Garam Masala

garam masala in soup....

garam masala in tea....

GARAM MASALA.

Go buy it right now. You can find a big 200g bag in the "ethnic" aisle at any supermarket for about $3. It's the missing piece of the puzzle!!

Since I've arrived home I have been steady recreating the dishes I ate in Southeast Asia. All of my curries were good but they were missing *something. Duh, garam masala. It's the spice mixture that gives Indian food and curries their DEPTH. Mmmmmmmm so good. Go figure, I make this discovery one week before I head back to the Motherland.

Curry Vegetable Masala Soup:
1. Toss a bunch of chopped veggies into a soup pot and sauté (with coconut oil) for a few minutes [I used celery, carrot, zucchini, onion and garlic]
2. Season with salt, curry powder and GARAM MASALA
3. Cover veggies with vegetable broth and let simmer for about 20minutes
4. Top with chopped cilantro

SO DELICIOUS. SO SATISFYING. SO SIMPLE. SO HEALTHY.

Another "Duh": My beloved "Masala Chai"....is tea (called Chai in India) with masala spice!! Putting a half teaspoon of garam masala in your tea or coffee will certainly elevate it! This morning I made a proper chai latte with hemp seed milk, xylitol, and garam masala.

The typical Indian version of garam masala contains:

Black and white peppercorns
Cloves
Cinnamon
Black and white cumin seeds
Black, brown + green cardamom pods

Vermont! Vermont!

Sweet Vermont! Ah! It's amazing. I didn't think that I'd need a vacation so quickly after getting back from my winter abroad, but I have been a bit overwhelmed with my schedule, the teacher training, and the emotions of being home. So- yay vacation! Yay for me! I headed up with my yogis Bryna, Jaime and Ari. Jaime drove, Bryna was shot gun, and ari and I sat in the back ironing out the final details for our upcoming teacher training. It was great to have some uninterrupted time to really get shit done. We made it up here in record time, from margate to Stratton in less than 6 hours! Ari found us the most amazing, luxurious condo right at the base of the mountain- and yay for us, there is a huge amazing kitchen. We grabbed some provisions and then I threw together a vegan, vegetarian, Paleo, candida friendly and totally delicious soup.

1 large head caulifower
1 green apple
1 red onion (medium)
1 box vegetable broth
Garlic powder
Curry powder
Cilantro
Salt
Drizzle with some EVOO

Bring it to a boil in a pot and then purée in a vitamix or food processor. Enjoy.

(Candida) Coconut Cream of Broccoli

This soup is freaking delicious...but it didn't start out like that, that's for sure! I love soup, and I've been experimenting with some candida friendly recipes. I'm trying to figure out Almond/Coconut milk, and thought that a broccoli combo could be good. In retrospect I think it would work best with cauliflower but this soup is bowl-licking good, so I'm happy. I served it to my friends tonight and they agree...so give it a go! 

Steam broccoli 

Drain

Add one bunch of scallions 

Salt and pepper (lots of cracked black pepper)

1 cup chicken stock (I used some of my homemade stock!! Yay! So easy and totally delicious!)

1 cup almond/coconut milk

Bring to a boil then simmer

Purée

Season with:

One handful cilantro, chopped

2 tablespoons crushed cumin seeds

Juice of one small lemon

*cayenne and salt to taste 

Garnish with sliced scallions

This soup is Vegan, Vegetarian, Candida and Paleo friendly!

**THIS SOUP TASTES BEST WHEN EATEN THE DAY AFTER ITS MADE! 

Cailin Callahan

www.cailincallahan.blogspot.com

Feasts with Friends and Food Restrictions

I have been sticking to my candida cleanse and have been super strict. I'm really proud of myself and despite the discomfort I'm in now (major detoxing going on...it gets worse before you get better), I am super excited for feeling 100% down the line. Ultimately every year that you've lived with Candida you'll need a month on the cleanse. So I'm looking at two years of this, which I'm okay with. I know my way around the kitchen so I can still keep it fun, interesting and tasty. Unfortunately my desire to stay vegetarian was proving near impossible considering the dietary restrictions of the cleanse combined with my superduper active lifestyle. Last night after yoga Ro and I cooked up a feast, Thai lettuce wraps and Thai summer squash soup. Both candida friendly and outstandingly delicious. 

Thai Lettuce Wraps

-Shredded carrot (leave out if on candida...but let your friends enjoy it)

-Sliced scallions
-Diced cucumber

-Peanuts (again, not for candida, but for everyone else at the dinner table)

Sautéed ground meat (turkey or venison) in a skillet, seasoning with freshly ground ginger (2" piece) and garlic (1 clove). Salt and pepper, zest of one lime, some lime juice and a red chili pepper diced. 

Wash your lettuce.

Wrap it all up in the lettuce and enjoy!! For non-Candida-cleansers you can use soy sauce, sriracha and whatever else youd like for an added kick!

Thai Summer Squash Soup

- 4 squash (2 green zucchini and 2 summer yellow zucchini), thinly diced
- 4 shallots, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, diced
Sautee it all in a soup pot with coconut oil until its cooked about half way through. Then...

Add one can of (Thai Kitchen) Unsweetened Coconut Milk. Add one box of chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you want this to be vegan). Add three large spoonfuls of thai red curry paste (Thai Kitchen makes the best one and for people with Candida, it's the only one that's candida friendly). To the pot add a pinch of salt, a few generous shakes of ground cinnamon and a few shakes of curry powder. Bring to a boil and then let simmer. Right before serving add the juice of two limes. HOLY SHIT, best soup ever.

Spent the night at Ro's and woke up to this....love their house!

Cailin Callahan

www.cailincallahan.blogspot.com

Kick Ass Cauliflower Soup (and more!).

My beautiful friend Rochelle and her husband Brad. Good friends, great meals, years of love. 

Today I'm feeling Lonely, just very lonely. And when I feel alone, I like to cook....cause I'm pretty damn good at it and I love to do it. Tonight I cooked for my bestie and her husband: Rochelle and Brad. I made : Curried cauliflower soup with coconut and chiles, sweet and sour shrimp, grilled bok choy with braised mushrooms. And we had some goooood wine. BOOM...and now I feel a bit less loney (and very full!).

No matter how my day is, I always try to remind myself that...Life goes on, and life is beautiful.

All of these recipes were pulled from various Food + Wine magazines, and I loosely followed them but made a few tweaks and changes of my own. Here's my interpretation:

Curried Cauliflower Soup: (P, V, VG)

Ingredients:

• One large head of cauliflower, chopped
• EVOO
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• ^^^^don't let this intimidate you!! This is the first time ever that I have MADE a curry powder and it is TOTALLY worth the time and effort, because it has a richness and depth to the spice that you won't get from a pre-made-blend. If you don't have the time or want to make curry powder from scratch, then you can use pre-made ... but don't tell anyone that its MY recipe, because it wont taste as good! Also, at the Asian Supermarket or in the "ethnic" aisle of the supermarket you can buy these spices in big bags for like $1.99...they are great to have in the pantry and will keep for a long time if you put them in a mason jar.
• 1 large onion diced
• 2 tablespoons coarsely grated fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 baking potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces *optional, I just had it so I figured Why Not?
• 1 turnip, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces *optional, same as above. had it, used it.
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• a bunch of chopped cilantro

In a small skillet, combine the cumin, coriander and fennel seeds and toast over moderate heat, shaking the pan, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a spice grinder and let cool. Add the turmeric, cinnamon, allspice and cayenne and pulse until finely ground.

In your soup pot, drizzle some EVOO and add the onion, cooking over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic and spice blend and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add the chopped cauliflower, potatos and turnip and stock and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat until the vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes.
Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth and silky. Return the soup to the pot and add the coconut milk. Season with salt and pepper and simmer. Add the cilantro on top right before eating. This soup is EPIC.

My kickass cauliflower soup with cilantro.

**************************

Next up is the Bok Choy, which was a first for me. I actually was quite confused in the Asian Supermarket because all of the cabbages had a sign written in Chinese and then in english it just said "Asian Cabbage". After looking at a dozen different "asian cabbages"  I just picked up an "Asian Cabbage". Turns out I did grab bok choy, but in retrospect I would make this dish with BABY Bok Choy. The bigger the cabbage is, the thicker the base of it is, and its just very watery and tasteless. The smaller the bok choy, the more tender and delicious. *When cleaning bok choy, because it gets pretty dirty, I just soaked it in a bucket of water for a long time and then gave it a gentle spin in the salad tosser.*  The mushrooms at the asian market also just siad "Mushroom", so who the hell knows what I got, they definitely weren't shitake...


Grilled Bok Choy with Braised Mushrooms: (P, VG)


Ingredients:

• One package of shiitake (or "mystery") mushrooms, stems removed.
• EVOO
• One 1-inch piece of peeled fresh ginger— 1/2 inch smashed, 1/2 inch cut into thin matchsticks
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 scallions, cut into 3-inch lengths
• 2 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup Oyster Sauce (*can be purchased at any asian supermarket for about $2)
• Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon unaged whiskey or other grain alcohol (I used a splash of Makers Mark)
• 1 pound bok choy (I don't measure, so I just purchased one back of "Asian Cabbage". Next time I would buy TWO bags of the baby bok choy). 

In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil until shimmering. Add the smashed ginger, sugar and scallions and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and starts to caramelize, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and the 2 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover partially and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender and most of the stock has evaporated, which takes about an hour to an hour and a half. **THIS is "braising", which also was a first for me, and was also not nearly as intimidating as I had drummed it up to be. IF you are feeling lazy then you could absolutely just sautee the mushrooms in a skillet, but I don't think you would have the same tenderness to the mushrooms and depth of flavor. Also, a very important part of braising that no one tells you in recipes is that the water has to be at a slight 'bubble' or 'boil', that's what "simmering" is. So be sure that the heat is just high enough that you still have some movement in the broth.

In a large pot of salted boiling water, blanch the bok choy until crisp-tender, 2 minutes. Drain and cool under running water; pat dry. *Okay, so I'm realizing that there were a ton of "firsts" for me last night. BLANCHING, another non-intimidating thing in the kitchen. Blanching before you grill just gives your vegetables a head start on the cooking process, and your finishing it off on the grill. Essential the blanch and grill are tag teaming your produce, and it's a delicious outcome. BE SURE THAT YOUR WATER IS AT A ROLLING BOIL! I alllllwaaaaays jump the gun and through whatever I'm cooking into a half-assed-pot-of-semi-boiling-water because I'm not very patient. You do NOT want to make this mistake when blanching. Be sure that you don't overcook your bok choy, you want come crispness, so when blanching you just toss it in for TWO minutes, that's 120 seconds only. Douse in cold water so stop the cooking process and then set aside for whenever you're ready to start cooking.

Right before you're ready to serve dinner, in a small saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of EVOO (or coconut oil!!) until shimmering. Add the ginger matchsticks and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until lightly golden, 1 minute. Add the whiskey and cook for 30 seconds. Add about 2 tablespoons of chicken stock from your braised mushrooms and 1/4 cup of oyster sauce and simmer over moderately low heat until thickened, about 5 minutes. Keep the ginger oyster sauce warm until you serve.

Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Brush the bok choy with oil (or just spray with Coconut Oil) and grill over high heat, turning, until lightly charred, 5 minutes. Transfer to plates or a platter and top with the mushrooms. Drizzle the ginger-oyster sauce over the bok choy and mushrooms and serve.

Grilled Bok Choy with Braised Mushrooms

***************

The Sweet and Sour Shrimp were somewhat uneventful comparatively, but super easy and pretty tasty. 

Sweet and Sour Shrimp (P)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon Chinese chile sauce(aka sriracha chili garlic) (I doubled this because I like SPICY. but it's chefs choice.)
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used coconut oil, healthier alternative to veg oil)
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled

In a small bowl, whisk the ketchup with the soy sauce, chicken broth, sugar, chile sauce, cornstarch and vinegar.

Heat a large skillet until very hot. Add the oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 10 seconds, until fragrant. Add the shrimp and cook until curled, but not cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk the sauce and add it to the pan. Cook, stirring, until the sauce is thickened and the shrimp are cooked through, 3 minutes.

I served everything with a brown rice/quinoa blend that was kick ass to soak up all the sauces. ENJOY.

Sweet and Sour Shrimp

Fresh Fall.

Oh me oh my, the changing of seasons...what a clusterfuck of emotions and physical sensations. Where to begin? After the 5-day-prep-Moroccan-feast, I felt like I was coming down off of a high. Not that it was a distraction from some stuff that's been going on internally for me, but it was a healthy distraction keeping me busy (doing what I love to do). I woke up Monday feeling pretty shitty. I was a bit congested, my eyes felt heavy, and my head was a bit foggy. I covered Michelle's class for her, hung with my friend Julie all afternoon at Who's on First, and then gave a Thai Massage at the Zen Den (which was a beautiful space to receive).

The Zen Den in Ocean City also serves as a great space to receive Thai Massage. With the change of seasons, Thai  Massage is a great way to move stagnant energy that's in the body, and to help cleanse the body of any toxins. 

After the massage I went to Ari's Sweat Express class because I needed to physically and emotionally detox. As we flowed through the practice, and up through our chakras, I tried to keep my eyes closed and mediate on the chakra that we were engaging and opening. I don't know if it was the playlist, or if I was successful in opening each.and.every.chakra, or if I just haven't practiced under someone else in so long - but I started crying when we were on the throat chakra and didn't stop until well after class was over. I was holding back tears until Ari said (of the throat chakra) "an imbalance in this chakra is when we want to say something but we haven't, or we have been holding back what we want to say. Well, the time is now." I just thought of all the things that I want to say to my Dad, that I wanted to say to my Dad, and that I'll never be able to say to him - and it just opened the flood gates. I cried, and cried, and cried. And though I don't think it's good to hold back tears - I was desperately trying because I just didn't want to be sobbing in front of this community that I love. I just wanted to be alone. I got a few great hugs at the end of class, which always feels good - but again, the flood gates were opened and there was nothing that was going to stop it. Poor Ari had my snot all over her shoulder from me dry heaving through her embrace.... Got home, cried with my mom, then did what I do when I'm sad : I cooked.

Cailins Spicy Sadness Soup: (P*if you leave out chickpeas, V, VG)

• 1 leek
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery 
• 1 bunch of kale
• 1 can of chickpeas
• coconut oil
• vegetable broth
• curry
• Sriracha *Chili Garlic 

Dice and sautee the leek, carrot and celery in the bottom of the soup pot along with a big scoop of coconut oil. Clean, de-rib and chop up kale...add to the pot.Cover and cook about 10minutes. Add vegetable broth to cover the veggies, a large scoop of the sriracha chili garlic sauce, and a generous few shakes of curry powder. Add in another big spoonful of coconut oil for some healthy fats. Cover and let simmer for about 5 minutes before adding the (rinsed) chick peas. Let simmer a few minutes and then enjoy. 

Cold weather makes me crave warm, spicy foods. This spur-of-the moment creation hit the spot. 

After eating the whole pot of spicy soup I took two benadryl and was asleep by 10pm. I woke up the next afternoon at 12:30pm. I guess that my body needed sleep. A lot of sleep. More sleep than I've ever had in my life. When I woke up I housed a bowl of cereal and then some spicy Moroccan leftovers before retiring to the couch. Another *this never ever happens* happened...I laid on the couch and watched TV!!! ALL AFTERNOON! I was only awake for about 3 hours and then my eyes started to feel heavy again. I'm so grateful for my Mom who encouraged me to sleep and do nothing - because if she wasn't there yelling at me to relax then I would have been cleaning the house and doing work because I felt the need to "do something". So, at her advice, I laid down in my bed and took a nap for two and a half hours. Woke up, ravenous, craving pizza and television. So I cuddled up onto the couch again - enjoyed some pizza and TV, and then was back to sleep by 10. I woke up this morning not yet feeling 100%, but feeling a thousand times better than I did yesterday. I taught this mornings class and then caught a few waves in Sea Isle with my buddy Johnny DiGenni. It felt good to be in the water and in the sunshine, it felt great to be able to clear my head from the hoard of snot that is determined to clog my brain, and it felt great to laugh with Johnny -- he is the funniest motherfucker that you will ever meet, I promise.

Nothing like a natural-Neti....a dip in the ocean. Enjoyed a fun surf today in the warm water with my good friend Johnny. 

Got home and was craving Fresh and Cruncy and Spicy. Lucky me, my Mom had just roasted Duck breasts - so I decided on creating an epic salad (credit goes to Doreen on this one, who inspired this salad many moons ago)...

Spicy Crunchy Asian Salad with Roasted Duck Breast:

Crunchy Asian Salad with Roasted Duck Breast.

• small handful Chopped romaine (only the hearts, not the green leafy bit)
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery
• 1/4 red bell pepper
• red cabbage
• green cabbage
• sunflower seeds
• duck breast

Homemade Asian Vinaigrette.

Dressing:

• Sriracha Chili Garlic
• Spring Roll Sauce
• Toasted Sesame Oil
• ground Ginger
• Rice Vinegar

The assemblage is pretty self explanatory. Chop up produce and put in a bowl. Remove any fat and skin from the duck breast and then shred and place on salad. The dressing is pretty self-explanatory as well....a scoop of spicy sriracha, a good amount of spring roll sauce, a drizzle of sesame oil, a sprinkle of ground ginger and then rice vinegar to finish it off. Whisk it together and throw it over the salad. And since I like this crunchy salad extra spicy, I always sprinkle cayenne pepper as a final touch. BadaBing...enjoy.

Food for Fall.

I have been inspired to eat, cook, listen to, and be surrounded by everything Moroccan. Paula Wolferts cookbook, "The Food of Morocco" has been my bible - and is the ONLY cookbook that I have used, and probably ever will. It's outstanding. Everything is a "hit". Last night I wanted to make something delicious for my Mom, but she said that she didn't care to eat any meat. I have a bunch of lentils, some leftover swiss chard from my afternoon soup, and butternut squash is in season, so I decided to create an adaptation of Wolferts "Lentils with Swiss Chard, Butternut Squash and Meat Confit". After I made my changes the recipe was quite different, but just as delicious. Here is my interpretation of dish:

Cailins Fall Lentils with Squash and Swiss Chard: (V, VG)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup French Lentils
• 1 large onion 
• 1 can stewed tomatoes (or diced tomatoes)
• 3 large Swiss chard leaves, tender ribs and leaves rolled and finely shredded crosswise
• 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
• 1 garlic clove
• paprika (be generous)
• cumin (be generous)
• ground black pepper
• cayenne pepper (be generous if you like heat, scant if you don't)
• lemon juice
• flat leaf parsley (fresh)
• cilantro (fresh)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, prep your squash, then put squash into a roasting pan. Fill up the pan about 1inch with chicken broth, then sprinkle some paprika, cumin, cayenne, and black pepper on the squash. Cover with tin foil and cook til tender (about 20minutes??).

2. Rinse the lentils. Put one cup of lentils in a saucepan with 2 cups of water and bring to a full boil for 5 min. Drain the lentils.

3. In a deep skillet, sautee your onion in olive oil with the tomatoes and garlic. (side note: I cut the onion in half and did small half moon slivers. With garlic I NEVER chop it, but instead use a zester or grater so that the garlic becomes a paste almost and can melt into the sauce...otherwise you get a big bite of garlic, and thats nasty). Then sprinkle some paprika, cumin, cayenne, and black pepper into the pan. Cook and stir for about 5-10minutes.

4. Spread the lentils over the onions; place the Swiss chard (which has been sliced up) on top. Add about 2 cups of chicken broth (or beef or vegetable, chefs choice), and simmer on low heat for 20minutes. (side note: when you are simmering something, it means that there has to be a low boil to it. So make sure that its bubbling a little bit).

*I am using broth to cook it in, and I even drizzled extra virgin olive oil on top, because it needs some fat - which if you used the original recipe with meat confit it would have. So just be sure to pour a bit of EVOO on it and use broth instead of water.

5. Add the roasted squash to the lentils (taste test to make sure that the lentils are tender!!!).

6. Once in your bowl, add a generous amount of fresh cilantro and fresh flat leaf parsley to the dish -- these add a freshness and citrus to the dish that it needs. Also, it needs a bit of acidity, so squeeze 1/4 to a 1/2 of a lemon over the dish. It sounds odd, but it completes the dish.


The salad that I did was a simple french salad. Mixed greens, herbed goat cheese, pickled onions, salted pepitas and a simple vinagrette. To pickle the onions (which takes the gnarly ONION taste and bite away), you place the onions in a dish with a bit of fresh lemon juice. Let sit for about 10 minutes. Reserve the juice for your dressing but rinse the onions and squeeze them. The dressing was the reserved lemon juice, a splash of balsamic vinagarette, EVOO, and a touch of salt, agave nectar and tarragon. DELICIOUS.

Peace in a Cup.

Making notes for Sundays Dinner. Paula Wolferts' "Food of Morocco" is my bible. 

Enjoying soup out of Collettes beautiful mug, soaking up the sun.

Or should I say Peace in a Mug? I find that everything tastes better when enjoyed out of beautiful vessels...I LOATHE paper plates. Even if I'm having a PB&J I will use a proper plate and a cloth napkin. It takes something ordinary and makes it extraordinary.

This mornings class was amazing, a dozen beautiful yoginis who were up for breathing and shouting and meditating. Amazing. After class, the beautiful Collette gifted me one of her mugs (she's a badass potter...check out her stuff @ www.mudlady.net). It is BEAUTIFUL and I appreciate it even more because I took pottery in college and it was the most challenging class of my collegiate career.

After class I had to pick up some produce at Santoris for a 16-dish Moroccan feast that I'm having this weekend. I love that Santoris now has a pretty stellar organic produce selection, so along with my Moroccan goodies I grabbed some organic kale and green collards for lunch.

I wanted to enjoy something delicious out of my new mug, and I wanted to cook up the organic greens...so I decided on a soup...

Greens In Soup:
I started by sautéing half an onion, a clove of garlic and a large carrot (all diced) in a soup pot. Just a little bit of EVOO in the pot. As that was cooking down I washed, de-ribbed, and chopped the kale and collards. The kale takes longer to cook, so I threw that in the pot with some cayenne pepper, caraway seeds and fresh thyme-- I covered the pot and let it cook down for about 5 minutes before adding in the collards and some vegetable broth. I don't like much broth in my green soups, it's more about just flavoring the vegetable for me. So I only put a bit.

As my soup was simmering and flavors were coming together I brewed myself some Sweet Love tea from Rebecca's Apothecary in Colorado. Deeeeelicious.

Sitting outside now, scrubbing notes from my upcoming dinner. Enjoying sunshine, sweet love tea and soup...feeling peace in my heart. ❤

Cauliflower Soup for a Rainy Day.

The only reason I tolerate rainy days is because I have a great music library and because it gives me an excuse to cook up new recipes. I have been obsessed with cauliflower lately and have been having a blast in the kitchen as I find out new ways to enjoy it. I had a bowl of roasted cauliflower soup last week at Steve + Cookies which was the inspiration for my own creation. I walked around the kitchen and filled my arms with whatever we had around.

• 3/4 of a head of Cauliflower
• 2 random potatoes
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 can of Cannelini (white) beans
  
• Pinot Grigio
• Dried Sage, Thyme and Rosemary (unfortunately no fresh herbs...)

I ALWAYS have "Better Than Bouillon" vegetable stock concentrate in my fridge...it is the best thing that you'll get if you aren't using a homemade stock. I still don't know much about cooking with wine, but I figured that it was too early to have a glass of wine (not to mention that I still have one more class to teach later today) but if I had to open it for cooking that I could at least enjoy a few sips....

One soup pot. Drizzle some olive oil in the bottom. Toss in 2 cloves of garlic, diced onion, diced cauliflower, and peeled + diced potatoes. Salt and pepper. Let it sautee in the pot for a bit and then add the dried herbs. After about 20minutes of sauteeing I add in a generous pour of white wine (1/2 cup? 1 cup?). I let that cook down for about 10 minutes over medium heat before adding a heaping tablespoon of the vegetable broth concentrate and adding water (so that it just covered what was in the pot). I let this cook over medium heat for awhile longer until everything in the pot was tender. Puree in batches using a food processor then return to the burner to simmer *this is an important step because it allows all the flavors to marry.

This is dairy-free, gluten free, vegan friendly and it is goddamn delicious. I gotta say, I'm pretty damn good in the kitchen.....

1. Sauteeing the diced ingredients

2. Adding stock to sauteed ingredients and letting simmer

3. Puree in batches and return to stovetop

4. Enjoy (preferably with the leftover wine that you used to cook with...)

3 Bean Soup with Kale

This was probably one of the easiest soups that I have EVER made, and definitely one of the most delicious.

• Can of Garbanzo beans
• Can of Kidney beans
• Can of Black beans
• A bunch of Kale (the more the better...it is soooo good)
• Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley
• 2 shallots (or one small yellow onion)
• 1 clove of garlic
• Dried oregano + basil (one teaspoon each)
• Cayenne pepper (to taste)
• Salt and Pepp (to taste)
• Vegetable Broth (I prefer BETTER THAN BOUILLON concentrate as opposed to the boxes)

In the pot that you will be making the soup in, drizzle a fair amount of EVOO. Dice the shallots and the garlic and throw into the pot to sautee. Put all of your beans in a colander and rinse, rinse, rinse. Once they have been rinsed throw them into the pot. Pour in vegetable broth and seasonings. Dice a huge handful of fresh parsley, add to pot. Pull the kale off of the ribs and dice, add to pot. Enjoy!!!

I like EXTRA kale in mine, and I like it extra spicy. So before I would heat up each bowl I would add an extra handful of kale. It doesn't need to "cook down" or anything, it tastes great just as is. Also, those beans just so happened to be what I had around the house - use whatever you'd like!

Morocco Round Two

Again, Wolferts recipes with my own twist are what I'm posting.... This was round 2:

• Riffian Split Pea Soup with Paprika Oil
• Potato Pancakes

Riffian Split Pea Soup with Paprika Oil

EVOO

1 large onion, chopped

salt and pepper

1 cup dried split green peas

3 cloves garlic

small handful fresh cilantro

1-2teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons paprika

lemon juice

1/2 cup crumbled aged goat cheese

cayenne

Drizzle some olive oil into the bottom of a pot and brown your chopped onion. You want the onions gold and soft, so cook over a medium heat for about 15minutes. Add the split peas, garlic, cilantro, cumin and paprika. Let it cook for just about 2 minutes and then add 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to medium/med-low and let it cook for about an hour - stirring occasionally.

Add in the goat cheese and once the soup has cooled a bit puree it in batches. I made this the night before and then warmed it slowly on the stove for about a half hour before serving it. Before sending it out I added some more salt (you definitely want to be a bit heavy handed with the salt for this soup...if you taste it and think "what does this need?", it needs salt). I also added fresh lemon juice and drizzled it with olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika before sending it out. The recipe called for heavy cream, but this soup doesn't need it, so I left it out. This soup is taken to a whole other level by adding a scoop of HARISSA sauce (this is a Moroccan hot sauce paste that can be bought at any Middle Eastern supermarket, any speciality store, and can also be found at Williams Sonoma. This is absolutely essential for any Moroccan meal).

Potato Pancakes

2 pounds Red Bliss potatoes (or Yukon Gold)

3 garlic cloves

sea salt

2 teaspoons cumin

small handful fresh cilantro

small handful fresh parsley

pinch each of cayenne, ground turmeric, and white pepper

2 large eggs, whipped

EVOO

flour

lemon wedges

I made this the night before. I peeled and quartered the potatoes and then tossed them into a pot of boiling water. I boiled them for probably like 20minutes or so?? I cooked them about 5 minutes shy of them being able to be used for MASHED potatoes. I let the potatos cool a bit and then I used a potato smasher and smashed em, still leaving large chunks though. Then I cracked and whipped one egg, and tossed that in with the potatoes. I threw in all of the seasoning, zested garlic, and the fresh herbs. Then I made a bunch of small fist-sized pancakes. I made about 15 of em. I put them in the fridge and then the next night right before I was ready to serve them I dipped them in egg, coated them in flour and then lightly fried them in the skillet. Before serving them I hit em with a few more turns of sea salt, a touch of cumin and I garnished the dish with lemon wedges. LEMON is NECESSARY....you .must. put lemon juice on them. Also, dip em in HARISSA sauce (this is a Moroccan hot sauce paste that can be bought at any Middle Eastern supermarket, any speciality store, and can also be found at Williams Sonoma. This is absolutely essential for any Moroccan meal).

Soup #3 Sweet Potato Leek

Soup #3: Sweet Potato Leek

My Auntie D sent me this recipe the other day, and it turned out pretty dang delicious.

Try this 4 leaks sliced including a third of the green (until they split too much) Saute until tender Box of organic chicken or veggie broth Can of garbonzo beans Garlic just because One sweet potato diced Simmer till potto is soft Blend until smooth in batches Serve with olive oil and a couple shreds of Parma cheese ( use a veggie peeler) Salt and pepper to taste

Kylee, my sous chef/potato peeler....

Leeks...do NOT be intimidated by these!

Sliced leeks, being cooked down

Soup #2 Celery Root

This is a celery root. It looks ugly, but it's delicious. Don't be intimidated by it - treat it like a potato or root vegetable....

Soup #2: Celery Root with Green Apple and Bacon

This soup is SLAMMIN'!!!! So f*ing delicious! Not vegetarian like most of my soups, but still healthier than most soups you'd get in a restaurant. Alot of people are intimidated by celery root- but don't be alarmed...just approach it like a potato or root vegetable.

Ingredients:
2 celery roots
3 pieces of bacon
2 leeks (all but the tips)
2 granny smith apples
1 potato
3 cups of chicken stock
1/2 cup of milk
Salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. Cook the bacon til crispy, and reserve the fat
2. Sliced the leeks
3. Pour the bacon fat into the soup pot, and sautee the leeks over medium heat until they are soft
4. Peel and core both apples, dice and throw into pot.
5. Crumble up bacon and throw that in too.
6. Peel your celery root, and dice. Add to the soup pot.
7. Pour in 3 cups of stock and your milk. A sprinkling of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer for about 30minutes.
8. Purée in batches (in food processor), put back in pot, and then Simmer for about an hour.

Soup takes hours for the flavors to marry and come together-- so soup ALWAYS tastes best the NEXT day. So try to be patient! Garnish this soup with julienned celery, apple and crumbles of bacon!

Diced celery root....

Soup #1

I vowed in yesterdays post to start experimenting with more soups, and this was my first execution. The soup was a yellow zucchini (also known as "summer squash") and Yukon gold potato. Deeeee-freaking-licious!!! And not only was it super tasty, but it was super easy to make.

• 3 yellow zucchini, diced
• 1lb YUKON GOLD potatoes, peeled and diced
• 32oz chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you're a vegetarian)
• Salt and pepper
• Handful of fresh dill
• 5 scallions
• 2 tbls butter (optional)

Put the diced zucchini and Yukon golds into a pot with 32oz of stock. Bring to a boil, and then turn down to low. Add dill and simmer for 20minutes (adding butter at this time is optional). Purée the soup in batches and then RETURN TO THE STOVE AND SIMMER. Add salt and pepper to taste, if you don't let the soup sit and simmer then the flavors won't have time to develop. Before eating, top with some thinly sliced scallions!

Smokey + Spicy Bean Soup

When I got home from teaching yoga this morning I had a craving for chili!! I usually make my moms recipe for chili, with lots of beans and ground venison. As labor-less as her recipe is, I didn't even have the energy for that. So I whipped together a soup-like-chili that literally took me about 3 minutes to make.

SO EASY. SO DELICIOUS. OH-SO-NUTRITIOUS:

SMOKEY AND SPICY BEAN SOUP

Ingredients:

• 1 can of black beans
• 1 can of chick peas
• 1 can of kidney beans
• 1 large tomato
• 1 medium sized yellow onion
• tomato paste
• 1.5 cups of vegetable broth (or chicken broth if youd like)
• dry spices: smoked paprika, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, pepper
• sriracha and hot sauce (optional)

Open the cans of beans and put in colander...rinse, rinse, rinse. In a deep pan sautee diced onion and diced tomato in a bit of olive oil. When the onions have begun to carmelize (just 2 minutes in the pan) throw in your beans. Squeeze in about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. Pour in vegetable broth, and season with a fair sprinkling of all of the dry spices. *Note: if you don't have smoked paprika in your pantry, then you should invest in some right away. It adds a depth to whatever youre making...a smokey, earthy flavor with a bit of bite. Now, I love spicy - so I add in about 2 teaspoons of sriracha chili paste along with a few shakes of smoked hot sauce.

Want to make this even BETTER!? Add some sliced avocado. Boom.

While I was sitting and enjoying this at the kitchen table I thought "Damn, I'm going to make a hell of a wife some day!". Is that politically correct? A bit old-fashioned to think, I know, but everybody wants to marry a chef don't they...?!? Hahaha, enjoy.

Grilled Cheese.

The underestimated Grilled Cheese...yes, it IS for grownups as well. I hate to see this perfectly delicious sandwich bastardized time and again. Crappy white bread, a few pieces of that plastic wrapped mystery cheese, loaded with butter and grilled into a gooey, unflattering, unappetizing sorry excuse for a "sandwich" that people feed their children. People: take note....the grilled cheese is quite simple, and so satisfying, but the key is to use top notch ingredients.

You'll need....

• 2 slices of GOOD thick, whole grain bread.
  {think "Texas Toast"...but healthier}
  

• GOOD cheese
  {think Gruyere, Muenster, Swiss...}
  
• GOOD whole grain spicy mustard

It's that simple. Now, the process:

To begin, swipe some delicious whole grain dijon mustard onto both sides of the bread. Layer your cheese between the bread and then close it up! You can lightly butter the outsides of the sandwich, but I prefer to put a few tablespoons of good olive oil into the skillet and then place my sandwich in. You don't get that salty goodness though that you'd get with butter - so at the end I sprinkle a dash of salt on top. The key to the perfectly, evenly melted grilled cheese is to cook it on a medium heat -- so that the cheese slowly melts through out. It helps to place a lid on top of the skillet as well, which helps with even-cheese-melt-distribution. Voila! The PERFECT grilled cheese. Now...if you want to get creative, here are some of my favorite additions:

- one slice of high quality proscuitto
- thinly sliced tomato and onion
- guacamole {and bacon!}
- thinly sliced fresh pineapple

Grown Up Grilled Cheese

This cold, nippy weather calls for grilled cheese...and the perfect compliment to this delightful sandwich is a delicious bowl of SOUP! SO, today I made Mom and me a Corn Chowder to go along with our Grilled Cheese + Proscuitto sandwiches. Usually all of my soups are made from scratch with fresh ingredients, but I was feeling a bit lazy. Here it is:

- one box of Trader Joe's Corn Chowder + Roasted Poblano Pepper Soup
- one bag of frozen corn
- one onion, diced and sauteed
- cilantro {dried: 2 large tablespoons...fresh: 1 small handful}
- a tablespoon of Cayenne Pepper for some heat
- salt + pepper to taste

Sopa Negra...It's That Easy.

I love Black Bean Soup!!! I just want to stand on the rooftop and yell it out "I LOVE BLACK BEAN SOUP!". It's hearty, delicious and nutritious. JamD requested it every day in Costa, and I can't blame her - it hits the spot every time. So here, I'm not magical - I'm not uber talented, nor do I have all the answers...sopa negra is pretty easy to make.

sopa negra.

2 cans black beans

2 cans refried {black} beans

1 can chicken stock (or vegetable stock if veg.)

fresh cilantro

lime

hot {hot sauce, cayenne pepper, or my favorite Sriracha...or you could use all three}

all seasoning

salt and pepp

jalapenos {optional}

eggs {optional}

in the blender or food processor blend the refried beans and the chicken stock. add more stock if you'd like -- depends upon the thickness that you want. if youre friends are vegetarians then use vegetable stock and just add a bit extra salt and a few dashes of olive oil. pour the cans of beans into the soup. season with the juice of about 2 limes, a nice handful of cilantro and whatever hot sauce blows your skirt up. little tiny bit of a salt and a nice bit of fresh ground pepper. throw in some all seasoning. if you want, dice up a jalapeno - throw it in a hot skillet with olive oil for a hot second and then add to the soup. okay - now you are going to doubt me on this, and lenny straight up just wont even try it -- but EGGS. its how they serve soup in costa rica, and trust me - its amazing. bring the soup to a boil - and once its boiling crack a few eggs into it, i usually put in one per person. let it continue to boil for another 2 minutes {its cooking the egg}. then boom. its ready. serve in a bowl with rice on the side. if you add rice to the soup it gets soggy -- i like to take a little scoop of rice with every bite - or you can just throw it in right before you eat it. you can drizzle the soup with some sour cream, garnish with extra cilantro - and even serve it with a lime wedge if you're feelin' fancy. vavavoom