One-Pot Lasagna Soup

One-Pot Lasagna Soup

This is a soup I’ve wanted to make for ages, and FINALLY got inspired to just do it. Soup? Check. Easy? Check. One pot? Check. One hand? Check, dammit. I get my traction device off in less than two weeks, woohooo! But in this seemingly long entrapment from my injury, I have found that one can be quite resourceful while dealing with a disability. Did you know you can break dried lasagna noodles into even pieces one-handed? Simply place the noodle in a glass bowl then push the edge of the noodle hanging out over the lip of the bowl. Snap! Keep moving it up and snapping off the end. See? Easy-peasy! (Newcomers to this site can read about my injury here.)

My recipe here came from several internet-inspired sources. As always, feel free to adapt, as that is pretty much all I’ve been doing lately. Without further ado…

One-Pot Lasagna Soup

1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground hot Italian sausage
3/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
6 cups homemade or low-sodium beef broth, divided
1 24-ounce jar good-quality meatless spaghetti sauce
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried crushed oregano
Ground black pepper and salt, to taste
1 bay leaf
10 uncooked dried lasagna noodles, broken into pieces
Fresh Mozzarella slices
Ricotta cheese scoops
Fresh-grated Parmesan cheese

In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, cook the ground beef, sausage, and onion over medium heat until meats are browned and onion is translucent. Add the garlic and stir for a minute more. Drain grease, if necessary.

Add 4 cups of the beef broth and the rest of the ingredients except the cheeses, stirring to separate the noodles. Bring up to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about a half hour until noodles are soft and soup has thickened, about 30 to 45 minutes. Add the remaining two cups of broth, as needed during that time, until soup is desired consistency.

Lasagna Soup

Discard bay leaf and add Mozzarella and Ricotta cheeses to the pot, then let sit without stirring until starting to melt. Ladle scoops of soup and melty cheese into bowls and garnish with fresh-grated Parmesan cheese. Serve with garlic bread and a side salad.  This is good. Really good. We are talking seconds and thirds good. Trust me.

One-Pot Lasagna Soup

 

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Quick Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, and Radish Salad

Quick Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, and Radish Salad

It’s that time of year! No, not all the fresh summer produce salad recipes, but my quickie recipes for when we are headed to the coast again to go fishing and/or crabbing. Once again, we’ll be on another extended weekend trip so am posting this one early instead of Saturday.

We didn’t catch any halibut last trip, it was super-windy with 6-to-8-foot horrible wind waves and our bait wouldn’t stay on the bottom with all the rocking and rolling. Then I got seasick as hell, WAHHH! Hubby will attempt again this weekend, while I’ll stay behind and fish the calm river for salmon.

I was wanting to make a Panzanella salad out of what produce I had on hand, but last minute hubby couldn’t help with the prep of this and ran out of time to make the bread cubes since I didn’t have any stale bread on hand. So this is what I came up with. Lively, fresh, and delicious!

The cucumber came from a friend’s garden, the tomatoes from our own, and the radishes from the farmer’s market. The rest came from the store (organic as possible).

And this would also make a great side dish for a Labor Day BBQ or picnic! This no-mayo recipe makes it a snap to store and serve.

Quick Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, and Radish Salad

1 English cucumber, sliced and quartered (about 2 cups, can be more or less)
1 cup fresh diced tomatoes
1/2 cup diced sweet onion
1/2 cup diced radishes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon rice vinegar, or plain white
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Prep all the ingredients, toss in a bowl and stir to combine. Refrigerate one hour or more. Serve with a slotted spoon. See? Quick and easy. Yumm!

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One-Pot Kielbasa and Cabbage Skillet

One-Pot Kielbasa and Cabbage Skillet

Well here’s a quick Friday night recipe, as I will be going to my FOURTH exercise class in the morning (along with my daughter, she signed up YAY!) and then I’ll be busy making lists and packing to bring our boat to the coast on Sunday, staying until Tuesday. We’ll be pulling in the RV from higher ground that’s parked up the street down there away from the flood zone, and assessing the damage from the winter flooding. We already found out our nice deck hubby built 4th of July last year got washed away in the flooding. Boo hiss!

RV Deck that Washed Away

It was a day or so work for my hubby, and the majority of the wood was the other half of our 20-foot dock in the river that kept breaking in half, and this half had been sitting around upside down on the property for over 6 years. From what we hear, the other 10-foot dock is still on the property, whew! So it wasn’t a huge loss, except we had strapped down a plastic storage shed to the top of it that contained our crab propane pot and burner and my crawdad pot, among other things. I was able to replace the crab propane pot and unit with one on on half-price at Ace Hardware. Still have to replace my crawdad pot. I have no idea what else was in there until we get down there. I should take a picture of contents of everything before we pull out each year!

But, life goes on. I’m ready to go unplugged again for awhile, my fave time of year! (No internet, cell, or TV service over there, darn. LOL.) Don’t worry, I’ll be checking in occasionally and trying to post somewhat weekly in the meantime in between my real job. Enjoy the recipe!

One-Pot Kielbasa and Cabbage Skillet

7 ounces cooked kielbasa sausage, turkey or otherwise (Half a horseshoe). Freeze the other half for future use
1 tablespoon bacon grease (or substitute oil of choice)
1/2 head small cabbage, coarsely chopped
1/2 large red (or sweet yellow or both) onion, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic (or two cloves minced)
Ground black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons white vinegar plus a few tablespoons of water, as needed
1 teaspoon spicy or grainy brown or Dijon mustard
Cooked mashed potatoes, for serving (optional)

Sausage and Cabbage Skillet Ingredients

Slice kielbasa into rounds in your size of choice. Heat bacon grease (or oil) in a large nonstick skillet over medium­high. Add kielbasa, chopped cabbage, chopped onion, minced garlic, and ground black pepper, to taste. Stir to combine, and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes until sausage is browned and cabbage is starting to wilt, stirring occasionally. (I actually added the cabbage a bit later but adjust accordingly.)

Cooking the Kielbasa and Veggies

Mix in the sugar, vinegar, and mustard, then cook and stir for a minute or so. Reduce heat a bit, then add a couple of tablespoons of water and cover to help steam the cabbage. Continue to cook covered, until cabbage is done to your liking, adding additional water as needed.

Cooked Kielbasa Skillet Ready to Serve

Uncover, remove from heat, and serve immediately over mashed potatoes or other grain/starch of choice, which is optional. I reheated some leftover potatoes.

One-Pot Kielbasa and Cabbage Skillet

 

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Quick and Easy Ham and White Bean Soup

Quick and Easy Ham and White Bean Soup

Spring has been on a springboard in my neck of the woods in terms of temperature. While it is now seasonably cool, we had a great stretch of really warm and sunny weather for the last week. With cooler weather, there is nothing better than a hot bowl of comforting soup. And with leftover ham and ham broth in the freezer, this meal was a snap!

After I took my photos, hubs and I both decided we wanted it creamier so I processed half of it in my Ninja then stirred it back in. This step is optional, and I didn’t even take another photo of it creamy that way as I can be lazy that way. Just like you can be lazy in making this soup as it’s that easy!

Quick and Easy Ham and White Bean Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup each chopped onion, celery, and carrots
4 ounces chopped ham
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups ham broth (you can sub in chicken or veggie broth)
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary
Small sprig of thyme
Ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon Liquid Smoke (I used Stubb’s Hickory)
1/8 teaspoon smoked Paprika

The Holy Trinity

Saute the veggies in the oil until soft, 5 to 7 minutes.

Ham, Veggies, and Spices

Add the ham, garlic and spices and cook 2 to 3 minutes more.

Ham Broth and Beans

Pour in the ham broth and beans. Add the rest of the seasonings, and taste to adjust.

Simmering the Ham and Bean Soup

Simmer for about a half hour or more until ready to eat. Optional: Puree half the soup in a blender or processor and stir back in before serving.

Ta-Dah!

Quick and Easy Ham and White Bean Soup

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Quick and Easy Stacked Ground Beef Enchilada Casserole

Quick and Easy Stacked Ground Beef Enchilada Casserole

Talk about a super-easy mid-week meal to make when life is busy and you’re craving Tex-Mex! I was hankering some spicy, per usual, and amazingly I had every single ingredient on hand for this meal. I guess that’s not entirely amazing, since I always keep a good stock of Tex-Mex spices and herbs on hand. I was really wanting to use my new Ninja food processor I got for Mother’s Day from my fabulous family to mix up some awesome homemade Ancho chile paste for this, as I also had dried Ancho chiles sitting around. However, time got the best of me so I used store-bought ground Ancho chile powder instead. (Actually, the label on the package says Pasilla chile powder, but Ancho chile powder is dried Pasillas peppers.) Either way, these easy casserole-style enchiladas were a hit, and we barely had enough leftover for two the next day. Double or triple accordingly!

Ground Beef Ready to Mix with Sauce and Spices

Quick and Easy Stacked Ground Beef Enchilada Casserole

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped sweet or yellow onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Ground black pepper, to taste
8-ounce can sliced black olives, divided
1 tablespoon Ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles
1 8-0unce can no-salt tomato sauce
3 medium-size flour tortillas, torn into chunks
1 1/2 cups shredded blend of cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese, divided
1/2 cup water
Cilantro, chopped green onion, sliced black olives, and sour cream for garnish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium skillet (ooh look, my new red ceramic-lined skillet!), cook the ground beef, onion, garlic, and pepper until the burger is browned. Drain any grease. Add about 3/4 of the sliced black olives and mix well. Now add the Ancho chile powder (you can sub with New Mexico Red, or regular chile powder in a pinch), the green chiles, and tomato sauce. Stir to combine and simmer for a few minutes. Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with oil, then line the bottom with half the torn tortilla chunks and very lightly spray the tops of the tortillas. Spread half the meat mixture over top, then half the cheese. Repeat with another layer of tortillas and a light spray of oil on them, meat, and cheese. Drizzle the half cup of water around the edges of the casserole. Cover tightly, and cook for a half hour. Uncover and broil for a few minutes. Take out and let rest for five minutes. Garnish with cilantro, green onion, sliced black olives, and sour cream (any or all optional). I had this meal prepped, cooked, and on the table in one hour flat. Can’t go wrong with that! And plates were licked clean.

Enchilada Sauce Ready for Casserole