CARROT AND LEEK SOUP

Posted in Soups, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

Here in California the warm weather hangs around, making me almost forget that Thanksgiving is right around the corner. But when the latest issue of Fine Cooking was delivered in the mail, the gorgeous cover showing a croquembuche in all its glory was a clear reminder: the holidays will soon be here, it’s time for comfort food. Lots of things I want to cook right away from the magazine, but I started with a carrot and leek soup that turned out light and satisfying at the same time.

CARROT AND LEEK SOUP
(adapted from Fine Cooking)

1 T olive oil
1/2 T butter
1 medium-size leek, white and light green part only, thinly sliced
1 shallot, diced
1/2 pound carrots, sliced (about 6, medium)
2 cups water (or chicken stock)
salt and pepper
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup low fat yogurt
2-3 T fresh orange juice

Melt the olive oil and butter in a medium-sized pan, cook the shallots and leeks until soft but not brown, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper. Add the sliced carrots, water (or stock), thyme leaves, bring to a boil, cover the pan and reduce the heat. Cook until the carrots are soft, about 15 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, puree the soup to the consistency you enjoy (we prefer it with a little body, not fully smooth). Alternatively, you can use a blender or food processor (be careful when blending hot liquids). Bring the pureed soup back to the stove, add the yogurt and orange juice, heat very gently. Taste, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with croutons and minced chives.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I changed the recipe quite a bit, so if you want to make their original version (that includes fancy homemade herb croutons and a few more bells and whistles), buy the magazine. You won’t be disappointed: the cookies section alone and the step-by-step recipe for Beef Wellington are well worth the small investment… 😉

Yogurt is a perfect addition for certain soups, when a hint of richness is welcome, but you don’t want to go overboard. This recipe is similar to the creamy broccoli soup I recently blogged about, and the same basic method might be used for other veggies: butternut squash, cauliflower, even asparagus, although I haven’t quite optimized a method to get a nice, smooth texture when pureeing asparagus. Just another little item to add to my list of culinary challenges… 😉

Note to self: Make soup more often.

ONE YEAR AGO: Chicken Parmiggiana 101

6Oct2010

FIRE-ROASTED TOMATO RISOTTO

Posted in Rice and Grains, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

I’ve never met a risotto I didn’t like! It’s one of the most versatile dishes around. You can get fancy (lobster and saffron come to mind), or keep it simple, but it’s always satisfying. This tomato risotto falls into the latter category, in that I didn’t roast the tomatoes myself. Instead I used a Muir’s product that I’m quite fond of. Their roasted tomatoes have just the right amount of heat and smoke, and these days I shamelessly admit gastronomic shortcuts without guilt, as long as they involve quality ingredients. This risotto will also succeed with homemade oven-dried tomatoes, or a lovingly prepared tomato confit. But, for the time being try this version, which will warm up your senses, every single one of them! 😉

FIRE-ROASTED TOMATO RISOTTO
(inspired by Donna Hay)

1 shallot, finely minced
1 Tbs olive oil
1 cup Arborio rice (or other short grain rice appropriate for risotto)
3-4 cups of vegetable stock
1 can (14.5 oz) of Muir fire-roasted tomatoes, some of the liquid included
(I used diced tomatoes with green chilies)
thyme
salt and pepper
1-2 Tbs butter to finish the dish

Heat the vegetable stock in a sauce pan, add all the tomatoes and some of the water, season lightly with salt and pepper, and reserve, keeping it warm.

Saute the minced shallots in olive oil until soft. Add the rice and saute for at least 2 minutes, stirring often, making sure each grain is well coated with oil.

Start adding the hot vegetable stock/tomato mixture, slowly, 1/2 cup at a time, allowing it to be almost fully incorporated before adding more liquid. Keep stirring gently. Add some fresh thyme towards the end of the cooking time. Keep the heat low, and pay attention to the changes in the rice grains: they’ll become more plump and translucent as they cook. When the rice is ready (not mushy), add a little more stock. Finish it by swirling some butter and stirring to form a nice emulsion with the sauce. Serve immediately.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Donna Hay used tomato puree, white wine, and served her risotto with mussels. We didn’t have any white wine on hand, so I just used stock and tomatoes. Whenever you make risotto, be sure to warm enough liquid for the cooking – better to have some leftover than to run out of it midway through the preparation. The amount in the recipe is more than enough, even considering variations in the type (and age) of the rice.

We enjoyed it with seared sea scallops, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a dust of ground coriander, then seared quickly on a hot non-stick skillet with a smear of olive oil. It was a good match for the fiery rice, leading my husband to close the dinner with one of my favorite phrases: “you are going to make this again, right”? No worries there. In fact, I think I’ll have an “encore” next week! 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: A special dinner for two

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30Sep2010

DREAMING of BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

Could it be the one we harvested from our garden? Was it one from the farmer’s market, so perfectly shaped, with a shiny skin that gave me pause before putting a knife into it? No. The butternut squash of my dreams – and I hope you can stand the truth – was sold in plastic bags, uniformly cut, in a grocery store. Confession heals the soul, so now I feel good! 😉 I must explain, that since 1995 I’ve lived in a place devoid of food stores such as “Trader Joe’s” and “Whole Foods.” Although our “Native Roots Market” and “Forward Foods” are local delights, whenever our travels took us to a city blessed with TJs, we’d make a point to stop by and collect enough goodies to tide us over for a few months. However, fresh produce and planes don’t mix, so I had to “walk on by” all the tempting veggies and just look. Look, look and dream about how nice it would be to buy that cute bag of perfectly diced butternut squash, and enjoy its succulence without risking my fingertips. Here in LA we have 5 Trader Joe’s and 2 Whole Foods within driving distance, so when I spotted that little yellow bag I grabbed it and drove smiling all the way home …. beside the butternut squash of my dreams!

PASTA WITH ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH, ARUGULA AND RICOTTA
(from the Bewitching Kitchen, inspired by Donna Hay)

pasta of your choice
butternut squash, cut in chunks
drizzle of olive oil
a few sage leaves
1/2 cup ricotta cheese (full fat, please)
fresh arugula, preferably baby leaves
zest of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Turn your oven to 400F, open the bag of butternut squash, admire how nice each piece looks, and spread them all in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil, season with salt and pepper, scatter a few fresh sage leaves over it, mix it all to coat all pieces with some oil, and roast for 20 minutes, until soft and starting to get brown at the edges.

Meanwhile, boil salted water to cook the pasta. In a large bowl, place the arugula and ricotta cheese, breaking it up with a fork. Season with salt and pepper. When the pasta is cooked, reserve some of the water, then place the pasta over the arugula/ricotta mixture, mixing it all very well. Add the butternut squash, lemon zest, and a little of the pasta water in case the mixture seems too dry. Adjust the seasoning, and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Due to the constraints of our nano-kitchen, I search for all sorts of shortcuts when preparing dinner. Pasta sauces that don’t need much cooking are now my best friends. I got the inspiration from a cookbook that recently arrived in the mail: Donna Hay’s Off the Shelf. She only used ricotta and arugula, but butternut squash and sage sounded like a nice way to round out the pasta. As far as cheese goes, ricotta is light, so I recommend the full fat version.

A juicy grilled chicken breast was all we needed for a simple, satisfying dinner on a Tuesday evening after a busy day at work… Life is good!

ONE YEAR AGO: Levain Bread with Caramelized Onions

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27Sep2010

CREAMY BROCCOLI SOUP

Posted in Soups, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

Fall is almost here, bringing soup to my mind. But the temperatures are far from dropping, in fact we are cruising along a nice indian summer, with the thermometers showing high 80’s and even mid 90’s. In tune with the weather, this broccoli soup can be enjoyed hot or cold, is quick to prepare, and very good for you: low fat, low carb, but won’t make you go into starvation-response 30 minutes later… 😉

CREAMY BROCCOLI SOUP
(reprinted with permission from Mark Bittman‘s Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times)

2 cups broccoli florets
3 cups chicken stock (I substituted water)
1 garlic clove, peeled and cut in half
1 cup yogurt
salt and freshly ground black pepper
slivered almonds (optional)

Combine the broccoli and stock in a saucepan and simmer until tender (about 10 minutes). During the final minute of cooking, drop the garlic in the pan.

Puree the contents of the pan in a blender until very smooth, working in batches if needed (and be careful blending hot liquids, don’t fill your blender’s cup too much). Once the soup is fully pureed, add yogurt and reheat very gently, adjusting seasoning with salt and pepper.

If desired, top the soup with slivered almonds, or croutons.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Mr. Bittman says you can use leftover broccoli cooked by any method as a starting point for this soup. Remove excessive dressing or sauce, boil some stock, add the garlic and the cooked broccoli together for a couple of minutes, then proceed with the recipe. Instead of yogurt, you can finish it with milk or cream, but of course those will increase the fat content. I made this soup to take to work for lunch, so I kept it as light as possible, just added some slivered almonds for extra crunch.

ONE YEAR AGO: Marbled Rye

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22Sep2010

POPEYE-PLEASIN’ SALAD

Posted in Salads, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

Watching Popeye wolf down can after can of spinach wasn’t enough to tickle my taste buds for it. Picky eater that I was when I first tried it, only in my early twenties, it required a few encounters to appreciate it. I suppose that one might say that spinach is an acquired taste: we now consume a couple of bags of baby spinach per week, and maybe more. In this salad it’s the leading man, with just two supporting actors: slivered almonds and shaved parmiggiano cheese. I adapted the recipe from one I found in Everyday Food, that lovely Martha Stewart publication that’s always peeking at me in grocery stores, next to the cashier. 😉

SPINACH SALAD WITH ALMONDS AND PARMIGGIANO
(adapted from Everyday Food, June 2010)
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1/3 cup slivered almonds
3 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 bunch baby spinach
1/3 cup shaved parmiggiano-reggiano cheese

Toast the almonds in a 350 F oven or on a dry, non-stick skillet, until fragrant and light brown. Do not let them burn. In a large bowl, combine almonds, oil, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar; season with salt and pepper.

Add the spinach and half the cheese, toss well to coat them with the dressing. Add the remaining of the cheese on top, and serve immediately.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Spinach is the basis of this salad, but the almonds take the flavor to another level, from good to great. It’s all about how you toast them: if they’re just dark enough you’ll get an intense, popcorny flavor, without bitterness. This time I hit the jackpot, and I hope that you do too!

We enjoyed it with salmon but it will complement many other dishes: roasted chicken, grilled pork, a juicy T-bone steak, or even a panini. The original recipe used arugula instead of spinach, so keep that in mind as an alternative.

ONE YEAR AGO: Watermelon Granita