Sopa de Fideo by Maura Hernandez

It's been quite cold these past few days and all I've been craving is soup. My Mom used to make me sopa de fideo when I was little and I just loved it! I wanted to find a recipe using fresh tomatoes so I visited my friend's Maura's blog The Other Side of the Tortilla if you haven't been there, you must experience her Mexican cuisine, she's wonderful! Her sopa de fideo was delicious and easy to make and it was just what I needed last night.

Sopa de Fideo recipe:

• 6 medium tomatoes, roasted (I like to use vine-ripened or Roma tomatoes)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 ½ teaspoons of kosher salt
• 1 big slice of white onion
• 1 big clove of garlic
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup vermicelli noodles, broken into little pieces

Roast tomatoes in a shallow cazuela (or a ceramic or glass casserole dish) under low broiler heat on each side until both the top and the bottom have blackened a bit. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and transfer to a blender.
Puree the tomatoes. In a saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over a medium-high flame. Put one spoonful of tomato puree in the hot oil to make sure it is hot enough to fry the puree. When the oil is hot enough, pour the tomato puree slowly from the blender into the saucepan. Let the tomato puree fry for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring a few times once a minute; be careful, the puree may splatter.
Pour the fried puree back into the blender and add the salt, onion and garlic. Blend well so puree is completely smooth. Pour back into pan and add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then turn down to medium heat for 20-25 minutes until the liquid reduces a bit. Remove from heat and let cool for about 10 minutes.

sopa (left), straining the puree in a sieve (right)

While the soup is cooling, break up the vermicelli noodles into small pieces until you have 1 cup of noodles. I like my soup heavy on the noodles, but you can use less than 1 cup if you prefer.
Once the soup has cooled a bit, using a mesh sieve over a deep bowl, pour liquid into sieve and strain the puree so the liquid flows through into the bowl. Use a spoon to press puree against the sides of the sieve to force the liquid out. When the puree is mostly dry and all that remains is a paste, scrape the outside of the sieve and add to the soup.

Pour the bowl back into a clean saucepan and heat over medium-high flame. Add the noodles. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat, cooking for 7-8 minutes or as directed on the vermicelli packaging. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. A thin skin may form over the top of the soup; use a spoon to remove it and discard.  Soup will thicken slightly with the addition of the noodles and upon cooling.

Ladle into bowls. Yields 4 servings. When reheating leftovers, add a few tablespoons of water per serving.

Thanks Maura, it was amazing!

The perfect lunch! Zucchini spread sandwich with spinach, tomato and avocado

I loved the  zucchini spread so much that I wanted to use it in a sandwich, instead of mayo or mustard I used the spread and it was wonderful for lunch. The following ingredients serve one:

4 Tsp of zucchini spread
1 Orowheat sandwich thin - Arnold Select Sandwich Thins Multi-Grain
1/2 tomato (sliced)
1 small avocado
2 cups of baby spinach

First, I mixed the avocado and spinach together, then I added the zucchini spread to the bread, then the spinach avocado mix and slices of tomato on top. Success! The hubby loved it just as much. You can also add sprouts, go ahead explore and make it your own.

Just in case you're wondering about the benefits of zucchini, you can read about them here: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=62

Zucchini Spread

It's a new year and I'm always finding ways to eat healthy, but yet creative. I found a recipe to make "Zucchini Humus" so I decided to make my own. Mine is more like a spread than a hummus.

This is so easy, all you will need is a food processor and you're ready to go.

Ingredients:
4 Zucchinis
1/2 - 3/4 of a cup of virgin olive oil
2 Garlic cloves
Pink Himalayan salt to taste
1 Tsp of cumin
1 Lemon (juice only)
1/2 Tsp of oregano

Cut the ends of the zucchinis, but don't peel. Most of the nutrients are in the skin, make sure you washed them very well. Put the zucchinis through the food processor using the shredding blade. Also add the garlic, once everything is shredded add the remaining ingredients and you're done! You can eat it on its own or on crackers.