Creamy Vegetable Soup in 6 minutes!!

Creamy Vegetable Soup in 6 minutes!!

(pressure cooker version)

Ingredients:
Celery (I use about 4 stalks)
Onions (I use 2 small ones)
Red, Green, and Yellow Bell Pepper (here in the DR I use 1 Red Bell pepper and 2 Aji Peppers)
Oil or Butter for sautéing
Carrots (I use 3-4)
Potatoes (I add as many as my pot can hold!)
Green Bananas and/or Green Plantains
2 chicken bouillon cubes

Saute onions, celery and peppers in the Pressure Cooker with oil or butter. Let them cook a while, but be careful not to let them burn (or get squishy). 
While they are cooking I use this time to cut up the other veggies. No need to dice them or cut them into really small pieces as they will cook really fast  (and you are gonna squash them to miserines anyway).

Now you can add your veggies to the pressure cooker. Add just enough water to cover the vegetables. Add the bouillon cubes (crumbled) and salt/pepper. Stir well.

Place the lid on the pressure cooker, turn up the heat a little - and once it starts to jiggle turn the heat down enough to continue jiggling, but not going crazy! Once it starts jiggling start your timer for 6 minutes. Yep, thats all it takes. When the 6 minutes us up, turn the heat off and let the pressure cooker cool of normally on the stove top (not the quick release method).

When the pressure has gone all the way down, remove the top {BE CAREFUL} and use a potato masher to mash all the pieces together. If you want a REALLY creamy soup, use a stick blender!

Get creative with this recipe! Here in the DR we have a type of sweet potato that is white and I will add it sometimes. Sometimes I leave out the green bananas and only use green plantains. Add other veggies that you like and make it YOURS :)

On and you better serve it on top of a big ole bowl of rice, cause that's how WE eat it! haha

Buen Provecho ...

Salsa!

Ok it's one of those days where I have a gazillion things I "should" be doing but I find myself at this computer writing down my salsa recipe. Is this of any importance? Ask the people of Manzanillo who beat down my door begging me to make some for them. haha I know I know ... I wish they'd beat down my door to ask me about Jesus, but for now Salsa will have to do :) Baby steps, people. Baby steps!

What you will need:

4 tomatoes (ripe, of course)

1 large or 2 small Ajis (this is a long skinny green pepper that is NOT hot. see pic)

2 medium size red onions

2 stalks of celery (or 3 Tbs of celery salt will work)

1 clove of garlic (if you want to hate me in the morning use 2, don't be scared ... I do!)

1/4 cup oil (yes, that is a measurement for all you haterz out there!)

1 capful vinegar (most of the time I use White, but have used lots of diff types)

2 ounce pouch of tomato paste (I think 2-3 of TBS of paste is prob the equivalent)

Juice of 2 limes

Salt & Pepper to taste

Cilantro, oh how I love thee! I use a large handful of this stuff (and you should too)!

optional: red pepper flakes or jalapeño (not really optional for me, but I know you are gonna leave out stuff anyways and I don't want you feeling all rebellious ...) lol

Don't forget the chips! Preferably I like the white corn chips with this salsa. The yellow corn chips just don't do it for me ...

For those of you out there with a Vitamix:
You know what to do :)

For those of you with a small food processor:
I chop up each veggie by itself and add to the bowl individually. I don't know why,probably because I am O.C.D. like that (not that I would ever admit that to my hubby)!

For those of you with only a knife:
I will pray for you :)

Ready to get started? Add all those yummy chopped up veggies (ok, fruits too for all you who really think the tomato is a fruit ... gah, you all are so easily convinced) ... no ugly comments, please! lol

Where was I???? Oh yeah, stir it up and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours. You MAY taste test, but do NOT (I repeat, DO NOT) eat it yet. It is NOT ready. Don't make me hurt you. Put down the chip ... NOW!!!!

I promise you it will be worth it ... to wait. By the way, I don't care if you like it or not. Its my recipe and I like it. So there! Don't be a hater ... I am just kidding, gah! :)

Chofan

This is a meal that is totally flexible. If there is a veggie you like, chances are it will go good in here (ok, maybe there are a few exceptions, haha).

Also, I do NOT measure anything for this recipe, so if you are looking for exact amounts, you might not wanna read any further :)

Feeling Brave? Ok, lets do this!

I cook about 3 cups of rice (will be 6 cups after cooked) ahead of time in my rice cooker. Or you can cook it at the same time you are giving your fingers a workout with veggie aerobics (you will be chopping for a while, haha). Also you can cook as much as your little heart desires. This recipe multiplies easily and can feed an army!

Ingredients you will need LATER in the recipe:

Soy Sauce (a lot!)

Fresh Cilantro

Cooked Rice

Ingredients to chop up & Saute:

Celery (2 stalks, or more or less)

Onion

Red, Yellow, & Green bell pepper (or use 1/2 of each or mix it up)

Garlic 1 clove peeled (this is totally optional, sometimes I leave it out all together)

Meat - I use a 4 pack of Italian Sausages, but you can use pork chops, chicken, steak, etc. At a local restaurant they serve "Chofan Mixto" where you can eat chicken & steak together. (FYI, it is yummmmmy)

Chop up the veggies and meat and sauté in a pan with some oil. I make sure the entire pan is covered with about 1/8" of oil but this is totally up to you. Heck if I know how much oil that is .. if I knew I would have wrote it down for you! Gah .... (o:

Ok once your veggies are sautéed & meat cooked all the way through, all you have to do is throw in your cooked rice. Now for the fun part - get crazy with the Soy Sauce ... the more the better! I totally douse the rice until it is a dark brown color. Maybe a taste test will work better for your first try at this :) Yes, def taste test FIRST before you add tooooo much and your whole family cringes the next time you mention cooking Chofan!

Ready for the last step? Chop up some fresh Cilantro and add in the mix. (Surely you know better than to ask "How much?")

Salt & Pepper if needed (doubtful, didn't you just add like 20 cups of Soy sauce to that recipe ... lay off the salt before you hurt yourself!)

Hope you enjoy as much as we do!

Don't forget to get creative with the veggies!