Roasted Potato and Onion Soup from Leftovers

It's the day after Christmas and I'm staring at the left over roasted potatoes in my refrigerator. I had sliced them very thin and roasted them with red onions just the day before, but they never reheat and taste the same.

These Yukon Gold slicers are begging for a second life. Here's what I have to work with: 4 unbaked Yukon Golds medium size, 2 pints of half and half, left over chicken stock, 2.5 cups of roasted Yukon Gold potatoes and red onion (tossed with basil, garlic and olive oil when roasted).

Let's make soup.

4 Yukon Gold medium size potatoes
2 1/2 cups roasted Yukon Gold potatoes (roasted with red onion optional)
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
3 turns of black pepper from mill
1 teaspoon salt
1 small clove garlic minced
Adobo seasoning 1/2 teaspoon
Fresh basil and parsley to taste


Dice the remaining raw potatoes and boil in 4 cups of salted water for 10 minutes. Drain and reserve three cups of liquid.

Using an immersion blender puree the boiled potatoes and 2 cups of cooking liquid.

Add 1 1/2 cups of roasted potato and onion and puree. Add additional cooking liquid as needed. Add puree to soup pot. Put pot on low heat.

Dice remainder of roasted potato and onion in 1/4 inch bite size pieces. Add to soup pot.

Add 1/2 cup of half and half and 1/2 cup of chicken stock or vegetable stock. Add garlic. Add Adobo seasoning, fresh parsley, basil or any herbs you prefer to taste. You can try a touch of cumin for a smokey taste.

*Add additional cooking liquid, stock or milk to get your desired consistency.

Whala! Yummy soup!

Simple Sophisticated Asparagus Appetizer

Here's an "appy" I served up at a recent gathering. It's easy, healthy and tastes great.

Ingredients
1 bundle of small asparagus
Parmigiano Reggiano
olive oil
Adobo seasoning (homemade or store bought)
Kosher salt
pepper
4-6 appetizer plates

Wash asparagus and dry in a soft towel. Spread veggies out on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil, Kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, Adobo seasoning or any of your other favorite spices (cumin, red pepper flakes, etc...). Gently toss asparagus so they are fully coated. Let them marinate in oil and spices for 30 minutes.

Heat up grill or grill pan. Sear the asparagus. You want them to get nice and brown on the outside, but still be slightly crisp. We're going for flavor without killing all the nutrients!

Remove from grill and cool slightly. Grab your favorite appetizer plates. Place a small bundles of asparagus on each plate. (This recipe will usually feed 4-6 guests.) You want each guest to have at least 5-6 asparagus. Using a sharp knife or veggie peeler, carve-off paper thin slices of your Parmesan cheese wedge. I like to criss-cross 2 thin strips over each bundle of asparagus.

If you don't have a cheese wedge, you can sprinkle the bundles lightly with grated cheese.

Serves 4-6 guests

Delish Caponata Appetizer

Here's a little homemade caponata recipe I whipped up for my girl friends. It's fresh, healthy and easy to make too.

Ingredients

1 medium zucchini
1 red bell pepper
10 calmata olives
1 clove garlic
parsley
olive oil
Adobo seasoning (store bought or home made)
sea salt
pepper
Italian bread or baguette


Slice zucchini and peppers in thin strips length wise to grill. Heat up outdoor grill or use a grill pan. If using a grill pan, coat pan with non-stick cooking spray. Lay zucchini and peppers flat on grill or pan. Sprinkle with a little olive oil (do this prior to putting on grill) Adobo seasoning, salt and fresh ground pepper. Grill on both sides until well browned but not too soft in the middle. You want a little crunch and texture left in your veggies.

Remove peppers and zucchini and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes. Once cool rough chop zucchini and peppers and place into a small pan. Remove pits from olives and rough chop. Add olives to pan. Snip in from fresh parsley. Add add additional olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

For this recipe I prefer to use a small load of whole wheat Italian bread. Slice bread into think slices (bruchetta style) and toast or broil in oven on cookie sheet.

Once the bread is done, warm up the caponata on the stove. You want to warm this up just enough to get the olives warm. Be careful not to over cook it.

I like to arrange each portion on small plates for all my guests. One each plate plate three slices of the toast fanning out. Add to it a nice portion of the caponata. I like to give my guests a small fork so they can choose whether to place the caponata right on the bread, scoop it up or take alternate bites of the bread and veggies. Salute!

Servings: 4

Substitutions: Italian multigrain bread holds more nutritional value. You can also use any Italian style loaf or baguette.

*Created from scratch and out of hunger.