Zuppa Toscana

If you love the Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana soup, you'll LOVE this recipe.  It's just like it and so delicious.  Disclaimer here - this is definitely NOT one of the healthy dishes I usually make... it is a splurge and I'm fully aware of that.  But its worth it!!  Sooo good.

Sorry it's orange - I now realize I should have warmed up the soup before I photographed it.  (But to my defense, there were people waiting for me and I had a baby sleeping on me in a front pack while I took the picture.)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Italian sausage (or half regular, half turkey sausage)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup apple juice to deglaze the pan
• ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 russett potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch chunks
• 2 cups fresh kale, chopped
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 2.5 cups water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Place a large stockpot or Dutch oven on the stove over medium heat.  Crumble the sausage into the pan and cook until well browned.  Remove the cooked sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl; set aside.  
2. Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté until tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to the pan and cook for a minute more, just until fragrant.  
3. Add the juice to the pot and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits.  Add the potatoes, kale, chicken broth and water to the pot.   Return the sausage to the pot.  
4. Increase the heat to medium-high, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer on medium-low.  
5. Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender and cooked through.  
6. Stir in the heavy cream and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.

I'm telling you - totally delicious.  Happy Eating!

Green Chilies Casserole

This is one of our Grover (Mom's side) family favorites, given to us by my Aunt Jen.  Its super easy (as I like it), meatless (which I like doing every once in awhile) and of course, delicious!  This one's a keeper.

I made it last year for St. Patrick's Day, along with GREEN beans, a GREEN salad and GREEN jello, which is what the picture is from.

Green Chili's Casserole
Jen Grover

Ingredients

• 12 Corn Tortillas
• 1 can cream soup (cream of anything)
• 1 small can green chilies
• 1 soup can of milk
• 1 pound grated cheese
• Sometimes I DO want to beef it up a little so I'll add shredded chicken and corn.  If I do that, I'll add an extra can of green chilies to beef the flavor up with the extra stuff added.  You may need to play with the milk amount to reach your desired consistency if you do this.

Process

1. Grease either a casserole dish, or a 9x11 pan.  
2. Mix soup, chilies and milk.  
3. Soften tortillas in hot water.  
4. Put a little soup mix in the bottom of the pan to keep the food from sticking.  
5. Layer tortillas, cheese, [chicken and corn] and soup mix until dish is full.  
6. Bake at 375 degrees for one hour. 

Serves approx. 6 adults.

Another nice thing about this recipe is that the ingredients are things you usually have in your kitchen anyway.  Great perk!

Happy Eating!