Lil' Bit O' Everything Soup

When I don't use all of my veggies up I like to chop them up and freeze them to use in soup later. You can substitute in whatever you like/need to get used up!
2 stalks celery, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 green chili, diced

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 small diakon, diced (Japanese Raddish)

1 sunchoke, peeled and diced

2 potatoes, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

1/2 cup corn

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans Italian stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 can chicken breast meat, drained

water

oil

salt and pepper

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add in celery, onion, chili, garlic, diakon, and sunchoke. Cook 4-5 minutes until tender. Add in potatoes and carrots. Pour in enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Add in corn, kidney beans, tomatoes, and chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer over medium heat 20-3o minutes. The longer you simmer the more the flavors blend together.

Chimichurri Steak Salad

I love chimichurri! The dressing on this salad is also used as a marinade for the steak after it has been cooked. I cut up the steak into bite size pieces before placing it on the salad. The raw garlic gave a nice bite to the dressing.

Steak
1 lb boneless top sirloin steak aprox. 3/4 in. thick
1/2 tsp salt
Chimichurri
1 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons vinegar (I used balsalmic)
1/2 tsp salt
1 garlic clove pressed
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (optional, I didn't throw that in)

1 medium sunchoke (optional)
Salad
1 head lettuce, chopped
1 cup tomatoes diced

Heat grill pan over medium heat 5 minutes. As the pan heats rub steak with salt. Place steak into pan and cook 6-8 minutes on each side for medium doneness. As steak cooks prepare chimichurri by mixing together in a small bowl. Remove steaks from heat and top with 3 tablespoons chimichurri. Let stand 10 minutes. Thinly slice lettuce and cut tomatoes and place in a large bowl. Toss with remaining chimichurri sauce. Divide salad onto serving plates and thinly slice steak and arrange over top of salad.

yeild: 4 servings, calories per serving: 330

Recipe adapted from TPC 29 Minutes to Dinner

notes: This is one I won't double because 1 lb of steak will be plenty for my family. I plan on making some garlic bread to serve with this meal.