Gnocchi & Mushroom Soup

Soup is the perfect hands-off lunch to have at the ready. At a season when more veggies are needed, I was glad to throw this together and have a few servings ahead of me.

Creamed spinach was the quick ingredient for a light creaminess. This was brothy, yet filling, though creamed spinach could swap for cream of mushroom soup with baby spinach for a creamier version.

Gnocchi and Mushroom Soup
Ingredients:
(serves 3-4)
1/4 white onion
2 carrots
1-2 garlic
1 pint baby portabellas
1/2 cup white mushrooms
1 package creamed spinach
1/2 pound gnocchi
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

Directions:
Chop the onions, carrots, and garlic to saute over medium heat in olive oil. Add in the sliced mushrooms.

Add in the frozen creamed spinach, broth, and gnocchi.
Cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!
This keeps well and freezes too. It was perfect to drop everything in – even frozen and let it come together. I packed it for lunch knowing there are never enough veggies this season. My carrots were the saddest ever, but useful for soup.

Street Corn Burrito

I love to ask the question: will it burrito-ize? This hot wrap/burrito is vegetarian, full of flavor, and has great texture. It is a full meal from the rice and beans and has bright and creamy street corn, crunchy chips, and fresh from greens.

Streetcorn Burritos
Ingredients: (serves 2)

2 burrito-size flour tortillas
1 cup rice, cooked
1/2 cup white beans
1/2 cup street corn (corn + mayo + lime juice + cotija/feta + chili powder)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
greens (arugula or spinach)
2/3 cup corn chips

Directions:
Cook the rice and mix up the street corn.
Assemble the burrito by topping with cheese, then rice, beans, greens, street corn, and chips.

Warm a pan or griddle to medium heat.
Then carefully roll the burritos. Fold the sides in and tightly roll the burrito closed.
Pan fry to crisp the outside and melt the cheese. Start seam side down and rotate.

Enjoy!

Answer: yes, street corn will burrito-ize. It is always a good idea to make extra street corn and turn the leftovers into a burrito.

Tomato Ricotta Pie

{originally published in 2013 and updated in 2025}

This tomato-forward ricotta pie is light and in the same vein as a quiche but fluffier and was due for a refresh! It works well with really good tomatoes. I used a refrigerated pie crust making this come together so quickly.

Ricotta Tomato Pie
Ingredients (serves ~5-6)
1 pie crust, thawed
3-5 tomatoes, sliced
1 cup whole-milk ricotta
3 eggs
½ cup grated parmesan
¼ cup cream
1 tsp chopped garlic or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt & pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Gently unroll pie crust into a pie dish sprayed with non-stick spray, poking a few holes into the crust with a fork and bake for 10 minutes.
While crust is pre-baking, whisk together ricotta, eggs, parmesan, cream, garlic, salt and pepper.

Remove crust from oven and pour the cheese mixture in.
Lay the tomatoes over the top slightly overlapping.

Sprinkle with salt and bake for 30 minutes.
Let sit for at least 5 minutes before slicing. Serve warm, room temp, or cool.
Enjoy!

I liked that this was light but filling. It’s a summery dinner, lunch, brunch, or breakfast.

Add some fresh basil or oregano! A savory crumb crust would be good too! It freezes well but is best defrosted at room temperature.

Mojito Slaw on Fish Tacos

Mint, lime, sugar, and cucumbers nod to mojitos…minus the rum. Our mint grows with abandon and this was a fresh and beautiful way to use it over some crispy fish tacos!

Mojito Slaw
Ingredients:

1, 14 oz cabbage slaw mix
1/4 cup mayo
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar (or champagne vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
1/2 cucumber
~10 mint leaves
(optional: tortillas & fish as tacos)

Directions:
Dice the cucumber, chiffonade the mint, and zest the lime. Add to the cabbage.

Stir in the mayo, sugar, vinegar, and lime juice.

Refrigerate 20 minutes – an hour, but not overnight.
Taste and adjust as needed.

Optional – air fry breaded fish and serve on tortillas with slaw.

It’s fresh and bright with perfect creaminess. This goes well as a side with anything on the grill too. The mint gets wilty so it doesn’t keep as well!

Corn Relish Dog

This screams SUMMER! It’s perfect before the corn is even all that ready. It is sweet and just a bit tangy. We ate a bit on dogs and also just as a side.

Corn Relish Dog
Ingredients: (for ~4 dogs and some side servings)

2 ears of corn
1/4 cup pickles
1/4 cup tomatoes
2 tablespoons pickle juice
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:
Cut the corn off the cob, chop the pickles, chop the tomatoes all to the same size.

Add in the pickle juice, oil, salt, and pepper.
Stir and refrigerate until serving – at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Add on top of a hot dog or as a side. Enjoy!

This was crisp and sweet and crunchy and full of flavor. I liked the shake up of a hot dog but also think it would go quickly at a BBQ with so few ingredients.