vegetables – Page 8 – Trust in Kim: an ad-free recipe blog!

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.

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.

Portobello-Poached Egg

I had a spare portobello mushroom from a dinner I made last night, and I wanted to find way to eat it on salad, so I made this up. It is not a poached egg on top of a mushroom, but instead I cooked the egg right inside the mushroom cap. I made it soft-cooked so the egg yolk would ooze all over the salad. And it was good. Really good. I was even patting myself on the back as I was eating this one.

I served this one on top of this salad with Glory dressing, and it made my salad into a meal.

What you need:

1 large portobello mushroom

1 small egg

olive oil for the pan

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Remove the stem from the mushroom.

2. Heat a frying pan to medium, then add a little olive oil. Put the mushroom into the pan, hollow side down.

3. Flip the mushroom over after a few minutes, then let the mushroom cook for a few more minutes. If the pan is getting dry, just splash in a little water and put a lid on it.

4. When the mushroom seems done, crack the egg into the hollow of the mushroom. Put a little water in the pan, then put a lid on it and let it sit for a minute. Check it to see if the egg looks cooked, making sure the egg yolk stays runny, but the white is cooked.

5. Serve it right away on top of a green salad and grate on a little fresh salt and pepper.

You could serve it with a piece of bread to soak up some of the yolk and dressing.

Green Salad with Beets and Mango

Here’s a simple salad with some tasty toppings and the amazing Glory dressing. Easy, light, and scrumptious!

What you need:

mixed salad greens

a beet, finely grated

a mango

Glory dressing

plus anything else you’d like; nuts would be great, maybe some toasted pumpkin seeds

What you do:

1. Make the dressing ahead of time.

2. Put lots of salad greens on each plate, then toss with a little dressing.

3. Grate the beet right onto the salad until it looks like enough

4. Cut some slices of mango and place them on top. Enjoy!

Pickle Skewers

Here’s a yummy, pretty and easy party appetizer. There’s a mixture of sweet and salty pickles and olives, and a sweet grape to finish it off.

What you need:

pitted olives

sweet pickled onions

dill pickles, sliced into rounds

sweet grapes

wooden skewers

What you do:

Skewer everything starting with the grape. That way the last flavour will be sweet one.

How to Regrow Scallions Indoors

In the middle of winter it’s nice to be able to grow something. These photos show some scallions I bought and cut to cook with and then let them grow back. The brown part at the very base of the scallions in the bottom photo shows where I cut them; all of the green in new growth. This is about 10 days growth, but I’m going to let them grow a little more before I cut them again.

All you do is:

1. Put the cut scallions in a bowl, glass or vase with some water.

2. Rinse the bulbs and roots daily and add fresh water.

Wait for them to grow so you have more fresh scallions to cook with.

Sometimes I add a little sugar to the water. I’m not sure if this speeds up or helps the growing process in any way, but it doesn’t hurt. I’ll have to do a side by side test sometime to see if it makes a difference. Let me know what works for you!

Maple Butternut Squash Soup

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!

Another Beautiful Veggie Platter

I’ve posted once before about making a veggie platter, but I thought I’d do another, since this one features an idea from my friend I-Wen, her pepper bowls. You just cut the tops off of some bell peppers and use them for bowls for the dip and other veggies. This one also has some edible flowers on it; they look pretty, but I tasted them just to see what they were like, and I can’t say I thought they tasted very good. But they are safe to put on your platter, in case anyone does want to try them.

What you need:

several large bell peppers, in a variety of colours, preferably with flatter bottoms so they can stand)

assorted veggies, such as carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, and more peppers (I never buy the pre-cut mini carrots because I find they don’t taste like much, and I’ve heard that they rinse them in bleach to keep them from turning white)

radishes with greens still on

edible flowers, such as chrysanthemum, violet, snapdragon, or marigold (I found a package at a produce store)

your favourite dip

a large platter

What you do:

1. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds. If you need to, cut a little off the bottom of the peppers so they are level and can stand up.

2. Cut the other veggies and put some of them into the pepper bowls; I found carrot and pepper sticks work best for this.

3. Fill one of the peppers with your favourite dip, and put a small spoon in it for serving.

4. Arrange the veggies around the platter, and put a few flowers on top. Keep some veggies on hand to refill the platter as parts of it get eaten up.

So pretty you almost don’t want to eat it!

Roasted Butternut Squash, Cauliflower and Onions with Tahini Sauce

Roasted butternut squash, cauliflower and red onions with tahini sauce, za’atar and pine nuts: otherwise known as my new favourite meal. And it’s vegan and gluten-free, and it’ll make you feel good on a rainy fall evening – at least it did for me! And I’m really looking forward to my leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I got the idea for the recipe from a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe. I added the cauliflower because I think it is perfect with tahini sauce, and I changed the cooking method a bit, cooking the squash before cutting it, because it’s easier to cut when it’s soft. I also used my tahini recipe instead of his.

I served mine on quinoa to make it a filling meal, but it would be great on a bed of greens too. Feel free to leave out the za’atar and pine nuts if you want, and garnish with some fresh pomegranate or parsley.

What you need:

1 butternut squash

1 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets

2 red onions, cut into large chunks

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

For the tahini sauce:

1/4 cup tahini

1/2 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash of hot sauce

1/4 cup of warm water, or as needed

For the za’atar: (there are so many ways to make this, so make it up as you go along)

1 tablespoon ground sumac

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground sesame seeds

1/4 teaspoon ground anise or fennel seeds

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 425F. To roast the veggies, first cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place the two pieces face down on a baking sheet and roast for about half an hour or until you can pierce it easily with a knife.

2. Put the onions and cauliflower pieces on another baking sheet, and toss them with the olive oil and some salt and pepper. Put them in the oven with the squash for about 25 minutes. About half way through the roasting, give them a stir. The cauliflower should be a little browned when it is done.

3. Combine the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, salt and hot sauce. Add the warm water gradually, adding enough until the sauce is a consistency you like. I like mine pretty liquidy, so I can drizzle it. You can also adjust the lemon and hot sauce to your liking. I usually add a little more lemon.

4. To make the za’atar just combine all the spices. If you have them whole and want to grind them, it’s going to be even tastier.

5. To serve, cut the squash into chunks and serve it on a bed of quinoa or greens, then top with some onion and cauliflower. Drizzle with the tahini, pretty liberally, then sprinkle on some pine nuts and za’atar.

Enjoy!

Vietnamese Salad Rolls with Buckwheat Soba and Peanut Sauce

After a conversation with some Vietnamese friends about food, I suddenly had a craving for salad rolls. They make a nice light meal, and they’re pretty easy to whip up. I used buckwheat instead of rice noodles because I like them, and because I think they’re good for you. You can adapt the salad rolls in many ways, adding chicken or shrimp instead of tofu if you like. And if you really want to make it easy, forget about wrapping it, and serve it up in a bowl as a salad, with a little of the peanut sauce drizzled on top.

What you need:

buckwheat soba noodles, cooked and cooled

carrot, julienned

cucumber, julienned

puffed or smoked tofu, sliced

spinach or lettuce

cilantro

spring onion (optional)

rice paper wraps

For the peanut sauce:

1/4 cup unsweetened peanut butter

1 & 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

1 & 1/2 teaspoons grated ginger (I keep it in the freezer so it grates easily)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons honey

a little hot sauce or chili flakes

2-4 tablespoons water to thin it down to the consistency you like

What you do:

1. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions, then run them under cold water and let them cool down.

2. To make the sauce, combine the peanut butter with the soy sauce, then add the rest of the ingredients, mixing it up until there are no lumps of peanut butter left.

3. Have all the filling ingredients ready to go before getting the rice wrappers ready. To prepare the wraps, just put some hot water in a shallow dish, and let the rice paper sit in the water for about 10 seconds. When it is pliable, remove it carefully from the water and place it on your working surface. Place some spinach/salad in a strip down the middle, then add the rest of your fillings. Don’t use too much filling or you won’t have an easy time closing it up.

4. To wrap, fold the bottom edge up a little, then fold one side of the wrap over the filling. Now roll it up.

5. Serve it up with the peanut sauce, and you’ve got a great meal or appetizer.

Confit de Canard avec les Pommes de Terre et Legumes

In France this summer I enjoyed eating duck on many occasions. One night Corey and I made our own confit de canard dinner at a B&B. We had this gorgeous outdoor space to cook and eat our meal in. Duck confit is cured in salt, then cooked in its own fat. And is amazing! In France it is readily available, but not so much at home. If you’re in Vancouver, I’ve heard you can buy it at Oyama Sausage at Granville Island. The excess fat can be saved in the fridge to cook potatoes in the future.

What you need:

two legs of confit de canard

potatoes

1 zucchini, sliced about 2 cm thick

butter

2 tomatoes

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Heat a frying pan on medium high and put the duck legs in it. Cook them until they are nicely browned.

2. To cook the potatoes you can begin by either boiling them, or pierce with a fork and pop them in the microwave. Then cut into thick slices.

3. Remove the legs from the pan and keep them in a warm oven. Remove some of the fat from the frying pan, then add the potatoes. Fry them until they are browned on each side. (If you want to make Perigord style potatoes, add some garlic and lots of parsley. We didn’t get to try this, but our B&B host told us it was amazing, so that is how I’ll try it next time).

4. In another pan, heat a tablespoon or so of butter, then add the zucchini slices. Brown them slightly on each side, then add salt and pepper.

5. Cut the tomato into slices and salt and pepper them. If you have some balsamic reduction you can add some of that too.

Plate the duck, potatoes, zucchini and tomatoes and enjoy a gorgeous meal with a glass of red wine. Ours was a Bordeaux.

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