Spring Minestrone

Isn't life amazing? I have these moments, every now and then, when I find something that fills up my heart and I am so grateful, overjoyed that this new discovery - be it a song, a poem, an artist, (a soup) - is going to be with me forever.

So it is with Spring Minestrone.

I checked out Heidi Swanson's book, Super Natural Cooking, from the library and this recipe is my first try. She also has a website (with beautifully photographed edibles) that I am just dying to explore - 1o1 Cookbooks.

Love. ♥

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup medium-grain brown basmati rice, rinsed
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup sugar snap or snow peas, trimmed and cut in half diagonally
• 8 spears asparagus, trimmed and diagonally sliced into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup green peas, fresh or frozen
• Fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, then add the shallots and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes until soft. Add the rice and cook, stirring for 1 minute, then add the stock and bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat, and simmer until the rice is just tender, 35 to 45 minutes.

Add the sugar snap peas, asparagus, and green peas, and season with a few healthy pinches of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Simmer for another 2 or 3 minutes and serve immediately; this way the vegetables stay crisp and bright.

Serves 4

Recipe notes:
I had no asparagus or peas in stock so I used about 2 c. of snow peas. There is a recipe for vegetable stock in the book but I used a bouillon cube instead (much less work) and no basmati either - Uncle Ben's long grain brown.

Salsa

This was my first time making salsa. I didn't know what I was doing but it actually turned out alright. I think that's the beauty of salsa - add pretty much anything in any ratio and it's still fresh salsa and, therefore, inherently wonderful.

I used a food processor, which I think is key. And FYI (because that's what this blog is for), jalepenos can burn your skin, I found out after the fact. The salt, pepper, and tabasco are "to taste" so that's what I did - add and taste, add and taste. This recipe makes a lot (a mixing bowl full, or so).

1 onion (or more)
3 tomatoes (not sure if these are really necessary)
3 jalepenos
1 bunch cilantro
7 1/2 cloves of garlic (approximately, I used the stuff in the jar)
juice from half a lime
salt
pepper
tabasco sauce
3 - 14.5 oz. cans petite diced tomatoes

Put everything but the canned tomatoes in the food processor. Mix. Pour it in a bowl, stir in the canned tomatoes, refrigerate.

Tuna Pasta Salad

Nothing says 'summer' like tuna pasta salad. It's the only thing I want to eat on hot days - best with watermelon and a Blue Moon. My previous concoction was a little bland (tuna, pasta, mayo, salt, pepper) and had no veggies so I did some research and came up with this - a combination of two allrecipes.com recipes, kind of.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (16 ounce) package rotini (my mom pointed out that the shape works well for holding the goo)
  
• 2 yellow squash, chopped
• 2 zucchini, chopped
• 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained

This is where I freestyled a bit and it probably could use some tweaking. Let me know if you come up with something better. Alternatively, you can use a bottle of Italian dressing.

• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• a lot of mayo (2 big scoops)
  
• black pepper
  
• garlic salt
• a lot of dill weed (3 tablespoons?)
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (maybe leave this out - I'm not sure what the purpose is)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in pasta and return pot to boil. Cook until al dente. Drain well.
2. Place squash and zucchini in a medium saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine pasta, squash, zucchini, kidney beans and tuna. Stir in dressing. Mix well and chill for at least 30 minutes.