Simple Tomato Soup

I just made tomato soup from scratch. It's my first time actually. Aside from mushroom and corn soup, tomato soup is also a favorite. One stormy weekend, I went out to buy some sandwiches in a nearby Subway. While waiting for the sandwiches, I ordered a small cup of  tomato soup. It was very rich and yummy. With that, I also bought some for my boys and they loved it too. So this week, I decided to make home-cooked tomato soup.

The secret to a rich tomato soup are roasted fresh, ripe tomatoes. It brings out the natural sweetness and flavor of the tomatoes. Chicken stock is also a key ingredient. I bought chicken stock from the grocery just to shorten the process, but you can make your own stock as well.

Ingredients:

• 6 ripe tomatoes (roasted)

In roasting, cut medium sized tomatoes into half , place it in a baking pan or dish, then season with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary then roast it in the oven for 20 minutes. Usually, garlic is included, but in my case, I like to saute the garlic with the onions in a separate pan before mixing everything together. 

• 2 400g can of diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 1 medium white onion (chopped)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup green peas
• 1 tsp dried basil or fresh
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 tsp sugar
• a dash of salt and black pepper

Important Equipment:

• Blender or food processor or hand blender
• Baking dish for roasting

Procedure:

• After roasting the seasoned fresh tomatoes, cool it down for a few minutes and place it in the blender. Add 1 can of diced tomatoes and blend it together until smooth. If you're using a hand blender, pour the roasted tomatoes after the rest of the ingredients are sauteed, then blend everything together.
• After blending the tomatoes, set it aside.
• In a separate sauce pan, heat olive oil.
• Saute onions and garlic both at the same time, stir for a few seconds.
• Add the remaining can of diced tomatoes and green peas. Mix and simmer for a few seconds.
• Add the chicken stock and simmer again for about a minute.
• Add the roasted tomato mix and simmer for 10- 15 minutes until thick.
• Add more chicken stock if necessary.
• In low fire, Add heavy cream and dried basil, stir and simmer again for 3- 5 minutes.
• Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Adjust according to preference.
• Simmer the tomato soup until smooth and thick.

Best served with Parmesan croutons and grilled cheese.

I'm a happy cook! I was able to create a simple Tomato Soup recipe. It is very healthy especially tomatoes are rich in Lycopene, a cancer- fighting agent. It sure feels good knowing that I can make a healthy soup anytime I want to. This will probably end up on my weekly menu. Just like Okra, it's best to include healthy dishes if not daily at least, on a weekly basis, or just jumble these dishes to serve something new and healthy everyday.

Okra

I know a lot of people who doesn't like Okra for different reasons:

1. Because it's gooey and slimy

2. It's unexplainable skin texture.

3. There's too much pea pod like seeds in it.

I've known my husband to be very picky when it comes to veggies. But along our journey as a married couple,  I was able to inject a lot of food factors to a healthier living. Just recently, I've finally convinced my husband to like Okra. When I say like, it's not just eating a piece or for the sake of pleasing me or granting my request. Like, is when he requests a plate full of blanched, fresh Okra. It is now part of our daily meal always served during lunch and dinner.

When I was little and my dad didn't have a job, our daily food went around vegetables farmed from a vacant lot beside our house. We had corn, pechay, peanuts, mustaza, sweet potatoes, green leafy veggies such as talbos ng camote, alugbati, saluyot and okra. We didn't have money but I felt so rich just having these in our yard, it's like having a small farm. I can eat any vegetable but I consider Okra as one of my favorites. I steam or blanch it, then as dip, I prepare simple soy sauce and vinegar mixture or shrimp paste with calamansi juice paired with some hot rice.

Here are some health facts on Okra. Hopefully this will change the mind of those who greatly despise this vegetable.

1. It is high in antioxidants.
2. Rich in Vitamin C, Calcium and Potassium
3. It is very high on fiber.
4. It lowers the risk of diabetes and a factor for blood- sugar control.
5. Lowers the risk of cancer.

For more: Health Benefits of Okra

 
* The simpler how Okra is cooked and served, the better. It doesn't require too much to enjoy it.

Our family knows somebody who recently passed away at the age of 103.  She was physically capable and very strong for her age.  We were amazed by her story and of the fact that she reached 103 years old. Our aunt told us that her mom may have reached 103 because she always demanded for a plate of Okra as part of her "daily meal". One day, she slept and didn't wake up anymore... her age caught up with her.

What I'm sharing here is just a thought which we can all learn from. The lifestyle nowadays shortens our life span. It's given that we will all die but personally, even if I'm old, I still want to move about do what I can to enjoy this world. So those vegetables that some of us hate like ampalaya and okra, these are contributing factors to long life, clean living and a healthy future.

Vegetable- Clam Marinara

In a way, Marinara is an all- around sauce. Since it's made with fresh tomatoes/ tomato sauce, herbs, garlic, red wine, olives and capers it's perfect as:

1. Pasta Sauce

2. Dip/ salsa for croquettes, chips,  burrito, etc...

3. With a little water, as soup paired with your preferred bread.

I personally thought with it's name "Marinara", the sauce should come with seafood. Apparently, it's just basic tomato sauce made of fresh ingredients.

Today, I made some Vegetable- Clam Marinara. The clams in this recipe is optional. I just so happen have a supply of my favorite red clam sauce so I decided to throw in a can.

Ingredients:

• 250g spaghetti noodles or any pasta of your choice (cooked al dente)
• 1 whole garlic (minced)
• 1 medium green bell pepper (sliced thinly or chopped)
• 1 eggplant (chopped)
• 2 medium red tomatoes ( chopped)
• 1 can of whole button mushrooms ( chopped, I prefer fresh mushrooms)
• 1 400 g can of chopped tomatoes or crushed tomatoes
• 1 can Red Clam Sauce
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp dried basil or 1/2 cup of chopped fresh basil  
• 1/8 cup of chopped fresh parsley
• 1 1/2tbsp Parmesan Cheese
•  a dash of salt and black pepper granules

 

Procedure:

• Cook pasta until firm/ al dente. Set aside.
• In a sauce pan, heat olive oil and saute minced garlic until light brown.
• Add chopped red tomatoes, green bell pepper, egg plant and mushrooms. Stir until vegetables are half- cooked.
• Add Red Clam sauce and simmer for a few seconds.
• Add, canned tomatoes and Parmesan cheese then mix everything evenly. 
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve sauce on top of the pasta or mix the pasta in.

Note: 

Set aside a little of the chopped parsley for garnishing.

Add red wine as desired. I did not include red wine in this recipe, because the Red Clam sauce is already a good base for seafood marinara.

Meat or any seafood is an option. You can add anything you want to make this your own. I just like mine to be filled with vegetables and I did not add any meat or sea food because the Red Clam sauce is just amazingly rich with flavor and real clams.

Mustard Greens Salad

Mustard Greens salad is one of my favorite salads served with any Filipino viand. It goes well with everything that it can enhance the food and the mix of flavors even more, making one's food experience extraordinary, fun and unforgettable.

I learned to make mustard greens salad thru my dad, who grew mustard leaves in a small vacant lot beside our old house when I was a kid.

Eating organic has been in our diet since I was a little girl. We practically ate whatever vegetable was grown from our yard. It's one of the things I enjoyed in my life. I experienced and witnessed my dad plant, harvest and cook those simple greens which in a way, kept us all healthy.

Here in the Philippines, the local name for it is Mustaza. It is often added to any Sinigang dish. We also love to pair Mustaza with Burong Hipon (fermented rice with shrimp).

One famous way of serving Mustaza is as a salad. Mustard Green Salad is easy to prepare. By the way, a bunch may cost 8-15php in a regular grocery store. But if you'll buy from the market (palengke) it's cheaper and fresher.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of Mustard leaves ( Mustaza)
• 3 medium tomatoes (chopped)
• 1 medium white onion (chopped)
• a pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp cane vinegar or lemon juice (optional)
• drizzle of olive oil (optional)

Procedure: 

• Remove the roots and wash the leaves well.
• Chop the leaves with the stems into thin strips, set aside in a  bowl.
• With a little water massage and squeeze the juice from the leaves to lessen its bitter- spicy flavor.
• Set the squeezed batch in a serving bowl.
• Toss the rest of the ingredients (including the lemon juice and olive oil or anything you want to add)  and mix everything evenly.

Personally, I don't squeeze the leaves anymore. I like it a bit bitter, because it goes well with the tomatoes, onions and lemon juice. Then, I prepare an amount that will last us for a week then store it in the fridge. My goal is for every meal, there should be a little to go with whatever viand I cook. Makes me feel secure that my family is getting a dose of fiber everyday.

Chicken Katsu with Wasabi Mayo and Mustard Greens

Health Benefits:

Lowers the risk of Cancer. It acts as a strong antioxidant, detoxification, anti- inflammatory agent. Studies have linked mustard greens to the prevention of bladder, colon, breast, lung, prostate and ovarian cancers. -source-

Ampalaya Con Carne

One way to make bitter gourd more enticing and interesting to eat is by mixing it with beef or any meat that will surely balance its bitterness. We all want our little ones to eat vegetables. As a mom, I introduced eating Ampalaya or bitter gourd to my eldest son as early as 3 years old, same thing will follow with my youngest.  With my experience, to be able to get my kids eat bitter gourd, I make the dish saucy. Tomato sauce will do, oyster sauce and serve it with their favorite food (fried chicken, fish, etc). It's also best to just serve it on the table, let them eat  it (but don't force them) than say a lot of things about it.

Here we go!

Servings: 3-4

Ingredients:

• 2 cups beef cubes (boiled until tender)
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
  
• 5 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1/2 tsp minced ginger
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 1 medium red tomatoes (cut into quarters)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large Ampalaya (sliced into thin pieces)

 To lessen the bitterness, get rid of the seeds and the white lining beneath it then soak it in water.

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tsp black pepper granules
• 2 tsp cornstarch

Procedure:

• Boil beef cubes until tender. Drain the meat and set aside 1 1/2 cups of beef broth.
• Mix soy sauce, water, cornstarch and black pepper granules then set aside.
• Saute garlic in olive oil until medium brown.
• Add onion and tomatoes, stir for a few seconds.
• Add beef cubes and stir for a few seconds.
• Add bitter gourd or ampalaya.
• Add beef broth and simmer for 30 seconds or if vegetable is at least half- cooked.
• Shift to low fire then add soy sauce mixture and stir evenly.

Ready to be served!

Of course, bitter gourd has a lot of health benefits. One is lowering/ balancing blood sugar levels. Every part of the plant is useful, that's why some prefer to juice it. But personally, would rather cook it.

For leftovers, check this out!

Healthy Burgers

Everyone loves hamburger! The only thing that matters when eating a hamburger is the amount of trans fat and carbohydrates we take- in, especially food coming from fast food restaurants. Some of us have switched sides to a healthier diet. In my family, my husband used to indulge with hamburgers. But he grew big and now, as much as possible we try our best to avoid not only burgers from fast food chains, but anything that's already processed. But in reality, there will always be room for processed ingredients. Let's face it, no one's perfect, as "humans", we still crave even just a little for delicious food like hamburgers. In that case, as the head of our kitchen, I try to look for products with less harmful ingredients. If I can make one from scratch, I try...

My healthy hamburgers are made from natural choices. The only processed ingredients in this recipe is the mayo- lite and the cheese.

Ingredients: Hamburger Patties
Makes: 6 palm- sized patties

• 1/2 k fresh lean ground beef 
• 2 medium red onions ( minced)
• 2 whole eggs
• a dash of salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil

 *The  meat I used is freshly ground beef. I get to choose the lean part then have it ground.

• In a bowl, mix all ingredients evenly. Set aside.
• In a frying pan,  heat olive oil and fry patties until golden brown.
• Or grill the patties.

Ingredients: Sandwich

• 6 pcs. Hamburger Buns (wheat is preferred)
• 6 pcs. cheese (singles)
• 1 medium cucumber (sliced)
• 1 big salad tomato (sliced)
• 1 white onion (sliced)
• 6 pcs. lettuce
• a small pack of mayo lite or any dressing you like

• Toast hamburger buns. Set aside.
• Put dressing over one side of the bun, then make your own sandwich (according to your preference).

I like mine with:
Dressing
Lettuce
Beef Patty
Cheese
TCO - tomato, cucumber, onion

One can still enjoy a delightful hamburger without the hassle thinking that's it's unhealthy or it can make you fat. Remember, too much of "everything or anything" is bad. Not only burgers. Give yourself a break try this simple and healthy burger recipe. Just substitute the ingredients you think will not work for you with something healthier. Enjoy!

 I paired my burgers with some homemade potato mojos, mustard and catsup on the side as well.