puja-shah

We recently learned that our favorite Italian restaurant, Osteria Romantica in the La Jolla Shores has chicken stock in their delicious Minestrone soup. I decided to make my own vegetarian version when my fiancé was craving it. I used fresh herbs from my garden and it came out delicious! It’s hearty enough to have as your whole meal and I served it with this flat rosemary crisp bread from Whole Foods that I found in their cheese section.

Ingredients

* 1 teaspoon butter

* 1 teaspoon olive oil

* 1/4 cup chopped onions

* 20-24 oz. vegetable broth

* 2 tablespoon frozen peas

* ¼ cup frozen French cut green beans

* 2 tablespoons frozen white corn

*1/4 cup  sliced mushrooms

* 1 small potato, peeled and chopped in cubes

* 1 carrot, peeled and chopped into circles

* 1 can can kidney beans

* 1/2  can chopped peeled tomatoes, with liquid

* 1/3 cup chopped fresh spinach

* ½ medium tomato, chopped

* 1 teaspoon garlic paste

* 1 teaspoon dried parsley

* 1/8 teaspoon salt

* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

* 1/4 teaspoon dried onion powder

* 1/4 cup cooked multigrain penne or elbows

* 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, reserve 2 tbsp. for topping

* 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

* 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

* ½ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

* 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

* 1 teaspoon, a dash, of heavy cream (optional)

*  1 tablespoon fresh oregeno, chopped

* 3 tablespoons home-made pesto sauce (we had made some and kept in the freezer, but store bought should be okay too)

Directions

1. In a large stock pot over medium heat, stir and cook onions in butter until soft. Add broth, all the vegetables, kidney beans, canned tomatoes, garlic paste and simmer for about 45 minutes, covered. Make sure the potato and carrots are cooked.

While that is simmering, cook the pasta to al dente in a separate pot and then drain, leave on side and toss in the olive oil to keep the multigrain pasta from sticking.

2. Using a slotted spoon, remove about half of the vegetables to a blender or food processor, reserving liquid in stock pot. Puree the vegetables with all the fresh herbs until smooth and return them to stock pot.

3. Stir in garlic powder, dried parsley, dried onion powder salt, pepper,  pasta, 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, and the optional dash of heavy cream-just makes it a little smoother/creamy; cook for 1/2 hour, stirring frequently. Pour into bowls and sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese and top with about a teaspoon of pesto per bowl.

Serves: about 3-4

Note: Other veggies I would have added if I had them: zucchini and either cannelini or garbanzo beans. If using garbanzo beans, add at the end in step 3 rather than step 1.

Enjoy!

So recently, two weeks ago, I was at Amish’s seminar for the Magic Bullet System…and surprisingly gained more insight on writing through these internet marketers like him, Frank Kern and more…

On the random days that I wasn’t writing for my challenge, I started to become paranoid, like what if I don’t finish?

And learned the SO WHAT? mentality from these lectures. It will get done, it will be okay, just to do it for doing it because I love it.

The whole idea of deadlines and misconstrued notion that if we don’t set our selves up for an opportunity to disappoint ourselves, we won’t get things done, stems from our conditioned environments of our school days, of an American education system that thrives on cramming things in, such as state exams or board exams, sometimes with irrelevant information for what it is we are dedicating so much time to. We never absorb to love what we do, deferring ourselves from truly feeling it as a passion.

We say we love it, I say I love writing, but the times I write and actually feel this love for it, for what I am doing in that moment, are rare, more likely feeling that at times when I just pick up to write a poem, feel something, write it down.

Everything is “Go, go, go” and fast paced in the accomplishment world, which I can totally handle with my New York roots, but I started to feel like I was rushing everything. Writing just to write. Blogging just to blog. How is that an accomplishment?

I also saw myself making writing a chore. Do it while I was doing other things, the multi-tasking in me kicking in and then I heard Frank Kern’s lecture from Amish’s seminar in the back of my mind. “Thou shalt not f#$k around.” Instead of doing ten things at once, instead of getting on my Macbook to write a story and then opening Safari and a few tabs with my bridal registry, my wedding planning, emailing my cousin, paying a bill….I need to just write to write. Stop all the other bullshit, (So yes, that’s where I had disappeared to)…

I stopped for a week and saw how it changed me as a writer.

I wrote when I was not stressed about having to write and ended up writing more substantial work.

I was writing with more feeling, and even if it wasn’t 5 pages all at once, maybe sometimes barely a page every other day, it was deeper, more meaningful to my character development, less rushed.

I then met with a friend, Vivian Glyck, who I respect for her knowledge on publishing.

She made me realize and basically I started to understand that with my goal, for publishing my short stories, a 90 day challenge was unrealistic, due to the fact that, with her advice and other friends who have been published advised, to have my stories edited professionally, which takes a lot of time.

It made me think, I want to do this the right way. I don’t want to look back and think, why didn’t I give it more time?

I want to look back and feel connected to my work with a sense of satisfaction that I did it right. I gave it my best shot. I didn’t do it to just to do it. I am, my life, is actually part of it. And when I look at it that way, it will really get done and I’ll never feel anxiety on questioning it. So, here I go, the right way, part deux.

P.S. Thanks for reading, I’ll be back every once in awhile, stay connected Read more…