Recipe Favorites: Italian Sausage and Zucchini Soup

(Updated September 2008) This is a soup I made in 2005, and it's perfect for this time of year when the nights are getting cooler, but there's still zucchini from the garden to be used. The combination of turkey Italian Sausage, tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, and basil with just a bit of macaroni has been a winner every time I've made this for a family party. It's my niece Becca's husband Ryan who especially loves this soup, so it's in honor of him that I'm officially making it one of my Recipe Favorites. If it's starting to get a little cold where you are and you happen to have some zucchini, I recommend this as a good soup to help you transition to the new season.

Recipe for Pan-Fried White Eggplant with Onion, Caper, and Herb Sauce

Last summer I fell in love with eggplant, so for this year's garden I planted both Black Beauty and white eggplant. They're producing like mad, and I'm really liking the white eggplant, which seems just a bit sweeter than the purple ones. Of course, you can make this with regular purple eggplant too, but choose ones that are on the small side. Even though this eggplant is fried, it doesn't take a huge amount of oil, and the sauce was delicious, although it possibly could have been more photogenic. If you like eggplant, this is an easy and delicious way to cook it.

Friday Night Links: Photography, Hunger Challenge, Pressure Cookers, and Frugal Recipes

This summer I started posting Friday Night Photos as a way to share photos I was taking to practice my photography. Of course summer ended, and it was inevitable that a Friday night would come when I hadn't taken any photos that week. I have found some fun things around the web though, so here are some Friday Night Links you might find interesting.

Rustic Pasta Sauce Recipe with Hot Italian Sausage, Summer Squash, Onions, and Sage

In summer I'm always winging it with recipes using garden produce. Then, if the dish turns out well I make it again, actually write down the recipe, and take photos so I can share it on Kalyn's Kitchen. This rustic pasta sauce is something I made in early August and now I better get it posted before gardens in North America stop producing summer squash. Too bad I hadn't yet made the Sage, Rosemary, and Garlic Rub when I made this because it would be a perfect addition, but it was delicious without it too. If you like rustic pasta sauce where you add some pasta cooking water to blend the flavors together, you'll like this, and a pasta sauce with sage and summer squash really appealed to me.

Gluten-Free and South Beach Diet Friendly Baked Brown Rice Tortilla Chips Recipe

Some of you may not have been paying attention, but earlier this year the FDA added brown rice to the list of foods that can be called "whole grains." I'm guessing that many people already considered brown rice to be a while grain, and I think there was never any doubt it was a healthy food, but until May 6, 2008, rules about fiber kept it from achieving whole grain status. Whew, thanks goodness that got cleared up. just about the time the brilliant Karina gave me the idea to make chips with brown rice tortillas.

Parmesan Chicken

This delicious Parmesan Chicken is marinated in olive oil, garlic, and poultry seasoning before it's baked.

(Updated September 2008) I've been working my way through the recipe archives, updating my earliest recipes with better photos and sometimes better instructions too. What I remember about this version of Parmesan chicken is how the chicken is marinated in olive oil, garlic, and a little dried poultry seasoning all day before it's coated with whole wheat bread crumbs and Parmesan and baked. I got this recipe from a blog that no longer exists, and when I made it again recently to take these photos, I still loved the way this chicken turned out. If you're a South Beach Dieter, maybe the hardest thing about the recipe will be finding 100% whole wheat bread crumbs, but you can make your own bread crumbs from 100% whole wheat bread. If you're someone like me who doesn't use a lot of bread crumbs, store leftovers in the freezer until you're ready to make this again.

Friday Night Photos: Neighborhood Block Party Food #2

On Fridays I share photos I'm taking to practice using my camera, and last week I featured Neighborhood Block Party Food #1. That post also included a link to the recipe for Merritt's fabulous Cannellini Beans in Mint Marinade, which I've made a second time since I posted it. There was so much good food at the party that I'm back with more photos. Let's start out with Julia's Peach-Plum Cake, which was a big hit.

Recipe for Cannellini Beans in Mint Marinade

This is a dish that immediately perked up my taste buds, and after I took one bite of this salad when Merritt brought it to my neighborhood block party, I quickly asked her for the recipe. It's such a simple idea, cannellini beans marinated in a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, and finely chopped mint, but this may be my favorite mint recipe ever. Merritt said she found the recipe in a cookbook called The Vegan Gourmet, and changed it just slightly over the years she's been making it.

Marinated Tomato Salad with Parsley and Marjoram Dressing

When my sister Sandee heard I was growing marjoram in my new herb beds, she gave me this recipe for marinated tomato salad, from a compilation of recipes by her neighbors appropriately called Our Neighborhood Cookbook. That was in June, before Utah had the hottest summer in years and my heirloom tomatoes got stubborn and refused to ripen. Last weekend I had yellow heirloom tomatoes at last, so I made the salad and after one taste I understood why my sister is in love with this recipe. Summer tomato season is always too short, and if you have fresh garden tomatoes, make this right away!

Heirloom Tomatoes Are Ripening at Last: 2008 Garden Update #9

I was shocked to realize it's been five weeks since I've given an update on my garden, and finally I have some heirloom tomatoes. This is a variety called Mr. Stripey, and it's one I ended up with after some of my early tomato plants froze. It's not my favorite tomato for flavor, but I do like the looks of the striped flesh mixed with red tomatoes. I was excited to finally get these, because all my tomatoes have been slow to ripen this year. However, if the tomatoes have been a bit slow, the rest of the garden with the raised beds is producing like crazy.

Friday Night Photos: Neighborhood Block Party Food #1

Friday Night Photos is where I share random photos I'm taking to practice using my camera, so this week it's photos from the annual neighborhood block party last Saturday. My neighbors are great, and I ended up with so many photos of good food that I decided to split them into two groups, so this is part one. This party was the day after I got braces on my teeth, so I was favoring the soft foods like this delicious macaroni and cheese.

Chickpea (Garbanzo Bean) Salad Recipe with Tomatoes, Olives, Basil, and Parsley

I've always been quite a fan of chickpeas (or garbanzo beans, as they're often called.) In the past I've made plenty of good salads or soups with canned garbanzos but the last few weekends I've been going through a new ritual where I soak dried chickpeas overnight and cook them the next day. Not that I'd ever turn into some kind of a garbanzo bean snob, but the freshly cooked garbanzos really are wonderful. They're also very inexpensive (always a good thing!) and can be used in so many interesting dishes.

Kalyn's Kitchen Picks: Aidell's Roasted Garlic and Gruyere Cheese Chicken Sausage

My love affair with Costco has been well documented on this blog. I go to Costco nearly every week, and have a list of Costco staples that are always in my kitchen. Of course, like every faithful Costco shopper, I do sample products that are offered, although in recent years I'm becoming more picky about what samples I try. Luckily I wasn't in a picky mood recently when they were handing out samples of these Aidells Roasted Garlic and Gruyere Cheese Chicken Sausages, made in San Francisco from chicken raised without antibiotics or hormones.

Recipe for Roasted Yellow Summer Squash with Sage-Pecan Pesto

In Utah the weather is glorious and the garden is producing lots of squash, cucumbers, eggplants, and tomatoes. Even though I probably have one or two favorite ways of using each of these crops, I always enjoy coming up with new recipes for garden veggies each year. This year my yellow squash has been abundant, plus I've already talked about how I have a big surplus of sage, so this weekend I made another batch of sage-pecan pesto, and then tossed some of it with freshly-roasted yellow summer squash. What an easy recipe with a completely delicious result!

Recipe for Zucchini and Yellow Squash Soup with Rosemary and Parmesan

I was inspired to make summer squash soup by Lisa of Homesick Texan, who sent me the link to this recipe on Epicurious.com and told me how delicious it was. I do have a lot of zucchini in my garden, but that doesn't completely explain why I was making soup back in August when it was in the 90's outside. Here's the rest of the story: Yesterday I got braces on my teeth.

Friday Night Photos: September Sunflowers

Friday night photos is just a feature to remind me to share pictures I'm taking to practice using my camera, and this time I was shooting sunflowers growing in my yard. Even though sunflowers start appearing well before September, I'll always associate them with the month school starts.

Judy and David's Recipe for Sage, Rosemary, and Garlic Dried Herb Rub

The garden is in full production mode around here, and I've really got an abundance of sage this year. When I shared the recipe for Sage and Pecan Pesto, I mentioned I had asked folks on Twitter about ways to use sage, and David Lebovitz sent me the link for this Italian Herb Rub, which he learned to make from Judy at Over a Tuscan Stove. Even though I freeze basil and other herbs from my garden every year, this is the first time I've ever dried any herbs, and I loved the way this blend turned out.

Spinach Salad with Tuna, Tomatoes, and Radishes For Paz

You can find the recipe for this simple Spinach Tuna, Tomato, and Radish Salad at The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz, where I was a guest poster yesterday. The lovely Ms. Paz is recuperating from surgery, so be sure to leave some get well wishes for her when you stop by to see the recipe.

South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes Round-Up: August 2008

Kalyn's Favorite Phase One Recipe for August 2008 is
Vegan Tomato Salad with
Cucumbers, Avocado, Cilantro, and Lime

It's a new month and time for a round-up of the phase one recipes I spotted on food blogs during the month that just ended. I want to start by confessing that I've been seriously distracted from reading blogs this month, first by trying to get the house/yard/garden in shape before school started, and then by actually having to go back to school! But even with a somewhat part-time effort I still managed to find quite a few tasty phase one options for anyone who might be starting the South Beach Diet (or doing a little diet tune-up.) As always, there may be a few recipes that can be easily made phase one with minor changes, and those will be noted.