Soup's On!

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend. Once again, we had a weekend chock full of cooking. I'm loving this whole healthy living thing we have going on. It's allowing us to try a bunch of new delicious recipes. And we're finding that we don't even crave dinners out, which is strange for us. We usually dine out at least 5 days a week so this is certainly a switch.

Here are a couple of new recipes we tried out this weekend. They're both delicious and good for you so I figured I'd pass them onto you.

Of course I had to try out another soup. If you've been following me for a while, you kinda know the deal...:)

White Bean Soup
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup chopped pancetta
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 cans (each 15 oz.) cannellini beans, drained
5 cups chicken broth
3/4 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• In 3 1/2-qt. Dutch oven over medium heat, warm olive oil.
• Cook pancetta 5 minutes.

• Add onion, carrot and celery; cook 8 minutes.

• Add garlic; cook 1 minute.

• Add beans, broth and thyme; simmer over low heat 10 minutes.

• Remove from heat to cool.

• Puree in batches until smooth.
• Return to Dutch oven and stir in cheese, salt and black pepper.

And this next recipe...and no it's not a soup....was one that J discovered on over at Gina's WW Recipes. She's been searching for new recipes and she stumbled upon Gina's site. You must check it out...its a feast for the eyes! The photos are so scrumptious looking! And the great thing is that they're good for you too so we couldn't help but give one a shot. All I can say is DEEElicious! We will definitely be checking out some more.

Baked Zucchini Sticks
3 medium zucchini sliced into 3" x 1/2" sticks
1 large egg white
1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 tbsp grated Pecorino Romano cheese
cooking spray
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt
fresh pepper

Marinara Sauce (1 cup)
1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
1 small bay leaf
1 tsp oregano
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
salt and fresh pepper to taste

• Preheat oven to 425°.
• In a medium pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until golden, being careful not to burn. Add crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and bay leaf. Stir and reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer about 20 minutes.
• breadcrumbs, garlic powder and cheese and shake well. In a small bowl, beat egg whites and season with salt and pepper. In a ziplock bag, placeSpray cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
• Dip zucchini sticks into eggs then into bread crumb and cheese mixture, a few at a time and shake to coat. Place the breaded zucchini in a single layer and spray more cooking spray on top. Bake at 425° for about 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with 1/2 cup marinara sauce for dipping
  

This whole cooking thing is great. Only problem is that we live in NYC so that = tiny kitchen. So these days, I'm really wishing for a kitchen like this...

or this....


A girl can dream, right?

Images: Kitchens via dress, design & decor