Showing posts with label vegan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vegan. Show all posts

11.05.2014

Simple, Four Ingredient, Buttercup Squash Soup Recipe

Finally the days are cooling off and sweaters, boots and winter gear are slowly finding their way out of storage and onto us.  Chilly nights call for warm, hearty soups and fresh baked bread.  You will not believe how easy and fast this delicious squash soup is to make.  Using 4 simple ingredients and then pureeing the mixture in the blender results in the most rich, velvety, tasty soup.  


Simply halve a buttercup squash (not to be confused with a butternut squash, although that would certainly work, too) and roast face-down in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or until very soft.  At the same time, roast a pan of orange, red and yellow peppers for about an hour or until slightly charred.  When peppers are done, throw them into a paper bag, close bag and let sit for at least 10 minutes.  This will make removing the skin very easy.  After removing the skin and seeds/innards, throw the squash and peppers into a blender and add 4 tablespoons of butter.  Stir butter until it melts.  Lastly, add 2 cups of milk or cream and puree until you reach a soup consistency.  Add more liquid as needed.  Soup is now ready to eat.  If the soup has cooled too much from the cool milk, warm soup on the stove.  You could also make this soup vegan by omitting the butter and adding vegetable stock instead of milk/cream.  Add croutons, chopped nuts, seeds or Crème fraîche to soup. Enjoy!

6.24.2014

The Ultimate 10 Minute Hummus


I know what you are thinking. You have made homemade hummus before and it always turns out grainy. Or hummus tastes better store bought. Nonsense!! Not only is this recipe super easy and fast (10 minutes, tops) it turns out rich and velvety. How, you ask? The microwave! Nuking the undrained chickpeas with their skins on and with the garlic cloves makes for an amazing hummus. You will want this in your party repertoire to impress all your people! I am not kidding. Enjoy!


***If you have extra time and want to bring this hummus up to an eleven, take a square of aluminum foil, throw some olive oil and 4 cloves of garlic inside it, fold it into a ball and proceed to roast in the oven for 45 minutes on 375. Add this roasted garlic to the hummus instead. Or you could add roasted red peppers, Greek olives, cilantro or roasted jalapenos to the hummus.

8.16.2013

Recipe: Restaurant Soup In Your Home

 
I highly recommend dropping everything to make this rich, velvety soup.  It is very simple to make, but I guarantee the taste of it will blow you away!  I used vegetables I had in my fridge/from my garden, but feel free to change up the recipe to whatever vegetables you have on hand.  Now go, get cooking! You have friends who need impressing!
 
 RECIPE:
 
Garlic Infused Olive Oil
3 Small Tomatoes
5 Carrots
1 Small Green Pepper
1 Sweet Vidalia Onion
Herbs
Seasonings
Butter (optional)
Cream (optional)
Freshly Grated Parmesan (optional) 
Water
 
1. Heat a generous amount of garlic infused oil on medium heat in a Le Creuset pot or a sturdy kettle. Basically, you want enough oil to cover the entire surface of your pot. If you don't have garlic oil on hand you can add some chopped garlic to the oil, just make sure it doesn't get very brown or it will turn bitter. Add some fresh or dried herbs to the oil until aromatic.
2. While the oil is heating dice all your vegetables.
3. Add the onion/pepper/carrot mixture.  Add salt/pepper/seasonings of your choice. Sauté until onions are translucent + brown. Add a dab of butter to mixture. Add tomatoes. Sauté all ingredients for a good 5 minutes. 
4. Add enough water to cover all the vegetables + let simmer until all vegetables are soft.  Approximately 15 minutes. Then remove from heat + let cool a bit.
5. Add soup mixture to a blender. CAUTION, mixture is still hot so don't cover the blender completely.  Either use towel to cover the blender or just set the top loosely over blender so you don't get sprayed.  Puree until well blended. Add a bit of water as needed to get a runny applesauce consistency. Also, add more seasoning if needed.
6. Strain soup through a cheesecloth.  This is what makes it SO velvety. YUM.
7. At this point I added some freshly grated Parmesan cheese + a bit of cream. I think this makes it go all the way up to an eleven.  I am not kidding this soup is fantastic.
8. Enjoy.
 
***NOTE: This recipe only makes 1 larger bowl of soup.  If you are making this for a bunch of people, I recommend using 5 large, ripe tomatoes, 1 pound of carrots, 2 large peppers of any color (mixed colors), 1 large sweet Vidalia onion & more of everything else, as needed.