It never fails to amaze me that the tools of my youth I.e. a pressure cooker, given 30 years can make such amazing changes in technology. This week it came out on 2 different occasions (blog and photos upcoming), this time was an amazing soup courtesy of one of our favorite apps, Mealime.
We discovered Mealime about 6 years ago because we were looking for healthy yet fast meal ideas for a small family on the go. I have been cooking healthy most of my life, but its been the same several recipes sometimes adding a new one I find or learn about. I was definitely in a cooking rut. As previously noted, I love to cook....though I dont turn down a pizza or Mexican Uber Eats night either. My hubs, who is currently a personal trainer/personal training manager at a gym, post Army and living with me learned to eat healthy. Together, we knew we needed some inspiration when it came to meals for us and our then 4 year old. He discovered Mealime and its been a great way to diversify our meals, but still have clean and quick meals for the family. Well...me and him since we have the pickiest daughter ever. We typically do the 4 meal plan as we use the leftovers for lunch the next day.
Once again Mealime came through in the form of Creamy Tuscan Soup with Potatoes, Pork (we subbed Chicken sausage) sausage, and Kale. As usual I made it my own using Chicken Sausage (I can't eat pork thanks to my first daughter) and adding farmers market white carrots. The IP also came through like a champ in a mere 20 minutes by turning this already delicious soup into a masterpiece. We even utilized a quarter loaf of kalamata bread purchased the week before as croutons in the soup. Usually I sub yogurt and almond milk for cream, but I found silk heavy cream with less fat, so I thought I would give that a try. Additionally, instead of just getting red potatoes as the recipe calls for, I bought the mixed bag of small potatoes including gold, red and purple potatoes. Yum!
Not only was the IP fast at a cook time of 20 minutes, but the flavor it infused was incredible. I think my husband almost licked the bowl clean and we had plenty leftover for lunches this week. Quick, easy, healthy, and delicious....doesn't get much better.
Now....wine. My favorite wine, bar none, is Turley out of California. I have been addicted to and eagerly searched out their Zinfandel for years, but now that I got a coveted spot on their mailing list, I order more than I should spend on their delicious wines which now include rose and white varietals. If you find it on a menu or in any wine store (they are picky who they sell to) I HIGHLY encourage you to purchase it. Side note, I have even purchased it from restaurants that carried it because I couldn't find it elsewhere. For this meal, I paired the Turley rose and it was a delicious compliment to this amazing soup. You could also pair a pinto Grigio for a crisp and light addition or if you like it, a buttery Chardonnay. My rose was the perfect accompaniment especially since we added red pepper flakes (when dont we?) to the soup so the contrast of spicy soup and the light fruity crispness of the wine worked perfectly.
Still searching (thank you Instant Pot) and loving the journey!
***Apologies for the photos, but I was too excited to put this meal in my face and didn't pose them well***
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