A big pot of soup used to be the only kind I could make, volume-wise. I would start out thinking it was going to be a small pot of soup and always end up with more than I could eat in a week. While most freeze ok and it can be wonderful to reach in the freezer and pull out a container of soup on a cold night, I really like that first fresh bowl of soup best.

This year, I started making a kind of riff on Italian Wedding soup using chopped up meatloaf instead of meatballs. Somewhere along the way, I saw a recipe that suggested heating the broth, sauteing the vegetables and then combining the broth, vegetables and orzo (or other small pasta) and letting them simmer a bit together, i.e. marry the flavors.

I tried the saute and combine method and since I cooked the orzo ahead of time, I sauteed it a wee bit also. That worked VERY well and it made it easy to make one delicious bowl of soup.

A month or so ago, I made this pizza sauce. The recipe notes that the vinegar and garlic “make” the sauce and I have to agree – especially the vinegar. Not a huge surprise as vinegar or lemon juice (acids) added to things tend to brighten and intensify the flavors.

So…the next time I made Italian Wedding Soup, I added some vinegar which kicked up the flavor a notch.

Zuppa for one: all ingredients can be modified for individual taste and/or what is left in the refrigerator.

Today’s combo included leftover meatloaf, sweet corn, carrots and kale.

I measure 1/2 a bowl full of broth – heating that up with a spoon full of marinara. Actually, I broke a chunk of roast vegetable marinara that I froze flat in zips…so handy to break off what is needed for soup or pasta sauce.

For the vegetables and meat, I find that if I cut all up on the cutting board and think about portions on a plate, I don’t end up with too much stuff for my one bowl of soup. This is versus adding willy-nilly to the pot…then a bit more broth, etc., etc. and ending up with enough for a week!

I added the carrots to warming olive oil and ghee and gave the carrots several minutes to soften: then the corn and finally the meatloaf and kale. Into to broth with everything. No pasta today.

Add a bit of red wine vinegar to deglaze the pan and get all of the flavorful brown bits and then add all of that liquid and scrapings to the broth, vegetables and meat.

Everything into a bowl – top with red pepper flakes, croutons and parmesan. Zuppa for one!

Of course, you can make larger quanties if the soup eating persons in your house number more than one :)

***3/6 edit: I made this today using a chipotle olive oil and a white balsamic vinegar…samples from a friend purchased at a local spot that sells specialty oils and vinegars. This combo…with carrots, corn, leeks, kale and bits of hamburger (burger courtesy of Bear!) in the marinara broth – SPECTACULAR! It was spicy with a hint of sweet and just perfect.

First and most importantly! – Bob is doing well, 1 day post dental. He was my overnight snuggle-boy with less night prowling than usual and today also a bit more sedate, but ate normally and all output normal. I was told that the pain med would make him a bit groggy which explains a bit more low-key behavior, but as he is demanding food per normal and seemingly no difficulty eating…well, I am NOT worried at all.

Meanwhile, speaking of food…

Oh, yum! I used a kolache dough circle from the freezer to make a mini-kale/mushroom/goat cheese “galette” for breakfast…with a side of blood orange slices: colorful, delicious and incredibly good!

“Raw” applesauce for a mid-morning snack. I had two apples that seemed a bit…well, I was ready to throw them out when instead, I quartered and threw them in the VitaMix with a little water and cinnamon and blended. Yowza! VERY good applesauce.

The rest of the blood orange from breakfast was juiced along with a Meyer Lemon and the glass filled with fizzy water for a blood orange-meyer lemon soda. Pretty, colorful and wonderfully refreshing.

Lunch was soup. It looks pretty green, but there are red lentils and sweet potatoes in there. The green is a broccoli-red pepper-cashew-nutritional yeast “cheese” sauce. I added curry spices, cinnamon and red pepper to make a sweet-hot soup.

On to Supper.

It was time to cook burgers for Bear. Earlier in the day, I chopped up 2 spears of asparagus and put them in the jar of pickled onions and cucumbers that I had going.

Supper was a burger with melted gruyere, pickled onions/cucumber/asparagus, a side of kalamata olives and a glass of Pinot Noir.

A colorful (and delicious!!) day from the kitchen.

Not actually daily.

Lately, it is more like weekly as I work on moderation in the bread department.

But after several weeks of severe moderation, I WANTED some crusty bread.

I had a mix of rye, whole wheat and Wheat Montana white in my no-knead crock. I had made one pizza crust and the rest had been in the crock for a week, souring nicely.

It was a perfect blend and age to make a nice boule in my little (3 quart) dutch oven.

My bread…today…my daily bread.

Gettin’ right back on the color detox horse!

Soba noodles in peanut sauce with carrots, scallions, red pepper, broccoli and chicken. AND Flathead cherries from the freezer!

I like options. I like to choose…most of the time. I will admit there have been times when I have wished that a decision was made for me or at the very least direction from the universe written on a blackboard in my head…something like that. But most of the time I am grateful that I get to choose.

I am not a New Year’s resolution maker but I saw an article in Prevention Magazine about a detox plan. Not the kind of detox the word probably brings to mind, but the suggestion of a 10 day eating plan with lots of color: colorful fruits and vegetables primarily. A plan to recover from holiday excesses with good, whole food.

I eat almost no processed food and while I have no intention of going vegetarian/vegan nor eliminating any food entirely, I do know that over the holidays I was making more dough and a few more sweets and drinking more alcohol. I think with the way I needed to take care of Bear, I increased excercise so I didn’t gain weight but I have been carrying more than I’d like and more than feels good for several years.

So…I seriously decreased alcohol, bread and sugar and I increased both quantity and variety of fruit and vegetables. Over the past year, I have gradually decreased the amount of meat I eat as I’ve added protein with a variety of nuts, seeds and beans. I enjoy the variety and the options.

Which brings me to Friday night…pizza night…pizza on the grill night.

Actually, I had a pizza night earlier in the week. I had seen a recipe for a cauliflower pizza crust and wanted to try it. That midweek pizza I made in the oven on a baking sheet per the recipe. (I did add 1-2 T of masa harina as I “riced” my cauliflower after blanching it and it seemed a bit moist)

But for Friday night pizza on the grill…and because the midweek pizza was very good…I tried the cauliflower crust on the grill.

My midweek pizza was fairly traditional. Tomato sauce, ground beef, onions and kalmata olives. But for Friday night, I went with a white sauce made with yogurt, goat cheese and chives – a sour cream/cream cheese substitute (option!). A light layer of shaved mozzerella with salmon, onion and capers for topping.

The cauliflower crust bakes with no toppings for 15-20 minutes.

Sauce, cheese and toppings are added at the end and given just enough time to melt the cheese so I warmed the toppings in a pan before adding.

The crust does not taste like cauliflower. It doesn’t taste exactly like a dough crust either, but especially on the grill…nice and crisp -a good flavor and overall a good option for dough pizza. I was very pleasantly surprised.

And…another salmon option. I love sockeye salmon and can usually get beautiful Alaskan salmon locally, but I’ve been buying canned salmon lately as it is part of what I feed both Bob and Bear. An entire can of salmon is more than any of us need but a can splits between us beautifully.

I have been making my portion into patties adding some cooked quinoa, fresh chives, scallion, an egg and just enough masa harina to hold it all together. The masa gives the salmon patties a fritter like flavor and texture and they go well with a little of the cashew red pepper “cheese” sauce. ( Cooking with Cashews)

Another option :) !!

Sunday morning – this morning. The kolache dough in the freezer was calling me. A sweet roll was calling me. I had roast hazelnuts and the thought of making hazelnut paste to go in a kolache dough sweet roll ala my Christmas morning sweet roll.

There is a lot of sugar in the hazelnut paste.

Earlier this week when my mother and I were talking about the bars I made with dates, she said she’d send me the family recipe for date nut bread pudding.

Hmmm…

Instead of the sugar-egg white-hazelnut paste, I whizzed dates and the roast hazelnuts together and made a date-nut paste. Dates naturally have a lot of sugar but at least it is unrefined and they also have a lot of fiber and some good vitamins and minerals.

Options!

Sunday breakfast.

I like options.

Perspective is a good thing too – and it goes with options.

It is gray and warmish and slushy and damp. My choice today is to see the gray weather with the perspective that it is a good day to cozy up inside in front of the fire.

Options.

**3 weeks on the “color” detox and I’ve lost some weight, sleeping MUCH better, more energy – I feel good! I am not counting anything, just eating more of the best things I was eating and a lot less of the things that are not top of the nutritional heap :)