Cauliflower Soup

We had a very cold and rainy day here in New York so I was craving some nice warm soup. I found this recipe while looking for any type of Vitamix soup recipes. It turned out really well, especially with a little bit of extra salt and pepper to taste. It was very easy, but did take a bit of time for a Vitamix recipe. 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 cups chopped leeks (white parts only, from 2 or 3 leeks)

salt

1 head cauliflower, chopped

7 cups vegetable broth

1/4 cup unsalted cashews, soaked

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat and saute the garlic, leeks, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt for about 3 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.

Add the cauliflower and saute for another minute.

Add the vegetable brother, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly; stir in the nuts.

Pour the soup into your blender in batches and blast on high for 1 to 2 minutes, until smooth and creamy.

Return the soup to the saucepan and warm it over low heat. Stir in salt to taste and it's ready to eat!

Enjoy!

Healthy Spinach and Artichoke Dip

I was in the mood to try some new Vitamix recipes today. Both turned out in strange colors but were really good. This "spinach and artichoke" dip is more like a bean and artichoke dip, but is very good and healthy, nonetheless. Next time I will probably use a food processor instead of the Vitamix. It was hard to pulse in the Vitamix which is why it turned out so smooth and green instead of chunky like normal spinach and artichoke dip.

Ingredients

about 1 cup scallions, chopped

1 15 oz can cannellnni beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup cashews

1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)

1 to 2 garlic cloves

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

5 ounces fresh spinach

1 15 oz can artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained

Blend all ingredients together in a high speed blender,except for the spinach and artichoke hearts, until very smooth.

Add the spinach and artichokes and pulse through to keep some chunky texture.

Put in an oven safe dish and bake for 20 minutes.

Pickled Jalapenos

This is a favorite of mine. Nothing says authentic Mexican food quite like taqueria-style pickled jalapenos. Of course they are fantastic on any taco or quesadilla, but in our apartment these babies go on everything - sandwiches, eggs, cheese and crackers, salads - everything. They're super easy to make, and stay good for a really long time (no idea how long cause they never last long enough to find out).

You'll need:
-Jalapenos - sliced into rings (I would say 6-8 but it really depends on the size of the jalapenos, size of the      jar, and how many jars you are making)
-1 carrot -sliced into rings (optional)
-1/2 white onion - chopped (optional)
-2 cloves garlic - minced

For the Brine you'll need:
-1 cup water
-1 cup distilled white vinegar
-4 tbsp sugar
-2 tbsp kosher salt

Directions
(1) In a medium saucepan combine the water, vinegar, sugar, salt, and garlic. (Note: you will want to make extra brine if you are using larger jars, or making several jars full).
(2) Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
(3) Add the jalapenos, carrot, and onion and immediately remove pan from the heat. Use a spoon to press the vegetables down into the brine.
(4) Let sit for 10-15 minutes. The jalapenos will have turned a darker shade of green.
(5) Use tongs to remove the jalapenos (and other vegetables) from the brine and pack your jar(s) until they are full.
(6) Use a ladle to pour the brine into the jar(s) until they are filled to the brim and all vegetables are covered in brine.
(7) Let the jars cool to room temperature before putting the lids on.

Tips:
-I prefer using the hottest jalapenos I can find. I've seen some labeled 'medium' or 'mild' (mostly at farmers markets), but keep in mind that they will lose some heat in the pickling process. I have done this with both 'hot' and 'medium' peppers, and the 'hot' ones turn out to be what I would consider medium spicy.
-I've heard some people say to keep these in the fridge after you open them, but the pickling process does preserve the vegetables, and I've left jars on my counter for several weeks without a problem.

Olive Dip

Ingredients

1 cup pitted black olives

1 cup pitted green olives

1 cup pitted kalamata olives

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Combine the black olives, green olives, kalamata olives, and garlic in the container of a food processor. We used our magic bullet blender extension, but next time I will definitely use my food processor for better efficiency.

Pulse to chop, then add the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Process until smooth, or the consistency of your liking. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

Enjoy!

Mozzarella Making

While websites like Groupon often have the same deals over and over (car wash, massage, mediocre restaurants)  but every once in a while there is an amazing deal that stands out. A couple of months ago we saw a deal for a mozzarella making class. The class included a bottle of wine and an appetizer to split. Without any hesitation, we bought the deal and decided to take the class as soon as we could. It was a great time and best of all we learned a new, tasty skill. 

In the class they had us use vinyl gloves.

First, you should start off with 1/2 pound of fresh cheese curds

Prepare a medium sized bowl with the combination of 2-3 tablespoons of kosher salt and 3-4 cups of nearly boiling water. Soak the fresh cheese curds in the brine for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes begin to stretch and smooth the cheese, but be careful not to do it to excess. Over-working the cheese causes the mozzarella to have a rubbery consistency. Continue to dip the cheese back into the brine throughout the stretching process. Once the cheese has been stretched and smoothed it can be formed in several different ways. The method we were taught by the instructor was to stretch the mozzarella out until it is very thin and then hold the middle so that the two ends hang down. Begin swirling the strands until the cheese has been twisted to the end, and then knot the twisted strand several times. See picture above for end result.

Enjoy!

Vegan Chopped Liver

We were making our Passover Seder, and wanted everyone to be able to partake in that joyous Passover tradition that is chopped liver. Now, I know, 'vegan chopped liver'...a little suspicious sounding. I was skeptical too. I might have been more hesitant, but Becca and I had recently been to a local vegetarian food festival where we tried some excellent vegan "Faux Gras", so we knew it was possible and thought we were up for the challenge. 

I will preface this post by saying that our recipe is not as delicious as real chopped liver. However, our resident vegan absolutely loved it; and I will admit that it bore a surprisingly similar hint of chopped liver flavor. Overall, it's a work in progress, and if we were to make this again the number one thing we would change would be to spice it up more so as not to be too bland. 

Anyway, enough of my glowing review. If you're a vegan, you're liable to love it! If you're not a vegan...you might like it too?

The up side is that it's really simple to make. Saute 1/2 lb of mushrooms  and 1 chopped onion until they begin to brown. 

Toss it in a food processor with 3 Tbsp of oil (we used olive), 1C of walnuts, salt and pepper to taste.

Blend until it looks like chopped liver. Keep in mind that unless you cooled your sauteed mushrooms and onions, your pate is going to be very warm. Be sure to let the "liver" rest in the fridge before serving, however, as it is much more reminiscent of actual chopped liver when it is chilled. 

Sephardic Charoset

Charoset may possibly be one of my favorite Passover dishes. It's a dish that I always look forward to but never really eat the rest of the year. We both decided we wanted to make Sephardic charoset, which traditionally uses more dried fruits than Ashkenazi Charoset.  I liked this recipe so much I think I may make it sometime as a healthy snack, outside of Passover.

Ingredients

1/2 cup dates, pitted and cut in half

1/2 cup dried apricots, cut in half

1 apple, unpeeled, cored and diced

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup chopped pecans (can use walnuts)

about 2 tablespoons red wine (optional)

Blend dates, apricots, apple, cinnamon, and allspice in a food processor until chopped.

Add pecans and pulse until mixture is blended, but not pureed.

Pour in a bowl, add wine (optional), and refrigerate for at least an hour. Enjoy!

Salmon Bruschetta

I can't take any credit for this one. My brother and I were at Trader Joe's the other day and they were sampling this exact recipe. After trying a bite we both decided we had to get some. This is perfect if you're looking for a quick, healthy dinner.

Ingredients

Trader Joe's Salmon Burgers

Light, whipped cream cheese

Trader Joe's Bruschetta sauce (or you can always make your own )

21 seasoning salute from Trader Joe's to taste (you can sub with your own seasoning blend)

Mix the seasoning and cream cheese together.

Cook, grill or pan fry the salmon burgers according to the box.

Top the burgers with cream cheese and bruschetta and it's ready to eat. Enjoy!

Spinach and Feta Turkey Burgers

Happy Thanksgiving!! Here is a great turkey recipe!

While rummaging through some healthy food blogs, I stumbled upon a spinach and feta turkey burger recipe. When I showed it to Michael he liked the idea so much he wanted to make them next time we were hungry. Just a couple of hours later we were chomping down on our own simpler version of the burger. It was AMAZING!! We were both SO happy with it and it was so easy to make!

Ingredients

1 package of ground turkey

1-2 cups frozen spinach

1/2 cup of feta

2 medium sized cloves of garlic pressed (keep pressing the garlic until nothing comes out anymore)

We combined all ingredients using our hands to mix them in well.

Next, we formed the mixture into 3 large burgers and grilled them on the George Foreman. Michael taught me the way you know a turkey burger is cooked all the way, firm, but not dry, juicy when you cut it open, and done through the middle.

We decided to make some of our guacamole to eat with the burgers. It was amazing and we definitely recommend it!

Side note - this could make a great appetizer if you make the mixture into mini burgers and have a dipping sauce like honey mustard, guacamole, or cranberry sauce.

Sun Deviled Eggs

While this post is not necessarily a recipe, we thought we'd share with you an idea we had, made and loved! We decided to make deviled eggs, but we'd thought we'd spice this traditional snack up a bit, literally. We hard boiled 5 eggs and mixed the yolks with mayo, a little bit of mustard and some sriracha. The best part is that you can add the sriracha to your own comfortable spice level. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed!

Happy eating!

Asian Influenced Cole Slaw

We had a labor day bbq today so my mom asked me to make an Asian influenced coleslaw. After looking around on Allrecipes I found a few that sounded interesting so I decided to take bits and pieces from each and the result turned out pretty well.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

9 tablespoons white wine vinegar

6 tablespoons white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 packages of chicken flavored Ramen noodles (you'll use all of the season packages but only 1 1/2 packages worth of the noodles)

16 ounce bag of green cabbage & carrots (see packaging below)

1 to 1 1/2 cups of sliced almonds

1 small can of water chestnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Lay the almonds out on a baking sheet and place them in the oven for about 5 minutes.

Once you take the almonds out add the ramen noodles on the baking sheet and put it back in for another 5 minutes. This will keep the noodles and almonds toasted and avoid them becoming soggy when you add in the sauce.

Next combine all of the ingredients and sauce and mix well. It's that easy and you're now ready to enjoy! If you are making this ahead of time feel free to store it in the refrigerator.

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Tomato Bruschetta

We decided to remake the pesto pasta and needed a side dish. The idea of homemade bruschetta made our mouths water. We combined the following simple ingredients and the result was even better than we imagined. 

Ingredients

Loaf of French Bread (we just bought the fresh baked French bread at Fry's)

About 1 Roma tomato for every 3 pieces of French bread

Olive oil

Ground Pepper

Garlic Salt

Put slice of bread on a baking sheet. Pour and then spread a little bit of olive oil on top of each piece of bread. Toast the bread in the oven at 350 degrees for about 5-10 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on the bread and take them out when they are toasted to your liking.

While the bread is toasting, chop the tomatoes.

Put the tomatoes into a small bowl and add olive oil, to taste.

Add the ground pepper and garlic salt, to taste.

Mix ingredients. This would be a good time to taste to see if you want to add any more seasonings.

Once the bread has been taken out of the oven, spoon the tomato mixture onto the bread and enjoy!

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