Roasted Garlic Soup

This soup recipe showed up one of my favorite food blogs and looked too good to pass up. I imagine this soup would be best served in a bread bowl, as the author recommends, but Brit and I didn’t have easy access to any. Either way, the soup is delicious and I’d highly recommend making this. The smell and taste of the roast garlic and shallots are fantastic and I’d love to incorporate them into more dishes.

Roasted Garlic Soup

(originally posted on the Macheesmo food blog)

serves 4

2 heads of garlic

2 shallots

Olive oil

1.5 lbs potatoes, cubed

1 quart vegetable stock

2 cups water

½ cup parmesan cheese

1 tbsp lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Slice off the top of the heads of garlic and shallots. Place them all into some foil, drizzle a little bit of olive oil on top, sprinkle some kosher salt, and place the wrapped package into the oven. Roast for 40 min, remove from the oven, and set aside until they are cool.

Pop the garlic cloves and shallots out of their skin. Place them in a large pot with the cubed potatoes, stock, and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Use a blender (an immersion blender would be best) to puree the soup. Mix in the lemon juice and parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. A ¼ cup of cream can be optionally added at this point.

Avocado Cream Pasta

Brit found this recipe in one of her food blogs (a healthy vegan food blog in fact) and sent it my direction. We both love avocados, this recipe looked fantastically simple, and we eagerly added it to our list of new recipes to make. We make another dish that’s similar, linguine with pea pesto, and we knew we would love this version as well.

Avocado Cream Pasta

(originally posted on the Oh She Glows food blog)

Serves 3

1 ripe avocado, pitted

Lemon zest

½ lemon, juiced

3 garlic cloves

½ tsp salt, or to taste

¼ cup basil

2 tbsp olive oil

1 package pasta

Black pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Once al dente, drain and return to the pot.

Meanwhile, blend the garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil in a food processor. Add in the avocado, basil, and salt and blend until smooth.

Toss the pasta with the avocado sauce until well mixed. Garnish with lemon zest and black pepper. Brit decided to toast some walnuts and add them them as an additional garnish. (Great idea Brit!)

Chicken Marsala with Green Beans and Cous Cous

I was feeling lonely because Brit was hanging out with friends for dinner, so I invited MLove to come on over and I would cook for her. Brit will later join us so that we could all watch our favorite show, Top Chef, together. Brit and I had already planned to cook chicken marsala for tonight's meal and I threw in some steamed green beans and cous cous to round it all out. The green beans were flavored and seasoned with salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar. The cous cous was seasoned with salt, pepper, curry powder, cumin, and chili pepper flakes. I'm always super critical of my own dishes, especially when serving them to company, but the reviews from my dinner company were positive.

Alu Gobi ki Sabzi (Cauliflower with Potatoes)

I have a work colleague who is Indian-American and occasionally mentions the incredible food that her mom makes for her and sends back with her anytime she visits. Since Brit's favorite cuisine is Indian food and it definitely ranks in my top 3, I frequently harass my friend Trisha to let me try some of her cooking. Brit was a lot more successful by taking a different route and asked for some of Trisha's mother's recipes; it turns out that she used to teach a cooking class. Trisha obtained the recipes, sent them our direction, and this is the second one we've made thus far. Both are winners.

Alu Govhi ki Sabzi

(Recipe provided by Sadhna A)

Serves 4 side dishes

1 cauliflower, cut into large pieces

2 potatoes, sliced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 long green hot chili, coarsely chopped (we used a jalapeno)

1 inch piece of ginger, coarsely chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric power

1 tbsp coriander

1 tsp garam masala, divided

1.5 tsp red chili powder

Salt

Heat the olive oil in a skillet, add the cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add the turmeric powder and fry for a few seconds. Next add the cauliflower, potatoes, ginger, and green chiles. Mix in the remaining spices but only half of the garam masala.

Lower the heat to medium-low and cover for a few minutes. Every few minutes stir and return to simmer. Cook until the vegetables are tender (this could take a while).

Add the remaining garam masala and season to taste with salt. Increase the heat and fry for a few minutes until the vegetables are golden brown.

This side can be garnished with fresh coriander and served over rice or with pita or naan. We served ours over brown rice.

Curried Lentil Soup with Grilled Chicken and Zucchini

Tonight's meal was a repeat of one of our absolute favorites: curried lentil soup. We've made this in the past alongside a roast chicken, but didn't want to spend as much time and effort for this meal. Instead, I rubbed an "Asian" spice mix over some trimmed chicken breasts and Brit cooked them in her cast-iron grill pan. Brit also diced up a leftover zucchini from the brown rice and black bean casserole we made last week and cooked it with a little salt and pepper and sliced garlic. She kept both dishes under a lid the entire time to keep them both moist and tender.


The only modification I made to the curried lentil soup was to add some leftover shallots from to the pot at the same time I sauteed the onion and carrots. Not surprisingly at all, everything turned out awesomely. The chicken breasts were sliced and served on top of the soup alongside the zucchini. There was lots of leftover chicken, so we'll use them in an upcoming Indian dish this week.

Masala Masoor with Wilted Spinach and Brown Rice

Our friend Trisha's mom is an expert in traditional Indian cooking. When Trisha found out that I want to learn how to make delicious Indian food, she told her mom, who sent us a packet of recipes from a cooking class she used to teach in State College, PA. Her mom also sent us several containers of different delicious Indian spices to make her recipes! We were so excited and we couldn't wait to try out one of the dishes. Tonight was our first attempt at Masala Masoor, and it was incredible. Masoor dal - red lentils - are used in this dish. I followed the directions exactly as she wrote them (which I don't normally do), and I am so glad I did because it was perfect.

Masala Masoor

(Recipe from Sadhna Agrawal)

2 cups masoor dal (whole)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 long green hot pepper, minced (we used a jalapeno)

1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp. ghee (purified butter) or oil (we used olive oil)

1 tsp. whole cumin seeds

1 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. red chili powder (optional)

2 tsp. coriander powder

Salt to taste (about 2 tsp.)

Pick over masoor dal and wash and soak for at least 4 hours.

Heat the oil or ghee and add the cumin seeds and let them splutter for a few seconds (I cooked them for about 1 minute). Now add the onions and fry for five minutes and then add the minced ginger, green chili and garlic. Fry until golden.

Next add the turmeric powder and fry again for a few seconds and fold in the rest of the ingredients. Add about 3 cups of water and cook in a pressure cooker and give it at least 10 minutes after the whistle starts. If cooking in a pot, add some more water and cook on medium heat until the dal is well cooked (I cooked in a pot - it took about 45 minutes).

If desired, garnish with chopped fresh tomatoes and fresh coriander. Always serve hot with a little bit of butter drizzled on top. Goes very well with plain basmati rice.

We also wilted some spinach as a side, along with cooked brown rice. I can't wait to make this again!

Brown Rice & Black Bean Casserole

Mike sent me the link to this recipe a few days ago. It looked pretty good so we decided to try it. The original recipe called for way too much time on the rice portion (simmer 1/3 cup of rice and 1 cup of broth for 45 minutes?! Not unless you want to burn the bottom of your pan...not to mention the rice), so I edited it a little bit. The finished product turned out really well!

Brown Rice & Black Bean Casserole

(Adapted from On My Menu's recipe )

1/3 cup brown rice

1 cup vegetable broth

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium zucchini, chopped or thinly sliced

2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced (canned chicken would work, as well)

3/4 cup sliced mushrooms

1 tsp cumin

Salt, to taste

Cayenne Pepper, to taste

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (4 oz.) can green chilies

1/3 cup carrots, chopped small

2 cups shredded swiss cheese (we used TJ's light Mexican cheese blend)

Mix the rice and chicken broth in pot on stovetop, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low,

cover and simmer for 15-ish minutes, or until rice is tender. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a medium-sized casserole dish (we used 9x9) with cooking spray.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook the onion until tender. Mix in the zucchini, chicken, and mushrooms. Season with cumin, salt and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir until zucchini is lightly browned and chicken is heated through. In a large bowl, mix the rice, onion, zucchini, chicken, mushrooms, beans, chilies, carrots, and half of the cheese. Transfer to the baking dish and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Cover casserole dish loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Chicken Paprikash

Brit found this recipe in the December issue of Food Network Magazine. I don't know why, but I was a little skeptical at first, but the more I looked at the ingredients, the better it looked. I'm really glad I got over my gut reaction, because this meal was sooooo good. The sauce is incredible and the chicken turned out really, really, really, really tender. Brit and I are definitely going to make this dish again.

Chicken Paprikash
(very minimally adapted from a Food Network Recipe)

Serves 4

1 package (8 oz) egg noodles
6 slices turkey bacon, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup flour
2-3 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1.5 lbs chicken breasts, cubed
2 cups veggie broth
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tbsp parsley, chopped

Cook the egg noodles according to the package instructions. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet, cook the diced bacon over medium heat. Since I used turkey bacon, I used a little olive oil to help it cook. After 2-3 minutes, add in the onion and bell pepper and saute 2-3 more minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the flour, paprika, marjoram, and 1 tsp of salt in a large bowl. Toss the cubed chicken until it's well coated.

Push the bacon and veggies to the side and increase the heat to high. Add a little olive oil to the space in the skillet and add in the chicken. Cook and turn until browned on the outside. Stir everything together and cook another 1-2 minutes.

Now, add the chicken broth and bring everything to a boil. Reduce to the heat to low or where needed to let it simmer. Cook another 10 minutes until the chicken is done. Once cooked through, increase the heat to high for 1-2 minutes. Again reduce the heat to low, stir in the sour cream, and cook another 1-2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve over the noodles.