini beans (or great northern beans), drained

1 (15 oz.) can red kidney beans, drained

½  cup small-sized macaroni

About 1/4 cup  basil pesto (homemade or purchased) + additional pesto for garnishing if desired

Grated Parmesan for garnishing if desired

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.
2. Sauté onion, carrot, celery and garlic in the oil until onions begin to turn translucent.
3. Add tomatoes and bay leaves.
4. Add broth, tomato juice and water + Italian seasoning and salt/pepper.
5. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until carrots are tender.
6. Add potatoes and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until potatoes are almost tender.
7. Add additional water or other liquids (could use additional broth or tomato juice) as needed. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
8. Add zucchini, beans and pasta and continue to cook (about 15 minutes) until pasta is tender.
9. Stir in pesto to taste.
10. Serve with additional pesto and Parmesan if desired. 

A great way to start a brunch—Rob Prize-winning Bloody Mary Mix

To add to the festivities, we rimmed the
Bloody Mary glasses with Rimming Salt.

Winner of the Appetizer division in the 2016 Salina Journal's cooking contest, this recipe added some spice to our holiday brunch. 
It was submitted by Robert German, Salina, and appeared in the Salina Journal’s Smoky Hill Currents 2016 Holiday Edition.

Barry and I were two of several who had the privilege of judging this year's contest. It was a fun adventure and we met some new food lovers + had an opportunity to visit with others we already knew. Barry just happened to be on the team that selected the appetizer winner so making this recipe was a must!

Robert’s Bloody Mary Mix

2 (46 oz.) cans/jars V-8

4 oz. Worcestershire sauce (we added a little more to taste)

2 (2 ½ oz.) squeezable lime juice in plastic containers / 5 oz. total or 10 tablespoons or 5 limes (we used fresh limes but the recipe calls for the squeezable lime juice)

2 tablespoons salt (we used less than a tablespoon so we suggest you add & taste before adding the full amount)

1 tablespoon celery seed

¼ teaspoon pepper

Place ingredients in a 1-gallon jar. Place in refrigerator. Turn jar every other day for 1 week.

*If desired, include a 750 m. bottle of 80 proof vodka to the mixture. Or, mix vodka with the mix as drinks are prepared.

Centerpiece becomes 1st course — Garden Gazpacho

     Chilled gazpacho seemed like a great first course soup, but I also needed a low centerpiece for a small dinner party. And, that’s how soup ended up in juice glasses, lined up in the center of our dining room table.

     Since we were drinking the soup, I thinned it with broth but otherwise I just used our garden produce in a soup that did double duty!

Garden Gazpacho

1 cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled

2  bell peppers, scored and seeded

4 plum tomatoes

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 cups (23 oz.) tomato juice

¼ cup white vinegar or use red wine vinegar if desired

¼ cup olive oil

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 to 3 teaspoons prepared horseradish

4 to 5 dashes of hot sauce (such as Tabasco®)

½ tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Chicken, beef or vegetable broth for thinning – start with about ¾ cup and add more as needed

Rimming salt if desired  

1.     Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!

2.     After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Mix well, adding broth if needed to thin the soup.

3.     Chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.

4.     If desired, rim glasses with prepared salt and fill with soup for drinking, or serve in a small cup with a spoon.