Greek Avgolemono Soup

2 Tbs. olive oil

2 medium leeks, white parts finely chopped (4 cups)

1 small onion, finely chopped (1 cup)

2 small carrots, peeled and diced (3/4 cup)

6 cups vegetarian broth

1/2 cup orzo pasta

2 large eggs

3 Tbs. lemon juice

2 Tbs. parsley

1 Tbs. mint

1/2 Tbs. oregano

Lemon wedges

This is my new favorite soup. Very filling, lemon-y and fresh, and easy one-pot cooking.

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leeks, onion, carrots, a pinch of salt; cover and cook 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are softened, stirring often.

2. Stir in broth. Season w/ salt and pepper. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 10 more minutes. Add orzo, and cook 11 minutes more, or until orzo is tender. Remove from heat.

3. Whisk together eggs and lemon juice in a bowl. Add 3 ladles of the soup broth to egg mixture, whisking constantly. Whisk egg mixture back into soup, and cook over low heat 2-3 minutes, or until soup is thickened, but without letting it come to a boil. Serve sprinkled with parsley, mint, and oregano, and garnished with lemon wedges.

Garlic Thai Stir Fry

For this stir fry I cut up some broccoli and an onion, and sauteed in olive oil over medium heat with a clove of minced garlic.

I took a package of Thai noodles, boiled water, removed it from the heat, and then soaked the noodles with the veggies cooked. When they were nice and soft, I added some raw bean sprouts, about 1/4 cup of garlic Thai sauce. Then I added the noodles and cooked for about three minutes.

I've been enjoying freshly squeezed lemon on practically everything lately. It works great with this dish!

The Most Delicious Eggplant Recipe Ever

My new favorite way to make eggplant hails from "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian". It's seriously SOOOOOO good.

Preheat oven to 375F.
1. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the whole eggplant and brown on all sides, about 10-15 minutes, adjusting the heat and turning as necessary. Drain on paper towels. Cut a slit lengthwise in each eggplant, taking care not to cut all the way through, then assemble them in a baking dish that will hold them snugly.
2. Add 1/4 cup olive oil to the skillet and turn the heat to medium-low; cook 2 medium onions, sliced, and 4 minced garlic cloves, stirring occasionally, until very soft and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Add 1 can drained diced tomatoes and cook until softened, about 5 minutes more, then stir in 1/2 cup chopped parsley and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.
3. Stuff the mixture into the slits in the eggplant (do not over stuff). Pour any remaining pan juices, mixtures, and 3 tablespoons of water over the eggplant, cover loosely with foil, and bake 30 minutes.
Remove from oven, cool to warm temperature, squeeze lemon wedges on top, and serve.

Eggplant Lasagna

This was just made up as I went along, but it was pretty easy and tasted good, too. I roasted a bunch of thinly sliced eggplant in the oven with some olive oil, made my own pot of sauce with sauteed diced veggies and mushrooms mixed it, and layered with lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese.

Popped the dish in a 400F oven for about an hour and it came out great!

Cowboy Crack, er, I mean, Caviar

This is a simple recipe that is absoultely delish. It's pretty healthy, so eat up!

Start by making the bean mixture. One can each of Black Eyed Peas, Red Kidney Beans, and White Corn. One onion, green pepper, couple celery stalks, and a jalapeno, all diced finely.

Then make the dressing--

1 t. salt, ½ t. pepper
1 T. water, ½ C. olive oil, ¾ C. vinegar
1 C. sugar (I use ½ C)
Dash of garlic powder, Dash of cumin

Boil mixture and then let cool.

Pour the dressing over your bean/veggie mixture. Stir well and marinade in the fridge for about 24 hours, stirring a couple times during the marination.

Drain mixture before serving.

Seriously. It's like crack. I served it with those Scoops chips for maximum dip capacity. And the good thing about this recipe is that it should be made ahead of time, and it just gets better hour after hour in that dressing!

Mint Chocolate Andes Icecream Delight

Another one of my favorite kitchen machines: my ice cream maker. If you are on the fence about getting one, DO IT. It is so easy and makes delicious ice cream in about 25 minutes, no weird ingredients like dry ice or salt peter or whatever the heck you add in other ice cream makers.

I followed a recipe for a mint chocolate ice cream and added chopped up Andes mint chocolate candies. It's a perfect Christmas ice-cream!

Winter Penguin Paradise, in Cream Cheese

What do you get when you mix some black olives, carrots, and cream cheese?

Why, a idyllic Winter Penguin Paradise, that's what.

Yes, I seem to have too much time on my hands. But they are cute, and my husband convinced me that the idea wasn't "super lame". So I decided to try out a new appetizer, and, surprisingly enough, they came out just how they were supposed to!

First: Feet and beaks out of carrots. I found it worked best to slice the little beak-parts in half before you stuff their little penguin heads so that the olives hold them better.

Next: the olives.

I used "Super Colossal", "Colossal", and "Small". I whipped a pkg. of cream cheese in my Mr. Mixy Kitchen Aid mix master with a fiesta ranch dressing mix packet, put the cheese in a plastic baggie, and snipped off the end. To ready the olive bodies, hole side down, I cut out a little slice of olive (not going all the way through to the top). Then I piped the cheese into the olive, very easy. I don't know why I didn't take pictures of all this. Apparently I don't think my readers understand what a black olive looks like, but can't offer my wisdom when it comes to piping cheese into little bird bodies.

Roasted red pepper (from a jar) sliced into thin strips will become little scarves.

A Place to March: Tasty constructs a penguin habitat.

This was literally $2 and a lot of fun to make. I bought a thin piece of Styrofoam from Jo-Ann's (12"X36") and two pieces of 12"X12" pretty printed scrapbooking paper. The paper already had the winter scene in the background, and I just glued each piece onto Styrofoam and cut the "wall" and "floor" out and glued them together. Then I used the remaining 12"X12" piece to create the icebergs and for a couple of stand-up pieces. I dug out some stickers I had from years ago and used foam to make a sign on the "wall", a snowman, and a little red bird pop into 3-D action. I wrapped the plain Styrofoam icebergs in plastic wrap so the food wouldn't get little specks of foam on it.

For the cheese igloo:

I took a pkg. of cream cheese and a packet of fiesta ranch dressing mix and whipped it together. Then I folded in about a cup of cheddar cheese. I then molded into a brick shape and refrigerated for several hours. Then I cut into blocks, googled images of igloos, and then built one out of cheese (the best I could. admittedly, it needs some work on the design).

The finished product: