Soy Chorizo Split Pea Soup

Happy New Years friends! I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday season. What a better way to kick off the new year than with Thrifty Foodie’s 100th post!! Thanks for reading, telling your friends to read, and liking our Facebook page….(you’ve done that right?)

Today I’m posting a warm hearty soup recipe that quickly became a new staple for me. I love trader joes vegetarian soy chorizo. It’s so delicious and really heightens the flavor palate of anything you add it to. Tom had sautéed some the week of Christmas and the leftovers were just the right amount to make this new take on split pea soup.

Soy Chorizo Split Pea Soup
1 1/2 cups dried split peas
1 medium onion, rough chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup trader joes soy chorizo
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp thyme
6 cups vegetable stock- 2 more if you prefer a more watery soup

In a soup pot heat 1 tbs olive oil and sauté chorizo until it is cooked through. Add onion and garlic, stirring occasionally until softened. Season with salt, thyme, and a few grinds of pepper. Pour vegetable stock over the onion chorizo mixture and bring to a low simmer. Add split peas and cook covered over low heat for 1 hour until peas are soft.

Enjoy!
-Charlie

The Thrifty Holiday Party: Vegetarian Meatballs in a BBQ Cranberry Sauce

Its pretty much a safe bet that if you have meatballs out in a crockpot at your holiday party the container will basically be licked clean by the end of the night. I would say that about 80% of my friends in NYC are vegetarians which poses an interesting roadblock to my love of meatballs. I tested out and figured out a vegetarian meatball recipe that gives ol’ fashioned sausage meatballs a run for their money. Try it with cranberry-bbq simmer sauce and you’re in for a treat!

Vegetarian Meatballs

4 eggs

2 containers dry French onion soup mix

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 onion, minced

2 tbs Italian seasonings

1 tbs garlic powder

1 tbs dried basil

1 cup dry Italian style breadcrumbs

In a large bowl whisk together eggs, French onion soup mix, Italian seasonings, garlic powder, and basil. Add in cheddar cheese, breadcrumbs, minced onion, and black beans. Using a wooden spoon mash ingredients together for about 5 minutes. The beans should mush together and the mixture will be pretty dense. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-35 minutes, flipping every 10 minutes, until browned on all sides. At this point you can freeze the meatballs or move onto adding them to the sauce of your choice.

BBQ Cranberry Simmer Sauce

12 ounces of Barbecue sauce

1 can cranberry sauce- whole berry

In a medium pan combine BBQ sauce and cranberry sauce. Stir and break up the cranberry sauce until they are combined. Add in frozen veggie meatballs and pour into crock pot to simmer for 2 hour(or 4 if frozen)

As freaky as vegetarian meatballs sound, trust me and give them a try. You’ll be very surprised at the big taste these guys pack. Enjoy!

~Charlie

Italian Wedding Soup with Kale

In case you’ve been living in a news-less world, we just had a nor’easter in NYC. Just a few days after sandy ravaged our city, we were graced with the first few inches of snow for the season. Needless to say, we’ve been dealing with some very chilly weather. Perfect weather for warm seasonal comfort foods. Here’s one of my favorite soup recipes. After making it for over a year, I’ve broken it down to the most simple version possible by using frozen pre-cooked meatballs.

Italian Wedding Soup with Kale
2 cans diced tomatoes(undrained)
2 cans veggie stock
1 tbs olive oil
1 onion- thinly sliced
3-6 cloves garlic- diced
1 bag of frozen pre-cooked meatballs (about 10)
3-4 cups chopped kale(1 bunch)

Heat oil in the bottom of a soup pan and sauté onions and garlic until onion begins to turn translucent. Add tomatoes and stock, bringing to a slow simmer over medium heat. Season with a few grinds of salt and pepper. Add frozen meatballs and let simmer for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally. Add chopped kale, cover, and cook down for about 5 minutes until wilted. Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

Enjoy and stay warm!
-Charlie

Honey Whole Wheat Cornbread

I had some friends over the other night for a mini fall party and to enjoy some chili. Everyone has their own ways to top off chili night but it seems as though everyone compliments a bowl with a piece of cornbread. Seeing as we’re deep into chili and stew season, now is the perfect time to post a cornbread recipe. This version is fluffy and tastes similar to the $0.99 jiffy knock off from the store.

Honey Whole Wheat Cornbread

2 cups cornmeal

2 cups whole wheat flour

1.5 tsp garlic powder

1.5 tsp kosher salt

2 eggs

2 cups milk

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup honey
1 tbs and 1 tsp baking powder

Combine cornmeal, baking powder, flour, garlic powder, and salt. Add milk, eggs, oil, and honey. I found that if you measure the oil and then use the same measuring cup for the honey it didn’t stick to the cup. Stir with a spatula until the mixture is throughly combined. Spray cooking spray onto a 9×9 square baking pan and spread mixture evenly in pan. Top the batter off with a few grinds of fresh pepper and a sprinkle of your choice of spices. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until browned on the top.

Enjoy!

~Charlie

A Food Network Inspired Fall Feast

The air is crisp and cool, pumpkins pile in front of the local stores and markets, Food Network Magazine has sent out their Thanksgiving issue, and Charlie is posting a myriad of delicious recipe classics, fake-outs, and twists. It must be FALL! My absolute favorite season of all! (And probably the last time I contributed. I’m very sorry!)

In honor of this amazing season, we just purchased our pumpkins, and unlike last year’s pumpkins that were thrown over the porch of the deer to eat, this year, we carved them! In celebration of this traditional fall rite, the carving of the pumpkin, I decided to make a fall feast based on recipes from Food Network that screamed Fall comfort food! As always, I was looking for ways to cut calories and costs! Enjoy!

Appetizer: Pumpkin Hummus

Pumpkin hummus with sweet potato chips. Yummy!

Charlie has blogged about home made hummus before, and I don’t know why I did not start this sooner! Did everyone in the universe know how cheap and easy homemade hummus is to make!? I vowed after making this delicious recipe to never again buy hummus. (We’ll see if I stick with this, but truly, it’s almost too easy!)

Ingredients:

1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas) drained
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (depending on how pumpkin-y you want it)
3 Tbsp tahini (sesame paste)*
4 Tbsp EVOO
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup water
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender until smooth. You can add a little more olive oil, lemon juice, or water if you find the hummus is not smoothing out enough. Serve with your favorite dipping implement, Food Network suggested sweet potato chips which were DELICIOUS! You can buy these or make them by slicing sweet potatoes thinly, tossing with EVOO and salt, and roasting in the oven at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until crispy.

*A note about tahini, for those who do not know what it is, tahini is sesame paste and behaves a lot like all natural peanut butter. It usually comes in a can or a jar, and I find mine near the peanut butter at my grocery store, but some stores will keep it near the ethnic food. It is the only part of this recipe that cost more than a few cents, but if you eat as much hummus as we do, and plan on making hummus often, it’s worth the investment. If you choose not to get tahini, taste the recipe as your puree and balance the seasonings accordingly.

Entree: Cranberry Pot Roast

I’ve taken all kinds of fall inspiration from our loyal Charlie Duncan, and have fallen in love with the ease of cooking with a crock pot! This pork is SO simple, and very inexpensive! Enjoy.

Ingredients:

Crock pot cooking is the way to go. It is quick, easy, and delicious!

2-3 lb. Pork loin or Pork Rib Roast (I chose rib because it was 1/2 price! Yay!)
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 Tbsp corn starch
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
1/3 cup golden raisins (regular will do in a pinch and are much cheaper)
1 clove garlic chopped
1/3 cup cranberry juice (any juice will do; the thrifty foodie improvises to avoid purchases)
1/2 small lemon thinly sliced (I used the other half of the lemon from my hummus)

In a plastic bag (or bowl) shake (or toss) together the dry ingredients, including the corn starch, with your pork. Place all of this in the crock pot. Add the can of cranberry sauce and spread out in a thick layer over the roast then top with the remaining ingredients, placing the lemons on top and last. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 and enjoy! I served mine by shredding the pork and then scooping the juices, raisins, cranberries on top for a delicious gravy! (You’ll notice in the picture that I used a crock pot liner. You can buy these at the grocery store and they make clean up SOOOOO easy!)

Vegetable Side: Roasted Squash and Tomatoes

Fall is an amazing time to play around with the many different kinds of squash you can find at your local farmers market or grocery store. I suggest picking up a new squash at the store and looking up a recipe when you get home! This recipe uses acorn squash, which I had never worked with before, but it is delicious and buttery! Not only is this recipe affordable, it is extremely healthy, so eat as much as you want! : )

Ingredients:

The half on the left shows you what you’ll see when you open the squash, and on the right you can see how this will look before your start slicing. Common sense, I hope, but be sure to cut with the flat side on your cutting board!

1 small acorn squash
2 medium tomatoes
1 small red onion
2 smashed garlic cloves
2 Tbsp EVOO
1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper

This recipe is great if you are entertaining because you can prep all the ingredients earlier in the day and then simply toss together the wet and dry ingredients just before you want to throw this in the oven. Start by halving and seeding the acorn squash and then cutting into thin slices. Cut the tomatoes into wedges, and thinly slice the onion. Toss all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and then roast in the oven on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet at 425 for 30-40 minutes until tender. Be sure to stir once halfway through the cooking time.

Starch Side: Sweet Potato, Bacon, and Apple Hash

Warning: This dish is the indulgence in the fall feast and is definitely not the lightest element. You can slim this down by using turkey bacon or eliminating the bacon all together, but try cooking this once as is because it is SOOO good! This recipe was inspired and only slightly modified from Anne Burrelli of Food Network. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Delicious!

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4-6 slices thick sliced bacon cut into cubes
1 medium onion cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 granny smith apples cut into 1/2 inch cubes**
EVOO
salt

Start by tossing your sweet potato cubes in EVOO to coat them and then salt to taste. Pour out on a baking sheet and roast in a 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, until tender and slightly crunchy, but still firm because we will be cooking them more soon. When the sweet potatoes are out of the oven, set them aside. Coat a large saute pan with EVOO and heat the bacon over a medium heat until brown and crispy. Add onions and a dash of salt and cook until they are very tender. Add your apples and cook for 3-4 minutes before finally adding your sweet potatoes. Cook all of these ingredients together for another 7-8 minutes and then ENJOY!

**If your apples are the gi-normous ones you buy at many grocery stores, one apple should suffice in this recipe. However, there is no harm in adding two very large apples. You simply need to decide if you want the star of this recipe to be the apple or the sweet potato. There is no wrong answer.

Dessert: Apple Galette 

Ingredients:

1-2 peeled and sliced baking apples
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp jam (I used peach, Food Network suggests apricot, be creative!)
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 pre-made pie crust

Preheat your oven to 350. Toss the apples with the brown sugar, jam, butter, and cinnamon until evenly coated. Place pie crust flat on a baking sheet, and layer the apple mixture in the center of the crust, leaving about 2 inches around the edges. Fold the edges in and make for 35-45 minutes until golden brown.

I hope you enjoy some or all of the recipes in this fall feast and take the time to go out and get inspired by all the wonderful fall ingredients this season!

Tea Spiced Quinoa and Balsamic Grilled Tofu

There is a neat tea shop here in the city that makes quinoa with tea flavoring. It’s seriously crave worthy. We’ve had a little box of quinoa chilling out in the pantry for a good month or two. I finally decided to bust it out and try my hand at making some tea spiced quinoa— it paired perfectly with grilled veggies and balsamic grilled tofu. Perfect weekday lunch!

Tea Spiced Quinoa
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup water
1 cup veggie stock
4 black tea bags
1 cup quinoa- rinsed

Bring water and veggie stock to a boil. Add tea bags and remove from heat. Let tea bags brew for 5 minutes. Remove bags, squeezing to remove excess liquid, and bring mixture to a slow simmer. Stir in garlic powder, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Add quinoa, turn heat to low, and cook covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cooked quinoa sit covered for 5 minutes before fluffing and serving.

Balsamic Grilled Tofu
3 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp honey
1 tbs Italian seasonings
1 package of extra firm tofu

Press and drain tofu for at least 20 minutes. Whisk together balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, honey, and seasonings in a small bowl. Slice pressed tofu into 1/4 inch slices and place in a ziplock bag. Pour marinade over tofu and refrigerate for at least an hour. Grill for 10 minutes until tops have grill marks and have firmed up.

Enjoy!
-Charlie

Thrifty Tip: Caramelizing Onions & French Onion Soup

I love French onion soup- a while back I got this cookbook talking about how to make a very proper onion soup- the way they would teach you in culinary school- just water, salt, and onions. Well friends, from cooking that soup I fell in love with the taste of caramelized onions. The massive problem with slowly cooking on the stove is that it takes FOREVER to sweat the onions– simple solution: crock pot. Here’s an easy way to make homemade French onion soup with half the effort.

French Onion Soup
3 lbs white onions- chopped
1 tbs smart balance butter
1 tsp kosher salt
2.5 cups water-3.5 cups(depending on how much broth you like in your soup)
1/3 cup red wine
2 tbs red wine vinegar
A few grinds of fresh pepper/salt to taste

Spray crock pot insert with cooking spray and place butter into bottom. Chop onions and fill crock pot. It should be super full— almost touching the top. Sprinkle salt over onions and cook on low heat for about 10 hours. You can stir them occasionally if you want to but I just left them alone overnight. Onions will sweat out a ton of water and then will turn brown and caramelize. At this point you can remove the onions & package them up to freeze them(or top a pizza, add to mashed potatoes, add to pasta salad— really they’re delicious in everything)— OR you can save them for soup

To make French onion soup:

Add caramelized onions, water, vinegar, and red wine to a soup pot. Bring to low simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with some grated mozzarella cheese on top and a crouton.

Super super easy and delicious- Enjoy!
-Charlie

Garlic Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

To celebrate my friend Hannah’s homecoming- and to break in my fancy new pizza stone- I wanted to try my hand on a thin crust pizza. I was watching Bobby Deen’s show where he revamps his mothers cooking to be healthy and he was making a thin crust pizza. I was intrigued by the process he made his dough by not activating the yeast before mixing. I decided to give it a try and make a tasty garlic thin crust.

Garlic Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Bowl #1 Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup white flour
1 packet yeast
2.5 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs kosher salt
1 tbs Italian seasonings

Bowl #2 Ingredients:
1 tbs honey
1 tbs brown sugar
1 1/2 cups HOT water
1 tbs olive oil

Mix together all of your dry ingredients in a large bowl or on low speed in a mixer. Combine all of the ingredients from bowl #2 together, stirring until honey and sugar are dissolved. In small batches work the liquid into the dry mixture. Knead for 5 minutes or let mix on a dough hook for 5 minutes.
Place finished dough ball in a bowl oiled with 1 tbs of olive oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap touching the dough. Refrigerate overnight.

When you’re ready to make your pizza remove dough about an hour before and bring to room temperature. Use a rolling pin to roll dough into thin crust pizzas. Bake on 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

I thought it was interesting how reversing the way I added yeast into the dough created a denser crispy crust. It was super filling and made two small 12 inch pizzas– which we topped with basil from the window box and tomatoes from toms dads garden. Pretty delicious 🙂

Enjoy!
-Charlie

Curried Lime Soba Noodles

When it’s hot as hell outside the last thing I want to do is bake in my oven(and pay the ac bill to cool back down again)…There’s a grocery store in greenpoint Brooklyn that has all sorts of cold Asian salads. They are so yummy for a quick grab and go meal- and they taste delicious cold of hot. This dish is lovely because the only cooking involved is boiling a pot of water. It will keep for few days in the refrigerator ensuring a few evenings of non oven cooked dinner. It’s a perfect pairing of Thai peanut butter with a zesty lime kick.

Curried Lime Soba Noodles
1 tbs canola oil
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs water
2 tbs lime juice
3/4 tsp curry powder
3 tbs chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup chopped unsalted cashews
1 large carrot- cut into small strips with a peeler
1/4 red onion- finely chopped
1 bell pepper- chopped into small strips
1/2 cup of snow peas- or broccoli
1 package of soba noodles- about 12 ounces

Bring a pot of water to boil and cook soba noodles as directed on packaging. In a small bowl whisk together oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and lime juice until sugar has dissolved. Add peanut butter and whisk until a semi thick sauce is created. Drain soba noodles and then combine carrots, peppers, snow peas, chopped cashews, red onion, and cooked noodles in a large bowl. Pour sauce over mixture and stir well.

Enjoy!
-Charlie

Zucchini Goat Cheese Pizza

I’ve been in Princeton NJ for a good part of the last month working on a show and have really missed having my nyc kitchen at my disposal. I’ve pretty much been living vicariously through various food blogs, bookmarking things along the way that I wanted to put my own spin on. I saw this pizza on a healthy vegetarian blog and had to try it. I used the herbed pizza dough from trader joes to save some time….but if you have a free afternoon I’m sure it would taste delicious on honey wheat pizza dough.

Zucchini Goat Cheese Pizza
1/4 cup herb goat cheese
1/4 cup skim mozzarella
1/4 cup pasta sauce
1 red pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 large zucchini, cut into thin strips using a peeler
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 ball pizza dough
Heat oven to 375 and pre-bake dough for 10 minutes. Make sure to take a fork and poke around the dough in order to keep it from proofing up into a big air bubble. Top with pizza sauce, peppers, zucchini strips, crushed red pepper, garlic powder, and cheeses. Bake for 10-12 more minutes until everything is crispy and bubbly. Enjoy!