Category: Makes Great Leftovers!

Cauliflower and Roasted Fennel Soup

cauliflower and roasted fennel soup - trust in kim

Well, I will definitely be making this soup again! The roasted fennel gives it some depth of flavour without tasting overly like anise.  It is smooth and creamy without any dairy or dairy substitutes.  You have the option of making it vegan, as the original recipe was, but I used chicken stock instead of vegetable.

The recipe is from Brian L. Patton’s Sexy Vegan Cookbook. I’m always happy to add healthy and delicious soups to my repertoire!

What you need:

1 fennel bulb

2 teaspoons olive oil + a little for roasting the fennel

1 cup chopped sweet onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets

1 russet potato, peeled and cut into chunks of about 2 cm

3 cups vegetable or chicken stock (I needed more than this so I added some water bouillon)

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.  Cut the stalks off the fennel and set them aside.  Chop the fennel bulb in half and rub it with a little olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then place cut-side down on a baking tray.  Roast the fennel for 30-40 minutes, or until browned and tender.  Remove from the oven and cut into large chunks.

2. While the fennel is roasting begin making the rest of the soup.  Heat a large pot on medium heat and add about 2 teaspoons of olive oil.  Add the onion, sliced fennel stalks and a pinch of salt.  Cook for 4-6 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for another 4 minutes.  Add the potato, cauliflower and enough stock to cover the vegetables, and bring to a simmer. When the fennel is roasted, add it as well.  Cook until the cauliflower and potatoes are very tender.

3. Puree the soup (I used an immersion blender, but a food processor or blender work as well) until very smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Fish Cakes in Tomato Sauce

cod cakes in tomato sauce - trust in kim

This popular Sephardic recipe from Syria comes from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem cookbook. I would have never thought of serving fish cakes in a tomato sauce, but it works really well, especially over rice.  And it’s excellent for leftovers.

I used tilapia instead of cod, and it was delicious.  The first time I made it I had a hard time keeping the cakes together while they were searing, but I think the trick is leaving them to cook on one side without touching them until that side has browned well.  Once I did that I had no problem. You could make the tomato sauce ahead of time to make preparation simpler.

What you need for the tomato sauce:

2 & 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 & 1/2 teaspoons cumin

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon coriander

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine

1-400 gram/14 oz  can chopped tomatoes (I used canned cherry tomatoes)

1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped coarsely

salt and pepper to taste

What you need for the fish cakes:

3 slices white bread with crusts removed (about 60 grams)

1 & 1/2 lbs cod, tilapia, halibut, hake or pollock

1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

30 grams flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

30 grams cilantro, finely chopped

1 tablespoon cumin

1 & 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 extra-large eggs, beaten

4 tablespoons olive oil (for frying)

What you do:

1. To make the tomato sauce, begin by heating the olive oil in a very large frying pan over medium heat.  Add the onion and spices and cook until the onion is soft, about 8-10 minutes.  Add the wine and simmer for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes, chile, garlic, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Simmer for about 15 minutes, then add freshly ground pepper and more salt if you need it. Keep this simmering so it is hot when you add the fish to it. (If you’re making rice, you could start it now)

2. To make the fish cakes, begin by putting the bread in a food processor and making bread crumbs, then place in a bowl.  Chop the fish up very finely and add to the bowl along with all of the other ingredients except the olive oil.  Mix it all together with your hands.  Form the mixture into cakes about 8 cm in diameter and 2 cm thick.  You may need to refrigerate them for about 1/2 an hour to firm up a little.

3. To begin cooking the fish cakes, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat in a frying pan, then add half of the fish cakes, searing  for a few minutes, until quite browned. Carefully flip the cakes and brown the other side.  Place the seared fish cakes in the hot tomato sauce and then sear the other half of the fish cakes.

4. Once all the fish cakes have been placed in the tomato sauce, add about a cup of water (or white wine) to cover the cakes partially.  Cover the pan and simmer over very low heat for 15-20 minutes. Remove the lid and turn off the heat about ten minutes before serving to let the cakes settle.

I liked them when they were served hot, but the cookbook says they are good at room temperature too.  Serve over rice or with bread to soak up the sauce, and garnish with a little mint or cilantro.

trust in kim - fish cakes

Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad

Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad - trust in kim

Having a strong affection for roasted cauliflower and Middle Eastern foods, I adore this recipe.  I love a salad that has enough going on that it could be a light lunch.  This one has nuts to give it a bit of protein, and the yummy sweetness of the pomegranate.  Once you’ve got your cauliflower roasted, it is quick to make.  I kept it as leftovers for my lunch, but added the hazelnuts just before I ate it so they would retain their crunch.

The recipe is from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem cookbook – love this book! I was wary of the cinnamon and allspice, but I put them in anyways and the salad was delicious.

What you need:

1 head cauliflower, cut in florets

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 stalk celery, cut on an angle

5 tablespoons hazelnuts with skins on

1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1/2 of a pomegranate

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 & 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Heat the oven to 425F, then mix the cauliflower florets with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and some pepper.  Spread on a roasting pan and roast in the top of the oven for 25-35 minutes. The cauliflower should have crispy edges and some if it should have turned brown. When it’s done, put the cauliflower in a large bowl and let it cool down.

2. Lower the oven temperature to 325F and roast the hazelnuts on a baking tray for 17 minutes. Let the nuts cool a little and then chop them coarsely.

3. Add the parsley and pomegranate to the cauliflower.

4. Combine 2 tablespoons of olive oil, cinnamon, allspice, vinegar, maple syrup, and a little salt and pepper.  Combine, then pour over the salad.

5. I like to add the hazelnuts just before serving so they remain crunchy.  Serve at room temperature.

Chicken Marbella

 

Being a lover of olives I knew after my first taste of this chicken dish at a wedding that I would one day have to make it myself.  I’ve actually made it a few times now, but just haven’t had a chance to post the recipe – so here goes!

The olives and capers make it a little salty, and the prunes and figs balance it out with a little sweetness. It’s a big recipe, serving 6-8, and it’s a great one to make the night before you’ve got company, then pop in the oven an hour before dinner is served.

The recipe is from the Whitewater cookbook.

What you need:

  • 5 lbs chicken pieces (I don’t like to use breasts as they come out  a little dry)
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons fresh oregano or 1 tablespoon dried
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons pepper
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup prunes, chopped into small pieces
  • 1/2 cup dried figs, chopped into quarters
  • 1/4 cup green olives (I used extra)
  • 1/4 cup capers with a bit of juice
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 2 tablespoons parsley (garnish)

What you do:

1. Combine all the ingredients except the parsley and marinate the chicken overnight in the fridge.  Turn the chicken pieces once in a while to coat them.

2. Preheat the oven to 350F and bake the chicken with the marinade for 50 minutes.  Baste frequently. It should be a deep golden brown colour when it’s done.

3. Garnish with parsley when serving.

I like to serve it with a nice crusty loaf of bread. And if you don’t have a lot of people eating, it’s great for leftovers.

 

Whitewater Minestrone

trust in kim - whitewater minestrone

I’ve been working my way through the Whitewater Cooks cookbook, and I’m loving everything I make.  I love a soup that is a meal in a bowl, with lots of veggies and some protein, and of course lots of flavour.  This one is perfect, and I enjoyed the leftovers in my lunch all week.  You know it’s good when you can eat it for many days in a row!

This is a large recipe, enough to feed eight, or two for several days.

What you need:

4 slices bacon, cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon butter (olive oil to make it dairy-free)

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 carrots, diced

1 large onion, diced

1 leek, cut in half, then sliced thinly

3 cups shredded green cabbage (I used savoy)

1 small potato, peeled and diced

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups beef stock

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup red wine

5 tablespoons parsley

2 teaspoons dried oregano

3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

1 teaspoon black pepper

salt to taste

1-14 oz tin kidney beans, rinsed

1 small can cherry tomatoes (or a few fresh tomatoes)

1/2 cup small pasta (I used Christmas tree shaped pasta because that’s all I had, but you can used macaroni or orzo, or whatever you have)-optional, or substitute    with gluten-free of you need to

parmesan rind (if you have it – I had one, so I threw it in while the soup cooked, and pulled it out before serving.  I didn’t even put parmesan on top)

parmesan to garnish

(the recipe also called for twice as much potato, butter, and a zucchini)

What you do:

1. Fry the bacon in a large pot.  When it is cooked but not crisp, remove and drain it on paper towels.  Remove the bacon fat from the pan.

2. Add the butter, garlic, carrots, onion and leeks to the pot.  Sauté until the onions are translucent.

3. Add the cabbage, potato, stocks, wine beans, canned tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat and add the oregano, 2 tablespoons of parsley, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

4.  Add the pasta and cook until it is al dente.

5. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.  Add the rest of the parsley and the basil.

Serve with parmesan, if you wish.

I didn’t freeze any of this soup because I don’t like potato in soups when it has thawed; I find that it just falls apart, and I don’t like the texture after freezing.

Cauliflower and Cannelini Bean Soup

Continuing my love affair with cauliflower, I wanted to make a soup that was creamy and dairy-free. Rather than using potato to add creaminess and thickness, I  pureed a can of cannelini beans.  Adding the beans for protein also made it into a soup I could use as my main dish for lunch.

Roasting cauliflower brings out its sweetness; if you’ve never roasted a cauliflower before, you’re going to want to give this a try, and you might become as addicted to it as I am.

I crisped some sage leafs as a garnish when I first served it, but for a subsequent serving fried up a little chorizo and arranged it on top.  Now I think a combination would probably be perfection.

trust in kim - cauliflower cannelini soup

What you need:

1 large cauliflower

1 garlic bulb

1 can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed

1 leek

4 cups chicken stock

2 teaspoons fresh sage, plus more for garnishing

olive oil

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. As soon as you’ve turned it on you can toss in a bulb of garlic.  Just slice off the end, wrap it in foil and throw it in the oven.

2. Cut the cauliflower into florets and then cut the larger ones in half if you need to.  Roast for 25-40 minutes, or until the cauliflower has browned slightly.

3. While the cauliflower and garlic are roasting, heat the broth in a large pot.

4. Drain the cannelini beans and add them to the broth, and then add the sage.

5. Chop the leeks into rounds, rinse them, then add them to the broth.  Bring this to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes.

6.  When the cauliflower is ready, add it to the broth.  The garlic should be ready when the cauliflower is done, so unwrap it from the foil and squeeze it into the pot as well.  Let this simmer for about 10 minutes.

7.  Remove the pot from the heat and puree the soup for several minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

8.  For the garnish, heat a little olive oil in a small frying pan.  Add several sage leaves and fry them until they have crisped.  They can turn brown pretty quickly, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the pan while they are still green.  Arrange on top of each serving of soup.

This soup freezes well, so you can make a big batch to save for a rainy day.  It’ll warm you right up.

Lentil Bacon Soup

trust in kim- lentil bacon soup

I’m not usually a fan of canned soups, but my friend Sarah recently introduced me to Baxter’s Lentil and Bacon soup, and I thought it was pretty yummy.  It inspired me to make up my own lentil bacon soup.  I’ve made lentil soup before, but I like that in this one the lentils are pureed, and the little bit of bacon adds a lot of flavour.  It’s pretty easy to make, and just takes a bit of time to cook the lentils.

What you need:

3/4 cup green lentils, uncooked

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1/2-1 cup dry white wine

about 1-2 cups water

2 stalks celery, chopped

3 carrots, in about 2 cm chunks

1 large potato,  in about 2 cm chunks

1 leek, sliced into rounds and rinsed

4 whole cloves garlic

salt and pepper to taste

5-6 slices of bacon

What you do:

1. Put the lentils in a large pot with lots of water.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 50 minutes.

2. Fry the bacon and let it cool on paper towel. Chop the bacon once it has cooled.  I use a cast iron pan with a large capacity so I can add a lot more ingredients to it after frying the bacon.  If you don’t have a frying pan large enough just do the next steps involving the vegetables, then transfer to the pot that you cooked the lentils in, which should be large enough to hold everything.

3. Remove most of the bacon fat from the frying pan. Chop the carrot, celery, leek and add it to the frying pan.  Add the whole garlic cloves .  Cook for about five minutes, stirring from time to time.  Add the chopped potatoes.  Now add the chicken stock and wine, along with enough water to cover the vegetables, and simmer until the vegetables are tender.

4. When the lentils are very soft you can drain them and add them to the vegetables and broth.  I actually pour it all into the pot that the lentils were cooked in. Continue to simmer until all the veggies are tender.

5.  Puree everything with an immersion blender or wait until it has cooled a bit and whiz it in a blender until it is smooth.

6. Stir in the chopped bacon, then add salt and pepper to taste.

This soup freezes well!

Mennonite Cabbage Borscht

Mennonite cabbage borscht - trust in kim

A little while ago I posted a recipe for my Mom’s borscht.  While this is a great soup recipe, I recently found out it’s not actually her recipe.  Oops!  So this is really my mom’s borscht recipe; it’s on the same page of  The Mennonite Treasury of Recipes, the bible of Mennonite cooking.  The real difference is that this one has a can of tomato soup; not very old-world traditional, but it’s the yummy soup I grew up with.  A lot of people think borscht has beets, but the beetless version is part of the Mennonite culinary tradition.

My mom makes a few changes when she cooks it: she doesn’t always use potatoes, and she usually adds some carrots. As well, she doesn’t use cream, but adds yogurt while serving.

It is best to make the broth a day ahead of time so it can cool, and the fat can be removed.

What you need:

2 lbs of beef meat and bones (or a combination of beef and chicken)

1 large onion, chopped

1 small head cabbage

3 carrots, chopped

a few tablespoons of fresh dill

1 can tomato soup (I used Campbell’s)

salt to taste

plain yogurt for serving

What you do:

1. To make the broth, cover the bones and meat with cold water and bring to a low simmer.  Simmer for 2 to 3 hours.  Strain the broth and let it cool.   Remove the meat and pull it into bite-sized pieces.  Put the meat and broth in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

2. Remove the cold fat from the top of the broth and discard it.  Pour the broth into a large pot and bring it to a low boil.

3. Add the chopped onions, meat, cabbage, carrots and dill and let it summer until the vegetables are tender.

4. Add the tomato soup and let it heat, then add salt to taste.

5. Serve with a dollop of yogurt.

This soup freezes well, and makes a big batch for leftovers or for sharing.

Mennonite Treasury of Recipes -Trust in Kim

Chicken in Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce

spicy thai peanut chicken - trust in kim

Recently I had a craving for a Thai peanut chicken I remembered making many times a few years ago, but for the life of me I couldn’t find the recipe. I finally realized that it was in a cookbook I gave away in one of my purges of my book collection before moving apartments.  Thankfully I was able to find the book at the public library and I able to make the recipe once again.  It was as good as I remembered it; a little spicy, and the chicken tender and tasty.  I made a lot more broccoli than the original recipe called for, and I served it on brown rice.

This recipe comes from Charlotte Solomon’s Thai Cookbook.

What you need:

1 kg chicken breasts and/or thighs

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

2 teaspoons grated fresh or frozen ginger

1 tablespoon red curry paste

2 tablespoon peanut oil

1/2 cup spring onions, cut into 5cm lengths

1/4 cup roasted peanuts, finely chopped, or 2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

2 teaspoons brown sugar (or palm sugar, if you have it)

1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional)

1 cup coconut milk

3 cups broccoli florets

What you do:

1. Cut each chicken breast in half. If you are making brown rice you can start it now.

2. Combine the garlic, ginger and curry paste and coat each piece of chicken with it.  Let the chicken sit for at least 20 minutes.

3. Heat the peanut oil on medium-high heat, and add the spring onions to the pan. Stir them for a few seconds, then remove them from the pan.

4. Add the chicken to the pan and cook until each side has browned.

5. Add the peanuts, sugar, fish sauce and coconut milk.  Cook until the chicken is cooked through and tender.

6. Steam the broccoli.

7. Serve the chicken over rice with broccoli and top with sauce and spring onions.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

 

Maple Butternut Squash Soup

butternut squash soup -trust in kim

Butternut squash soup is perfect for cold winter days, and the maple syrup and sherry make this recipe especially tasty.  I like to bake my squash because I think it tastes sweeter that way, but if you prefer you can boil it, and use the cooking liquid to thin the soup at the end if you need to.

What you need:

butternut squash, about 2 lbs

olive oil

1/4 cup chopped sweet onion

1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/4 cup white wine

1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, or 1/2 teaspoon dried

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 ground cloves

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

about 1/4 cup maple syrup

about 1/4 cup dry sherry

salt, to taste

What you do:

1. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.  Place the cut side down on a baking tray and bake at 350F for 25 minutes, or until it is soft.

2. While the squash is baking, heat a little olive oil in a large pot and add the chopped onions and peppers.  Cook on low heat until the vegetables are softened.

3.  When the squash is soft, scoop it out of the shells and add it to the pot. Then add the herbs and broth and bring to a boil.  Cook on low heat for about 20 minutes, then remove from the heat and puree until it is smooth.  Add some water if you need to thin it out a bit.

4. Add the syrup, sherry and salt to taste.

This one tastes even better the next day!