Two Breakfast (or lunch, or dinner...) Options

Spinach & Mushroom Omelette

"Italian" Tofu Scramble

Lately, I have been so busy with student teaching and a full load of graduate classes that it has been difficult to keep up with this blog.  Fortunately, even with a packed schedule, it's easy to make time for whipping up these two dishes, which are both nutritious and very satisfying. Recipes after the jump!

Kale and Chickpeas

Product Review: New Fave Fibrous Snack!

I picked up GG Scandinavian Bran Crispbread, which is touted as "the appetite control cracker," at Whole Foods yesterday.  Invented by a Norwegian, these crispbreads pack 5 grams of fiber each and a meagre 12 calories!  For someone like myself who is always trying to up my fiber intake but likes the idea of doing so without supplementing my diet with sugary fiber bars, granola, or excess fruit, these bran snacks are perfect.  They may not be as tasty as a slice of baguette (that really goes without saying), but they are definitely palatable and, for a "Whole Fools" yuppie type of product, they are reasonably priced.

White Bean Vegetable Soup

I am glad that I finally made a bean soup and that I used those parsnips that were just lounging in my fridge for the past week or so. Parsnips really taste a lot like carrots, but I find they're more chewy and less crunchy and have more of a zing to them.

I am so glad I made this soup, and you will be too! I found that it did not require more salt beyond that which I added during the initial sauteing of the garlic, which was only about three shakes. This could be because of the broth I used - Trader Joe's Organic "Free Range" Chicken Broth; I'll have to check its sodium content. Anyway, this soup is hearty and nutritious and can definitely be eaten as a meal.


White Bean Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
2 cans of cooked cannelli beans (drained)
1/4 tablespoon of butter
olive oil
3-4 parsnips, peeled and chopped
1/3-1/2 cup of chopped carrots
1/3 cup of sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas, but you can use whichever are to your liking)
1/3-1/2 cup of chopped celery stalks
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
parsley (optional)
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt

Preparation:
1. Coat the bottom of a pot with olive oil.  Turn the heat up to low-medium flame and add the butter. After the butter has melted (don't let it burn!), add the chopped garlic, thyme sprigs, some sea salt, and black pepper (about 1/2 teaspoon) and saute the garlic for about one minute.
2. Add the chopped mushrooms to the pot, sauteing them for about 1-2 minutes.  Then add the parsnips, stirring so that everything gets coated with some oil. After 1 minute, add the carrots and celery. Saute everything for about 5 minutes, but not for much longer -- you don't want to overcook the vegetables and make them mushy!
3. Add the broth and bring the soup to a boil, then let it simmer for a while.  Test taste some of the rougher vegetables, such as the parsnips and celery, to ensure that are not too firm. Simmer for about 5 minutes. First remove the thyme sprigs, then add the drained cannelli beans. Since the beans are already cooked, you don't have to heat them for long. Bring the soup back to a boil, then simmer it for roughly 10 minutes. Serve with some chopped parsley and fresh black pepper.

Not Julia Child's Ratatouille

I had been meaning to make Smitten Kitchen's Ratatouille's Ratatouille for a while and I finally did this past weekend. Of course, mine looks nothing like SK's in terms of both actual appearance and photography, but it was pretty and tasty and lasted about 24 hours before being completely gobbled up. The thing is, this dish has the appearance of being multi-layered when in fact it is only a single layer of thinly sliced zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, and red pepper on top of a modest portion of tomato sauce. So unless you double the portion in making this recipe, it will be finished rather quickly (provided that you like it!) Good news is that it's healthy and vegan if you don't top it with goat cheese; otherwise, it is vegetarian. As is, this ratatouille makes for a great side dish, but it can be a complete meal if served with a whole grain, such as quinoa or brown rice, and a dollop of goat cheese. I paired it with Chavrie's Basil and Roasted Garlic Goat's Milk Cheese, and it was divine.

this spread has no preservatives!

Saturday Morning (Afternoon) Breakfast

Original Puffins cereal (delicious, all-natural, low-cal, and decent amount of fiber) with cut-up banana, fresh blueberries, soy milk, and sprinkled with flaxseeds.

Smoky Spanish Tomato Soup

Ever since my trip to Spain, I have been into all things Spanish. This includes wanting to make gazpacho, which I tried for the first time in a little cafe in Barcelona. The only thing in my way of whipping up this cold, tomatoey concoction was my lack of a food processor. I finally procured one of these bad boys during the holidays, and was on my way to finally making some gazpacho.

Today I had all of the proper ingredients in my possession to make rustic gazpacho. But then I started to question my decision to settle on this dish. After all, it is January, and this soup is traditionally consumed in Andalusia during the hot summer months. On the other hand, I thought, I really do like this soup and it is quite healthy, too: who cares about the weather or what so-called tradition dictates? Plus, I have some nice sherry vinegar -- a key ingredient for authentic gazpacho -- in my cupboard that's just waiting to be used.

Well, in the end, gazpacho did not win. For now, I have put off preparing it until my part of the Earth warms up a bit. But it took another recipe to really confirm my decision. When I saw the now defunct Gourmet Magazine's recipe for Smoky Spanish Tomato Soup via epicurious, I had a near religious epiphany that left me with no doubts: this was my soup! It's Spanish, it's tomato-based, and it's served hot! What more could I ask for?

Like Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Greens, this tomato soup has a smooth texture and creamy taste with containing any dairy. Bread crumbs (I used small bits of ciabatta bread) blended with the tomato mix in the food processor give the soup a heartiness, making it suitable as a modest meal on its own. I also topped the soup with pulled pieces of the bread for presentation and because who doesn't like dipping chunky, crusty bread in soup? The recipe calls for sweet pimenton (Spanish for smoked paprika) but I only had smoked hot paprika and substituted with it.

The result? An incredible smoky flavor that adds so much body to the soup.

Smoky Spanish Tomato Soup adapted from Gourmet


Ingredients:


4 1/2 lbs of tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
roughly 1 teaspoon of sweet (or smoked hot) pimenton
3 large garlic gloves, peeled
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
approximately 1/2 cup of coarse bread crumbs (I eye-balled this and it turned out fine) plus more for garnish
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper


Preparation:


1. Cut an X on the bottom of each tomato. Then blanch the tomatoes.  Peels and seed tomatoes, then coarsely chop them.


2. Cook onion and bell peppers in oil with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a wide 5-quart heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 15 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, pimentón, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are tender and falling apart, about 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, crush garlic to a paste with cumin using a mortar and pestle (or crush cumin with side of a heavy knife, mince and mash garlic, and stir together). Stir garlic-cumin paste and bread crumbs into tomato mixture. Purée soup in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth and return to cleaned pot. Thin to desired consistency with water and season with the sea salt and black pepper. Top bowls with ripped pieces of bread/bread crumbs and serve!