Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Hold on to your hats people, this recipe is a soup that is approved by Tom! A SOUP, I could fall off my chair. He has always said that soup is a four letter word to him, something to be muttered under his breath in a most disapproving way. But for some reason I convinced him to take one bite and then a miracle happened, he liked it. He really liked it! So I can't say enough that you need to make this soup from the Food Network magazine.


This doesn't take many ingredients and you can bet that no cilantro was used in the making of this at my house. I cut this recipe in half, assuming I would be the only one eating it.


You will need some veggie stock, celery, roasted red peppers, potato, shallot, sun dried tomato, sour cream, and some grated cheese. I am super excited to get Delallo brand products here in AZ as they are from a small town in Western PA.


Chop up your veggies.


Drain and rinse your red peppers.


Grate your cheese, preferably on to a cute Corelle plate.


Get everything staged near the stove for easy cooking. A giant bottle of vodka is optional, but encouraged ;)


Get your veggies in the pot over medium heat with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook these guys until they are soft, about 5-10 minutes.


Add in the broth, red peppers and sun dried tomatoes.


Cover it up and bring it to a simmer. Take the lid off and let it cook for about 15 minutes.


Transfer the soup in batches to the blender and add the sour cream. Here I confess that I got distracted by my husband talking on the phone and managed to shoot hot red pepper soup over a good portion of my kitchen. Steam in a blender is NOT your friend, so pay attention and puree in small batches. Once it is all pureed you are ready to serve!


Top the soup with the grated cheese and dig in. This is such a perfect fall meal and would be delicious with a grilled cheese sandwich. Tom tested and Tom approved :)

Favorite Things #34 - Trader Joes

One of the best things I have discovered since moving to Arizona is Trader Joes. I absolutely love the place and have found very few things there that I disliked. If you are unfamiliar with this little grocery store click the link and check it out.

I have some recent favorites I will share with you.


These cashews are like crack, seriously. The flavors are so perfect and go so well with the sweet cashews. I keep a bag of these in my freezer at all times.


This salsa is sweet and delicious. I love all of the Trader Joe's salsas, but this is a recent find for me.


This stuff is AMAZING. Tom and I pretty much ate a whole container over a weekend. I actually think Tom likes this more than I do.

If you are fortunate enough to have a Trader Joe's nearby I'd love to hear about your favorite things?

Greek Chicken Pasta

One of my favorite magazines is Taste of Home. I grew up eating very simple comfort food, and that is what this magazine has every month. I knew when I saw this pasta dish it was going to be delicious.



Start boiling some water, preheat your broiler, and lets grab some ingredients.


The tattooed man in the background is not required for this meal, and will not eat it when you are done. You will need some cooked chicken, chicken stock, pasta, feta, butter, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, onion, parsley, and some yummy olives.


Chop up your tomatoes, olives and onion. I used my awesome new Rada knife.


Chop up the butter and the chicken.


Measure out your flour. Measure your chicken broth too, I didn't get a picture of that. Drop your pasta in the boiling water and lets get on to some deliciousness.


Get the butter melting in an oven safe skillet. Every once in a while you gotta splurge with a dish like this.


You can imagine how awesome this smells, unless you are my friend Biz who does not like onions :) Cook the onion until it is softened.


I had everything else that was going in the pan standing by to go in, I think it all looks so tasty together.


Stir in the flour and cook for a minute.


Gradually add the broth, this is going to thicken up quick.


Stir in everything else but the pasta and get it all mixed together. This looks so awesome already.


Drain your pasta and it is almost time to eat!


Stir in the pasta and then pop this whole thing under the preheated broiler for about 5 minutes.


Look at how great that looks after just a few minutes under the broiler.


Top with a little parsley and you are ready to enjoy this cheesy and creamy pasta dish. I cannot believe that my husband could pass this up after smelling it browning under the broiler, but more for me!!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!