05

Nov

EAT / ROASTED CAULIFLOWER & LEEK SOUP

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER + LEEK SOUP / tahsin, the good

my sister and i decided a few weeks ago that we wanted to do a weekly soup exchange. we were making a big batch of soup for the weeks lunches and some dinners anyway, and thought why not just mix it up a bit and share. and we didn’t want to wait for my annual (yes, i’m calling it annual even though i have only had one, it’s the intention that counts!) soup exchange that’s being planned for january, we want soup now. i got sally on board and now we have a threesome! we see each other every wednesday already for family dinner, so the tradeoff can happen without any disruption to our already busy schedules.

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER + LEEK SOUP / tahsin, the goodROASTED CAULIFLOWER + LEEK SOUP / tahsin, the good

these days i finalize my meal plans, that now include a soup, after i go to the market because i’m trying to get inspired by the fresh produce there. and most weeks there is a bit of carryover in my crisper so i take a little of the old and a little of the new and come up with something.

i think my sister was nervous i’d make her an apple based soup since i was going three/four weeks strong on that tip. apple squash, apple zucchini, apple apple apple. i knew i needed to diversify my ingredients and to her luck (and mine) i came across a really delicious soup on jeanine donofrio’s blog, love & lemons, using cauliflower and leeks. i was searching for a soup with leeks, but did not want to use potatoes and voila, this one caught my eye!

it’s creamy, cloud-like and flavourful.

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER + LEEK SOUP / tahsin, the good

come, have a bite.

i didn’t have cashews, marjoram or white wine vinegar like the recipe calls for, so i subbed in sunflower seeds, coriander powder and white rice vinegar. i guess that’s the consequence for my new method of meal planning, but i look at it as being resourceful and a little bit creative in the kitch. isn’t that how the best recipes are developed anyways?

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER + LEEK SOUP / tahsin, the good

x

ps. thinking of starting a soup exchange? do it! i’d suggest keeping it to four committed peeps that live close by, or that you know you will see on a regular basis, who you think are good in the kitchen. i mean, you wouldn’t want to trade your awesome soup with a sub-par one right? just kidding. haha ;) check out my soup exchange post for a few guidelines on getting one started.

pps. in case you missed the link to the recipe above, it’s here. and seriously this blog is so good. lots of great easy and seasonal meals, beautiful imagery that makes you want to eat everything up, and a really well-rounded use of vegetables for a non-vegetarian food blog. bookmark that.

 

4 months ago Short URL Comments

FOOD

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03

Oct

EAT / ROASTED ZUCCHINI AND APPLE SOUP

this is not a soup exchange soup, but i’m telling you right now, you are going to want to bookmark this.

i get inspired by what i have in my fridge.

sometimes when i cook i don’t always have a plan as to what i’m going to make and i get inspired by what i have in my fridge. or what’s lying around. the other day, this was the case.

i roasted zucchini the night prior because, well, i like to have roasted veggies around. they are great for adding into sauces for dinners or paninis for lunch. so anyway, i roasted up a bunch, with the intent of adding stock and few spices to make a soup.

then i realized i have a whole bagful of apples from our latest field trip just sitting and waiting to be used.

so i did what i usually do when i have two random ingredients. i type them into google and see if anyone else thought to combine the flavours. like, does it exist, it is a thing. i don’t like to waste good food, so i’m not that experimental in the kitchen. only kind of…

well, lo and behold, apples and zucchini is a very common combination! with that knowledge and boost of confidence I went ahead and played with my ingredients.

the results were a creamy mix of slightly sweet full-bodied flavour.

here’s how you make this soup.

roasted zuchini and apple soup

all you need is

  • 4 zucchini
  • olive oil
  • coarse salt
  • 1 nub of butter
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 nub of fresh ginger, grated or minced
  • 1 apple, i used honeycrisp
  • 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • salt and pepper to taste

and all you have to do is

  • roast zucchini. (i’ll go over this quickly, but will make a quick post about how i roast and store a variety of vegetables soon. such a simple and high impact way to add flavour to your meals.) slice the zuchini, lay on a parchment lined baking pan, drizzle with olive oil and grind some coarse salt over top. place in an oven at 350 for 45mins-1hr. you can flip or mix your batch up part of the way through or just leave them be. either way you end up with major flavour with many uses.
  • heat butter in a stock pot.
  • add in onions and ginger and sautee until onions are translucent.
  • add in the apple and continue to sautee for another 7-10 minutes or so.
  • add in the zucchini and continue to mix, mix, mix.
  • add in the stock and let it sit so that all the flavours can inufuse.
  • blend to desired consistency. i wanted a creamy soup, so i blended until there were no chunks left.
  • add salt and pepper to taste
  • serve with your favorite soup toppings such as goat cheese, pepitas, hemp seeds, sundried tomatoes or our new fave, alphabet pretzels!

what i love about this soup is that it was so simple to make and uses seasonal produce. and obviously that it is freaking delicious. i had my oldest friend over for a playdate with our girls and it was ready in a flash and gone in about that much time too!

try it this week will ya?

x

5 months ago Short URL Comments

FOOD

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15

Apr

SOUP EXCHANGE

a little while back i had a few of my friends over to my house for a soup exchange. it was a few weeks ago. a time when winter was still hanging around in full force. so i wanted to give winter a nice big send-off by having an exchange of one of my favourite things about the cold weather months - soup!

each person was to make one big pot of a soup of their choice and bring it divided into four 2 cup mason jars to exchange. the point was to have one jar of soup to enjoy that day for lunch and three to take home. not everyone went home with each soup, but we all definitely got a nice sampling and lunches for the week! bonus!!

i wanted to have a nice variety of flavours and types of soup, so i asked my friends to let me know in advance what they were going to bring. just wanted to make sure there was no major overlap, you know. i am a big fan of squash soup, but really didn’t want to have jars and jars full of that flavour! we ended up with a really nice mix like roasted red pepper and potato, harira, and citrus curry lentil. mmmm my belly’s getting hungry just thinking of them all.

i wanted to make a sandwich to round out our soup and decided to serve a gourmet grilled cheese with coriander pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and havarti on rye. it was a hit! i’m going to post a recipe for this soon, so you can try it at home. it’s so easy to make and so tasty to eat! actually, a few of my friends are still talking about them. not to toot my own horn or anything, but they were really really good. haha.

SOUP EXCHANGE / tahsin, the good.

how we worked out the exchange was simple. i really didn’t want any soup to be the last pick, so to make things fair i gave each guest a number from 1-8 and marked it on the back of their drink tag. when everyone arrived i asked them to pick four random numbered stickers to place on their soups. so in the end, you got the four soups with your number on it. makes sense, right?

SOUP EXCHANGE / tahsin, the good.

it was pretty funny watching everyone collect, and then ooh and ahh over their loot!

SOUP EXCHANGE / tahsin, the good.

while i plan to share the soup recipes here on the blog, i’m not going to bombard you with all of them just now. i will however share this delightful soup jough that my azizam, shahnaz, made for the group in the next post. she is lovely, and her soup was too!

the day of the exchange also happened to be one of my favourite peoples birthdays, so we celebrated her and satisfied our sweet tooth’s after all that savory with some carrot morning glory muffins. i got the recipe from here.

SOUP EXCHANGE / tahsin, the good.

it was a really fun lunch to organize and host. we all ate well, laughed out load, and learned a few new tricks for the kitchen. i’m definitely going to make this a yearly tradition, but next time i’ll have it once the cold weather sets in so we can soup it up all winter long. it’s also got me thinking that i want to have a salad exchange soon!! who’s in?

 

 

10 months ago Short URL 14 Comments

FOOD

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