Curried Cauliflower Soup

I’m back!  I’ve now officially checked off one of my New Year’s resolutions 
{ blog more } and it’s only day one – yahoo!  If any of your resolutions have to do with eating better, spending less, or shrinking your waistline then this recipe is for you.  I found it in the New York Times.  It sounded both yummy and economical. In my book, that’s a winning combo.

You just need a few simple ingredients – one head of cauliflower, one russet potato, two cloves of garlic, one onion, a little fresh ginger, some chicken stock, curry and cumin powders and some salt.  Plus, it just takes about 10 minutes to put together and 30 minutes to cook.

     

First, just chop up an onion – any kind of onion will do.

Sautee it in a big pot with some olive oil (the real recipe calls for canola, but I used olive) for about 5 minutes until the onions are soft.

Add in the chopped garlic.

And the ginger – I’ve found the easiest way to work with fresh ginger is to use one of these microplane thingies.

Next, you add in your spices and stir it all around for a minute or two.  Finally, you add your chopped cauliflower and potato to the pot.

Last thing to add in is the chicken stock.  I had half a box left so I used that and then 4 cups of water.  You could use all stock or all water (if you want to make this vegetarian).

Put the lid on your pot and let it simmer on medium heat. After 30 – 40 minutes, you whiz it smooth with an immersion blender.  God, I love that thing.

There you go – super simple, yummy and cheap.  Happy 2012, everyone!

Green Curry Chicken

Want to see my latest obsession?  It’s not authentic, but that doesn’t matter – it’s dang good.  I serve my version of Thai Green Curry Chicken with some jasmin rice, and I just can’t get enough of it lately.  Here’s how I make it.

First, I chop up a couple red bell peppers, an onion and an eggplant (yum!) and sautee them in a big pot with 3 tablespoons of canola oil for about five minutes.

Looking good!

Next, add 1 tablespoon of minced ginger, 2 – 3 tablespoons of green curry paste (not the simmering sauce – I had to go around to a few markets before I found the plain green paste), and 1.5 tablespoons of lemon grass puree.  Just mix it into the veggie mixture and let it simmer for about 2 minutes until the flavors really start smelling good.

Next, add two cans of coconut milk – I like the light, fewer calories – and 1 cup of chicken broth.

You can stick with it just like this if you want a vegetarian version, or you can add in some diced boneless chicken thighs or breasts.  I always use about 1 pound of chicken thighs chooped up into half inch pieces.

Simmer the chicken and veggies in the coconut milk and veggie mixture for 25 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently.

After 25 minutes, add 1 – 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.  You’ll first want to mix your cornstarch with some water and then add your little cornstarch slurry to the pot and mix.  If you try to just dump the cornstarch into the pot without mixing it with some water first, you’ll get lumpy goop in your pot. 

To put the finishing touches on the dish, add the juice of two limes and half a cup of chopped basil.

Be careful – it’s addictive!  And it tastes even better the next day. Enjoy!

Recipe Index

I’ve made a few fun updates to the blog and added what I hope will be a helpful little tool – a recipe index. You can get to it by clicking on “Recipe List” at the top of the site or by going to the index page directly.  Happy cooking!

Paula Deen’s Honey Balsamic Green Beans

I will never make greens beans another way again – these are too freakin’ good!  Truth be told, I’ve never made a Paula Deen recipe, and never wanted to before; but when I saw this one it seemed like something that could be really tasty.  And the recipe didn’t call for a pound of butter or 2 cups of mayonnaise like her’s usually do.  🙂

First, wash and snap a bunch of green beans.

Toss them into a pot of boiling water for about 3 – 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute some chopped garlic in olive oil.  I added in a pat of butter as an ode to Miss Paula.

When the garlic is just slightly browned, add in the blanched green beans and some balsamic vinegar and honey.  Yum-o!

Toss together in a medium high skillet for about 5 – 8 minutes to fully cook.

I can’t even tell you how much I love these things! I’ve been snacking on them cold for the past few days, they are that good.  Enjoy!

Ina’s Summer Garden Pasta

I’m totally obsessed with this dish.  It’s so easy to make, super fresh, and is delicious hot or cold.   I’ve made it twice in the last week!   You can pretty much wing it in terms of following the recipe, but if you want to be really precise, here’s the official Ina Summer Garden Pasta recipe.

First, just chop up a bunch of cherry tomatoes.

And a ton of garlic – yum!

Some basil.

Add in some olive oil, salt, pepper and some red pepper flakes.

Toss together and let sit in a bowl on your counter for a while.

When you’re ready to eat it, whip up your favorite pasta — my fave gluten-free brand is this quinoa pasta. So good!

Just dump the bowl of tomato goodness in with your hot and drained pasta when it’s done.  Don’t forget to add a generous amount of parmesan, too.

And you get summer on a plate!

Cliff + the Hosta

This is a tail (ha ha) of a dog and his love of hosta.   It’s the weirdest thing.  Our dog Cliff is obsessed with the stalks of hosta plants.  You’ll find him out there under the leaves munching away.  We can’t for the life of us understand why.  If anyone out there has a clue, definitely let me know!

Here are some hosta crime scene pictures.  Naughty Cliff!

Martha’s Black Eyed Pea Salad

Stick with me here. Don’t run away at the mention of black eyed peas.  They’re good, promise!  My Mom (hi, Mom!) just told me about this yummy, simple, low-cal summer salad and I just had to try it — and boy is it good!  I’m kind of addicted right now.  She found it in Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food and the recipe is super simple and super quick to pull together. 

I loved it so much, I doubled it.

I took half a bag of frozen corn (thawed), diced up two bell peppers, one bunch of scallions (just the green part), and two drained and rinsed cans of black eyed peas. 

Just put all of those into a bowl, and then it’s time to make the dressing (remember this is for my double recipe)

2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Give it a good toss and you have super healthy, yummy bit of summer on a plate!

Roasted Cauliflower

Go do this.  Right now.  I mean it.  It’s so super simple and so super good.

Just take a head of cauliflower (or two!) and chop it up into florets.  Throw them onto a baking sheet with about a tablespoon of olive oil, a teaspoon each of salt and pepper and half a teaspoon of red chili flakes.  Toss with your hands and put into a 400 oven for 25 minutes (turning once halfway through).

It’s so addictive; you’re gonna love it!

Well, Hello There!

Greetings all of you Get Rich Slowly readers!   I am so honored that J.D. talked about me on his blog — I feel famous!   I’m so glad you came over to check me out, and I thought I’d make it easy to find a few things you might be interested in.

Here’s a round-up of my posts about making stuff from scratch — everything from yogurt, to vanilla extract, to granola, to chevre cheese, and so much more!

Lots of people like my version of the gluten-free guide.

And my yummy and easy (and pennywise!) go-to quiche.

I love to give gifts, but love even more to make them — here’s some things I made for the holidays, out of my yard, and just because they are yummy (can you say salted caramels!).

Here’s a simple tour of our backyard chicken coop.  Backyard hens are so fun!

Thanks for popping by – and if you’re in the Portland area and want to check out my fund-raising class J.D. talked about,  the next session actually starts in just two days on May 26th (despite what it says online when you register) and you can still sign up.

Thanks for coming – come back soon. Or better yet, add me to your reader!

Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce + Leftover Polenta

Remember when I told you about my favorite polenta dish with peppers and bacon?  Well, I made it last night and have a bunch of leftover polenta, so I decided to make a quick (and vegetarian) dinner tonight with some eggs from our backyard chickens.  This is really simple and really good.

First, you need to whip up a simple marinara sauce.  Now don’t freak out, it’s really easy and quick.  Just take a half red onion and dice it up and sautee it with some olive oil. 

Add in some chopped garlic.  I used some we had drying in our garage from all the garlic we harvested last summer. 

Cook those two until nice and golden brown.

Next, add in some diced tomatoes and a few spices. 

I always tell you guys how I don’t really measure anything, and that’s not really true.   I measure like this … two of these of salt.

One of these of red chili flakes.

A dash of pepper.   And whiz together with an immersion blender.  I love that thing.

Oh, and I almost forgot, add in some Italian seasoning — about the same amout as the chili flakes.

Okay, now here’s the important (and fun) part.  Taste it.

Mine tasted a little acidic-y.  So I added this much sugar.  Sugar can really make the tomatoes not taste so funky.

Once you get your sauce tasting delicious, bring it down to a medium high heat and drop the eggs in.

Put the lid on and cook for about 15 minutes.

Scoop out an egg and some sauce and spoon over your left over polenta …. and yum!