Leek and Cauliflower Soup

After I made my delicious rosemary bread, I decided I needed some tasty soup to go with it. I had 2 leeks in the fridge and some cauliflower. I googled "leek and cauliflower soup" and came across this blog entry. It was simple and made use of ingredients that I already had!

Ingredients:

2 leeks, roughly chopped

1 onion, chopped

1-2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets

some broccoli florets (however many you'd like!)

2 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oil on medium heat in a large saucepan.
2. Saute onions and leaks until onions are transparent.
3. Add in cauliflower, broccoli, and broth.
4. Bring to a boil and then simmer until veggies are cooked.
5. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth.
6. Season with salt and pepper.

This was a simple and quick soup to make. I served it with my rosemary bread, and it was roomie-approved! I will be making this soup often in the future.

Rosemary Bread

I went in search of a yummy, savory bread recipe this evening after a snowy day. I perused a few different recipes and came across this one. It seemed simple enough! This is the halved version of the recipe, so it makes one loaf.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp white sugar

1/2 cup warm water

1 1/4 tsp instant yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp margarine, softened

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water.
2. After sugar is dissolved, stir in yeast until yeast is bubbly.
3. Add salt, margarine, rosemary, and Italian seasoning. Stir well.
4. Add 1 cup of flour and mix until dough starts to form.
5. Add flour as needed until dough forms a nice ball.
6. Knead for 10-12 minutes and roll into a ball.
7. Oil a large bowl and place dough in center. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.
8. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
9. Punch dough down and roll into another ball.
10. Place dough on a cookie sheet, lined with lightly oiled parchment paper. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.
11. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

This bread tasted delicious... Unfortunately, mine didn't rise! I think my yeast had gone bad. Otherwise, the bread was awesome.

Turnip and Bean Stew (I need a better name for this recipe!)

This recipe is a K-Iz original. I had been craving some fast food - either pad Thai or a footlong sub. and I was desperately trying to talk myself out of it (for financial and dietary reasons!). I got home and took a good look at what I had on hand. A half of a turnip, red onion, celery, carrots, garlic... Homemade veggie broth, canned tomatoes. Sounds like a delicious stew to me!! So off I went.

Ingredients:

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1/3 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 turnip, cubed into 1cm pieces

1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups broth (I used homemade veggie broth)

2 cans of diced tomatoes

2 bay leaves

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Saute the celery, onions, carrots, and garlic on medium heat until onions are transparent.
2. Add the chick peas, black beans, and turnips. Stir well and let cook for about 5 minutes.
3. Add in the broth and tomatoes. Stir well.
4. Add bay leaves, thyme, oregano, and salt and pepper.
5. Simmer for about an hour, or until turnips are tender.
6. Test for spice levels and re-season if necessary!

This was a delicious, fast, and easy meal for me to make, and it was so hearty that it curbed my craving for icky fast foods! It would have been good with any other combination of veggies, maybe some cauliflower would've been nice too.

Penna alla "Not-ka"

I borrowed this recipe from a show called Cook Yourself Thin, where the chefs alter favourite recipes to have lower fat and caloric content. This particular recipe is an adjustment of Penna alla Vodka... minus the vodka!

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil, plus extra for serving
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chopped red onion
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes or whole tomatoes in juice, pureed in a food processor
Pinch red pepper flakes
8 ounces penne
1/4 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons evaporated nonfat milk
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the penne.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the 2 teaspoons oil with the garlic over low heat until the garlic begins to brown, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt, cover, and cook until the onion is softened, about 2 more minutes.
4. Add the tomato, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and simmer very gently 10 minutes.
5. Stir in the cream and evaporated milk and simmer 1 more minute.
6. Meanwhile, after the sauce has cooked 5 minutes, add the penne to the boiling water and cook until just shy of al dente, about 6 minutes. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup pasta water.
7. Add the drained penne to the saucepan and simmer until the penne is al dente, 1 to 2 minutes, adding a little of the pasta cooking water if the mixture is dry.
8. Stir in 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, along with the basil and black pepper.
9. Garnish with some extra grated parm and pepper flakes.

I served this to my friends this weekend as part of our Girls' Night, and it was a big hit! Delicious and simple.

Carrot Ginger Soup

I'm not feeling too well this morning - cough, fever, stuffy nose - so I thought I'd make some homemade soup to try and clear my head. My mom had given me a ton of homemade turkey broth after Christmas, and my kitchen was stocked with about 4lbs of carrots... Natch, I decided to make some sort of carrot soup.

As usual, I googled for a recipe. I didn't find any one in particular that I liked, so I mixed and matched from a few. Here's what I came up with:

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

1 tbsp margarine

2lbs carrots, grated

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

6 cups turkey broth (you could use chicken or veggie)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat margarine over medium heat, add onions, and cook until onions are softened (but not browned).
2. Add carrots and ginger, and stir. Let cook for about 5 minutes, or until carrots are sort of "al dente".
3. Add broth and bring to a boil.
4. Simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes, until carrots are soft.
5. Puree with a hand blender or in a food processor.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe turned out really well, for the most part. Maybe it's just because I have a cold and I can't taste anything, but I thought the soup could use more ginger. So I added about a tsp of powdered ginger, and that seemed to do the trick.

Otherwise - this recipe will definitely become one of my go-tos!

Easy Corn Chowder

This recipe by Nigella Lawson was forwarded to me by my fellow foodie, Elijah. It was so easy and fast to make, and the chowder tasted so good!!

Ingredients:

750g bag of frozen corn niblets

3 green onions, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1/4 cup semolina flour

6 cups vegetable broth

salt and pepper

chili powder (optional)

hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. Soak corn in warm water to soften kernels. Drain.
2. In food processor, blend corn, garlic, green onion, and semolina flour until it reaches a desired texture.
3. Put corn mixture into a saucepan, and add broth. Stir thoroughly.
4. Simmer for 10 minutes, adding salt and pepper and other spices to taste.

This recipe was so easy to make, and turned out really well. It's very flexible as well - you could vary the spices that you add in order to alter the flavours.

Ginger Molasses Cookies

My favourite cookie is the Ginger Molasses cookie that Starbucks sells... It's so chewy and delicious (and expensive... and really high-calorie....). Nonetheless, I've wanted to find a recipe for these cookies forever!

I've tried a few out before, and by far this is the best one. It's lacking a some chewiness, but the taste was really nice.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp ground cloves

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 extra large egg

1/4 cup regular unsulphured molasses

granulated sugar (to roll cookies in)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, with the rack in the center. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves into a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in egg and molasses until well-mixed, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as you go.
5. Mix in the flour until well-mixed,
6. Place some sugar on a saucer. Using an ice cream scoop, measure dough into balls and roll in sugar. Place on cookie sheet, spacing evenly.
7. Flatten cookies a little using your fingers.
8. Bake for 12 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet halfway through baking time.
9. Remove from oven and let cool.
10. Enjoy!

These were delicious, but much less chewy than I expected. I would definitely make these again!