My favorite soup

Posted on July 19, 2018 by melsmosaic

Summer means cold refreshing food. That means I can load up on my favorite soup…Gazpacho. The best recipe I have found for it comes from a chef from Food Network. It’s so quick, easy and delicious, I can’t get enough of it.

Macho Gazpacho

Ingredients

2 (32-ounce) cans diced tomatoes in puree
1/4 cup cayenne pepper sauce (for mild heat use 2 tablespoons) — aka Tabasco, Cholula, etc. — I’m a heat wimp, so I only use a couple splashes
1/2 European seedless cucumber, cut into chunks
1 small red onion, cut into chunks — I use whatever I have on hand
2 jalapenos or serranos, seeded and coarsely chopped — again, I’m a heat wimp so I don’t even use these
2 ribs celery, from the heart of the bunch, chunked
Handful fresh cilantro leaves
1 lemon or lime, juiced
Coarse salt and black pepper
Lemon or lime wedges, for garnish

Directions

Working in batches, combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse grind into a thick soup. Adjust seasonings. Pour soup into a thermos and chill until ready to serve. Serve in chilled glasses with wedges of lime or lemon for garnish.

So quick, so easy, so good. Sometimes I add more or less of some of the veggies. It makes a good amount of soup, too. I can easily cut the recipe in half, or I know I get several days out of it. It’s great served with some grilled fish.

Lemony Lentil (and others) Soup

Posted on January 22, 2017 by melsmosaic

Cold, ugly weather. Football, football, hockey. One must have soup to feed! I have a recipe a friend gave me years ago that sounded too perfect for this type of occasion — Lemony Lentil Soup w/ Greens from Ellie Krieger. I added some stuff to it, too. I just remember this soup made a GINORMOUS amount — good word right? I was going to make half, wasn’t paying attention on one ingredient, so had to make the whole thing. And then played around because I knew I was missing some pieces of the puzzle but had good makeups.

Ingredients

2 tsp canola oil (***used olive oil)
1 sm onion, chopped
1 lg carrot, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus more as needed (***if you’re vegetarian, sub veggie broth)
16 oz green lentils (*** for this I also used Quinoa and the Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains Blend, which has Israeli Style Couscous, Orzo, Baby Garbanzo Beans, Red Quinoa.If you haven’t had it, try it — so good)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
6 cups chopped kale leaves (about 6 oz) (***for this I also added frozen Brussels sprouts)
3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

Directions

Heat the oil in a 6-qt soup pot over med-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring until softened and translucent, 3 to 5 min. Add the carrot, celery, garlic and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are softened, about 5 min. Add 12 cups of the broth, the lentils, basil, thyme, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, add the kale, and cook until the lentils are tender, 30-35 min, adding more broth as necessary. Stir in the lemon juice and zest, and serve.

My pot was filled to the brim. This stuff is really good and just makes so much. I have so much leftover. It easily makes 10-12 servings. I am glad I have a good amount of food containers to put it in.

Brussels Sprouts Turned Chips

Posted on March 4, 2016 by melsmosaic

I love kale chips so it’s fun to find recipes that parallel them. I was going through some sites recently and found a similar one for Brussels Sprouts chips. Those little round green veggies taste great to begin with so why not try them in another form?

Ingredients:

-2 cups of Brussels sprout leaves (outer leaves from 2 pounds of sprouts)
-2 tablespoons of melted ghee (I used olive olive)
-Kosher salt to taste (threw some pepper in there, too)
-Lemon zest (optional)

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350°F
-Mix the leaves, ghee, and salt together in a large bowl
-Line two large baking trays with parchment. Divide the leaves evenly in a single layer on each tray.
-Bake each tray for 8-10 minutes or until crispy and brown around the edges.
-Microplane some lemon zest over the chips (optional)

My deep thoughts on these; they took WAY too much work. You have to peel all these sprouts. My friend and I must have stood there for well over 20 minutes doing this. I felt like we were picking crabs. We tried various methods for this — quick tear, cutting the bottom to see if leaves would fall. No method seemed super efficient.

The taste was great. Crisp, flavorful. So, if I need to kill time, will totally make them again. Otherwise, will stick to kale chips.

Carrots, Cheese, Honey…what more?

Posted on February 18, 2016 by melsmosaic

I try my best to make recipes out of cooking magazines I get each month. The most recent one I went for was from Food & Wine — Glazed Carrots with Goat Cheese and Honey.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (I eliminated this)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds medium carrots, peeled
6 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tarragon sprigs
2 thyme sprigs
1 rosemary sprig
2 bay leaves
2 star anise (couldn’t find any, went with anise seeds, even though I know they are different)
1/8 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/8 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/8 teaspoon mustard seeds
Kosher salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons honey, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Gremolata

1 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped tarragon
1 teaspoon finely grated garlic
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Pepper
6 ounces fresh goat cheese*I had the goat cream cheese on hand and used that and flaky sea salt, for serving

Directions:

In a large, deep skillet, melt the butter  in the olive oil. Add the carrots, garlic, tarragon, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, star anise and the cumin, fennel and mustard seeds and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are golden, about 12 minutes. Add the 2 tablespoons of honey and cook, stirring, until the honey is lightly caramelized, about 3 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and cook until the carrots are evenly coated, about 2 minutes. Add the stock, cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are tender and the liquid is syrupy, about 20 minutes; discard the herb sprigs, bay leaves and star anise. Transfer the carrots to a plate and let cool slightly; halve lengthwise.**I cut them before I started cooking to avoid having to do this now/at this point.

To make the gremolata, in a medium bowl, combine the parsley, tarragon, garlic, lemon zest and olive oil; season with salt and pepper.
Spread the goat cheese on plates and drizzle with honey. Top with the carrots and gremolata, sprinkle with flaky sea salt and serve.

It was tasty but took some time. Worth it but not the highest on my list. I think one of the biggest annoyances was all the fresh herbs and the small quantities of spices you need for flavors. Four grocery stores later on a freezing (that doesn’t even qualify it) day, most of them were found.

Ratat-oooo-ille

Posted on January 12, 2016 by melsmosaic

Was in the mood for something hot and veggie-y and for some reason ratatouille came to mind. Hadn’t made it for awhile and couldn’t find a recipe on hand, so what else to do than google it? Came across a recipe on Bon Appetit that received many stars.

Ingredients

1 onion, sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 tablespoons olive oil
a 3/4-pound eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
1 small zucchini, scrubbed, quartered lengthwise, and cut into thin slices
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3/4 pound small ripe tomatoes, chopped coarse (about 1 1/4 cups)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded fresh basil leaves (totally forgot to grab this so had to use dry)

Preparation

In a large skillet cook the onion and the garlic in 2 tablespoons of the oil over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and heat it over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking.

Add the eggplant and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until the eggplant is softened. Stir in the zucchini and the bell pepper and cook the mixture over the moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes and cook the mixture, stirring occassionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the oregano, the thyme, the coriander, the fennel seeds, the salt, and pepper to taste and cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the basil and combine the mixture well.

The ratatouille may be made 1 day in advance, kept covered and chilled, and reheated before serving.

I added some extra tomatoes (had some canned ones that were easy to throw in). I also added plenty of extra garlic, which never hurts. This recipe hit the spot! The first time I had it, it was enjoyed with some roast chicken and delicious french bread at my friend’s place.

Dax Farmer’s Market

Posted on June 4, 2015 by melsmosaic

I have been off the blogging scene recently because of an oh-so-rough trip to Ireland and France. I am now starting to recap said vacation…

One of the best parts of the trip was why I went — for a friend’s wedding in SW France, in a small town named Dax. It’s about a 90 minute drive from Bordeaux.

My friend’s fiance had told me about the must-do the morning of the wedding, the local farmer’s market. It ended up being about 2 blocks from the hotel. WOW. The place was making Pike Place look weak on some levels. Some 3+ hours later we returned to the hotel with lunch to enjoy outside. I grabbed Paella, as this town is close to Spain so they get some of their influence. Others grabbed cheese and sausage, bread, veggies, some had nice flatbread-like pizza. And, of course, wine!

Almost too good to be true.

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Fennel & (Raw) Asparagus Salad

Posted on May 3, 2015 by melsmosaic

Was flipping through Bon Appetit the other day and came across another recipe I needed to try. It had two of my favorite veggies in it — Fennel and Asparagus Salad. In the whole piece in the magazine, it is part of a pork shoulder cutlet recipe (I just didn’t feel like making the whole think, I had already had salmon ready to go).

1 small fennel bulb, cored, thinly sliced, plus 2 tablespoons fennel fronds
6 asparagus spears, shaved lengthwise into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving
2 tablespoons olive oil

For the asparagus, it is never too easy to shave them. I’ve had this one veggie peeler that is supposed to be good. Have you ever seen or used one of these? I always try to give it another shot. It scrapes, cuts and just does not make anything easy.

Finally just found my good old fashioned carrot peeler. That made it much easier.

Combine fennel, fennel fronds, asparagus, onion, and parsley in a medium bowl. Toss with lemon juice and olive oil; season with kosher salt and pepper.

This salad was so refreshing and had a great crunch to it. Totally worth making!

Riverside Hotpot

Posted on April 15, 2015 by melsmosaic

Checked out a new and new type of restaurant recently. It was Riverside Hotpot.

Some history of hot pot —

“The Chinese hot pot has a history of more than 1,000 years. Hot pot seems to have originated in Mongolia where the main ingredient was meat, usually beef, mutton or horse. It then spread to southern China during the Tang Dynasty and was further established during the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. In time, regional variations developed with different ingredients such as seafood. By the Qing Dynasty (AD 1644 to 1912), the hot pot became popular throughout most of China. Today in many modern homes, particularly in the big cities, the traditional coal-heated steamboat or hot pot has been replaced by electric, propane, butane gas, or induction cooker versions.
Because hot pot styles change so much from region to region, many different ingredients are used.”

In short, you get tons of food, especially since it’s all you can eat! First you pick the base broth you want:

Then choose all the veggies and meats to throw in there. OMG! Way too much to pick from!

They bring the broth out first so it can heat up. Then they start bringing the other stuff out and you throw it in there when you’re ready and at what pace you like.

You go and go until you are maxed out. It’s just amazing. They also have a spice bar, with sauces and topping, that you can choose things from, including soy sauce, sesame seeds, green onions, etc. So much fun. What’s also great is you can make it full of veggies, full of seafood, full of meat — it totally caters to what YOU want. I can’t wait to go back!

White Beans with Broccoli Rabe and Lemon

Posted on March 16, 2015 by melsmosaic

Got around to making a recipe from my pile of them that I’ve been meaning to get to for awhile. This time I took a stab at White Beans with Broccoli Rabe and Lemon from Bon Appetit. It sounded interesting because you actually eat the lemon. Had to try it.

Ingredients

Servings: 4

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small lemon, very thinly sliced, seeds removed
2 anchovy fillets packed in oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
½ bunch broccoli rabe, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 15-oz. cans cannellini (white kidney) beans, rinsed
¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

-Ok, the first fun part of this was getting the broccoli rabe at the store. It was mixed in with every other one of the leafiest, darkest greens possible. It was also labeled by its non-normal name — rapini. Why must they have done this to me? I was about to fold and just use broccoli.

-Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add lemon, anchovies, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lemon is softened and brown in spots and anchovies fall apart, about 5 minutes. Add broccoli rabe; season with salt and pepper and cook, tossing occasionally, until bright green and crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

-Add beans and ½ cup water to pot. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until flavors have melded and liquid is reduced by half (you still want it to be saucy), about 5 minutes. In the middle of making it, I decided there was not nearly enough broccoli rabe in there, so added a ton more (that’s why below some stuff is bright green, some is less so). Mix in parsley and 2 Tbsp. Parmesan.

-Transfer to a platter, sprinkle with red pepper flakes, if desired, and top with more Parmesan.

This was quite good. The lemon was nice and soft and gave good zing to the dish. Definitely keeping the recipe.

Pasta Sauce on a Whim

Posted on February 26, 2015 by melsmosaic

Last Saturday was just cold, snowy and blah here in DC and all I wanted was some great pasta sauce. Why buy the stuff? Decided to grab a bunch of stuff and see what I could put together based on the rough research I did on cooking the stuff. Came up with the following ingredients (don’t have exact measurements on any of these):

-canned tomatoes
-onions
-olives
-garlic
-spices
-bay leaves
-fennel seed (almost forgot that one)
-red wine
-S&P
-olive oil

Threw them all in a pot and brought them to a boil then simmered them over medium heat for about 30+ minutes.