Avgolemono- Greek Wedding Soup

I'm not Greek, but I sure do wish I was. I view Greek food as comfort food, something about any kind of grilled meat, feta and lemon make me happy!  The best vacation we ever had was in Greece, wow, we looked like some sort of makeover picture with our before and after vacation photo shots. What I like best about Greece is the history, the sun, the people and the food.  Oh my, the food is the best ever, so good for you, and with intense flavors that really make you in that happy kind of vacation state of mind.

My Mom used to make this soup all the time and now I know why!  Wow, is it easy and cheap to make! This is a rich and comforting soup.  It's such a simple thing to make and tastes so much more complex than the 4 base ingredients.

Serves about 4
Ingredients:
8 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup white rice (long grain or calrose), rinsed
6 egg yolks
4 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp minced parlsey or green onions
Salt & Pepper

Heat up the chicken broth to a simmer over medium heat.  Make sure that the stock is great tasting, and if not to your liking add salt and/or chicken base to fix it up.  Add the rinsed rice, and cover the pan.  Simmer the rice for 12-14 minutes, until tender.

While the rice cooks, separate the eggs, putting the yolks in a medium size bowl. 

Save the eggs whites for breakfast tomorrow!  Add the lemon juice and beat the yolks and beat until smooth.  When the rice is tender, turn off the heat, and one ladle full of hot stock into the beaten eggs, whisking the whole time.  Don't skip this step, it's important for the texture of the soup and keeps the eggs from curdling & cooking in the big pot of hot broth.  Once you've beat in the broth into the medium bowl with the eggs, you can add the egg mixture into the stock pot of broth and rice.  Whisk while you add the egg mixture to the broth mixture.  The soup becomes a pale yellow and thickens slightly.  Add minced parsley or green onions if using. Serve at once.

If you have leftovers, reheat the soup very gently, stirring the whole time or it could curdle.

Santa Fe Vegetable Tamale Lasagna

I will admit that I do not like ugly food... meanwhile, my husband will always say that ugly food tastes great.  I almost didn't post this recipe because I wasn't happy with the way it photographed.  I know, I know, how vain.  It does taste great, and the only advice I would give you is to make sure that your sauce is highly seasoned as the rest of the ingredients are pretty mild and the dish will mellow in baking as the flavors meld.  Next time I make this, I am going to make sure that my sauce is super spicy because that's how I like it.

This is a great Meatless Monday idea if you are looking to reduce the amount of meat you eat. This is a meal on itself, but would make a great side dish too.  It's very filling and satisfying. 

I clipped this recipe out of the newspaper a long time ago, so long in fact, that the paper is no longer even publishing!  Seattlelites know I'm talking about the now defunct Seattle P-I, I really miss that paper.  Now, I don't even read 'paper' papers... it's so easy online.  It's a recipe that was iinspired by Rick Bayless's Aztec Tamal Casserole.

Ingredients:

"Santa Fe" Sauce:
1 - 28 oz plum tomatoes, undrained
1 - 4 oz roasted green chilies, chopped, undrained
1 jalapeno, minced. Seeds and core removed and discarded.
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 cup white onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. garlic, chopped
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 cup vegetable stock
1-2 tsp Salt
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Tamale Lasagna ingredients:
18 Corn tortillas
1 1/2 cup Zucchini, minced
8 oz. fresh baby spinach, chopped
8 oz. Pepper Jack cheese, grated
1 1/2 frozen corn, thawed
1/2 jar (8 oz) roasted red peppers
4 cup Santa Fe Sauce

Sauce:
Combine tomatoes and chilies in a blender and make a coarse puree. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until lightly browned. Increase heat to medium high, add garlic and minced jalapeno and cook 1 minute. Add tomato and chili mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until reduced and thickened, about 8 minutes. Add stock, reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

Stir in salt, remove from heat and stir in One fourth cup of cilantro. Makes about 4 cups of sauce.

Tamale Lasagna: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Assemble your ingredients to make assembly easy:

• Corn
• Chopped zucchini
• chopped spinach (quickly microwaved to wilt)
• Grated Cheese
• Drained, roasted peppers
• Corn tortillas, approx 9 cut in half, the others whole
• Santa Fe Sauce

To assemble casserole, lightly coat a round 2qt 9inch baking dish with
vegetable oil spray. Note: Press down after each layer to make sure that you can fit it into the pan and to reduce air pockets.

1. Place a layer of corn tortillas on the bottom, top with cheese and the roasted peppers, and one scoop pf sauce.
2. Add another layer of corn tortillas, using the half tortillas to fit around the edges and a small piece to cover any empty space in the center. 
3. Repeat process with spinach, cheese, sauce and tortillas. 
4. Next layer, repeat process with corn, cheese, sauce and tortillas.
5. Next layer, repeat process with zucchini, cheese, sauce and tortillas.
6. Top with more sauce.
7. Save the rest of the cheese to top later (see below).

Cover with foil and place in preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover, top with cheese and bake about 10 minutes more, or until lightly browned and cheese is melted.

What else could I do with this?

Great options using the corn tortillas instead of noodles, so look to see what you have that would work to layer up and bake!

• Shredded chicken, corn, cheese and salsa.  You could assemble this ahead of time and first one home throws it in the oven.  Dinner is served!
• Green salsa or enchilada sauce would be great with the veggies too.
• Black beans, sour cream or ricotta with more veggies would make a filling vegetarian option.