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Super Vegetable Stew

In honor of a friend, I am going to attempt to post a new "super" recipe each week.  This week I made a vegetable stew that uses 6 vegetables, 3 different types of beans and 2 herbs.  What makes soup and stew recipes so easy is that you can often substitute ingredients for whatever you have in your refrigerator and simplify shopping.  Below I included some alternatives that should work just as well the original ingredients.

Ingredients:
2 cups Green Cabbage roughly chopped
4 cups Kale roughly chopped (spinach or chard)
16 oz diced Tomatoes (canned or fresh)
1 cup Carrots diced
1 cup Celery diced
1 cup Onion diced (leeks)
16 oz Coronas Beans (any white bean)
16 oz Chickpeas
2 cups Lentils, precooked (brown rice or edemame)
64 oz + 2 cups Vegetable Broth (chicken broth)
2 tbsps Fresh Basil
2 tbsps Fresh Parsley
Salt to taste 

The most important thing with soups/stews like this one is not what goes in it but the liquid to solid ratio.  This recipe calls for just enough broth to cover the ingredients.  If you want it to be more soupy add more broth and if you like it more stew-y add less!  It's that easy.

Directions:
Added chopped carrots, onions and celery to a large pot and saute with a little oil spray, butter or water (I use Smart Balance Light) until tender. 

 Reduce heat, add cabbage and kale and saute for a few more minutes, stirring often.

 Add the rest of the ingredients except the herbs and simmer until tender about 20 minutes.

Add herbs and simmer 5 minutes more.  Serve as a side or as a meal... enjoy!

Salad Sandwich

Hands down this is one of my all time favorite summer sandwiches.  I call it a Salad Sandwich because it is just that, a salad on bread.  It has basil, tomatoes, cheese, spinach, fruit and honey which makes for an amazing combination.  It is warm, sweet and full of flavor... and of course nutritious too! 

The one I make is more like a wrap/quesadilla.  I don't really like most gluten free breads so I use the brown rice wraps from Trader Joes.  They are excellent as long as you warm them up a bit, otherwise they are kind of hard.  Any bread or tortilla will work.

Ingredients:

• Bread, wrap, tortilla
• Low Fat Cheese (I use Cabots 75% reduced because it has great flavor for being low fat, melts well and already has the lactose enzyme added so I don't have to take one of my cheese pills.)
• Baby spinach
• Honey
• Smart Balance (I use the light)
• Salt to taste 
• Optional: raspberries or other fruit (I'm looking forward to try nectarines)

Directions:

Place ingredients on bread.  Make sure to have some cheese touch both slices of bread so the sandwich sticks together making it easier to eat.

Spread a small amount of Smart Balance or other butter spread on each side and cook like a grilled cheese until cheese is melted and tomatoes are warm.

So good!  I'm going to make one for lunch today.  Let me know what you think.  Enjoy!