Category: Makes Great Leftovers!

Tomato-Lentil Soup with Goat Cheese (or Yogurt)

a photo of a bowl of soup. It is tomato red with lentils in it, and has crumbled goat cheese, herbs and lemon zest on top.

I’m loving this tomato-lentil soup! It’s quite simple to make, and is so delicious when you mix in the goat cheese! For those who don’t like goat cheese, yogurt would work well too. I almost always have these ingredients on hand, so it’s a great one to make when I don’t want to go to the grocery store.

The recipe is by Ali Slagle of the NY Times. The method of cooking the tomato paste with garlic and spices at the beginning is new to me, but it really builds the flavours! The recipe called for butter or olive oil, so I made it with olive oil to keep it healthier. It calls for Italian seasoning or oregano or za’atar, so I used za’atar. Za’atar is a spice mix usually containing sesame seeds, oregano, thyme, and sumac. Sumac has a lemony flavour that I love and can be used in so many ways. You can make it yourself, but I just picked some up at a Middle Eastern shop. I used Mild Aleppo or Pul Biber for the pepper flakes, but feel free to use what you have available. The recipe says to serve the soup with a lemon wedge, but I just added the lemon juice to the soup. The lemon flavour was quite pronounced when I tasted the soup right after cooking. I preferred the milder lemon flavour when the coup had cooled and reheated.

This photo shows the pepper, Za’atar and tomato paste that I used. You can also use a small can of tomato paste if you don’t have the tube.

photo showing three packages of food: a dark red ground pepper labelled "mild Aleppo Pepper" with the brand name "Jasmine," a bag labelled "green zaatar seasoning" with the brand name "Sadaf," and a tube of tomato paste with the brand name "la famiglia."

The recipe serves four people, and can be frozen.

What you need:

  • 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tube (130g/ 4.5oz.) double concentrate tomato paste, or 1 can tomato paste (156mL/ 5.5 oz.)
  • 3 cloves garlic, grated
  • 1.5 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon Za’atar,OR Italian seasoning, OR oregano (plus 1/2 teaspoon for the topping)
  • 1/2 teaspoon or more pepper flakes (plus a pinch more for topping)
  • 4.5 cups water
  • 1 cup red lentils
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt OR 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • juice and zest of one lemon
  • goat cheese (for topping)

What you do:

  • Place a large pot over medium heat and add the olive oil. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, coriander, 1 teaspoon of za’atar (or other spices), and pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, for 2-4 minutes. The tomato will probably stick to the bottom of the pan, but that’s okay. Just keep stirring and let it darken; this isn’t a step you want to rush, as you are developing a lot of flavour.
  • Add the water, lentils, sand salt. Scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen all the browned bits. Put a lid on and raise the heat; bring it to a simmer, then lower the heat. Put the lid on and let it cook on low heat for 15-20 minutes.
  • While it is cooking, zest and juice the lemon.
  • To make the topping: With your fingertips, mix the lemon zest with the 1/2 teaspoon Za’atar or other spice, a pinch of pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt.
  • When the lentils are soft, stir the lemon juice into the soup pot (add 1/2 and taste to see if you want more… you never know how much juice is in a lemon!)
  • To serve, place some goat cheese on top of each bowl, then sprinkle with the lemon-spice mixture. I enjoyed the soup best when I stirred the goat cheese in, to make it creamy.
  • Enjoy!

Cheddar Cornmeal Muffins

Photo of cheddar cornmeal muffins on a green and white antique plate

Today was the perfect day for soup and savoury muffins – our first snow of the year. I know, lots of you might think Canada is a winter wonderland, but on the west coast we rarely get snow, so Feb 2 is about right for a first snow of the year. Really wet snow.

I’ve made this recipe so many times, but it wasn’t until a group of friends celebrated CheddaFest* that I realized I really needed to share this with all of you. It whips up really quickly, and is the best accompaniment to soup. I often make a broccoli leek soup with them, something really light and healthy. These muffins make it a meal.

The recipe comes from FoolproofLiving.com. A few changes that I made to the original recipe: I didn’t add corn kernels or dill. I didn’t have whole wheat flour, so I made it with All Purpose, and used Oatmilk in place of whole milk. I have made this so many times, and never saw the instruction saying to let the batter rest for half an hour…. The recipe says to bake for 22-25 minutes, but mine was done at 20, even when I accidentally had the oven set for 400 degrees instead of 425.

These are best when they have been freshly baked. I’ve also eaten them after they had been sitting at room temperature for a few days, and they are still good, especially if warmed up a little! I usually freeze some of these, in a ziploc bag, and I try to remove as much air as I can.

Makes 12 muffins.

What you need:

  • 113 grams unsalted butter (or add less salt to the dry ingredients if you have salted butter
  • 3/4 cup milk (oatmilk is fine)
  • 2 eggs – room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 & 1/4 cups flour (AP or WW)
  • 1 cup cornmeal -fine grind
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1 cup scallions/green onions, chopped
  • 1 cup aged Cheddar cheese

What you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
  2. Great the cheddar and chop the scallions.
  3. Melt and let the butter sit until it has cooled down.
  4. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and pepper.
  5. Beat the eggs with a fork, then add the milk, honey, and cooled butter.
  6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold the ingredients together, but not completely.
  7. Add 3/4 of the cheddar and all of the scallions. Mix just until combined. Any more mixing will make the muffins tough.
  8. Use a large spoon to place batter into the muffin tin liners, trying to make sure they are about equal.
  9. Sprinkle remaining cheddar on top or each muffin.
  10. Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking around 20 minutes. They should be lightly browned, and an inserted toothpick should come out clean.
  11. Remove the muffins from the oven, and after 5 minutes, remove the muffins from the tin.
  12. Feel free to eat them while they are warm! If you want to freeze them, make sure they are completely cool first.

*CheddaFest is a holiday we made up when some friends were interested in learning some cooking and baking skills. And we all really needed to not think about work for a while!

Healthy One Pot Carrot Cabbage Tofu Meal with Lime and Peanuts: Nasi Goreng

This delicious recipe comes from Anna Jones’ cookbook One Pot, Pan, Planet; A greener way to cook for you, your family and the planet. Here’s a link to her website where you can find a lot more yummy recipes and info about her book.

Why this recipe, especially after my long hiatus from contributing to this blog? Well, delicious, healthy, meal in a bowl: those are my favourite dishes. Plus most of the ingredients are things I normally have in my kitchen, with the exception of the crispy shallots. I found some crispy onions at a Mediterranean store for about $5 – close enough for me!

The title of this recipe in the cookbook is “Carrot and Peanut Nasi Goreng,” but I wanted a title that explains a bit more about the recipe. I’d say the cabbage, tofu, and peanuts are the main features here, with lots of flavour from ginger, garlic, herbs, lime, and the sauce that gets drizzled on at the end. My guests liked that they could add as much of the toppings as they wanted – not everybody loves cilantro and hot sauce it seems . . . so they can choose what they want to add the theirs.

Was a hot summer day the best time to make this? Only if you love standing in front of a hot frying pan . . . with a big fan running at least.

Was my frying pan big enough for this recipe? Of course not, even though it’s a big pan . . . so I just stirred carefully when it was fully loaded.

I only made a few little changes to the recipe: I did not use the complete half of a cabbage because I just couldn’t fit it in the pan; maybe I was meant to use half a small cabbage. I also didn’t put in as much rice as the recipe asked for; the recipe asks for 350g cooked rice, and I started with 1/2 cup dry rice, so that would be a bit less than called for. I used tofu; tempeh is given as an alternative, but I really don’t like tempe, and I really enjoy tofu! I also wrapped my tofu in a towel for about an hour before using it, to soak up some of the water. I put in only a little chilli oil, but put a bowl of it on the table to drizzle on later, so everyone could choose their own spice level. I have a batch of Wil Yeung’s chilli oil, which I highly recommend. I used the 50/50 mix of honey and soy sauce instead of ketjap manis. I didn’t use the optional fried eggs. I always keep ginger in my freezer – so I have it when I need it, and because it is so easy to grate it when it is frozen.

This recipe makes about 4 servings.

Please let me know if you try this recipe and what you thought of it! I’d love to hear from you!

What you need:

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 200 grams firm or extra firm tofu, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 small onion or 2 shallots
  • thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated (easiest to do this with frozen ginger)
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
  • 300-350grams cooked basmati rice (cold, day old rice!)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon chilli oil or sambal oelek, depending on your heat tolerance
  • 2 carrots, peeled and grated
  • 1/2 a head of cabbage, chopped (or other green veg of your choice)

For serving:

  • juice of 1 lime
  • small bunch of cilantro, chopped
  • 100 grams chopped peanuts
  • 2 spring/green onions, thinly sliced
  • crispy shallots or onions
  • 1 tablespoon ketjap manis OR 50/50 mix of soy sauce and honey
  • (optional 2 eggs for frying)

What you do:

  1. Begin by laying out all the ingredients you need and chopping all the vegetables up as listed in the ingredients.
  2. Heat a large frying pan over medium/high heat, adding a little oil. Fry the tofu (I did mine in 2 batches) for about 5 minutes, turning frequently, until browned. Remove these from the pan into a bowl for later.
  3. Turn the heat to medium and add a little more oil to pan. Fry the shallots until soft, taking care not to burn them. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for another minute. Add the turmeric and fry for another minute.
  4. Add the rice to the pan, then pour on the soy sauce and chilli oil, stirring to coat the rice.
  5. Add the grated carrot and chopped cabbage, frying for about 2 minutes.
  6. Add the tofu and continue to fry until everything is hot. If you choose to fry eggs for this dish, do that now in another pan.
  7. Squeeze the lime juice over the rice and vegetable mixture.
  8. To serve, spoon some ketjap manis/ soy and honey sauce, on each serving. Sprinkle on the cilantro, spring onions, peanuts and crispy onions. Add extra chilli oil if you like a bit more heat!
  9. Enjoy!! Please comment!!

Thanks to everyone who has been so patient in waiting for a blog post! I’ve had some incredibly busy years, completing a Masters degree while working a very full-time job. I got out of the habit of taking photos my new dishes, and sure didn’t have time to write up a blog posting. I also wondered if anybody is out there… I get a bunch of hits on my site, but very few people comment, so I sort of thought no one would really care if I quit this blog. I’m going to make an effort to post from time to time, so I hope you’ll stay tuned!

Lemon-Cilantro Hummus

Well it’s been about eight months since I’ve posted a recipe; working full time and working on a master’s degree doesn’t leave a lot of time for hobbies. I’m still cooking of course, and finally took a photo of something, so thought I’d share this yummy and delicious hummus recipe.

If I had more time I would have cooked my own chickpeas, but happy to have a time-saving can of them in my cupboard!

For the smoothest hummus you can take a few minutes to remove the peels from the chickpeas. It really does make a difference! But of course you can just throw them in there with the skins on.

This is best made in a food processor, but if you have a blender or immersion blender, those could do the trick. I suppose if you had a lot of time you could do it with a potato masher . . . ? Let me know if you try that!

I purposefully didn’t add amounts here. In the procedure below I suggest how much I added, but this is a really good recipe for “adding to taste;” add a little, then a little more if needed. I like mine lemony, and I like to serve it right away . The leftovers are excellent, but the batch fresh out of the food processor is the best.

I have been eating this hummus with crackers and as a dip for veggies.

What you need:

  • can of chickpeas, drained, and preferably with skins removed
  • tahini
  • garlic, crushed
  • cilantro, clean and chopped once or twice, stems and all (unless there are some really thick, woody stems)
  • salt
  • lemon
  • cumin

What you do:

  1. Pour the chickpeas into the bowl of the food processor.
  2. Add a dollop of tahini. I used about 1/4 cup.
  3. Put the lid on the food processor and blend it up for about a minute.
  4. Add a clove of crushed garlic (or more if you love your garlic), a whole bunch of cilantro (mine wasn’t a huge bunch), a little salt, half a lemon to start, and a pinch of cumin to start. Let that process until the cilantro is well chopped, and the hummus is creamy.
  5. Taste your hummus and see what you’d like to add more of. I almost always add a bit more lemon.
  6. Add a bit of water to make it the consistency you like and process again until it is really smooth, and you have the right balance of flavours. If you are going to refrigerate your hummus, keep in mind that it gets firmer when it’s been in the fridge for a while, so adding a bit more water can be a good idea.

Oven-Baked Falafel

These oven-baked falafel are super tasty, and my official taster is looking forward to eating them again! Deep-fried falafel are delicious, I don’t enjoy cooking with boiling oil, and I think baking is healthier.

This photo was taken before the tahini sauce, hot sauce and pickled turnips went on – oops! Somebody was eager for the photos to be done so the eating could begin. I’ve also served these with some hummus and a cucumber, tomato and herb salad.

I found an aleb falafel, a falafel shaping device, for under $10 at a local Middle Eastern store. You can use a spoon or your hands to form them if you don’t have an aleb falafel.

falafel shaping device

This recipe is especially easy to make if you have a food processor, but you could also give it a try with a potato masher. It’s quite simple: all the ingredients go into the food processor bowl, you whiz it up, form the balls, and bake them. While they are baking you can prepare sauce and veggies.

These falafel freeze quite nicely!

What you need for the falafel:

  • 2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained, or equivalent home-cooked
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/ 2 cup bread crumbs
  • 1 large white onion, chopped
  • 1 cup flat leaf parsley
  • 1 cup cilantro (I like to use the stems too)
  • 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 & 1/2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 teaspoon paprika or Aleppo pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • olive oil for brushing on top of falafel before baking

What you need for the tarator sauce:

  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup water
  • salt to taste

What you do for the falafel:

  1. Heat the oven to 375F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
  2. Add the chickpeas, eggs, bread crumbs, onions, parsley, cilantro and garlic to the bowl of the food processor and process until the mixture becomes doughy.
  3. Add the baking powder, seasonings and olive oil and process again until all the ingredients are combined.
  4. Form falafels with an aleb falafel (I lightly oiled mine before use), or scoop with a tablespoon and form into flattened balls with your hands.
  5. Use a pastry brush to brush a little bit of olive oil on the tops of the falafel, to help them brown nicely. Browning = flavour!
  6. Bake for about 25 minutes, then check to see if it is done; mine needed more time. You will know when it is done if a knife inserted in the centre comes out pretty much clean.
  7. While the falafel are baking you can make the sauce.

What you do for the taratour sauce:

  1. Mix the garlic in with the tahini.
  2. Add a little bit of lemon juice and mix well. Add lemon juice and water a little at at time until the sauce is creamy but not too runny.
  3. Add salt to taste.
  4. Enjoy!!

Burgoo’s Tasty Tomato Soup

Burgoo is a popular Vancouver restaurant that serves the best comfort food. I tend to order this tomato soup because there aren’t a lot of meals on their comfort food menu that a lactose-intolerant person can eat.

Not only is this soup lactose-free, but it is soooo delicious! Also, it’s quite easy to make – once you’ve chopped everything up you just simmer for an hour, purée, and you’re ready to go.

I made a few changes to the recipe: since I am making it in Winter, I didn’t have fresh tomatoes that I thought would enhance the flavour. The recipe called for some canned and some fresh, and I have used all canned tomatoes. I added a few carrots, and I made the recipe a little bit smaller so it would fit in my pot.

This soup is even better after reheating, and freezes really well. I love making a massive batch and freezing most so I can have a healthy soup anytime I need it.

Just a word about the wine: please use a wine you would actually want to drink. If you like a sweeter red wine (ick), then you should probably use less brown sugar. The alcohol burns off, so there is none left in the soup, should you be serving it to people who don’t drink alcohol.

This serves 6-8 people.

What you need:

  • 2 – 796 mL cans of whole or chopped tomatoes (San Marzano are the best!)
  • 3 cups water
  • 250-375 mL your favourite red wine
  • 1 very large sweet onion (or two small ones), chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • optional: olive oil for drizzling before serving

What you do:

  1. Put everything in a large pot.
  2. Gently bring it up to a simmer.
  3. Simmer for one hour with the lid off, stirring from time to time.
  4. Purée, and if you want a super smooth soup, run it through a sieve or food mill.
  5. Taste to see if you want to add more salt, pepper, or anything else.
  6. Serve drizzled with a little olive oil, or not.
  7. Enjoy!

Mushroom and Barley Soup

Perfect for a Fall day, this soup is warming and hearty, but not heavy. Served with a beautiful baguette from Beyond Bread, this made a delicious dinner for two with plenty of leftovers.

You can make this as a vegan soup, or use chicken or beef broth. The soup consists of some veggies, both dried and fresh mushrooms, a splash of sherry, tomato paste, and broth. A good quality broth is important here, so homemade or a better quality like Pacific would make a tasty soup.

The recipe comes from the Yvette van Boven’s ‘Home Made Winter’ cookbook. Her recipe calls for spelt, but gives the option of barley, which I used because that was what I had in my cupboard. I added a few extra carrots, less oil, and a dab of butter at the end. I used chicken broth because I had it on hand, but look forward to trying it with mushroom broth. I changed the order of when to add the salt and pepper, adding it at the end so it doesn’t get over-salted, and so the salt doesn’t make the veggies mushy. As well, adding pepper too soon can make it the soup taste bitter. My scale is broken right now, so I guessed that 25 grams of dried mushrooms is about 1/2 cup, and that tasted great. For the fresh mushrooms I used a combination of Button and Cremini, the white and brown ones you find easily in the grocery store. If you substitute for more interesting mushrooms, please let me know in the comments below what you used and how you enjoyed it!

What you need:

  • 25 grams dried mushrooms
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 stalks celery, sliced
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 500 grams (about 1 lb) fresh mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
  • 100 grams (about 1/2 cup) barley or spelt
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • a splash or two of dry sherry
  • 1 litre (4 cups) mushroom, vegetable or chicken stock
  • salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon butter (optional)

What you do:

  1. Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and pour hot or boiling water over them, just enough to cover. Let that sit for about 20 minutes while you get started with chopping.
  2. Once the onions, carrots and celery have been chopped, heat the olive oil on medium heat, in a large pot. Sauté the vegetables until the onions begin to soften.
  3. Stir in the garlic, then add the fresh mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms until they begin to release their juices, about 10 minutes.
  4. Raise the heat and stir in the barley or spelt, allowing it to absorb the mushroom juices.
  5. Add the mushroom soaking water and the tomato paste, cooking until you smell a sweet aroma, and then add the splash of sherry.
  6. Add the broth and the soaked mushrooms (I chopped mine first), then bring it to a simmer. Leave it simmering on low heat until the barley/spelt is cooked to an al dente texture. I checked mine after 30 minutes and it was almost done.
  7. Season with salt and pepper, and add a dab of butter if you wish.
  8. Serve with some gorgeous bread and enjoy!

Potato Pizza

potato pizza - trustinkim.com

This pizza is surprisingly good!

I’ve been hearing about potato pizza from my guy for a long time, and to be honest, I wasn’t really interested. For a long time. But I gave it a try recently, and it was actually really good! And then he asked if we could have it a week later for his birthday dinner, so I knew it was a winner. 

This is not the type of pizza that I am used to: no sauce, just salted potato slices and onion tossed in olive oil, and some rosemary and Pecorino cheese. But really good! I love the thin crust and the crispy edges on the potato!

I looked at a lot of recipes to figure out what to do here, and went to a local Roman pizzeria in Vancouver to try theirs. I mainly followed the instructions in Smitten Kitchen’s recipe, but the Pecorino was my addition. The grocery-store-bought Pecorino wasn’t the best, so I’d say to splash out  on a cheese from a fromagerie/cheese shop if you can. A good substitution would be a nice Parmesan, or you could leave it without any cheese.

I’m leaving some of the amounts kind of vague here. You know how much pepper or rosemary you want on your potato pizza, right? If not, just play with it and see what works best for you!

If you don’t want to make your own pizza dough (although once you’ve tried this one you might find you love that it is easy and tasty) the Whole Foods dough is quite good.

What you need:

  • pizza dough (try this no-knead method) 
  • 4 teaspoons sea salt
  • a few Yukon gold potatoes (I used 2 smallish ones for one pizza)
  • 1 small onion, sliced
  • freshly cracked black pepper
  • olive oil
  • fresh rosemary, chopped
  • Pecorino cheese

What you do:

  1. At least half an hour before assembling the pizza, and up to a few hours before, peel and slice the potatoes. They should be sliced as thinly as possible; if you have a mandoline, this is the perfect time to use it. If not, try to cut the slices thinly and uniformly. Place them in a bowl of water with the salt, and let it sit until you are getting the pizza ready for the oven.
  2. Preheat the oven to 260C/500F.
  3. Drain the potatoes and use a clean kitchen towel to dry them. Toss the dried potatoes with some olive oil, pepper and rosemary.
  4. Pour a bit of olive oil onto a baking pan and spread it around with your fingers.
  5. Use your olive oil covered hands to form the crust into the pan, pushing it around until it is a somewhat uniform thickness.
  6. Spread the potatoes around the top of the dough, overlapping slightly. If you’re a cheese lover you can sprinkle a bit on now, or wait until it is baked.
  7. Bake for 15-25 minutes, depending on the thickness of your crust. The pizza will become crispy and somewhat browned. 
  8. Add a sprinkling of cheese before serving. My pizza cutting tool of choice is my clean kitchen scissors, so use those if you have them.
  9. Enjoy!

Italian Wedding Soup with Turkey Meatballs

Italian Wedding Soup - trustinkim.com

My friend Maureen has been making this soup on a regular basis for years. I’ve made it a few times too, and am happy to finally be sharing it. This soup is super delicious, healthy, and . . . there’s wine in it! It also makes some beautiful leftovers.

I highly recommend using a great chicken stock, preferably a homemade one.

It comes from the Whitewater Cooks Cookbook. The main change I made was to use turkey rather than beef for the meatballs. Turkey it s bit lighter, more heart healthy, and my main eater doesn’t eat beef. The only other change I made was to substitute the type of pasta, from Acini de Pepe to orzo (because that’s what I had in my cupboard), and to cook it separately. There are two reasons for cooking the pasta separately: everybody can add as much as they want to their soup (I prefer it light on the pasta), and I don’t like the leftovers as much when there is pasta in it because I think it gets too gludgy. Oh, one more change: I used fresh basil because I think dried basil tastes nothing like fresh. I keep fresh basil in my freezer for occasions like this.

Hope you love it too!

What you need for the meatballs:

  •  450 grams (1 pound) ground turkey
  • 1/2 cup onion, minced
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup panko crumbs
  • 1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped
  • 1 egg

What you need for the soup:

  • 2 tablespoons butter (or less if you prefer, as I do)
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 medium carrots, diced (I will add more next time)
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed and chopped
  • 3 litres (12 cups) homemade  chicken stock
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup orzo (or small pasta of your choice)
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1 pound fresh spinach, chopped
  • Parmesan cheese for garnish

What you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F before making the meatballs. Prepare a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
  2. Place all the meatball ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands. Form bite-sized meatballs with your hands and place them on the baking pan. Bake for about 15 minutes and set aside.
  3. Melt the butter in a large pot, then add the onions, carrots and garlic. Sauté the vegetables for about 5 minutes, until they are tender. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil, then turn to medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes.
  4. In another pot cook the orzo.
  5. Add some salt and pepper to the soup, then add the meatballs. Allow the soup to cook for a few minutes, until the carrots are just cooked through. 
  6. Add the lemon juice, red wine and the chopped spinach and let it cook for a few minutes.
  7. Ladle the soup into bowls with some orzo. Grate some Parmesan cheese on top before serving.
  8. Enjoy!

 

 

Baked Falafel Loaf with Tarator Sauce

falafel loaf - trustinkim.com

Love falafel, but hate to deep fry? Then this one’s for you!

It’s got all the yummy and protein-y goodness of a falafel, minus the deep frying. It’s super easy to whip up if you’ve got a food processor. It is delicious. (this photo doesn’t do it justice; I’ve made this a number of times, and we end up eating it before I remember to take a photo. So finally I got this shot, not the best, but not nothing.)

I served it with a tomato and cucumber salad on the side, and my guest made it into a pita sandwich – both were delicious! In my opinion it must be served with this delicious tarator sauce, but maybe you have your own favourite.

This recipe came from the awesome cookbook called Taste of Beirut by Joumana Accad. I’ve taken it out of the library so many times and tried a whole bunch of recipes, and I think I finally need to buy this book!

The recipe says to serve at room temperature, but it was also good straight out of the oven. I didn’t change much with this recipe, just the order in which the ingredients are added to the food processor. The most recent batch I made I halved the recipe, using one egg. It was plenty for dinner for two plus leftovers – love leftovers!

What you need for the loaf:

  • 2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/ 2 cup bread crumbs
  • 1 large white onion, chopped
  • 1 cup flat leaf parsley
  • 1 cup cilantro (I like to use the stems too)
  • 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 & 1/2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 teaspoon paprika or Aleppo pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt

What you need for the tarator sauce:

  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup water
  • salt to taste

What you do for the loaf:

  1. Heat the oven to 375F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
  2. Add the chickpeas, eggs, bread crumbs, onions, parsley, cilantro and garlic to the bowl of the food processor and process until the mixture becomes doughy.
  3. Add the baking powder, seasonings and olive oil and process again until all the ingredients are combined.
  4. Spread the mixture into the lined loaf pan and even out the top surface a little.
  5. Bake for about 35 minutes, then check to see if it is done; mine needed more time. You will know when it is done if a knife inserted in the centre comes out pretty much clean.
  6. While the loaf is baking you can make the sauce.

What you do for the sauce:

  1. Mix the garlic in with the tahini.
  2. Add a little bit of lemon juice and mix well. Add lemon juice and water a little at at time until the sauce is creamy but not too runny.
  3. Add salt to taste.
  4. Enjoy!!

parchment paper 1 - trustinkim.com
fold parchment paper in the bottom of the pan

parchment paper 2 - trustinkim.com
open the parchment paper

parchment paper 3 - trustinkim.com
Fill the parchment paper with falafel