Ribollito, Stale Bread Soup

Rachel Ray Ribollito

Fantastic for having food on hand that reheats quickly and is tasty as leftovers.  Very hearty.

My version:

Cook beans as I usually do.
In soup pot cook mirepoix as usual.
Add other vegetables and herb bundle
Add broth, tomato paste, and beans.  4 cups broth?

Do the cool Rachel Ray thing,  The soup is like a soup concentrate.  To serve, add 2 parts soup, 1 part more broth, and the bread.

1 pound of Maine Cattle Beans.  Soaked overnight and cooked.
broth--vegetarian Better The Boullion
3-4 garlic cloves crushed
1 onion
8 inches leftover french bread
Olive Oil
5 carrots
4 ribs celery
2 teaspoons CRP
Herb bundle of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme
1 bunch Tuscan Kale
2 zucchini, or was it one?
2 cans tomato paste

At the table: parmesan cheese, diced raw onion, olive oil

White bean Kielbasa soup

Where other people have meatless Mondays, I'm most likely to serve a meat dish on Mondays when the committed vegetarians are out at activities.

I sautéed onion, carrot, and celery, then added the leftover flageolet white beans, kielbasa, tomato, and kale, and a cup of broth to thin it, for a simple rainy day skillet stew.   We added Tabasco at the table.

Carrot Cake

http://www.chow.com/recipes/21792-moist-carrot-cake-recipe
for full instructions

Dry
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup King Arthur white whole wheat
2 tsp. baking soda2 tsp. baking powder1/2 tsp. salt3 tsp. ground cinnamon1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Wet
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups oil
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar (used super dark)
2 tsp. vanilla

Other
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup walnuts (food processor), pressed onto top of batter as I forgot.


325 for about an hour.
tossed the shredded carrots in a spoonful of dry mixture by habit.