Impress Your Dinner Guests With Color!

Written Sunday, August 21st, 2011 by Theresa H Hall

Discovering these unusually beautiful vegetables has been a tremendous find. Imagine them placed next to a succulent main dish of medium-rare filet mignon, or a grilled glazed pork loin, or a pair of perfectly grilled lamb chops. To please the eye is the first duty of a well-seasoned cook or chef. At first glance, food has to be appealing, well-plated, and impressive. These purple and blue vegetables taste the same as their more traditionally-colored counterparts, and they lend an immediate air of mystery to tempt us to try them. We sit down, pick up our silverware and gently cut a small portion to taste. Just knowing we are eating a vegetable so pretty makes us appreciate it more.

Beautiful Purple Pole Beans

Delicate Blue-Foot Chantrelle Mushrooms

Royal Purple Cauliflower

Deep Purple Potatoes

... and potatoes plated

Pair one of these vegetables with a sumptuous main course. Balance it with a bright crisp green salad so your family and guests will feel you have gone out of your way in order to make their meal even more spectacular. Sharing an inspired supper is a sure way to get the conversation flowing. And remember ... even though these veggies are purple and blue, enjoying them will never give you The Blues!

Steak and Baked Potato Soup

Written Monday, November 16th, 2009 by Anne Coleman

I adore soup. In fact, I love it so much that I have a blog wholly devoted to soup. While I am admittedly selfish in wanting to keep my soup recipes for my soup blog, this one is in the 'under 30 minutes' department and as such deserves a spot here at Half Hour Meals.

One of my favorite ways to make up new soups is to disassemble a favorite dish and put it all into a big pot. If there are leftovers involved in the making, so much the better. This one uses leftover steak and baked potatoes as a base and with a few twists here and there, it comes together in one delicious potful of soup.

Steak and Baked Potato Soup
Serves 8
Ready In: 30 minutes

2 Tablespoons cooking oil
2 cloves garlic - minced
1/2 cup sliced green onions (a.k.a. scallions or spring onions)
8 cups beef stock
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 pound leftover steak - sliced
4 large baked potatoes - skinned
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
Salt to taste
4 slices bacon - cooked crisp and crumbled - optional

Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat. Add green onion and garlic and cook briefly until fragrant - about 2 minutes.
Add stock, Worcestershire and pepper and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and add sliced steak.
Mash 2 potatoes and cube the other two. Add mashed potato to pot and stir well. Add cubed potato and simmer for 20 minutes.
Combine flour and milk and stir until smooth. Turn heat up to high and pour in flour and milk, stirring constantly to keep lumps from forming. Once soup has thickened slightly remove from heat and add cheddar cheese and bacon if desired.