I-Dill

If you are not a fan of dill you may want to stop reading.  I saw fresh dill at the grocery store this week and knew I had been saving a couple of recipes that used it.  It goes really well with so many vegetables.

1. Potato and Mushroom Soup

2. Spinach Rice

3. Steamed Carrots with Maple and Dill

Potato and Mushroom Soup

Will spring ever really get here?  The recent cold weather means that I am still making things like this Russian Potato and Mushroom Soup from Allrecipes.com. It’s a hearty combination and I made it more so by stirring in some chopped fresh kale at the end. 

Here’s a healthy cooking tip that I learned from Ann and Ruth Esselstyn who co-wrote the “Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease” cookbook.  Skip the butter and saute your onions in a little bit of the broth.  The other changes I made were  vegetable broth instead of chicken and cashew milk in place of the cream to make this a vegetarian soup.  I used fresh dill in the soup and to garnish.  The soup was wonderful but my picture didn’t turn out well so I’m borrowing this one from Allrecipes.

Spinach Rice (Spanakorizo)

This Greek side dish can easily be made into a meal by adding some beans – garbanzo beans would be great.  The combination of rice and the beans gives you all the protein you need. A full 8 cups of baby spinach provides some of the liquid and the dill and lemon flavor everything nicely.

1. ½ cup chopped red onion

2. 1 tablespoon garlic

3. Zest from one lemon

4. 8 cups baby spinach

5. 1 cup brown rice

6. 2 cups low sodium vegetable broth (divided)

7. 4 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped and divided

8. A few grinds freshly ground black pepper

9. Juice from one lemon

10. Heat a few tablespoons of the vegetable broth in a medium pan with a tightly fitting cover over medium high heat. Sauté onions in broth until translucent (about 5-7 minutes). Add garlic and sauté for another minute.

11. Add the lemon zest and spinach and cover the pan. Cook until the spinach wilts down (about 3-5 minutes).

12. Stir the rice, vegetable stock, 2 tablespoons of the dill, salt and pepper into the spinach mixture and stir to combine. Bring to a boil.

13. Reduce the heat to a simmer, replacing the lid on the pan, and cook until the rice is tender (about 30 to 35 minutes for brown rice –follow your rice’s package instructions).

14. Stir in the lemon juice and the remaining fresh dill before serving.

Makes 4 servings.

Steamed Carrots w/ Maple Syrup and Dill

I have a few “old school” tools that I find indispensable and one of them is my steamer basket. It is compact, expands to fit most any size saucepan, and can go in the dishwasher to clean. (If you look closely at the first picture you can see that it also makes a pretty darn good little mirror!)  I use mine at least once a week; last night to steam the carrots for this very simple recipe:

1. Clean and cut carrots into bite size pieces.  I leave the skins on to preserve nutrients and increase fiber – which also saves time and food waste!

2. Add about ½ inch of water to saucepan, insert the steamer basket and bring water to a simmer (not boiling).

3. Add carrots to basket, cover pan with a tight fitting lid and cook for about 10 minutes (more or less depending on size of your pieces and whether you like your carrots a little firmer or softer.)

4. Drain water and toss the hot carrots with just a Tablespoon of butter and another Tablespoon of real maple syrup and sprinkled the dill on top.

I may have overdone the dill a bit but it was just me and the hubby for dinner and there weren’t any leftovers.