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Cauliflower, Leek and White Bean Soup

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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Potato, Leek and Kale Soup

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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.

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Split Pea, Barley and Spinach Soup

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Anyone else need a bit of a reset to their digestive system this month? My consumption of cookies in December was a bit over the top. Well, more than a bit, but never mind. Let’s look forward, to this Split Pea, Barley and Spinach Soup.

This soup is a body-cleansing powerhouse. A mere 1/4 cup of green split peas contains 12 grams of both fibre and protein. Barley rings in at 8 grams of fibre and 6 grams of protein per 1/4 cup. Make sure you buy pot barley and not pearl barley. Pot barley is not hulled, meaning it still has the outer layer and is considered a whole grain. I suggest cooking the barley separate from the soup, and mixing it in at the end, so that it does not overcook. You want a bit of chew to your barley.

This soup also contains an entire 5-ounce box of spinach. In addition to the nutrients spinach provides, it also helps the split pea soup have a prettier green colour. Although, I will admit to a bit of editing to the green colour of this soup.

Leeks, carrots and celery form the base of this soup. I used vegetable broth, but chicken stock could also be used. I spiced things up a bit with some red pepper flakes, thyme and bay leaves. I like to finish the soup with a drizzle of yogurt and a sprinkle of crispy fried shallots, entirely optional, but very delicious.

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Rigatoni with Spicy Sausage and Roasted Tomatoes

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It’s only mid-October, and already I’m missing those sweet local farmer’s market tomatoes. It’s going to be a long winter!

When I’m craving that sweet summer tomato taste, roasting little grape or cherry tomatoes is the next best thing. Roasting caramelized the tomatoes and brings out their inherent sweetness and can mask any bitterness.

This pasta dish comes together in less than 30 minutes. Start with tossing halved little tomatoes with honey, olive oil, garlic salt and pepper and get them into a hot oven for about 15 minutes. While they’re roasting, remove the meat from the sausage casing and start browning it up in a skillet. To keep things vegetarian, I used Beyond Meat Spicy Italian Sausage. It is plant based, but so closely resembles the real thing, in both taste and texture, it’s amazing.

Put on a big pot of water to boil. Add a bit of tomato paste to the browned sausage and a few cups of jarred tomato sauce. I love Rao’s marinara sauce. They sell it at Loblaws now! Just be sure to pick a sauce with no added sugar. Simmer the sauce while the noodles cook. Save about 1/2 a cup of the starchy pasta water before draining.

Add drained pasta and roasted tomatoes to the sauce. Mix well and stir in some of the reserved pasta water to bring the sauce together. Transfer to a platter and add a few spoonfuls of ricotta. Sprinkle with parmesan and fresh basil. Close your eyes and imagine it’s still summer. You’re welcome.

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Blistered Tomato and Spaghetti Caprese

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It’s only March and I’m already craving summer tomatoes. If you’re impatient like me, roast up a sheet pan of grape or cherry tomatoes and toss it with some pasta and fresh mozzarella. Close your eyes and pretend summer is here.

Treat the tomatoes with a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil, some salt and a hit of red pepper flakes. Roast in a hot oven for 15 minutes. Once the tomatoes start to burst and release their juices, remove from oven.

After cooking the spaghetti, I tossed it with a bit of tomato sauce. I love Rao’s. They don’t add any sugar or other sweeteners so it tastes like real tomatoes. It’s widely available in the U.S. In Canada, I buy it online. I also like to add about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar for a hit of acidity.

Finish with some fresh mozzarella and basil. This will tide you over until real summer tomatoes arrive.

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Spiced Salmon with Pomegranate Raita

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Dinner inspiration… the struggle is real. You’d think that as a food blogger, I cook something new and exciting for dinner every night. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just ask my husband. I have a regular rotation that I cycle through. Some of my tried and true favourites include Chipotle Lime Chicken, Maple Pecan Salmon, Charred Broccoli and Israeli Couscous Salad, and Cauliflower and Cheddar Stuffed Potatoes

On days when I have a photo shoot, the kitchen looks like a tornado went through it. The food has been thoroughly manhandled by me trying to get it to look just right for the photo. It has been sprayed with oil for shine, pinned with T pins to hold things in place and sprinkled so heavily with flaky sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper for texture, that it is no longer appetizing. On those days, dinner is fried eggs topped with tomatoes and Gruyere cheese.

I love it when friends invite me to dinner. I get new ideas about what to cook, plus, salad always taste better when someone else makes it. On New Years Day we went to visit our friends The Grizzlies. Mrs. Grizzly whipped up this spiced salmon for lunch. Garam masala, smoked paprika and cumin combine for a flavourful rub.

The spices are mixed with honey, olive oil and lemon juice and the salmon is roasted for about 15 minutes. I threw some broccolini on the sheet pan as well. Cauliflower or Brussels sprouts would also be delicious.

Mrs Grizzly served this with a cilantro salsa, but I had a surplus of pomegranates wilting in the fridge, so I whipped up a pomegranate yogurt raita sauce. Really fresh and yummy with the spiced salmon. I think I’ll be adding this salmon dish to our regular dinner rotation.

Leave me a comment and let me know what’s on rotation in your kitchen. I’m curious!

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White Bean and Kale Soup

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Does anyone else suffer from “soup fatigue”? I’m talking about that feeling of losing interest after a few spoonfuls. I get bored by the flavour of every mouthful being exactly the same as the last. Not so with this soup. It’s got it all going on in terms of both flavour and texture.

I’ll warn you right now that this is not one of those soups you can throw together in 30 minutes. It calls for dried white kidney beans, so you will need to soak them for about 8 hours before proceeding with making the soup. Once the beans are soaked, they are cooked with onions, carrots and celery, which infuses the beans with great flavour. Plus, as a bonus, you use that flavourful bean cooking liquid in the soup. If you’re pressed for time, you could use canned beans, but you won’t get the same depth of flavour that cooking the beans yourself develops.

To add even more flavour to the soup I added a rind of parmesan cheese to the simmering pot. I keep the rinds in the freezer in a ziploc bag. They infuse the soup with a big boost of umami. Both regular and sweet potatoes are added along with a big handful of deep green kale.

While the soup is simmering, make a batch of coarse seasoned bread crumbs as a garnish. They add a welcome crunch to the creamy soup.

Click here to print recipe for White Bean and Kale Soup

Zucchini Halloumi Skewers with Lemon Parsley Dressing

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I have never understood the appeal of raw zucchini. Watery and flavourless are not attributes I look for in my food. But, put zucchini on the grill, and it transforms into something very special. The heat of the BBQ evaporates the moisture, and, as the zucchini becomes charred, the natural sugar in the zucchini caramelizes and becomes intensely flavourful. Bland becomes bright.

You’ll need to slice the zucchini very thin for these skewers, about 1/8 of an inch thick. If you have stellar knife skills, go ahead and do it by hand, but if you have a mandoline, now is the time to bust it out. It slices the zucchini quickly and very evenly.

Now, for the star of these skewers, halloumi cheese. It’s a semi-firm brined cheese, traditionally made from sheep’s and goat’s milk. Originally made in Greece, Turkey and Cypress, it’s now also made in North America, often from cow’s milk. What makes halloumi unique is the way it’s made. The curds are cooked at a very high temperature for at least an hour. This creates a cheese with a rubbery, semi-firm texture. When you bite into halloumi, it “squeaks” between your teeth. So much fun to eat!

Halloumi has a high melting point, making it ideal for frying or grilling. The exterior develops a golden crust, and the inside becomes soft, but never melts completely.

Before they hit the grill, give them a light brushing with some good olive oil, and a light sprinkle of salt and pepper. I served them with a parsley-lemon dressing which adds a welcome hit of bright freshness and mild jolt of acid.

I’m excited for you to try making these. They’re bound to become a summer favourite.

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Chicken Marbella Reboot

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Last week I had a craving for Chicken Marbella. If you are of a certain vintage, you will know exactly the dish I am talking about. Created, in 1982, by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins, of The Silver Palate fame, Chicken Marbella appeared at every dinner party I ever attended in the 80’s. Chockful of prunes, olives and capers, it was considered very “gourmet” and a bit exotic for the times.

I pulled out my well-worn cookbook, and read through the recipe, to make sure I had all the ingredients. I was shocked to disover that it called for adding a 1/2 cup of brown sugar to the marinade! Clearly my tastebuds (as well as my skin) have matured since the 80’s. I would never consider adding that much sugar to a chicken marinade today. This dish clearly needed a reboot.

I ditched the brown sugar for a modest amount of honey, just 2 Tablespoons. Instead of dried prunes, I opted for dried apricots for their vibrant colour and dried cherries, for their tart flavour. I kept the olives and capers, and, while I was searching for the capers, I saw a jar of sun-dried tomatoes, another blast from my past, lurking in the back of my fridge. Sun-dried tomatoes were ubiquitous in the 80’s and 90’s. We overused them and they became shunned by chefs everywhere. But, in defense of sun-dried tomatoes, when used sparingly, they can add a certain savory sweetness that is welcome in many braised dishes.

To boost the flavour profile further, I added anchovy paste (an umami bomb) and a generous pinch of Aleppo pepper for some heat.

This reboot did not disappoint. Packed with flavour and not too sweet, it satisfied my craving. Sometimes you can go back again!

Click here to print recipe for Chicken Marbella Reboot.


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