Food Revolution Minestrone Soup

Hello friends! Is it still too warm to be posting a soup recipe? We love soup around here and this is a keeper.....anything from Food Revolution is A+. If you haven't tried any of Jamie Oliver's recipes, I highly suggest them. I have a few on the blog, so check them out by clicking on the index to the right. 

What is it about soup? People either love it or hate it. Me? I’m a lover….a true lover. Soup is such a comfort to me because it fills not only my stomach, but my soul. Even if the weather gets a little warm, soup is still on my menu.  It’s cheap. It’s easy. It only takes one pot to make. It usually freezes well and it makes a great meal for lunch the next day. Tracy's Living Cookbook blog is filled with great soup recipes. Click around and see for yourself. 

As I write this, I have three minestrone soup recipes:

                Mom’s Minestrone – This recipe uses canned veggies and has a weird secret ingredient. I’m not giving it way here –you’ll have to click here if you are curious.

                Hearty Minestrone from Cook’s Illustrated. I hope you are all reading and cooking from this fine magazine. The recipes there are a bit complicated, but every single one is excellent! I turn to my old Cook’s Illustrated magazines often for the best of what I’m looking for. I haven’t posted this recipe here, but I bet you could find it on line. (Check for January 2010)

                Food Revolution Minestrone: AWESOME! I use the recipe right from the website (here) and do not change a single thing. It has BACON J and Parmesan cheese…. I mean, come on! How can you go wrong with those? 

Gather the necessary ingredients, saute the bacon, add the veggies to soften for a while, add the broth and canned veggies and simmer. So easy!

There is also a bay leaf in this soup, which adds a really nice, rich flavor. See it in there? 

Baked Fish – Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

Not a fish eater? You don’t know what you are missing (I apologize if I sound like your mother....) I predict you just might change your mind after tasting this. (Again, I apologize if I sound like your mother....)  This was A+ Excellent! You can find the original recipe here. Other Food Revolution recipes I have made are found here. 

Here’s what you need:

3 cloves garlic

Fresh basil

1 T olive oil

1 jalapeno or Serrano chili

28 ounce can diced tomatoes

Salt and pepper

1 T red wine vinegar

4 x 5 ounce white fish filets, such as cod or sea bass – skin off and bones removed

¼ C good quality Greek black olives, pits removed. 

Here's what you do: 

Start by cooking the garlic and pepper in some olive oil. Cut a slit in the pepper to get some of the spicy goodness out of it and into your sauce. 

Add the tomatoes, smash it all together, being sure to get the juice out from the pepper. Simmer for about 20 minutes or so. Add a tablespoon of red wine vinegar to give it a boost. 

Snuggle the fish down in the sauce - I was lucky enough to have fresh white fish here, but any mild fish would be nice - not salmon.... Sprinkle on the basil and olives. (It actually looks like I may have used parsley.... these photos are from a while ago.... whatever...)

Put the whole thing in the oven at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the fish is done - Don't over cook it! Serve with pride - it's a thing of beauty. 

Salmon Fish Cakes - Food Revolution

It was pretty hilarious. The day that I made these for dinner, I had the TV on and I was listening to an old Julia Child program on the DVR. She was making a classic fish chowder…. of course, just for fun she pronounced it ‘cha-dah.’  (like about 100 times) She actually made the fish broth using about 10 different types of fish – the bones, skin, heads, fins…… she recommended leaving the eyeballs in for extra flavor….. ugh.

If you have seen this episode, then you know she chops this fish in two with the BIGGEST knife on Earth! She had such gusto!  (Have you seen the episode when she cuts up a chicken with a sword? Classic.)

The funniest part of the show is when Julia says, “If you have good relations with your fish monger you can have him prepare the fish for you.” Good relations? Am I the only person who thinks that is hilarious? 

These Salmon Fish Cakes are excellent.  See Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution website here for the recipe.  


Here's basically what you do:

Gather potatoes, salmon, parsley, and and egg. I used fresh salmon, with the skin and bones carefully removed. 

Follow Jamie Oliver's advice and steam the salmon in a colander over a pot where you are gently boiling the potatoes. I thought it was very strange, but it worked perfectly. 

See how beautiful the salmon is? Since you will be frying the patties later, it does not need to be overly cooked at this point.

Mash the potatoes. Add the salmon, egg and parsley.

Form the mixture into a round and divide into serving size patties. I doubled the recipe from what was suggested. 

Dust the patties with flour. Fry in a bit of oil until nicely golden and crisp on both sides. 

These were excellent! 

(no printable recipe today, simple click here to see the original recipe on the Food Revolution site)

One Year Ago: Mom's Minestrone (easy and perfect for a quick meal) 

Food Revolution Sloppy Joes

Have you checked out the Food Revolution movement that has been sweeping the nation? Sponsored by Jamie Oliver and the American Heart Association, it is an effort to re-introduce fresh food in people’s lives. A big push of the Food Revolution is to clean up school lunches and create menus that feature more vegetables, fruits and whole foods. The Food Revolution team worked tirelessly to remove flavored milk from Los Angeles Public Schools! That is a lot of unnecessary sugar cut out of children’s diets! Very cool! (You can easily google data regarding the sugar content in flavored milk.)

Considering the alarming rate of obesity and diabetes in our country, I really don’t see why these measures are being debated at every level. This topic might even be offensive to some of you reading this blog post today. People’s lives and health are at stake here…. Educating people how to cook and what to eat is basic in my opinion.  (You can also easily google data regarding obesity and diabetes in this country.)

It’s pretty surprising that I feel so strong about this movement, because in all other areas I believe in total personal freedoms, personal responsibility, and personal decision making. I do think people have the right to eat whatever they choose, including high-fat, high-sodium, highly-processed foods…. The problem comes when people have no choices… or when people are undereducated about nutrition and the effects food has on their health.  No one can make any good decision without correct information.

I will step off my soapbox now and invite you to discover the Food Revolution on your own. You can easily learn as much as you want about this movement on the internet. I have a link on the right side of this blog where you can sign a petition and find links to lots of great stuff – including excellent recipes, including this one. (There are great recipes on the American Heart Association web site also.)

These sandwiches were very good – but not really like the Sloppy Joes I am used to. (My Sloppy Joe recipe is posted on my Mlive blog here.) They had a nice sweetness and hearty texture. I added more tomato sauce and more beans than Jamie Oliver’s original recipe, which you can find here. I also added red pepper flakes.

Here’s what you need:

¾ pound lean ground turkey (with the least amount of fat you can purchase)

Chopped onion

Chopped green pepper

1 C tomato sauce

2 T cider vinegar

1 ½ T brown sugar

1 T honey

2 t Dijon mustard

½ t chili powder

Red pepper flakes to taste

1 X 15 ounce can kidney beans (today I used pinto beans)- drained and rinsed

Here’s what you do:

Brown the meat with the onions and peppers. Cook for about 5-10 minutes until the veggies are getting tender. Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer until thickened and veggies are nice.

I served mine on whole wheat tortillas. They would be great on buns also.

(printable recipe)