food lately: you know, from the last six months (part 1)

I obviously ate and cooked while I was working away. here are some things:

root vegetable soup with smoked coconut 

 

(vegetarian) french onion soup

 

lentil & eggplant soup with basil 

thai fried rice and sweet & sour tofu with broccoli 

southwestern sauté with soyrizo, peppers, and goat cheese, over polenta

eggplant parmesan and spaghetti 

sautéed  squash, greens, and onions with fried eggs

couscous with cucumber & tomatoes  and chickpeas with chard

pizza with zucchini & caramelized onions 

dill scrambled eggs with cheddar and paprika 

keep cooking team!

xoxo

creamy cauliflower

I've got more soup because it's still very much winter around these parts.

This time some roasted cauliflower and potato, pureed of course.  

First up, roast 1/2 a head of cauliflower at 425 for 15 minutes.  

I sprinkled mine with olive oil, pepper, salt, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. 

While that is going, saute up one chopped onion, two cloves of garlic, and your choice of seasoning.  I used a bay leaf (which I never use, I don't know why I felt this needed it), pepper, salt, garlic and onion powder, cayenne, and italian herb mix:

Once that is going, say after 7 minutes, add in one or two potatoes, chopped, depending on size, about two cups worth. 

When the cauliflower is done, add that in and stir up over medium heat to get everything crispy.

Then add a carton of vegetable stock, cover and let simmer for about fifteen-twenty minutes until the potatoes are tender to the fork.  

Pull out your handy dandy immersion blender and go to town until you have this beauty:

Top with some parmesan and call it a delicious day, inside away from the cold

xoxo

soup is in the air

i mean fall, and rain, so soup is in the kitchen!

mema's vegetable soup actually:

start with a good pot, a small amount of oil, and a couple of cloves of garlic

(by the way as a note, i had the regular seasonings every time i add something new to the pot: salt, peper, red peper, garlic and onion powder)

then a small onion

meanwhile, puree a bunch of tomatoes in the food processor, i think i used six medium ones

back to to the pot,  after the onion begins to cook down add about a tablespoon of tomato paste, and one of spicy mustard, continue to saute for another minute and then add about a teaspoon or two of worcestershire sauce and cook until you have some good brown bits on the bottom

then add the pureed tomatoes and cook for a minute to mix it all together. next, pull out my favorite tool, the immersion blender and give it a whirl. 

so it looks something like this

then add some veggies, you can use fresh or frozen, whichever you have, i threw in a mixed veggie bag plus lima beans and okra. Also, add some veggie stock, about a carton.

let simmer for about twenty minutes.  

I cook mine in advance to freeze so I have it on hand for cold nights and then add some small elbow pasta to it when i'm heating it back up.

stay warm!

xoxo

first soup of fall

It has finally started to cool down in the last week or so, and that mixed with the stormy weather created the timing for the first soup of fall.

Just a potato veggie soup, but oh so delicious:

A red onion, two stalks of celery, and one big potato, chopped and sauteed in that order, along with some olive oil, salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, and celery salt. 

Then a carton of vegetable broth and a boil, and then let simmer until potatoes are tender.

Then my favorite kitchen tool, the immersion blender does it's thing,

Finish off with more of the same seasoning to taste, top with some parmesan, and ta-da:

Makes four servings.

xoxo