French Vegetable Soup with Pistou #recipe @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: This recipe is based on one from the fabulous David Lebovitz's newsletter. If you like reading about Paris and French food, I recommend you subscribe. He was a chef at Alice Water's restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, but many years ago moved to Paris and is excellent at translating French ways to Americans.

Lucy with Notre Dame Gargoyles

I remember eating a soup like this when I was a student in the 1970s in France and terribly homesick. A French family used to invite my roommate and me to Sunday dinner every week because they knew we were lonely for home--wasn't that sweet? The mom would sometimes serve this soup so making it brought back some fun memories. John says I'd choose France for every vacation if I could--he's not far off! Anyway, back to soup...

I veered quite a bit from David's recipe and you can move back to his or further away from both of ours – the recipe is very flexible. It's good for someone on a low sodium diet, because the pistou (essentially pesto without the nuts) packs a big flavor punch. I used the vegetables that I either had in the garden or saw at the weekly farmers market. But you could also add potatoes, tomatoes, celery...

Ingredients for the soup

Two medium zucchini
2 to 3 leeks, well washed
Carrots, either three large or five or six smaller
Green beans
3 to 4 cloves garlic
1 cup dried white beans (I used Navy)
1 32 ounce box low sodium chicken broth

Handful of small pasta, if you like
Chopped tomatoes if you like

2 sprigs thyme (which I forgot, darn it!

The day before you plan to make the soup, soak the white beans overnight in water. Rinse them, and then cover them with water in a large pot and simmer until soft with two bay leaves. (This could take an hour or so.) When the beans are soft, add the chicken broth to the pot and keep simmering.

 

Chop the leeks. Chop the green beans into bite-size pieces. Chop the zucchini likewise. Chop the garlic cloves. I used my food processor to chop the carrots, and didn't even rinse it before starting the pistou. And that explains the little flecks of orange you will see later.

In a large frying pan, heat some good olive oil and sauté the leeks, the garlic, carrots, onion, zucchini and saute until soft. Add the green beans and sautéed them a bit too. Scrape this mixture into the bean pot and simmer everything until soft, about 20-30 minutes. You may if you wish add a handful of pasta at the end, but you may have to add more liquid too.

For the pistou

One clove garlic
One small bunch basil, cleaned and leaves removed (my favorite veggie guy at the market had Thai basil so that's what I tried)
1/4 cup good olive oil
About an ounce Parmesan cheese

 

Chop the garlic in the food processor, then add the olive oil. Add the Parmesan cheese in smaller pieces and chop that in. Finally add the basil and pulse until everything is combined.

 

 

Serve the bowls of soup with a heaping tablespoon of the basil mixture dropped in the center. Then each diner can stir his or her pistou/pesto into the soup. Or pass the pistou in a separate bowl if you have concerned eaters...

Lucy writes the Key West food critic mysteries.  Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!

Christmas Cookies with a Chocolate Twist #recipe @LucyBurdette #giveaway

LUCY BURDETTE: First things first: Hayley Snow and Miss Gloria and all the Key West characters wish you Merry Christmas, and happy holidays, and Happy New Year. Having you as readers is the best gift we could possibly receive!

Now on to the cookies...A couple of years ago, Annie Knox posted what has become my favorite Christmas cookie recipe. But this year was the first year I actually tried working with a vanilla bean. And I also added good chocolate to half the batter, and reduced the salt. These little gems freeze well both baked and unbaked, so you can take them out to use for company nibbling as needed – or nibbling yourself!

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
One scant teaspoon salt (reduced from Annie's recipe)
Three egg yolks
The innards of half a vanilla bean
3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup good-quality cocoa (I used Penzey's)
Decorations for the top (I used sugar in the raw for sprinkles)

Place the butter, sugar, and salt into a mixer bowl and cream until well blended. Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing after each. Scrape in the contents of half vanilla bean, and mix that in too.

Add the flour to the bowl and mix only until combined. Don't get too vigorous or you will risk tough cookies. Remove half of the dough, and mix the chocolate into the other half. I personally liked the slight marbling effect and would do more of that next time. Roll the dough into four logs, wrap these in parchment or wax paper and refrigerate from two hours to several days.

Preheat the oven to 325. Slice the cookie dough rolls into half-inch thick rounds, dip them into sugar or sprinkles if you were using them, and place them on a nonstick pan, or one covered with parchment. 

Bake about 15 minutes until the edges are just starting to brown. Cool and serve or freeze.

 Are you still frozen about stocking stuffers? Cozy mysteries are the perfect size, and bring hours of enjoyment!


(Here's my Pinterest board with tons of suggestions...) And because it's the season of giving, I'm giving away one of these books--your choice! Leave a comment telling us about your favorite holiday cookie or treat--and your email...

Eggplant Parmesan, Delicious and Lower Sodium #recipe @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: I have made eggplant Parmesan before, but not in a lower salt version. And I would not order it in a restaurant now, because I know the cheese and sauce are loaded with sodium! But we had a few gorgeous purple eggplants in the garden, along with some lovely green peppers, and they were all calling to me.

One of the things I'm learning with my new way of eating is always read the package labels. Then you can make healthier choices, without punishing yourself!

Ingredients

16 ounces fresh mozzarella (85 mg sodium per ounce)
Six green or banana peppers, sliced
One large onion, thinly sliced
 Two large purple eggplants
Two jars spaghetti sauce (I used one Francesco Rinaldi no salt, and one Classico spicy red pepper), 40 mg sodium per 1/2 cup for the FR and 310 mg of sodium per 1/2 cup for the Classico
Grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Unsalted breadcrumbs


If this seems like too much to do in one day, you can bake the eggplant ahead of time and refrigerate until the next day.

Peel the eggplant and slice it into rounds. Dip each round into a saucer of milk and then into a saucer of breadcrumbs and place on a greased cookie tray. Bake the eggplant for about 25 minutes until soft and beginning to brown.

Sauté the onions and peppers in olive oil until soft.

Grate the fresh mozzarella.

Now you are ready for assembly. Pour half of each sauce in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan. Layer in the eggplant, followed by onions and peppers, topped by mozzarella. Repeat the layers until all the ingredients are used, ending with cheese. Sprinkle the grated Parmesan over the top. 

Now bake the eggplant casserole at 3:50 for half an hour covered with foil. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes until cheese is melted and browning and sauce is bubbling.

May be served with Italian bread and a green salad or other green vegetable. This makes a huge tray of eggplant that serves 6-8 easily. And it was truly good, with the veggies all melting together with the cheese...

Note: although dried shredded mozzarella in a bag is easier, it contains 170 mg of sodium per ounce and is not as tasty as the fresh.

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