Menu for One

French Onion Soup

 

It has been freezing here, in a technical sense.  Yes, yes, I know it's probably been colder wherever you happen to be sitting, but for Atlanta, it has been unseasonably cold.  That's why I was thankful to have this french onion soup ready for me in my freezer.  

Everyone needs an emergency recipe like this in their back pocket.  It comes from a great cookbook I got for Christmas, Eugenia Bone's Well-Preserved.  She shows country folk and city folk alike how to can (aka put up or preserve) fruits, vegetables, or meats in small quantities, AND THEN shows you what to do with them when you open them up later, other than just eating them out of the jar.  The greatest part of the book is that, for a great many of the recipes, you don't need any special equipment.  This french onion soup is one of those beauties.  All you need is a large pot and some freezer bags/containers.

As with each of the recipes in the book, this recipe is made in two stages.  You start first by making Stewed Onions with Marjoram, to be divided into 2-pint portions and stored in your freezer.  Whenever you're craving something warm and seriously delicious, you just grab a pack out of your freezer and reheat it with some chicken stock.  Voila!

Over medium-low, heat 6 tablespoons in your largest pot (I learned this the hard way - you'll need plenty of room for the onions).  In the meantime, thinly slice 24 medium yellow onions.  If you have a food processor, this is a moment where your slicer disk can really shine.  It will save you a lot of time and tears.  Add the onions to the pot and let them hang out for 30 minutes or so, stirring every few minutes.  [If you're concerned after adding the onions that there won't be room for any other ingredients, don't worry - their volume will decrease significantly.]  Next, add two quarts of low-sodium beef stock and 3 tablespoons of dried marjoram.  I recommend low-sodium because it gives you a little more control over the saltiness of your food.  It's much easier to add a little bit more than to take any out.  Let this all hang out on the stove for an hour and fifteen minutes.  The onions will be soft and stewy.

When the mixture has cooled, I used tongs to transfer the onions to 6 freezer-safe plastic bags, then ladled in the broth.  End of STAGE ONE.

 

STAGE TWO: When you're ready to enjoy the soup, grab a bag from the freezer.  Defrosting it overnight would probably be best, but I just cut the bag open and reheated it over a low flame with a quart of chicken stock.  When I could see steam start to rise from the surface of the soup, I ladled it into two ramekins, topped it with some thick-sliced bread, and sprinkled it with shredded parmesan cheese.  After 5-10 minutes in a 400F oven, the bread had soaked up some of the soup and the cheese had formed a delicious golden-brown crust.  I'm happy to report that STAGE TWO took all of fifteen minutes to prepare, maybe less.  One portion from the freezer comfortably feeds two.  Enjoy!

 

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad with Lime Vinaigrette

There were times during college where money was tight, usually at the end of the semester.  And even though I had a meal plan at the school dining hall, by the end of the year, I couldn't bear the thought of eating another cafeteria meal.  

What to do?  I had a microwave, and sometimes had access to a hot plate and a two-quart pot.  I didn't have a car, and there wasn't a grocery store within walking distance, but there was a CVS nearby.  I created all sorts of odd meals with convenience items, notably a breakfast burrito made with scrambled eggs, packaged deli ham, cheese, and jarred salsa wrapped in a tortilla.  But the uniting characteristic of most of these drug store purchases (other than the fact they were cheap) was that they were ORANGE.  And although I still have a fondness for orange food, such as orange juice and goldfish, orange food always reminds me of those low-budget, make-shift dinners. 

That's why when I read Mark Bittman's recipe in the New York Times for a roasted sweet potato salad a few weeks ago, I decided to revisit orange food again to see if it could really be good eats.  The sweet, orange sweet potatoes are combined with black beans, crunchy red onion, bright red bell pepper, and flecked with green cilantro.  A light lime-jalepeno vinaigrette ties all the elements together.  As an added bonus, it's a warm salad, perfect on an autumn day like today.

Here's the recipe and a short Mark Bittman video showing how to make this absolutely delicious meal that doesn't require a lot of hands-on cooking time.  It can easily be cut in half for a menu for one, but honestly, I don't think you would mind making and eating the whole recipe over a couple of days.  It would make a great side dish next to spicy, roasted pork tenderloin or steak, but I can testify it's great on its own.  It's got a little zip to it from the lime and jalapeno, but if you'd like it a little spicier, I'd double the jalapeno or pick a smaller, spicier pepper.  [note: if you taste the vinaigrette before you add it to the sweet potatoes it will be very tart and spicy.  Don't be alarmed, it'll all mellow out].  Enjoy!

Spinach Frittata

As I see it, there are two avenues of success, if you will, in this cooking for one business: improvisation and/or careful planning.  I gave improvisation a shot in my last soup post.  As we all know, practice makes perfect, so here I go again.  Breakfast.  I figured if I got some proportions down (appealing to the side of me that loves to plan), it would facilitate my efforts in improvisation.  So, Kathryn-the-Planner pulled out a whole bunch of cookbooks to gather as many different frittata recipes as she could find, in hopes that she could determine the egg to filler ratio.  Well, low and behold, Mark Bittman already did the work for me: 1-2 cups of filling for every 4-5 eggs (See How to Make Everything).  

In a small, oven-safe omelet pan cook most of the way through (or reheat, if you're working with leftovers) the frittata fillings.  Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, salt and pepper, and a handful of grated cheese.  Lower the heat to medium-low and add the egg mixture.  Let it hang out until the bottom starts to firm up, then transfer the omelet pan to a 350F oven to finish cooking in there (roughly 10 minutes, but check frequently).

In this version, I think I added spinach, onions, and parmesan cheese.  Since the onions take a little longer to cook than spinach, I started cooking them first. When they were nearly soft, I added some frozen spinach I had defrosted and squeezed dry.  As Bittman instructed, I added the egg/cheese mixture, let it set up a little bit in the pan and then transferred to the oven.  Here's where I went wrong: I let it cook too long in the oven.  Still edible, but not a masterpiece.  So be careful!  Check often! 

As you can see, I ate it with fruit and a glass of milk.  Looking at it now, if only I had added a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice in the photo, you would hear a voiceover at the end of this post saying, "Part of this complete breakfast," just like they did during the commercial breaks of Saturday morning cartoons.

Spinach, Tomato, and White Bean Soup

Do you ever have those nights when you look through the kitchen and say to yourself, "there is NOTHING to  eat?"  I uttered those words earlier this week, seconds before I grabbed my phone to order takeout.  Then I stopped myself.  Am I not the same girl who blogged about the benefits of a well-stocked pantry?  The same girl who said maybe, just maybe, in order to make this cooking for one thing work, that I'd have to try taking the recipe-training wheels off and just try cooking without a script?

Seizing the spirit of adventure, I opened my kitchen cabinets.  I decided soup might be a good place to start.  I know I love soup, and maybe it's not everyone's favorite, but I figured that it would be easy to mess with proportions and to add a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  I grabbed everything I thought might be good in a soup and laid it on the counter.  I grouped these ingredients into categories:

BASE: water and/or chicken stock

VEGETABLES: frozen spinach, canned tomatoes, great northern beans, carrots, onions

FILLERS: barley, egg noodles, small pasta

FINISHERS: parmesan cheese rinds

Remembering that most recipes start by sweating some version of the mire poix (carrots, onions, and celery), I took what aromatics I had (about a two-handed scoopful of chopped carrots and onions) and let them cook slowly in a heavy-bottomed pot, seasoning them with salt and pepper.  When they started to get soft (and to smell really good), I added half of a can of great northern beans (drained), half of a 14oz can of chopped tomatoes (not drained), and half of a defrosted 10 oz package of frozen spinach that I had squeezed dry.  After giving everything a quick stir, I let these ingredients warm up a little bit.  

Remember when I made chicken stock?  It was at this point that I pulled out the bag of chicken stock I had frozen in the muffin tin molds, and added about four to the soup.  You could probably defrost them before adding them to the pot, but I just through them in frozen - I'm not sure it made much of a difference.  After they had melted, I added water to the pot until I liked the consistency, and voila!  Dinner was served!

[In the end, I decided not to add any fillers, such as pasta or barley...the choice is yours.  If you do add them, add them at the end, and just simmer the soup until the pasta is cooked through].

In this instance, I also added a couple of rinds of parmesan cheese I had stashed in my freezer last month.  I let them hang out in the soup from about the time I added the stock and the water until I was ready to serve.  "Waste Not Want Not" strikes again.

The verdict?  Not likely to be featured in next month's Gourmet, but it was a simple dinner that I'd make again.  But more than anything, this very small success gave me a little confidence boost to try cooking off-script again.  And if I can do it, believe me, you can do it, too.  Bon appetit!

OH.  And wondering what to do with the rest of the beans, tomatoes, and spinach?  I was, too.  So I mixed them  up, stored them in a tupperware container and stashed it in the freezer.  I can pull it out the next time I make soup, but I'm sure that I can add it to whatever I serve next with rice, pasta, or tomato sauce.  Imagination at work.

UPDATE: I've recently started listening to a wonderful public radio broadcast called The Splendid Table (www.splendidtable.org) hosted by Lynne Rossettto Kasper, who is just a wealth of information on all things food.  In a recent episode, she discussed the three methods of Basic Soup Improvisation (a summary is printed on her website).  I encourage you to take a look - it will help give you the confidence you need to cook without a script!

Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli

My least favorite word is "obviously," because nine times out of ten, when someone uses it, whatever they're trying to communicate isn't actually obvious at all.  Even more so than "really" and "very," which are used for emphasis, "obviously" gets thrown in there to lend support to something that is otherwise unsubstantiated!  (yikes, I'll get off my soapbox...apparently, I feel stronger about the use of this word than I thought).

Sort of along the same lines, sometimes I wonder if the phrase "fool proof" is tossed around a little too loosely...I probably tried making that "Foolproof Fudge" on the side of the Fluff jar half a dozen times when I was growing up with very inconsistent results, to say the least.

That being said, I bring you without further ado: Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli.  Obviously, it is the greatest roasted shrimp and broccoli ever made and it is absolutely fool proof.

This recipe first premiered on the NY Times back in January, but I first learned about it on The Wednesday Chef.  In addition to featuring two great leading players (shrimp and broccoli), it also happens to feature my favorite cooking medium (is that the right word?  it sounds like an artist's specialty in oil paints or clay sculpture).  If the cooking mediums (poaching, steaming, braising, roasting, etc.) were competing in an Olympic competition for the title of Fool Proof, roasting would be a front runner.  Why?  Because it is very hands off and there is very little technique.  This recipe illustrates one of the most basic roasting formulas, and offers a tasty variation.  I offer that the most basic roasting formula is:

ROASTING = HEAT + FOOD CUT INTO SIMILARLY SIZED PIECES + OLIVE OIL + SALT AND PEPPER

That's it.  Take for example, Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli.  Preheat the oven to 425F.  Cut up the broccoli into small pieces, about the size of the shrimp.  Toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper, plus coriander, cumin, and chili powder (aha!  the variation).  I recommend using ground spices instead of the seeds, as The Wednesday Chef recommended (see her post for proportions).  Spread out evenly onto a cooking sheet and roast for 10 minutes.

 

(aside: ordinarily, if I were roasting only root vegetables, for example all of the vegetables would be put on the same baking sheet and roasted together, but here, shrimp cooks in a nano second, and would be way over done by the time the broccoli was ready, so the shrimp only get thrown in at the end).

Meanwhile, combine the shrimp, olive oil, salt and pepper, and lemon zest in the bowl.  

After the broccoli have cooked for 10 minutes, add the shrimp to the baking sheet, and using tongs, toss to combine. 

 

Cook the shrimp and broccoli together for 10 minutes (using the tongs to toss midway through, just to make sure everything gets that beautiful "I was roasted" color on all sides).  And you're done!  Just squeeze some lemon juice on there and dinner is served.  It's great as is, but can also be served over pasta or rice.

As I mentioned, I LOVE roasting, so this isn't the last time you will hear me squawking about it.  Suffice it to say, roasted food is low maintenance.  Roasted food keeps its color, often becoming even more vibrant (just look at that broccoli!).  Its flavor is intensified (unlike some other cooking methods where you risk watered down flavors), and did I mention you just put it in the oven and walk away?  

Bon appetit!

Chicken Stock

I think I've mentioned it before, but one of the kitchen ingredients I use the most is chicken stock.  Remember 10 years ago when all those Chicken Soup for the Soul books came out?  I never dreamed that beyond Chicken Soup for the Soul and A Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul there would be Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul, Chicken Soup for the Golden Soul, or A Fifth Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul (no joke).  But these publishers were onto something.  Indeed, there is something powerful about chicken soup.

I studied music in college, among other things.  One of the most difficult assignments I ever had came from my music theory professor.  He gave each student a different Chopin mazurka (polish folk dance with lots of flourishes), and each was relatively unknown.  Our job was to see beyond the flourishes and reduce the piece down to its essence in three stages, until there was only one note remaining per phrase.  The intention was that we would come to appreciate the structure of Chopin's composition as we studied it and took it apart.  

In the same way, if we take it apart a bowl of chicken soup, looking past the flourishes of egg noodles, carrots, celery - even the pieces of chicken, the soup's true healing powers lies (lays?  argh, I can never remember which!) in the chicken broth.  This is what brings us together today.

There are many out there who will tell you that if you can't use homemade stock, use shouldn't use stock at all.  I am not one of those people.  However, there is a BIG difference in quality, and once you make it for yourself, you will want to make it again and again.

Pros to making your own chicken stock: CHEAP-ola.  It's made from leftovers and scraps that might not be enough to eat on their own, a veritable illustration of the Waste Not Want Not philosophy (always a good idea, but especially so in times like these).  It makes your house smell good, and it can be used in almost everything.  Did I mention it's fool proof and requires no technique whatsoever?

Cons: it takes time - but that's ok, isn't it?  Plus, it's almost entirely inactive time on your part. So basically, there are no cons to making your own stock.

There are a million ways to make stock, and while some are better than others, I don't think there's really a wrong way.  Here's mine.

As you can see on this table, in addition to the items on the list, I have *stock bag* - a brilliant new tip I just picked up from Smitten Kitchen.  I just stash peelings and veggie stubs in a bag in the freezer and empty the whole bag into the stockpot whenever I made a new batch of chicken stock.

So here goes.  Step 1: dump all the ingredients into a large stockpot.  Cover with with cold water.  Step 2: Simmer for 3 hours.  (Modification: the directions above say bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer.  I recommend just simmering to avoid cloudy - but nevertheless delicious - stock that results when it is boiled too long).  I make stock on the stovetop, but I have been toying with the idea of making it in the oven next time where a steady temperature is easier to maintain.

It'll look ugly for awhile, but don't mess with it for three (3) hours  Then drain the stock into a large container, and spoon off the layer of fat.  Alternatively, after draining, just wait for the liquid to cool, and the fat will turn into an easy to remove solid.  (sounds delightful, I know).

Either put it to use right away, or store it for another day.  It will keep about a week in the refrigerator, or several months in the freezer.  My mother pours her stock into muffin tins and ice cube trays, then puts the frozen cubes into a large ziplock bag in the freezer.  I highly recommend this method for those of us cooking for one!  Sometimes you need less than a quart of stock, and this muffin tin method allows for you to pull out just what you need, in pre-measured amounts.  Just thaw in the refrigerator or microwave and you're ready to go.  In my mom's case, she'll pull out a cube or two when she wants to thin out a sauce or gravy, deglaze a pan, or add flavor to cooking rice or greens.

What else can you do with homemade chicken stock?  Well that, my friends, is fodder for another post.  Coming soon...

Pearl Couscous Gratin with Pesto and Goat Cheese

Confession: I like costume dramas.  Jane Austen films in particular, and I'll watch them over and over again (although I promise I won't make you watch them).  And the funny thing is, that after I've seen one, I notice that my sentences become more drawn out, and are peppered with words like "quite" and "whilst."

Even if Jane Austen films aren't your thing, I'm sure there's been a moment when you've been talking to someone on the phone who's trying to be quiet on their end, and then all of a sudden you say to yourself, "wait - why am I whispering?"

Well, I've been working a lot lately, and my day job of writing in formal legal-ese is bleeding into my thoughts about this blog.  In starting this post, I had to fight the urge to write "Pursuant to page 554 in the How to Cook Everything Vegetarian Cookbook by Mark Bittman...."  So bear with me.  I'll snap out of it.

That being said, we had a few days of heavy rain in Atlanta last week (desperately needed) and it seemed like one of the last opportunities to make some hot-out-of-the-oven comfort food before the weather gets too hot for comfort down here.  I turned to a recipe I had made once before, but that can be easily manipulated to feature whatever veggies you've got in your fridge, and in my case, green beans.  

In a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, sauté a finely chopped shallot or a small handful of chopped red onion.  Add to the pan 8 ounces of asparagus or green beans cut into one-inch pieces and cook until softened, but still underdone.  In a 2-quart casserole, combine the veggie mixture with 2 cups cooked pearl couscous (aka israeli couscous, a toasted couscous that is larger than the traditional couscous; it's about the size of a pencil eraser).  This time around, I substituted orzo for the couscous, and it worked out okay, but pearl couscous may still be the better way to go.

In a separate measuring cup or bowl, combine 1/2 cup of pesto, an egg, and 1/2 cup of cream, milk, or stock, whatever you have on hand, and pour over the casserole.  While it settles into all the nooks and crannies, pull out 4 ounces of goat cheese.  Using your fingers,break the cheese into small pieces and distribute over the top of the casserole.  Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and bubbling.  I was a little impatient here and didn't quite get to the golden brown stage, but it was still tasty.

I think the trick is not cooking the veggies all the way through before putting them in the casserole.  Frankly, depending on the size of the veggies, I may not sauté them at all.  Otherwise, the veggies get cooked once in the sauté pan and then again in the oven, resulting in a color I refer to as "potluck green" (if you know what I mean).  Mark Bittman does a nice job showing several variations that can be made depending on your taste, the occasion, or the vegetables in season.  His book is straightforward and comprehensive, and I recommend that you take a look at it (or its brother, How to Cook Everything).  

Unintentionally, I ended up enjoying a completely green meal the weekend of St. Patrick's day.  But I did not enjoy it under a rainbow.  Or beside a pot o' gold.  Better luck to ye.

Dave Lieberman's Black Bean Soup

This afternoon I decided to make Dave Lieberman's Black Bean Soup.  In addition to being perfectly suited for this time of year, it can be made almost entirely from items already in your pantry and freezes really well.  (I like to freeze it in individual size portions that are easy to take to work for lunch).

I think everyone should have in their arsenal a couple of tried and true dishes that they can make on short notice .  Let's face it, not every meal is ripe for trying out something new - sometimes I'm too hungry for something not to work out.  Anyhow, for what it's worth, this dish is one of mine.

Word to the wise: don't skip the herbs or the lime.  When I first started cooking,I frequently omitted herbs from my grocery list, thinking that they were merely *extras* used by people with a little extra cash.  Au contraire.  In this case, they really brighten up the flavors of the canned items from your pantry and add specs of color to a sea of black beans.

Here's a list of what you'll need:

10 slices bacon, finely chopped
2 medium onions, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
6 garlic cloves, pressed
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups canned chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
4 (15 1/2-ounce) cans black beans, drained but not rinsed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime
Thinly sliced scallions, for garnish (optional)
Sour cream, for garnish (optional)
Grated cheddar, for garnish (optional)

As I mentioned, most of these are pantry-friendly items.  I only needed to buy the cilantro and the lime.

First, cook the bacon over medium heat until it begins to render some of its fat, then add the onions.  When the onions are translucent, add the garlic and cook for one minute.

Then add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, broth, beer, and tomatoes.

Last, but not least, I added the black beans, and let the soup simmer for 10 minutes.  Just before serving, I added chopped cilantro and the juice of 1/2 a lime.  When all was said and done, I stored in these lunch-sized containers and stuck them in the freezer, ready for whenever I need them.

The final product has a stew-like consistency, is a little smokey (thanks to the bacon), and yet has a little zip to it (thank you, lime).  Enjoy!

Not Just On Top of Spaghetti

I think I may be on to something (or at least I hope I am).  For Christmas, I received both Ina Garten's new cookbook, Back to Basics,and Giada De Laurentiis's New Italian Favorites.  I love reading a cookbook for the first time, and I read it cover to cover like a novel, marking anything that looks interesting.  [note: I am sure this may sound weird to some, a college friend used to do this and I imagined it was about as exciting as watching paint dry.  This is one of those happy instances where I am wrong.]

But I have learned the hard way that I have to pace myself when it comes to making these new dishes- after all, I'm making a menu for one.  Logistically, I can only make two, maybe three in a week...and that's if I take my lunch to work and eat in every night.  So I've tried to be better about planning the meals that I'll make - and it's more fun than it sounds.  Usually, the three dishes feature different flavors and textures, but in order to make the most of what I take home from the grocery store, feature some common ingredients.

And to this end, last week I came up with a plan that would not only enable me to try two new dishes, but also to have some go-to meals ready for the future.  The key to my master plan was...wait for it...

MEATBALLS.

(disappointed?  not rocket science, I know, but baby steps toward what I am going to call "spontaneity in the kitchen"). 

First of all, meatballs are really unsung heroes.  At least I wasn't singing their praises.  Everyone knows that they can be in pastas, soups, and sandwiches, but let's just take a second to marvel at that!  I mean, it practically rivals chicken in that regard.  Plus, it's a great vehicle for using up odds and ends in your refrigerator (sort of like the taco).

Giada De Laurentiis's book featured a recipe for orechiette with grape tomatoes, bocconcini, and mini chicken meatballs (where everything is about the same size - isn't her food always good looking?).  Then I also decided to make Ina Garten's recipe for Italian wedding soup - I'm crazy about soup (you may as well know that now).  Some people don't consider it a mean, but (a) it's CHEAP, (b) it's easy to adjust the recipe to serve 1 or 100, (c) it's perfect at this time of year, and (d) did I mention it's easy to make? 

I decided to double Ina's meatball recipe and use them in both recipes because hers were based on a combo of ground chicken and chicken sausage (which I though would be more flavorful than using ground chicken alone) and because her recipe called for the meatballs to be baked instead of cooked on the stove-top (read: less labor intensive).

My master plan worked!  I had enough for both recipes, plus some left over that Im keeping at the ready in the freezer for spaghetti or a quick meatball sub.  I can't find my pictures for the soup or the pasta (argh), but see here how this freezer gold was put to use!

 

   

Add some pureed tomatoes, et voila!

Not Just On Top of Spaghetti

I think I may be on to something (or at least I hope I am).  For Christmas, I received both Ina Garten's new cookbook, Back to Basics,and Giada De Laurentiis's New Italian Favorites.  I love reading a cookbook for the first time, and I read it cover to cover like a novel, marking anything that looks interesting.  [note: I am sure this may sound weird to some, a college friend used to do this and I imagined it was about as exciting as watching paint dry.  This is one of those happy instances where I am wrong.]

But I have learned the hard way that I have to pace myself when it comes to making these new dishes- after all, I'm making a menu for one.  Logistically, I can only make two, maybe three in a week...and that's if I take my lunch to work and eat in every night.  So I've tried to be better about planning the meals that I'll make - and it's more fun than it sounds.  Usually, the three dishes feature different flavors and textures, but in order to make the most of what I take home from the grocery store, feature some common ingredients.

And to this end, last week I came up with a plan that would not only enable me to try two new dishes, but also to have some go-to meals ready for the future.  The key to my master plan was...wait for it...

MEATBALLS.

(disappointed?  not rocket science, I know, but baby steps toward what I am going to call "spontaneity in the kitchen"). 

First of all, meatballs are really unsung heroes.  At least I wasn't singing their praises.  Everyone knows that they can be in pastas, soups, and sandwiches, but let's just take a second to marvel at that!  I mean, it practically rivals chicken in that regard.  Plus, it's a great vehicle for using up odds and ends in your refrigerator (sort of like the taco).

Giada De Laurentiis's book featured a recipe for orechiette with grape tomatoes, bocconcini, and mini chicken meatballs (where everything is about the same size - isn't her food always good looking?).  Then I also decided to make Ina Garten's recipe for Italian wedding soup - I'm crazy about soup (you may as well know that now).  Some people don't consider it a mean, but (a) it's CHEAP, (b) it's easy to adjust the recipe to serve 1 or 100, (c) it's perfect at this time of year, and (d) did I mention it's easy to make? 

I decided to double Ina's meatball recipe and use them in both recipes because hers were based on a combo of ground chicken and chicken sausage (which I though would be more flavorful than using ground chicken alone) and because her recipe called for the meatballs to be baked instead of cooked on the stove-top (read: less labor intensive).

My master plan worked!  I had enough for both recipes, plus some left over that Im keeping at the ready in the freezer for spaghetti or a quick meatball sub.  I can't find my pictures for the soup or the pasta (argh), but see here how this freezer gold was put to use!

 

   

Add some pureed tomatoes, et voila!