Italian Beef Soup

Makes a big pot ful! 

1 TBS olive oil 
1/2 cup onion, chopped (about 1/2 med onion)
1/3 cup celery, chopped (about 2 sticks)
1/2 cup carrots, diced
3/4 lb ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 - 6 oz can tomato paste 
2 - 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
4 cups beef broth
3 cups diced potatoes   
1 tsp Italian seasoning 
1 tsp salt 
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups chopped frozen green beans (1/2 to 1" pieces)  

Add oil to instant pot.  Turn instant pot to saute and add onions, celery & carrots. Saute for 3-4 minutes until veggies are soft and translucent.   

Add beef & garlic.  Saute until beef is browned and cooked through.  Drain fat if desired.  

Stir in tomato paste, diced tomatoes (can puree if you don't like tomato chunks), beef broth, potatoes and Italian seasoning.   Add green beans now if you like them softer.  

Close the lid, making sure it's sealed.   Cook on high for 7 minutes.

At the end of the time, do a quick pressure release. 

Remove the lid.  If you didn't already add the beans, add them and stir.  Let beans cook in the hot soup for a few minutes  until no longer frozen.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Can serve with shredded parmesan on top if desired.  

Honey Mustard Dressing + Salad

Soooo good that even my son that hates salad dressing likes this one! 

2/3 cup honey
1/3 cup whole grain Dijon mustard 
1/4 cup smooth dijon mustard 
1/4 cup avocado oil 
2 TBS Apple cider vinegar 
2 -3 garlic cloves, minced 

Mix it all together in a small bowl. 

I like to store this in a 12 oz tall mason jar with a mason jar salad dressing lid! 

Highly delicious on a salad with these ingredients: 
Romaine Lettuce and/or spinach 
Chicken 
Bacon 
Avocado 
Sliced red onions 
Diced fresh tomatoes 

Instant Pot Refried Beans

 I used to think that making beans from dry beans was SO HARD to get right.  But with the instant pot, it's SO EASY! And way tastier than canned refried beans.  

1 TBS Olive oil
1 jalapeno pepper, cored/seeded/chopped 
1/2 cup chopped onion 
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed and picked over 
12 cups water 
1 TBS better than bouillon 
1-1/2 tsp salt 
2 tsp chili powder 
1 tsp paprika 
1/2 tsp cumin 
1/2 tsp onion powder 
1/2 tsp garlic powder 
2 TBS Apple cider vinegar 

Heat oil in the instant pot with saute button.   Add jalapeno, onion and garlic and saute for about 2-3 minutes until softened. 

Add beans, water, bouillon, spices and vinegar. 

Put lid on the instant pot.  Pressure cook on high for 35 minutes.  

When it's done, let it naturally release, which is about 20 minutes or so.   

Pour off most of the liquid into a bowl.   Use a stick blender to blend up the beans to the consistency you want (smooth and soft), adding more of the cooking liquid if needed.  You can use a potato masher too, but a stick blender will give a better consistency. 

    

Sourdough Crackers from Discard

 

So tasty and simple!  

3/4 cup sourdough discard (stir it down, can be any temp)
1/8 tsp garlic salt  
2 TBS melted butter

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.   

Line a 15x10 baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Melt the butter. 
Put discard into a bowl.  Sprinkle with the garlic salt.  Slowly add the butter while mixing with a fork until well combined (no/very little dough should be sticking to the side of the bowl.) 

Pour mixture onto parchment paper and use a rubber spatula to spread evenly and thinly around most of the parchment paper (leaving 1-2" around the edges.)

Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and use a pizza cutter to trim the edges, then cut the dough into 1-1.5" square crackers.  

Bake for 10  more minutes, check if they are getting golden around the edges.  After that check every 5 min or so until done.  It could take up to 40-50 minutes total depending on the thickness of the crackers and your oven.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Store in a bag or container for up to a week. 

Sourdough Pancakes (overnight)

So many sourdough pancake recipes just use the discard and don't let the flour soak so they aren't true sourdough.  Or they're complicated!  These are good and easy! 

For the Sponge:  
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (white wheat is great) 
1 cup sourdough start, stirred down (fed or not) 
2 cups buttermilk 

Batter: 
2 eggs 
4 TBS butter, melted 
3 TBS honey or coconut sugar 
3/4 tsp salt 
1 tsp baking soda 

The night before you want pancakes, mix together the buttermilk and sourdough start with a whisk.  Then mix in the flour.  You may need to mix in up to a 1/2 cup of water to make it a nice batter, thick, but not too thick.  

Cover and let rest at room temperature for 8-12 hours.  

The "sponge" will rise up a bit and be a spongey texture.  

The next morning, mix together the eggs, butter, honey and salt in a small bowl.   Add to the overnight sponge and mix in until combined.   

Preheat a griddle.  

Add the baking soda, and stir just till combined.  Let rest for a few minutes as the batter expands and bubbles.  

Butter the griddle and pour 1/4 cup scoops on the griddle.  Cook about 2 min per side, watch for the bubbles forming and edges beginning to set before flipping.  Or you can make waffles.  

I usually double these and freeze any extras on a cookie sheet then put them in a freezer bag.  

Blender Sourdough Oat Pancakes

Super easy sourdough pancakes, which are great when you don't have time to let it ferment or you do!  

Add to blender:  
1 cup milk 
1 1/2 cups oats 
1 cup sourdough discard, stirred down 
1 TBS maple syrup or honey 
1 tsp vanilla 

Blend for about a minute until smooth. 

At this point, you can let it sit overnight for 8-12 hours, or you can continue on with adding the rest of the ingredients.  

Add now or in the morning:  

2 eggs 
3 TBS melted butter or olive oil 

Blend in the blender until mixed in.  If needed, add a little more milk so the mixture is more like pancake batter.   

In a small bowl mix together: 

3 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp baking soda 
1/4 tsp fine sea salt  

Add to the pancake batter and blend briefly until combined.   

Let rest for 5-10 minutes as the batter rises. 

Fry on a hot griddle.   

Margherita Pizza Sauce

 Pizza sauce in the US is really just so... acidic and tomato-ey!   We loved the mild flavors of Margherita pizza sauce in Italy!   This is a copycat, quick sub that's pretty good (although I'm sure it's not nearly as good as legit Margherita sauce!) 

1 - 15 oz can diced tomatoes (Canned Italian plum tomatoes are best, but can be hard to find.)  
3  garlic cloves, minced 
1 tsp olive oil 
1/16 tsp salt 
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper 

Toss it all in the blender and blend until smooth.  

To make Margherita pizza: 
1 - preheat pizza stone at 450 degrees.
2 - Make a sourdough pizza crust (recipe coming soon) and roll out as thin as you can. 
3 - Remove the pizza stone and put on hot pads.  Place pizza crust on the pizza stone.  Spread a thin layer of Margherita pizza sauce on top. 
4 - Thinly slice fresh mozzarella cheese (packaged in water) and place spread out on top of the pizza (not like cheesy american pizzas!)  
5 - Bake 7-10 minutes until crust is golden and cheese bubbly.  
6 - Add fresh chopped basil leaves to the top.