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Hi!  Elizabeth here.  I’m calling this post “Go-To Meals” Part 2.  Anna shared her family’s “go-to meals” in her post last week.  Read it here.  I’m definitely adopting their yearly tradition–Anna, Dan and their children spend some time on their car trip home from visiting Dan’s parents for New Years to talk about what meals they’ve been eating during the year.   Anna writes down the list so she can refer to it during the year. I just love this idea! I also love the way Anna and Dan divided the list into categories that made complete sense to me. Some of my “Go-To Meals” might fall into Anna and Dan’s Standard Meals.  A good example that everyone’s meals and how they approach food are different.

My family’s current “go-to meals”  

There are definitely some that have fallen off the list over the years.  I plan to bring them back into our rotation and share them with you in a future post.

• Bacon, Black Eyed Pea and Kale Soup-recipe below (or ragu over pasta or oven polenta)
• Black bean and beef tacos with guac, salsa, cheese and sour cream–and sometimes rice or corn
• Pasta Carbonara and salad with mustard vinaigrette
• Instant Pot Butter Chicken with rice and sugar snap peas
• Chili, cornbread (made with Jiffy mix) and salad
• Pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil, balsamic vinegar and grated ricotta salata (summer)
• White Bean, Kale and Sausage Soup, salad and bread
• Spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatballs (I’ve recently been using Mom Made Turkey Meatball Bites), salad and bread
• Trader Joe’s Mandarin Chicken, rice and green beans
• Taco Soup, tortilla chips, and guacamole
• Mustard Salmon, couscous (or rice) and broccoli
• Lemon Shrimp over pasta, salad and bread
• Bell and Evans chicken tenders, roasted new potatoes, broccoli
• Pasta with sausage, sage, fontina, and kale with salad and bread
• Pasta with Pesto, salad and bread
• Italian sausages, potatoes and shredded brussels sprouts (or broccoli or green beans)
• Tomato soup and open faced toasted cheese sandwiches with salad (or raw veggies)

Meals don’t have to be complicated to be nourishing or to provide an opportunity to gather together to eat.

What does this list tell me?  That I rely A LOT on broccoli and salad as sides.  Perhaps it’s time to branch out a bit!? I’m going to refer to Anna’s post here on simple sides when I’m planning meals over the coming weeks.

One of My Family’s “Go-To Meals”: Bacon, Black Eyed Pea and Kale Soup

Everyone in my house likes a version of this soup.

My 11 year old, Ellie, only likes the broth.  The bowl she serves herself is often mostly broth with just a few beans.  Caroline, my 14 year old, loves this soup except for the kale. The bowl she serves herself is typically the complete opposite of Ellie’s bowl.  Caroline loves the beans and prefers less broth. I don’t worry that neither likes the kale. The kale cooks in the broth, so some of the nutrients from the kale find their way into the tasty, parmesan infused broth.  And eventually, they might end up trying the kale again.

I’ve made this soup for years.  It’s inspired by/adapted from a pasta recipe, Orecchiette with Shell Beans, Proscuitto, and Parmigiano-Reggiano in Alfred Portale Simple Pleasures: Home Cooking from the Gotham Bar and Grill’s Acclaimed Chef.

It’s quick and easy.  And I typically have the ingredients on hand.  It can truly be made in 30 minutes!

At some point, I decided to change the recipe up a bit.  I began adding a lot more broth, a hunk of parmesan cheese (this gives the broth a lovely rich flavor), and black eyed peas.  

And it slowly transformed into soup, rather than a sauce for pasta.

Sometimes, I serve this over polenta–not as a “go-to meal” though!  Served over polenta is a great option for a nice dinner and it’s great for a crowd, too.   During a few Christmases at Chad’s parents (there’s always a crowd), I made a big batch of the soup and served it over polenta along with a salad. Then we used the leftovers as soup for lunches.  

Here it is served over pasta.  I love serving it over orecchiette (which means little ears) pasta because the broth pools in the “little ear” shape.  I alternate between the three because we have one person in our foursome who doesn’t like polenta and one who prefers it as the stand-alone soup.    

If you’d like to make this without the bacon, I’d suggest adding fresh basil or a couple of tablespoons of pesto to the soup just before serving.

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