Tag Archives: What’s for dinner

Cauliflower, Leek and White Bean Soup

While I don’t practice “Dry January”, I am a big proponent of “Gentle January”. I do not rush boldly into the new year, filled with resolutions and plans. I prefer to ease in 2024 slowly. I struggle with transitions and I like to take my time adjusting to a new year.

This soup is the perfect way to ease into 2024. It’s a lighter twist on a classic Leek and Potato Soup (vichyssoise). I have replaced the potato with cauliflower.

But you won’t miss the richness of the original soup because I have added white beans for body and protein. I like to roast the cauliflower to get that caramelized flavour. Cauliflower is a blank, bland canvas, so it can really take some bold seasoning. I went with Aleppo pepper (a fruitier, more gentle heat than red pepper flakes), and some earthy cumin. Since this is a pureed soup, save a few of the prettier roasted florets to garnish the top of the soup after roasting.

Leeks add a mild, delicate flavour to the soup, much less intense than regular onions. I love the flavour.

Cleaning leeks can be a bit tricky if you have never done it before. They are usually quite sandy, as they grow below ground. I find it’s easier to slice the leeks into thin slices and then submerge the slices in cold water to remove the sand. Check out how I do it in the video.

I garnished the soup with some roasted cauliflower, toasted pumpkin seeds and some chive oil. I have included the recipe for making your own. It’s such a pretty colour and really finishes off the soup. If you don’t feel like making it, a drizzle of some good quality extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of fresh chives would also be delicious. Not optional is the final mix in of a tablespoon of sherry or red wine vinegar. It really wakes up the soup.

Click here to print recipe for Cauliflower, Leek and White Bean Soup.

Winter Squash Salad with Waffled Halloumi Croutons and Pomegranate Vinaigrette

After my successful venture with Croffles (Croissant-Waffles), I started to look at other ingredients in my fridge with the same lens. Will it waffle, I wondered. It seems like such a shame to let my waffle iron sit in the cupboard gathering dust, only to pull it out twice a year to make waffles.

I had a package of halloumi cheese about to expire so I decided to experiment. I heated the waffle iron to medium and sprayed it lightly with cooking spray. I tried a range of thicknesses and settled on 1/2 inch slices. Because halloumi is so firm, it waffled beautifully. I achieved a burnished golden brown colour and crispy edges, with that tell-tale squeak in the centre. Resounding success.

I decided to build a winter salad around these “halloumi croutons”. Check out this video to see how it all came together.

I started with butternut squash. Seasoned with salt, smoked paprika and a good drizzle of olive oil I roasted it until tender and browned. I like to cut the squash into small pieces to maximize the crispy surface area. Pro tip: Use a grapefruit spoon to scoop out the seeds and stringy fibres in the squash. The serrated edge of the spoon is the perfect tool for this.

For greens I decided on a mix of baby kale, micro arugula, and shredded raw Brussels sprouts. Arugula, frisée lettuce, radicchio, and Tuscan kale would all be good choices. You need a fairly bitter, assertive lettuce/green to counterbalance the sweet squash and mild, salty cheese.

If you have a food processor with a slicing disc, it produces julienned Brussels sprouts in seconds. If not, with a sharp knife and some patience, and it can be done by hand.

Every salad needs crunch. This one comes from spiced walnuts. If you have never made your own spiced nuts before, it’s quite simple. A lightly beaten egg white acts as the glue to help the spices stick to the nuts. I used a mix of sugar, salt, sumac and a pinch of cayenne. They only take about 12 minutes to toast and they keep for weeks in an airtight container. You can play around with the nuts and spices.

For the dressing, I created a sweet and tangy pomegranate vinaigrette. Pomegranate seeds were the final garnish, twinkling like glittering jewels.

Click here to print recipe for Winter Squash Salad with Waffled Halloumi Croutons and Pomegranate Vinaigrette.

Peach Caprese Panini

While the siren call of apples and pumpkins is getting harder to resist, I’m holding out because my local market is still selling local peaches. This weekend has been just beautiful with temperatures reaching 28°C (that would be 82°F for all my American friends).

A classic Caprese contains tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil. This is my twist on it replacing the tomatoes with fresh peaches. I piled it all onto a Ciabatta loaf and put it in the panini press. I always forget about my panini press. It lives in a cupboard above the fridge, that I can only access with a little stepladder. But really, is there anything more glorious than a pressed sandwich. That crunch on the crust gives way to creamy melty cheese, sweet peaches and tangy basil. The basil we planted at the cottage is still plentiful and verdant.

Watch this video to see how it all comes together.

The smear of pesto really amps up the basil flavour profile. You wouldn’t normally think of pairing peaches and basil, but they are such complementary friends. If you don’t have a panini press, just put the sandwich in a frying pan, cover it with a small plate and weight the whole thing down with a heavy can (like a 28 ounce tin of tomatoes). Or you can cover a brick in foil and use that as a weight right on the sandwich.

I used a ciabatta loaf, but focaccia would also be a great choice. Don’t rush into autumn. Enjoy these last few days of summer.

Click here to print recipe for Peach Caprese Panini.

Provençal Chicken Thighs

I like to think of chicken as a blank canvas and that’s why I find it so exciting to work with. It has a mild flavour that can stand up to almost anything you combine it with.

I decided to go to the South of France this week with Chicken Provençal. Tomatoes, garlic, olives, and capers are the big flavour enhancers here. If you can find some cherry tomatoes on the vine, they make for a gorgeous presentation. I roasted them separately and put them on top of the finished dish. I find that it you cook them with the chicken, they break down too much. My olives of choice are Castelvetrano, which hail from Sicily and are worth seeking out. They are bright green with a meaty buttery flesh. Many specialty stores now stock them in their olive bars and you can find some good jarred ones.

I like to use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs as I think they have the most flavour. You could certainly use chicken breasts, but just make sure you don’t use boneless and skinless. You need the protection that the skin and bones provide, so that they don’t dry out.

Brown the chicken pieces well, to get a nice crispy skin. Then remove the chicken from the pan and add your flavouring ingredients. Garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes, olives and capers figure prominently in this version. I tucked in 2 peeled and quartered onions into the mix as well. Chicken stock and white wine go in next. Then place the chicken pieces back on top, making sure that the liquid only comes about halfway up the height of the chicken. You don’t want to submerge the chicken in liquid and ruin that crispy skin you worked so hard to achieve. Tuck it into the oven to finish cooking.

My twist on this classic dish is to create a “cream” sauce to finish the dish. But, I didn’t use any cream at all to create this velvety smooth sauce. Once the chicken is finished braising, strain the cooking liquid and puree it in the blender with the braised onions. It’s a trick I learned from Food 52 Genius recipes. It creates ta luscious creamy sauce that begs for some crusty bread to sop it up.

I highly suggest you use a digital thermometer to test when the chicken is done. This is my favourite thermometer. A bit of an investment but it lasts for years. It takes all the guess work out of cooking. Chicken breasts are done at 150°F and thighs are most tender if cooked to 195°F. I also use my instant read thermometer for baking bread and cakes. I get perfect results every time.

Potato, Leek and Kale Soup

How are you all doing this month? It’s ok if you’re feeling a little fuzzy, I get it. We’re a year into this pandemic and it seems like it has been forever. I admit I’m nervous about having to re-enter society again. I’m a bit of an introvert and I think that my social skills, meagre at best, have severely declined. Will I be able to make eye contact with my friends again? Will there be awkward silences in our conversations? I don’t have answers to these question, but I do have soup for you.

Although the first day of spring is a few days away, there’s still plenty of soup weather in my future where I live. This soup bridges the gap between winter and spring. Leeks are an early spring vegetable and they have a much milder and sweeter taste than onions. Pairing them with potatoes is a classic preparation, but I wanted to boost the nutrient quotient, so I added kale during the last 5 minutes of cooking time.

I like to puree about 1/3 of the soup and mix it back into the soup. It thickens the soup slightly but you still have a chunky, substantial soup. My favourite part of soup is the toppings. A drizzle of sour cream and handful of fresh chopped dill are a great way to finish this soup. I also prepared some frizzled leeks for a crunchy element. Totally optional, but worth the effort.