Chick Pea & Quinoa Soup

It's that time of year again when soup is- and should be- a mainstay in everyone's diet. It's quick and easy to make, warming and filling, and just plain yummy. Soups in general are one of those things that I don't understand why people buy the canned stuff. I mean, it's probably one of the easiest things to make and is definitely one of the most flexible "recipes" to play with... you can make as much or as little as you like, and it usually holds up well as leftovers.

Chick Pea & Quinoa Soup

Ingredients:
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 sm. onion, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
2 med. carrots, diced
1 tsp. herbes de Provence
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper, to taste
2 Tbs. tomato paste (feel free to use any other form of tomatoes; I've made this soup with diced tomatoes which turned out quite well)
1/2 cup quinoa
1/4 cup red lentils *optional
1 (14-ounce) can chick peas, drained & rinsed
2" piece of Parmesan rind
2 cups veggie broth (feel free to use chicken broth if you're so inclined, also feel free to use more liquid- I like a thicker finished soup)
1 cup butternut squash, diced
1 sm. bunch of kale, shredded

Directions:
In a large pot over medium heat, saute the onion/celery/carrots in olive oil until slightly soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add in all of the spices and tomato paste, stirring to coat, and continue to cook for another minute before adding the quinoa, red lentils (if using), chick peas, Parmesan, and broth. Simmer over medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes before adding in the butternut squash and kale. (Note: I like to wait to add these so they retain some shape and color in the finished soup, but by all means, add them with all the other vegs if you'd prefer.) Continue to simmer until the quinoa has bloomed, and the kale has wilted down, another 10 minutes or so. Fish out the bay leaf and Parmesan rind before serving.

Enjoy!

Caponata

Caponata is this awesome Sicilian eggplant dish which, basically, is a cooked vegetable salad. Traditionally, the eggplant is fried first, then stewed in a sweet/sour/spicy sauce (otherwise known as agrodolce) with celery; that's the recipe at it's most basic. From all of the reading I've done, it seems that different areas have different variations on the dish which is part of the reason I love it so much... it lends itself beautifully to experimentation. This version happens to be MY favorite way to prepare it, but again, it's such a forgiving dish and you can adapt it to your individual tastes so easily. Plus, the cooking method is pretty easy to change up as well; I prefer to roast my eggplant instead of frying it (uses so much less oil that way!).

Caponata

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, diced into 1-1.5" cubes
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 small onion, diced (I like using shallots here, but didn't have any on hand this time)
2 ribs of celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbs. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. dried basil
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
generous pinch of red pepper flakes (of course you can use more, but I've made this dish too hot before and considering it tastes better the longer it sets, consider that the heat level increases the longer it sets)
salt & pepper, to taste
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 medium yellow squash, diced
1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes (you can really use any form of tomato here- and I have- but I have to admit I really liked the consistency of using the crushed)
1 cup broth (veggie or chicken, whatever floats your boat)
3 Tbs. red wine vinegar (use more for a tangier/more sour sauce, or less if you'd rather tone it down)
1 Tbs. brown sugar (again, use more/less as you like to suit your own tastes)
1/4 cup raisins (traditionally, golden raisins are used, but it really doesn't make a difference)
1 Tbs. capers, drained (this is another traditional ingredient, but I don't always have them on hand- it tastes fine without them)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray, spread out the cubed eggplant, and either spritz with more cooking spray or drizzle with some olive oil. Sprinkle on salt & pepper, then bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, stirring at least once, until eggplant is soft and light golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium-low heat, cook the onion, celery, carrots, and red peppers in olive oil until slightly softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add in all of the spices, stirring to coat, before dropping in the squash and zucchini. Cook for another 1-2 minutes until the spices are very fragrant, then add in the tomato puree, broth, red wine vinegar, and sugar. Continue to simmer over medium-low heat, until the vegs are softened but not complete mush, about 15-20 minutes. About this time, the eggplant should be ready to come out of the oven and can be added into the stew along with the raisins and capers. If it seems a little too dry after adding the eggplant, you can always add in more broth or even a splash of water to give it room to groove. Depending on what consistency you're after, you can continue to simmer the stew for another 10-20 minutes until the vegs and eggplant have cooked down to practically nothing; or you can shut off the heat, clamp on a lid, and let it cool at this point which is what I do. The eggplant will absorb all that yummy sauce while retaining some of it's texture, the raisins will plump up, and the longer you let it sit, the better it gets. Serve it at room temperature, hot, or cold- it's damn good however you eat it. Serve it as a side dish, over pasta, or my personal favorite is to eat it with meatballs or Italian sausages. This freezes beautifully... if you actually have any leftover. ;)

Enjoy!

Veg(etari)an Red Lentil & Tomato Soup with Kale

A far cry from my mother's bland lentil soup, this red lentil soup has become one of my favorites to make. I keep the spices fairly subtle, but feel free to boost the amounts as you like. Also, I've tried adding spinach instead of kale, but it just doesn't hold up quite as well.

Veg(etari)an Red Lentil & Tomato Soup with Kale

Ingredients:

chick peas are pretty good with this soup

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 cup butternut squash, diced *optional (I always have this in the freezer so it's easy to throw in and I like the color and sweetness it adds to the soup)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. curry powder
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup of red lentils
1 (15-ounce) can of tomatoes with the juice (dealers choice on whole vs diced- soup gets puréed so it doesn't really matter)
4-6 cups veggie stock (chicken stock is good too, if you don't care about it being vegan/vegetarian) *the amount of liquid you use depends on how thick you want the soup to be- use more for a looser consistency, less for a thicker one
salt to taste
1 big bunch of kale, torn

Directions:
In a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, sautée the vegs and spices in olive oil until fragrant and slightly softened, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in the lentils and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add in the tomatoes with their juice as well as the stock (I usually go with 4 - 4 1/2  cups for a thicker soup- it's easy to add more liquid if it's too thick), raise the temperature to bring to a boil, then drop the heat once more to a simmer and cook, slightly covered, for 20-25 minutes or until the lentils and vegs are tender. Remove from the heat and fish out the bay leaf.

Purée the soup using an immersion blender (one of my all time favorite kitchen tools!) or, if you're not lucky enough to have one of these nifty gadgets, use a blender or food processor and carefully purée it in batches. (Just remember that hot liquids can explode out of your blender if you put too much in and don't allow the steam to escape... um, not that I would know that first hand or anything...)

Once the soup is puréed to your desired consistency (you can always add in some more liquid at this point if it's too thick), add in salt to taste as well as the kale. Return to a low heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes or so, just until the kale has wilted and softened, but remains green. This soup is fantastic as is, but feel free to add in some chick peas for another hit of protein, and maybe garnish with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt or sour cream. It freezes beautifully if you actually have leftovers.

Enjoy!

Quinoa & Chick Pea Salad

Another no-recipe recipe coming at you... the beauty of this particular dish is that you can use whatever fresh produce you have on hand and make as much or as little as you want. (I made enough for 1-2 servings, depending on whether you count it as a side-dish or entree.) This "recipe" lends itself beautifully to swap outs so you can make it with just about anything in your pantry if you don't like quinoa: couscous, bulgar wheat, wheat berries, barley, brown rice, or any short cut pasta.

Quinoa & Chick Pea Salad

Ingredients:
quinoa
cooking liquid of choice (water, vegetable stock, chicken stock... whatever floats your boat)
carrot, diced
shallot, diced
cucumber, diced
roasted red pepper, diced
cherry tomatoes, diced
chick peas, drained and rinsed
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar
any combination of fresh/dry herbs (I used parsley, thyme, basil, pinch of oregano)
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
In an appropriately sized pot, cook the quinoa in your liquid of choice, adding the carrots about half through the cooking time. (For my single entree serving, I used 1/4 cup quinoa + 1/2 cup veg stock.)

Meanwhile, combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. (I like to make my vinaigrette with 1 part vinegar to 2 parts oil.) Stir in the quinoa once it's absorbed all of the liquid and then cooled slightly. Finish with fresh herbs and enjoy at room temperature or, if you have the patience to wait, it's even better after it's been refrigerated for a couple of hours.

Enjoy!

Simple Carrot Cupcakes

Although I remember carrot cake being my dad's favorite kind of cake and the one he requested for his birthday every year (my mother actually made cakes from scratch for family birthdays), I was never a fan of it myself... not even the cream cheese frosting that my finicky sister liked to scrape off by the fingerful. The few times I tasted carrot cake as an adult- in a bid to expand my culinary palate, so to speak- I just wasn't a fan of the cloying sweetness coupled with spice that seemed to overwhelm the natural sweetness of the star ingredient. That being said, since tomorrow is Easter and I have to work, I decided to tackle the recipe myself so I could tweak it more to my taste... which doesn't include raisins, pineapple, or coconut. AND, the only nuts are the few that I sprinkled on top. Also, instead of making a big cake, I decided to make individual cupcakes to share with my co-workers.

Simple Carrot Cupcakes

Ingredients:
3/4 cup AP flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups shredded carrots (and no, I didn't bother to peel them first, just scrubbed 'em)

cream cheese frosting (recipe to follow... or you could cheat and use canned frosting... I'm not judging)
1 Tbs. walnuts, finely chopped (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by spraying with non-stick spray and lining with paper cups.

In a medium bowl, whisk (or sift) together the flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients. Dump in the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick blah blah blah. Cool the cupcakes in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, slather on the cream cheese frosting and top with a sprinkle of nuts if desired.

Cream Cheese Frosting: (whip the following ingredients together until light and fluffy)
4 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature (I used neufchatel instead of the full-fat version)
1 Tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar

Enjoy!