slow cooker basic marinara sauce

Now that I am a stay at home mom I am trying to find as many short cuts and tricks to still get a home cook meal on the table without having to leave the park early and spend hours in the kitchen.  Learning  to master my slow cooker is my personal challenge for 2012.  This recipe makes a ton of marinara sauce.  I portioned it out and froze it for future meals which helps a ton when you are trying to throw together a quick home cooked meal.  Not only is this marinara sauce easy and tasty but, it is the perfect vehicle to hide some extra veggies in the kids meals.  We had it one night as written below.  There was no revolt which is always a score when introducing a new recipe to my family.  The next night I pureed carrots and zucchini and added them into the sauce while reheating it and no one made a peep.  This is a great basic sauce which you can use in a ton of different ways and doctor it up to your families taste.  Enjoy!

slow cooker basic marinara sauce
source: slow cooker revolution

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 onions, minced
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 anchovy fillets, rinsed patted dry and minced
pinch red pepper flakes
1 cup dry red wine
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 28 ounce can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup minced fresh basil
2 teaspoons sugar
salt and pepper

Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat.  Add onions through red pepper flakes.  Cook until onions are soft and slightly browned, ~8-10 minutes.  Stir in wine.  Scrap up brown bits and simmer until slightly thickened, ~ 5 minutes.  Transfer to slow cooker.

Stir crushed tomatoes through soy sauce into slow cooker.  Cover and cook for 9 - 11 hours on low or 5 to 7 hours on high.

Before serving stir in basil and sugar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

roasted vegetable salad with goat cheese

I am still in love with my farm fresh to you delivery.  I am trying to embrace the buy local and cook seasonally but, there are so many vegetables that come in the winter that I am just not use to cooking with.  They often stare back at me from the cardboard box taunting me.  I know it is a race against the clock to serve them before they spoil so, I try to develop one side that will use up some of the harder items of the week.  We have been receiving a bounty of kale lately.  Until this year I can't say that I had much kale before. I fell in love with kale last year in my kale chip craze but, beyond that I was at a loss.  This salad uses the kale chip concept as a base (which the kids will eat and LOVE) and then is covered with mixed roasted vegetables.  I like to taste my vegetables so, the salad is dressed with lemon juice which compliments the roasted garlic and salt.  The creamy goat cheese is a nice finish to the salad.  This is light but, very filling.  I intended it to be a side dish but, I had it as my meal partially because I overcooked the pot roast and because I could not stop at one serving.  I am a sucker for roasted vegetables.

roasted vegetable salad with goat cheese
source: sweetflours

6 nantes carrots, sliced on the diagonal 1/4 inch thick
1/4 onions, chopped
8 grape tomatoes
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
1 bunch kale, tough stems discarded and leaves sliced
1/2 ounce crumbled goat cheese
 
Preheat the oven to 425°. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the nantes carrots, onions and tomatoes with 1 teaspoons olive oil. Spread into a single layer, season with salt and pepper and roast, tossing halfway through, until golden, about 25-30 minutes. On a separate baking sheet, drizzle the kale with remaining teaspoon of olive oil, season with salt and toss. Add to oven for last 9-11 minutes depending on how crisp you want the kale. 


Plate the salad with the kale then add the roasted vegetables.  Squeeze lemon juice over salad and top with crumbled goat cheese.

basic pizza sauce

A recent goal is to make more at home and eat less canned and processed food.  As you can see basic has been in the title of two posts recently.  I am just putting my toe in pond and testing the waters of so many recipes. This is a journey right?  Pizza making is going to take me awhile to perfect but, I am going to keep trying.  These recipes are a starting point as I become more comfortable with the pizza making process.  I like these recipes but, I hope to try some more in the future to compare.  Recently I have been using my bread hook and pizza stone.  See family I know I ask for a lot of kitchen items but, I do use them and I do LOVE them.   (Check out my new all-clad 2 quart saucepan .... LOVE!!) Brad and the kids love pizza.  I thought I was just so so on pizza but, what I realized is there is such a thing as bad pizza and I have had a lot of bad pizza.  Homemade pizza is really good and the best part is you can control the ingredients.  You can eat a slice of pizza knowing what went into it and not feel guilty.  The garlic really shines in this simple sauce which adds a lot to the flavor of the pizza.

basic pizza sauce

adapted: cooking light

• 2  tablespoons  extra-virgin olive oil
• 5  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  (28-ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes
• 1  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  dried oregano

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Remove tomatoes from can using a slotted spoon, reserving juices. Crush tomatoes. Stir tomatoes, juices, salt, and oregano into garlic mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

salsa two ways

We were invited over to our neighbors for dinner and asked to bring salsa.  Sounds easy.  Part of me just wanted to pick up a few premade types from the store but, it was our first invite and did not want to show up with store bought.  I make salsa but, there are so many types of salsas and everyone has a favorite.  There is smooth, chunky, smoky, red, green, mild, spicy, fruity and well the options just go on forever.  I like spicy fresh pico de gallo.  I made a standard pico de gallo and then a more traditional restaurant style.  I kept the heat toned down and actually really like the restaurant smooth style a lot more then I thought I would.  Salty chips and spicy fresh salsa is just heaven in my mouth.  It is a classic and although there are so many variations I feel as if the combo is always a hit.  These salsas have become a critical component in one of my new FAVORITE breakfast dishes which I will post later this week.

salsa two ways

Source: sweetflours

Pico de Gallo

5-6 roma tomatoes

1 small white onion

2 jalapeno peppers

~ 1/4 cup cilantro

lime juice

salt to taste

Seed and chop jalapenos and tomatoes.  Chop onion into a very small dice. Chop a handful of cilantro. Put all of these ingredients together in a bowl and stir.  Squeeze the juice of half of one lime into the bowl. Add salt to taste and give a good final stir.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Tomato Salsa

3 slicing tomatoes; scored

1-2jalapeno; roughly chopped

1-2  garlic clove; roughly chopped

1-2 tsp of salt

1/2 white onion; chopped

1/4 cup cilantro; chopped

Drop the scored tomatoes into boiling water.  Boil tomatoes until soft to the touch.  Transfer tomatoes directly into a food processor with jalapeno, garlic and salt.  Pulse processor until finely chopped but, not pureed.  When the mixture cools and onion and cilantro and chill.