Tomato Soup with Blue Cheese Croutons

Tomato Soup with Blue Cheese Croutons

I have had a love Love LOVE relationship with tomatoes all my life. I can eat tomatoes anytime, anyhow, anywhere. Ok, I'm not a big fan of Bloody Mary's, but no rule without exceptions. I blame the love of tomatoes on my mom. She told me that she craved tomatoes when she was pregnant with me. She would buy a bag of farm fresh tomatoes at the farmers market, and they would all be gone by the time she got home. Maybe I can blame the red/ginger/strawberry blond hair on the tomatoes too????

Well, I do love tomatoes, and I certainly love tomato soup. I can eat tomato in all kinds of weather. Here is a new take on a classic roasted tomato soup. The fennel, gives a nice depth to the soup. I really love the creaminess of this soup, without adding any cream to the soup. This might be contributed to my Vitamix blender. I  will never go back to my old blender. 

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients:

Soup:

• 1800 g fresh tomatoes

• 1 fennel

• 1 onion

• 4 garlic cloves

• olive oil, for roasting

• 600 ml chicken or vegetable stock

• salt & pepper to taste

• a drizzle of a good thick balsamico

Blue cheese croutons:

• 150 g day-old bread,

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 50 g blue cheese, crumbled

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Wash tomatoes and cut into halves. Peel onions, wash fennel, and cut them in quarters. Place it all on the baking sheet, cut side up. Sprinkle with olive oil. Roast the vegetables in the oven for 45-50 minutes.

Cut up the bread in bite sized cubes and toss them with the olive oil, spread the croutons on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast the croutons for about 5-7 minutes until light golden. Spread the blue cheese on the croutons, and bake then for another few minutes until the cheese has melted into the croutons. Make these while the soup is simmering.

In a large pot heat a little bit of olive oil and cook the minced garlic until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Transfer roasted vegetables with the roasting juices into the pot and add stock. Bring to boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Purée the soup in batches in a blender* until smooth. (You can also use an immersion blender.) Season with more salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve the soup immediately with blue cheese croutons. 

Enjoy!

*Be careful when blending hot liquids, it can make the lid pop off, and you may risk getting serious burns on you skin. You can remove the small cap on you blender lid and cover the lid with a clean kitchen towel. You need to hold on to the lid and towel, while blending. This will let the steam from the hot soup escape and avoid the lid from popping off. You can also get blenders like the Vitamix, where you can blend hot liquids, without any hassle.

Mushroom Lentil Salad

Mushroom Lentil Salad

The perfect filling meaty salad for a meatless Monday. We had the salad as a side, but it would be great as lunch. The texture was really great and the pop of tartness from the lemon, and the nuttiness from the arugula worked perfect with the mushrooms.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• ½ cup green lentils, cooked according to instructions on the package

• 1 tablespoon olive oil, for cooking the mushrooms

• 300 g baby portobello mushrooms, sliced

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• ¼ teaspoon red chili flakes

• 1 tablespoons lemon juice

• 1 lemon, peeled and cut into filets

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, as dressing, optional

• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1-2 handful arugula

Directions:

Boil the lentils until tender according to instructions on the package. I boiled mine in a mushroom base, for flavor. Set the lentils aside to cool.

Fillet the lemon with a sharp knife. Cut the top and bottom off the lemon. Set your knife where the white meets the flesh and start cutting downward in a curved motion following the shape of the lemon. Keep doing this until you have peeled the lemon. Carefully cut the filets out. Save the juice, to use in the dish.

Heat the oil over high heat and cook the mushrooms, until tender. Lower the heat to medium high. Add red pepper flakes and the minced garlic, and cook until fragrant. Remove from heat and stir in the lentils, chopped parsley, lemon juice and oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving toss in the arugula and lemon segments. 

Enjoy!

Quick Butter Roasted Carrot Coins

Quick Butter Roasted Carrot Coins

These carrot coins are one of my favorite go-to vegetables for a quick weeknight dinner. They are easy to make, they are crunchy and filled with flavor. This time I found some rainbow carrots and used them, this made for a beautiful display of color.

You can use a lot of different herbs and spices to flavor the carrots, normally I use the same spices I use in the rest of the meal, that day.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 8-10 carrots, scrubbed and ends trimmed
• 1 tablespoon butter or oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 sprigs thyme, leaves only

Directions:

Cut the carrots in bite-sized coins. Heat the butter in a skillet, Add garlic and thyme when the butter is melted, but before it is browned. Stir the garlic to flavor the butter. Add the carrot coins and cook while stirring until the carrots are softened, but still have a bite. I cooked them for 2-3 minutes. 

Sprinkle with some more thyme and serve with your dinner.

Enjoy!

Falafel

Falafel, with pita bread and banana milkshake.

Falafel is the most meaty non-meat dish I know. I have never thought of it as a vegetarian dish, but of cause it is. 

The first time I ever had falafel was on a summer camp with the youth group at my church. We were making it all from scratch, and I remember it as a really great thing. But nevertheless there would go years before I tasted falafels again.

Here in San Francisco Bay Area we have a lot of different falafel places, but I really like Falafel Drive In, in San Jose. They serve their falafels with a banana milkshake, it so yummy, and it helps keep the heat down when I put Sambal Oelek in my falafel pita.  This is my version.

Makes 20-26

Ingredients:

• 400 g (about 2 cups) dry chickpeas/garbanzo beans
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 4 cloves garlic 
• 1¾ teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoons ground coriander
• ¼ teaspoons black pepper
• ¼ teaspoons cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Vegetable oil for frying (I used sunflower oil)

Directions:

Pour the chickpeas into a large bowl and cover them by about 3 inches (10 cm) cold water. Let them soak overnight or up to 24 hours. You need a big bowl because they will double in size. Drain and rinse the beans well. 

Pour the beans into a food processor along with the chopped onion, garlic cloves, parsley, cilantro, flour, salt, cumin, ground coriander and cayenne pepper. 

Pulse all ingredients together, scraping down the sides of the bowl to incorporate it all, and getting a uniform chop of the beans. Pulse the mixture until you have a rough, coarse meal the kinda like a fine couscous. You want the mixture to hold together,  but not to turn into hummus. 

Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir it with a fork. Up till this point can be made in advance, just keep the mixture in the refrigerator until ready to fry. Stir in the baking powder and baking soda. Use an ice cream scoop to help getting uniform sized falafel balls. I like mine round, but you can do yours any shape yo like.  

Fill a skillet with vegetable oil to 320-355℉ (160-180℃), I used about a quart (1 liter) this was enough so the falafels were able to be covered while frying. I tried to stay as close to 355℉ (180℃) without getting over that temperature.

Fry the falafels until dark golden, and cooked all the way through. If you make them oval or more flat, they will cook faster than a sphere. I cooked mine for about 3-5 minutes. Once the falafels are fried, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and let them drain on a paper towel. The falafels won't be dripping with fat, if the temperature are right. 

Serve the falafels freshly made and hot in pita bread with salad, tomato, hummus, tabouli and with a banana milkshake. 

Enjoy!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

This week is all about getting ready for Thanksgiving here in the US. Every store is filled with turkey, stuffing, cranberries and gravy. 

I took a look back on my recipes, to see which ones would be perfect as Thanksgiving dinner sides. And here is my top 3.

Brussels Sprouts Purée  

Sweet creamy purée with a crunchy brussels sprouts salad on the top.

A new way to serve brussels sprouts. This one can make any kid and adult love brussel sprouts.

Sweet, smokey scalloped hasselback sweet potatoes.

highly addictive and a must-have at your Thanksgiving dinner.

Roasted Winter Squash, A healthy colorful side. The sweetness of the squash is well balanced with the onions and chili.