From Our Kitchen - Sweet Potato & Quinoa Soup

A little while back I posted this recipe on quinoa stuffed bell peppers. The stuffing was great, but the peppers were kind of a flop.  That was the first time I tried quinoa, and I cooked way too much for my recipe, so I had all of this quinoa leftover. I tasted it to see if I could just serve it up as a side, like rice, but it wasn't very flavorful.  In my opinion, it's definitely an ingredient I enjoy, but it needs to be dressed up a little bit.

So I turned to my old ways, and used to to create a spin on one of my favorite soups. (I didn't realize it had been 2 years since posting that recipe. The photos show our old stove in Auburn... so reminiscent!) Sorry, back to the point: quick and simple! All you need is 1-2 diced sweet potatoes,

a can of black beans (drained and rinsed),

cooked quinoa (a cup or so),

shredded chicken (mine was from leftover rotisserie chicken; 1-2 cups),

chicken stock (one carton), and the most important ingredient to make this soup a hit: cilantro! Roughly chop a small handful and through it in right at the end. I promise you won't feel like you are eating salsa. Cilantro is a frequent ingredient in Thai and Indian soups, and it brings a great refreshing flavor to the dish.  You can also season this soup however you'd like with salt and pepper, thyme, or other herbs.

A few tips:  I made this a second time with low-sodium chicken stock and it just wasn't the same. I'm usually all for healthier options, but if you're making a soup that is heavily based on it's broth, the broth itself needs to have good flavor, and unfortunately for our palettes, that means salt.
Also, I finally tried preserving my cilantro by placing it in a cup of water in the fridge with a damp paper towel over top. This made the cilantro last SO much longer! Definitely do this to extend the life of this fresh herb so you can use it in other dishes without rushing.

Click HERE if you'd like a printable recipe version.

High Five for Friday

I am thrilled that it is Friday! Jesse has been at a training session in Pennsylvania for two weeks, and I am SO ready to see him today when he gets back! I tried not to let on in last week's High Five that Jesse was gone, because I didn't want the interwebs to know I was home alone (because I'm crazy like that). So let's recap from this week:

1.  You might have already thought that this means Jesse wasn't home for Valentine's Day. We never go all out for Valentine's anyway, so it wasn't that big of a deal. He did, however, have our friend (and neighbor) Kelsey come into our apartment and leave a card and chocolates from him for me. It was a sweet surprise when I got home from class on Friday. But don't worry, I didn't spend Valentine's alone. Kelsey's hubby was also out of town, so she and I, plus friends Ronda and Rebekah had a girl's night. We stuffed our own calzones for dinner, and Kelsey made an amazing chocolate raspberry cheesecake! Then we watched a southern classic: Fried Green Tomatoes. It was a fun night!

2.  My mom came to visit me over the weekend. I took her to one of my favorite lunch spots (Urban Cookhouse) and she was able to stay to go to church with me on Sunday and meet some of our friends here in Birmingham. I loved that she came to visit me and keep me company over what would have felt like a long weekend without Jesse home.

3.  Meanwhile, Jesse was battling snow storms to get to work nearly every morning. In weather that was well below freezing!

4.  Jesse's half-brother, Stan, and his family are currently living in Pennsylvania and were in driving distance for Jesse. He went to visit them over the weekend, which was great because it's been a long time since they've seen each other, and it gave Jesse something to do with his free time there.

5.  I also received this picture from Jesse during his trip. He consumed nearly all of this sandwich that was twice the size of his own head. I'm not sure how he packs away the food, but if you know him at all, you know that he can!

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday!  I think I've missed a couple lately.  Let's link up with Lauren and run through this weeks high five:

1. Jesse and I ate at a new-to-us sushi place recently. It was quite delicious, and we will definitely go back to try more!

2. Maggie got cute and comfy.

3. I got a new nail polish color this week. I think it's my new absolute favorite.

4. It snowed. Again. I think I can speak for 99% of the state of Alabama and say we are over the snow. I know I can speak for my classmates. Snow days are no longer fun when you have to reschedule classes to your lunch hour or until 7:30pm. Not fun, snow. Not fun.

5. The Olympics are on!!! We've been watching lots of those, at least in the background. My favorite for the winter would have to be ice skating. They just make it look so effortless and graceful. Jesse enjoys the snowboarding events, which were full of frustration this year on the half-pipe. USA is not doing so hot on the medal count, but there are plenty more events to compete in!

And a special bonus:  it's Valentine's Day!  Don't forget to tell people how much you love them today!

From Our Kitchen - Breakfast Quiche

This week I made a quiche for Jesse and I to eat for breakfast. I've been inspired for months (maybe longer) to try to make quiche. My mother-in-law has made it a couple of different times while we've been home. Then my friend Kelsey served up a variety of quiche for Community Group one night. I've even marked Pioneer Woman's Cowgirl Quiche in my cookbook I received at Christmas. But it was during our "snowpocalypse" that I got the final nudge to boost the inspiration. My friend Rachel whipped up a quiche to serve us for breakfast with just the few ingredients she had on hand. I told her I love quiche but have never tried to make one. To which she said, "It's so easy!"  So I put her words to the test on Sunday night and tried to use up some ingredients hanging out in our fridge.

I used the Pioneer Woman's cookbook as a guide, but I didn't really follow the recipe. I wanted to throw in the ingredients and see what came out. Rachel was right, it's SO easy! I chose to add red bell pepper, onion, spinach, and bacon.

I didn't want to have big chunks of onion, even diced, so I used my food processor. (A secret from my mother-in-law because Jesse doesn't like bites of onion in dishes... it only took me 2+ years of marriage to try this and make his dish more pleasing...) It took about 3 seconds and I had very finely diced onions, and no watering/burning eyes. This was a life-changing moment. I will be doing this forever more. I've always thought it was unnecessary to dirty up the food processor just to chop an onion. I was wrong. Totally worth it.  Then I did it to my red pepper, and smiled again with satisfaction.

For my quiche: it all started with bacon. Everything's better with bacon.

All I did was whisk some eggs (I did 6), added some heavy cream I had on hand (milk would obviously work and be a healthier option).  Then I added in the bacon, onion, red pepper, spinach, salt, and pepper. I used a pre-made pie crust to make it quicker.

I mixed all the ingredients together in one bowl.

Then poured into the pie crust.

I covered it with foil and baked at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Then I removed the foil and cooked for another 15. It should just barely be "jiggly," so pop it back in covered if it's not ready.

I will say that all the spinach floated to the top, and the bacon to the bottom. I'm not sure how to fix the bacon, but next time I might saute the spinach before adding it into the quiche mixture.  But the flavor on this thing was excellent! Even if you don't like onions, by chopping them so finely in a food processor or blender (or by hand!) you couldn't pick out an actual onion flavor, but it added so much depth to this simple meal.

We both ate a slice each morning throughout the week. I loved having a warm and delicious breakfast without any work in the morning!  Let me know if you decide to make one too!