Creamy Italian Roasted Vegetable Soup

With a lot of extra veggies in the fridge that needed to be used, I pulled together this savory soup.

Ingredients:
2 med-large zucchinis, sliced into medallions and quartered
2 C. grape tomatoes
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
9 small mozzarella medalions (Fresh & Easy carries these)
6 cloves garlic
3 Tbps. olive oil
2 C. chicken broth (vegetable broth); reserve 1/2 C.
1/2 C. half n' half cream
1/2 C. V8 Juice-Spicy Hot
1/2 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning (basil, oregano, sage)
1 tsp. red pepper flackes
S & P to taste
Non-stick spray

Appliances:
13 x 9 baking dish
Large sauce pan
Large mixing bowl
immersion blender

Roasting Vegetable Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spray non-stick spray to evenly coat baking dish.
3. Layer the veggies in the baking dish, place garlic cloves evenly throughout dish, evenly pour olive oil over veggies, sprinkle italian seasoning, S & P, stir everything with wooden spoon to incorporate olive oil and seasonings.
4. Place baking dish into center of the oven, let bake for 20 mins.
5. At 20 mins, pull baking dish out, pour in 1 1/2 C. broth, stir ingredients together, place dish back into oven for 30 more mins.
6. Five minutes before completion of roasting, in rows of three, place mozzarella medallions into dish, one row in the center, one 2 inch to the left, and one 2 inch to the right. Place dish back into oven, then remove, let sit 10 minutes. Stir ingredients together to blend the now melted cheese.

Soup Instructions:
1. Ladel roasted veggies into the mixing below, removing the garlic cloves-this is key! Unless you want that much garlic that will be pureed into your soup, they are in the roasting process to give flavor boost.
2. Pour liquid after veggies removed from backing dish into mixing bowl.
3. Be sure to wear an apron, and long sleeves, as when you begin blending, you might get some hot splatters on your arms/body, and its best to blend while still hot! Put immersion blender on low, and blend away. What you'll have is a puree that smells fantastic, and will be orangish, due to cheese lightening up the mixture.
4. Once you have pureed to your likeness, pour mixture into soup pan, add remaining 1/2 C. broth, V8 juice, and cream, stir, place pan on med-high heat, bring to a boil, then turn down to the lowest heat setting. At this point add in red pepper flakes, and while you're at it go ahead and add S & P, you'll need it. Taste along the way, being cautious as pureed soups retain heat for a while, so don't do what I did and burn your mouth! Ouch! Once it tastes the way you like it, serve and you're ready to dine!

**Note-if you're wondering why the V8 juice, I felt the puree needed a tomatoe kick, and I have V8 Spicy Hot on hand, and it helped boost the flavor. Tomato paste or a little tomato sauce would work just as well. I also liked the extra heat the V8 spicy hot gave the soup.

Bon appetit!

Halibut a la sauce beurre blanc & pureed garlic young potatoes.

Bit of a warning note, this is not friendly on the waist, hips, scale, but every now and then it is ok to indulge into deliciousness, which is better when it comes from your own soul and kitchen, rather than a pricey restaurant.

Now that I've given the warning, I'll go into this dish. Again, it is a crock pot creation. I was inspired by this dish, and still loving our new crock pot, and how it doesn't make the kitchen hot, I dove into this recipe. The smells wafting in our kitchen, and traveling up to the 3rd floor were divine! How can one go wrong with butter, wine, and fish? This recipe is not entirely complicated, letting the crock pot do the slaving while you laze around or do other things in your home, but there are some details, like in creating the sauce, but once you do this, its easy to go back to for other uses.