Sweet • Sour • Savory

Food blog on scandinavian style food done right.

Vegetables,Sides

Roasted Tomato Pumpkin Soup

Soup, Vegetables, VegetarianTove Balle-PedersenComment

The is a base for a great roasted vegetable soup. You can use most vegetables. I use this when I have a lot of vegetables I need to use in my refrigerator. I have added peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, zucchinis, squash. But keeping pumpkin and tomato in the leading role.

The soup freezes well, so make a large batch so you have an easy dinner for a busy day.

Ingredients:

  • olive oil for the roasting

  • 1 small pumpkin (Hokkaido) (400g)

  • 2 onions

  • 4 large tomatoes

  • 400 g cherry tomatoes

  • 2 garlic bulbs

  • 1-2 chili peppers

  • 1 bell pepper

  • 1 ½ teaspoon salt

  • 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme

  • 2 ½ cup (600 ml) boullion (chicken or vegetable)

  • ½ cup (ca 100 ml) heavy whipping cream

  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 440℉ (225℃).

Peel garlic and onions. Wash and cut all the vegetable in chunks, and place them on a parchment lined roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt and olive oil.

Roast the vegetables for 20 minutes, then shut the oven off, letting the vegetables in the oven for another 15-20 minutes.

Pour all the vegetables in to a large pot. add the boullion and then let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Blend the soup either in a blender* or using an immersion blender. Add the cream and season the soup with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup with some good bread and maybe your favorite topping, like nuts, sour cream, or crispy bacon.

Enjoy!

* Be careful when working with hot soup in a blender.  If you need a new blender, consider a Vitamix. They are expensive, but they are worth all the money. They can liquefy almost anything and makes soup and margaritas so smooth and creamy. But the best part, you can blend hot soups without having to clean the soup of all your kitchen cabinets afterwards. Just saying. ;)

Green Bean and Asparagus Salad with Lemony Feta Dressing

Salad, Sides, Vegetarian, Vegetables, dressingTove Balle-PedersenComment

Green Bean and Asparagus Salad with Lemony Feta Dressing.

This salad is a fresh and crisp side perfect for a summer BBQ. The creamy lemony feta dressing makes it a perfect parring to almost everything. It’s great with fish, chicken and even for ribs or roasts.

I was in search of a salad without leafy greens, a more crunchy salads. Previously I have been using green beans and snap peas for this, so I added some extra crunch with asparagus and radishes. The cheesy lemony dressing was a mix of my love of feta mixed with the taste of the lemon pepper pasta.

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients:

  • 200g green beans, trimmed

  • 1 bunch (10-15) asparagus, trimmed

  • 125g snap peas

  • 10 radishes, sliced

Dressing:

  • 1 lemon, the juice from

  • 2 tablespoons lemon olive oil

  • 75g feta cheese

  • freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Wash and trim snap peas, asparagus, and green beans. For the asparagus I hold each stalk about half way down its length, and at the thick end. Then bend the stalk until it snaps, discard the thick end. This way you only get the good crispy part of the asparagus.

Blanch the vegetables for 1 minute, by adding the vegetables to a large pot of boiling water. With a slotted spoon remove the vegetables from the boiling water and plunge them in a large bowl with ice water. Cut the vegetables into bite-size pieces. Spread the vegetables in a shallow bowl, and sprinkle the sliced radishes on top.

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing, using a fork to incorporate the feta to the dressing. Pour the dressing over the salad, and mix it well.

Serve the salad as a side to your favorite protein, or to your summer BBQ.

Asparagus with Sauce Mousseline

Appetizer, Vegetables, SauceTove Balle-PedersenComment

Asparagus with Sauce Mousseline and shrimps.

Fresh white asparagus is a spring favorite. Here I mixed the expensive white asparagus with some cheaper green ones, making it obvious that the white asparagus are a tad sweeter.

Sauce Mousseline is basically a Hollandaise sauce, where you fold in some soft whipped cream. making as lighter, more airy sauce.

You can serve this as an appetizer or as a main dish by adding some green lettuce and a slice of good bread.

Serves 2-4.

Ingredients:

  • 8 white asparagus

  • 8 green asparagus

  • 1 tablespoon butter (for cooking the asparagus)

  • 1 teaspoon salt (for cooking the asparagus)

  • green lettuce, I used field salad/cornsalad/mache lettuce

  • hollandaise sauce

  • heavy whipping cream, you need about 2-3 tablespoons soft whipped cream

  • 150 g cold water schrimp

Directions:

Make the Hollandaise sauce, and make it come to room temperature. Whisk the cream to a soft peak, so it’s ready to fold into the hollandaise just before serving.

Wash all the asparagus.

The green ones: Hold each spear about half way down its length and at the thick end. Now bend it until it snaps. Discard the  little stub, or use it for flavor in a soup or casserole. 

The white ones: Cut just under 1 inch (2 cm) off the bottom. Using a vegetable peeler, and starting just under the tip of each spear, peel away the tough outer layer.
Bring about 2 inches (5 cm) water to a boil in a a large shallow pot, add salt and butter. Add the white asparagus and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the green asparagus and cook for another 2 minutes, until the spears are tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and place on a dry kitchen towel to briefly dry. Serve the asparagus immediately placing it on top of some green lettuce.

Fold in the soft whipped cream in the room temperature hollandaise, so it ends up light and airy. Spoon the now sauce mousseline over the asparagus and sprinkle the shrimps on top before serving.

Enjoy!

Ratatouille

Dinner, Sides, vegan, Vegetables, VegetarianTove Balle-Pedersen2 Comments

Ratatouille.

Ratatouille is a French vegetable stew. Back in the days it was characterized as peasant food, because vegetables were cheap.

In this version the vegetables are thinly sliced, and arranged nicely in the tomato sauce. I looks like it takes forever, but if you slice all the vegetables first, it only takes a few minutes, and looks like a million dollars.

We often have ratatouille as a side dish or served with rice and a slice of some good bread. Sprinkle some fresh shaved parmesan cheese on the ratatouille as you serve it, and it takes it over the top. Another advantage by cooking it like this is, that you get some nice caramelization of the vegetables, which gives added flavor to the dish.
Pick good quality vegetables, because this is a rather simple dish, and the vegetables are the stars, so the better the vegetables the better the dish. I normally use canned tomatoes for the sauce, but you can easily substitute it with crushed fresh tomatoes, it might even be better.

Leftovers will keep a day or two in the refrigerator, and are fantastic as breakfast with a poached egg, kinda like a Shakshuka.


Serves 3-4 as a side

Ingredients:

  • 1 can crushed tomatoes

  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

  • ¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1 tablespoon fresh basil, about 3-4 large leaves, sliced

  • 1 teaspoon herbs de Provence spice mix

  • ¼ teaspoon salt

  • ¼ teaspoon freshly grounded black pepper

  • ¼ teaspoon chili powder

  • 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

  • 1-2 large zucchini, I used both summer squash and zucchini

  • 1 Japanese eggplant, or regular eggplant, with quartered slices

  • 3-4 large fresh tomatoes, sliced

  • 2-3 small bell peppers, sliced

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Lightly grease a 9" baking dish and set aside. I used a round dish here, but any ovenproof dish will do.

In a mixing bowl, combine the crushed tomatoes, oil and vinegar, and stir in salt and the other spices.

Pour the tomato mixture into the prepared baking dish in an even layer..

Ratatouille ready to serve.

Stack the veggie slices in alternating patters, you don't have to go all OCD on this, it will be pretty no matter how you do this. The most important thing is to spread the onions around, so it spreads its flavor throughout.

Sprinkle a little olive oil on top to encourage the caramelization of the vegetables.

Bake for about an hour, until the tomato sauce is bubbling and the veggies are tender, but not mushy.

Serve the ratatouille hot or warm.

Enjoy!

Shakshuka a la the Danes

Breakfast, Brunch, Vegetables, VegetarianTove Balle-PedersenComment

Shakshuka a la the Danes

Shakshuka is a spicy sauce of tomatoes and other vegetables with poached eggs originating from North Africa, Tunisia. I first had it at a humus place, and remember it as kinda bland. But I liked the idea of the dish, and my version of the dish is not even close to bland. After serving this to my husband, it went into his top of breakfast dishes. I poach the eggs separately, so I can make a large pot of the sauce, even adding whatever vegetables I have on hand, and freeze it in smaller portions. By doing this Shakshuka becomes a quick breakfast, just heating the sauce, and poaching the eggs.

Serves 2-3.

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion, diced

  • 1 red bell pepper, diced

  • 2 garlic clove, minced

  • 1 can diced tomatoes

  • 1½ teaspoon cumin

  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or red chili flakes

  • 1 teaspoon paprika (½ mild and ½ smoked)

  • salt, to taste

Topping

Directions:

In a deep frying pan, heat the oil and cook the onion and bell pepper for around 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Stir in the spices and garlic and cook for a couple more minutes. Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Let the sauce simmer gently for 15 minutes, letting the sauce thicken a bit.

(For the traditional shakshuka make up 4 hollows in the sauce, and crack an egg in each one, cover the pan with a lid and cook for another 5-8 minutes until the desired doneness of the eggs.)

I make poached eggs and serve them on top, because I think it’s easier to control.

Now, with a large spoon, make four hollows at the points of the compass in the mixture.

Just before serving place the poached eggs on top, and sprinkle with chopped chili and parsley.

Serve the dish immediately with a slice of good bread, preferably toasted.

Enjoy!