Like mom used to make

Flat Italian Green Beans with tomato sauce

2010-08-15T12:23:00.000-07:00

I was out walking my dog this morning in the hydro field behind my house where the city rents allotments to gardeners and the same gentleman who keeps giving gigantic zucchinis gave me a pound of Italian flat green beans.

So this is what I came up with.

Red onion
5-7 cloves of garlic
olive oil
1 pound of flat Italian green beans
tomato, fresh and diced
tomato puree (if I had more fresh tomato I would have use fresh ones)
oregano, salt, pepper
Parmesan cheese

I washed all the beans and cut the ends off. (I use to leave the one end on but someone once made fun of my beans with the little pointy end so I caved into the cooked grean bean esthetics of my fussy Iranian girlfriend and now I remove both ends.) I cut the flat beans into two inch pieces.

I brought a large casserole with salted water to a boil and tossed them in for 8 minutes (until tender). I drained them and reserved the liquid for a future vegetable soup.

In a skillet with olive oil, I fried 7-8 whole cloves of garlic until golden and removed them to cool. I added one large red Spanish onion to the garlicky oil after chopping and fried until translucent. Since I didn't have very many fresh tomatoes, I added some tomato puree and one large chopped fresh tomato to the garlic and onions. I added salt and pepper fried for 3 minutes. I then added the drained green beans and mixed over low heat. I transferred everything back into the large casserole. I added some of the bean water to make them more saucy. They don't need a lot of cooking, just enough to marry the flavours.

I served them with some grated parmesan cheese. Ahhhh heavenly and to die for. I just need some crusty Italian bread to sop up the tomato sauce and it will be perfection.

Zucchini & Carrot soup

2010-07-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

There are garden allotments behind my house where people rent a space and plant lovely gardens. Since I walk my dog along the roadway there and talk to all the people I meet, I sometimes get gifts of vegetables. Today I received a huge zucchini.

I washed and removed the ends and diced the entire courgette. I filled two small freezer bags with half of the zucchini and used the other half in this soup.

1 clove of garlic minced
1 large red onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
3 cups of zucchini, diced
1 large apple, diced
curry powder, 1 tablespoon
Knors soup base 1-1/2 tablespoon
olive oil

In a dutch oven, add olive oil.
Fry the minced garlic, add the onion
Stir and add the carrot
Add the zucchini and apple
Mix together, add 8 cups of waters
add the Knoors soup base and curry powder
Bring to a boil and stir for 2 minutes uncovered.
Lower the heat to a low simmer and cover.
Simmer for 25 minutes.

In small batches, puree the soup.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 2 minutes.

Serve with parsley or cilantro. It's fantastic!

Potato and Corn Fritata

2010-06-26T15:52:00.000-07:00

Since I'm using whatever I have on hand, I came up with another recipe with leftovers. I had three pieces of corn on the cob from last night. I removed the kernels from the cob. Boiled three red potatoes in their skins. Drained and peeled them. Cut into them into small cubes.

I took 4 eggs and beat them in a bowl, grated some Parmesan cheese into the eggs, added 1/4 cup of cheddar. You can use low fat cheese, I used what I had on hand.

In a fry pan, added two chopped cloves of garlic, I had some leftover chopped onion in the freezer. I fried this a bit in olive oil. Added the corn and potatoes to mix them together with black pepper, sea salt, cumin. I poured in the eggs and cheese mixture with chopped parsley and quickly realized the fry pan was too big to make a nice pie shape so I transferred everything into a loaf tin and baked at 400 Celsius for 30 minutes.

Let it cool down and cut into slices! Great for breakfast or with the Tuscan bean soup. It needs some spice... maybe some hot peppers?

Tuscan bean soup

2010-06-26T15:40:00.000-07:00

I made this out of whatever I had in the fridge.

garlic, two cloves finely chopped.
one small shallot (that's all I had)
chopped yellow pepper
chopped celery
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1 cup of dried navy beans
1 can of rinsed kidney beans
3 cups of water
2 tablespoons of Knorr's vegetable soup base
black pepper
cumin, paprika

In a dutch oven, add some olive oil. Add minced garlic. One minute later add onion. Then add yellow pepper and celery. Add cumin, paprika. Fry a little bit. Add crushed tomatoes and dried beans with 3 cups of water. Bring to boil and then turn down to low. Cover and turn down to simmer and let this cook until the white beans are soft but firm. Add kidney beans and add fresh chopped parsley at the end. This a very thick soup that's very filling, full of fibre and protein. I love it. Even though it's summer, it's perfect for lunch or dinner with a fritata.

Hummus

2010-06-26T15:30:00.000-07:00

I whipped up some hummus today to eat with pita bread, carrots and celery.

I rinsed one can of chick peas and placed them in my blender. I added 1/2 of water, the juice of one lemon, 4 tablespoons of tahini, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, two cloves of garlic, paprika, salt, black pepper and chopped parsley. Coriander might be better but I used some of my fresh parsley right out of my herb garden.

Then I blended it until creamy. Yummy! I have tons of hummus to last the week or in case I have company tomorrow.

Walnut-Banana Date Loaf

2010-05-21T18:54:00.000-07:00

I'm never going to get that bikini body... not by summer. Not if I keep this up.

Ingredients

1 cup dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup margarine
1 cup boiling water
1 flour
3/4 oatmeal
1/4 bran
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
1/2 banana
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of allspice

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine dates, brown sugar, margarine and boiling water. Let stand 15 minutes. Stir in flour, oatmeal, bran, cinnamon, allspice, egg, soda and vanilla. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Let cool.

Spinach & Orange Lentil Soup

2010-04-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

I was preparing to make my usual green lentil soup when my daughter looked at some spinach on the counter and said "We need some iron!"

So this is what I came up with. Not sure if there's much iron left but it was yummy.

Ingredients:

garlic - 2 cloves, crushed
onion - 1 medium diced
carrots - 1-1/2 cups, chopped
orange lentils - 1-1/2 cups, rinsed
spinach - 1 cup of fresh baby spinach
frozen spinach - 1 package, chopped
celery - 2 stalks, washed, chopped

In a dutch oven, add 2 tablespoons of olive olive, turn up the flame.
Add crushed garlic and fry it and then add the chopped onion.
Fry until transparent.
Add chopped carrots and celery, continue to cook together over medium heat.
Add 3 cups of water, add ground black pepper.
Okay, okay, okay, I also added Knorr's vegetable stock powder. Yes, I know it probably has too much sodium but it's better than canned soups. Geeez.)

Add lentils and cook together for 5 minutes.
Add frozen spinach and cumin. Cook for 30 minutes.
Remove 2 cups of the soup and blend it and pour it back in.
Add fresh spinach two minutes before serving.

Serve with warm whole wheat pita bread,
spicy and garlic hummus
and a dish of fresh red peppers slices and carrots.

Beet and Carrot Soup

2010-01-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 large white onion, diced
6 medium sized beets, peeled and chopped
4 carrots, peels and diced
3 tablespoons of chopped broad leaf celery
tablespoon of lemon juice
2 tbs of olive oil
5 cups of broth

In a dutch oven:

add olive oil and fry garlic
add onion and fry while stirring until carmelized
add some water to deglaze the sides and bottom
add 5 cups of broth ... or water with bouillon cube :)
add beets and bring to a boil and cook for 15 mins
add carrots and cook until a little
ladle into a blender and grate and then blend
return to the dutch oven and add lemon juice, savory, pepper
add chopped parsley and simmer for 15 minutes

Serve with pumpernickel bread and
add a dollop of sour cream or yoghurt to the soup!

Enjoy!

Carrot and Tarragon soup

2009-12-27T18:48:00.000-08:00

I made this soup the lazy way using the blender to chop ingredients.

In a dutch oven:

Add olive oil, 3 tsps
Add 4 cloves of garlic, minced
Add 1 large white onion chopped

Add tomato paste 3 tbs. and the following herbs and spices:
thyme, 1 tsp
savory, 1 tsp
paprika, tsp
salt to taste
fresh ground, black pepper
Cook with the oil, garlic, onion, and add tomato paste and deglaze the pan with a little water.

In the blender, finely chop
1-1/2 cups of carrots
1 cup of kale
Add 3 cups of water to assist the blender process. Add this mixture to the onion mixture in the dutch oven. Bring to a low boil and lower to simmer.

Add 1 cup of washed red lentils and drained.
Simmer for 45 minutes, add 3 tbs of fresh tarragon added at the end.

Broiled Salmon with Tarragon sauce

2009-12-27T18:32:00.000-08:00

This is for my daughter who requested salmon for Christmas day after enjoying a wonderful Christmas eve turkey dinner with her uncle who celebrated his first Christmas with his partner and their newborn baby. Tomorrow she'll have another turkey dinner so broiled salmon will be a nice break.

Two large pieces of fresh salmon.
Rinse and pat dry with paper towels.

Preheat the broiler of the oven.

In a small saucepan, melt 1/2 cup of butter. Add fresh lemon juice and lots of fresh ground black pepper, some salt. Melt and set aside.

In a baking dish, pour some melted sauce on the bottom. Slide the fish in and flip over and cook on the skin side. This one didn't have skin. Brush with buttery sauce.

Place in the oven and broil until done. Sorry it depends on the thickness of the fillet. It doesn't take too long and the fish will be light medium brown on top from the broiler and a bit glazed. Add finely minces fresh tarragon to the sauce and pour over salmon.

Serve with mixed green salad with caperberries, with basmati rice, Parisienne potatoes with asparagus and rosemary.

Spicy carrot and barley soup

2009-11-26T15:33:00.000-08:00

This is another one of my spicy favourites -- perfect for a chilly day with a slice of crusty whole grain bread or roll.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 clove of garlic (optional)
3 cups of finely chopped carrots
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1/4 cup of pearl barley
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chili powder (optional)
4 cups of vegetable stock
sea salt
ground black pepper
fresh parsley to garnish

Preparation:

Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven
Add the garlic first and then the onion cooking for 5 mins.
Add the carrots, celery, barley and spices, cooking for 1 minute.
Stir in the stock.

Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1-1/4 hours until the barley is cooked.

Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped fresh wide leaf parsley.

Variations:

You can add chickpeas.
You can omit the barley and cook for 45 minutes then puree in a blender until smooth.
Instead of onions, you can use 1 large leek.
Or you can use parsnips instead of carrots.

You can freeze this soup up to 3 months. Defrost and reheat gently.

Lentil Soup

2009-11-17T17:55:00.000-08:00

Lentil soup is one of my favourites. It was never part of my mother's cuisine. I first tasted it in Greece as an adult, then I prepared it with one of my girlfriends from Spain and later with my Iranian mother-in-law. It's so easy and there are so many different variations from around the world using either red, green or brown lentils. I never thought to use red lentils until a Turkish friend told me that's how she makes it. Lentils are rich in nutrients (protein, B vitamins and iron) and they make a great addition to any soup and of course as the top note.

This is today's Lentil soup:

Ingredients

3 cloves of garlic (peeled, crushed)
1 large onion (chopped into small pieces)
3 stalks of celery (chopped)
1 red pepper (cored, seed removed, chopped)
2 potatoes (peeled, large cubes)
1 cup of red lentils (sorted, rinsed and drained)
1 cup of brown lentils (sorted, watch for tiny pebbles, rinsed and drained)
sea salt (to taste)
black pepper (1 tsp)
cumin (1 tsp)
Italian seasoning (a pince)
olive oil (enough to sweat the onions and garlic)
5 cup of water

With the dutch oven, add some oil, heat to fry garlic and onion.
Add chopped celery and red pepper.
Add water, salt, pepper, cumin.
Add brown lentils and cook.
Add potatoes, Italian seasoning and red lentils.

Sometimes I add some tomato paste. (I like the colour.)
Sometimes I add spinach and add cumin, tumeric, chili powder, paprika and make it spicier ranging from Near Eastern to Indian.
Sometimes I add carrots and kale.

Be creative, make it your own.

Navy bean soup with kale

2009-11-14T16:07:00.000-08:00

I'm not a gourmet cook by any means but my family and friends generally like most of what I make and share with them. Soups and stews are very popular in my home. Easy to make and comforting on a cold day or when you're feeling under the weather and so convenient as you can freeze servings for those days when you don't feel like cooking anything at all.

I found this soup on the internet and adapted it, credit should be given for this one: My Recipes.com

Navy bean soup with kale

Ingredients:
roasted garlic
1 large white onion chopped
5 stalks of celery, washed and ends removed, chopped.
3 cup of navy beans
tomato paste
olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
dried or preferably fresh rosemary
1 bunch of kale, washed and stems removed, chopped finely or torn apart.
8 cups of water

Roast the full head of garlic (yields approx. 10 cloves) in olive oil for 45 mins. at 400C.
Using a dutch oven, add olive oil and fry onions until they start to caramelize (turning translucent and browning)
Add garlic
Add chopped celery
Fry for a couple minutes
Add salt, pepper, rosemary
Add beans and water and some tomato paste (optional)
Cook until beans are soft. (60 minutes)
Add kale towards the end.

This will be amazing and my daughter Shirin is going to love it.

Dried beans

2009-11-14T15:50:00.000-08:00

Since I'm a vegetarian, I love legumes. They add protein to my diet and turn a soup into a hearty meal. You can used canned beans that are rinsed and strained; however, I find using dried beans not only more economical but more substantial.

They take more time so you really need several hours to make soup or chili using dried beans. If your in a rush used canned.

To soak dried beans.

I sort my beans on a dinner plate and discard discoloured ones and look for stones. Wash the beans/lentils and drain. Lentils don't require presoaking. Navy beans require a bit of time (an hour), kidney beans should be soaked overnight and I find they require a lot of cooking as well.

The quick soak method.

Cover cleaned and washed beans with 2 inches of water in a dutch oven. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Turn off and soak for 1 hour covered. Discard liquid and drain.

Roasted Garlic

2009-11-14T15:40:00.000-08:00

There's nothing like the taste of garlic and roasted garlic has a different mellower flavour. It's buttery and sweeter, unlike raw garlic.

Turn the oven on to 400 degrees Celsius. Take an entire head of garlic and peel off the outer layer of skin cut off the roots. Wrap it up loosely in a tin-foil "bowl". Add olive oil and close very lightly allowing steam to escape. Place on a cookie sheet or in a ramekin and place in the oven. Roast for approximately 45 minutes.

The aroma of roasting garlic is heavenly. The cloves of garlic easily pop out of their skins and you can dice them finely or pulverize them. This is a great addition to any soup or stew and has a subtle flavour. Sometimes it's the extra little steps you take that add something special to your recipe.

Soup's on!

2009-11-14T15:34:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday and it's a perfect day for making soup. My daughter looked at the empty dutch oven and said "It can't be! Look how clean it is, how empty. You've got to do something about that Mom!" So I decided to make a soup and create a blog for her with recipes so she can continue the tradition of making great homemade soups and stews.