s(o)uper sunday!

Last Sunday, while most people were watching a football game, I was watching this and making a delicious pot of pumpkin and potato soup. As I was laughing at the antics of John Candy trying to out smart a couple of raccoons, I'd hear Ebert yelling at the TV from the other room. Periodically he would come into the kitchen to give me the highlights on the game or tell me about the commercials and I would feign interest. It was a perfect set-up.

Now lets get onto the recipe which I didn't follow exactly. If I were to estimate I think I probably tripled the amount of ingredients I used which was perfect because this huge pot of soup lasted us the whole week. I love making soups for this very reason, you don't have to follow the recipe you can change it as you see fit. I didn't have agave nectar so I used honey instead turning this into a non-vegan soup. Also, I didn't add any Sriracha. It was a bit too lemony for me so next time I'll start out using less and adding more if needed.

I decided that this soup needed a bit more color so I added finely chopped kale and a couple slices of cheddar/gruyere cheese to garnish on top. A little bit of greens was the perfect touch.

Happy Sunday! What are you cooking today?

kale salad

I've had grand plans these past couple of weeks to eat really healthy. We already eat healthy but I've been wanting to eat even healthier especially after the holidays and vacation.

I'll stock up on a week's worth of organic fruits and vegetables from my favorite market with the goal of creating these amazingly, healthy dishes. My plan is always to cook our meals on Sunday so that all we have to do during the week is heat up dinner. Having dinner already made for the week is a genius idea especially after a long day at work, and we would also have leftovers for lunch, but for whatever reason this whole cooking thing on Sunday never happens. No big deal I'll just cook on Monday. Well, I usually have a case of the Mondays on Monday and cooking is one of the last things I want to do. By the time Tuesday comes around I've really lost all motivation for this idea of healthy eating. The week has either gotten too busy, or I've gotten too lazy, but really I think it's because it's too cold to do anything except order take out, cuddle under a blanket and drink. And lets be honest, I'd rather be eating this then something healthy anyway.

But since I'm not one to waste food I have to do something with all of the veggies in my fridge. One of the things I've been buying a lot of is kale. I love kale, especially kale salads so that's what I've been making- not exactly cooking but at least it's healthy eating. I've made kale salads before but I wanted to find a recipe that was more in tune with the season. I found this kale, clementine and feta salad from cookie and kate and the added pomegranate seeds make it perfect for winter.

Do you have a favorite kale recipe? I'd love for you to share!

new recipe: pea hummus

October's new recipe was pea hummus, or as I called it on Halloween 'Snot of Dwarf'. I paired this hummus with some homemade rosemary parmesan crackers. Both of these new recipes were delicious! I was actually surprised by how much people loved the pea hummus. The only reason I made it was because we had a Halloween potluck contest at work and we had to use client brands. My goal was to use as many client products as possible. The four client brands I used are pictured below.

For the 'Snot of Dwarf' I combined this recipe with some of this recipe to get one awesome hummus!

1 can Le Seur peas, set aside 1/4 cup

1 can white cannellini beans

half jar of Beechnut Sweet Pea baby food

handful of Bhuja Spicy Peas

curly parsley

olive oil

lots of garlic cloves

juice from lemon

ground cumin

smoked paprika

sea salt

pepper

feta

In a food processor, pulse the parsley and olive oil. Add the peas, cannellini beans, sweet pea baby food, garlic cloves and process until it is as smooth as you like it. Add the feta, lemon juice, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper to suit your taste. Once it tastes good for you then add the rest of the Le Seur peas, pulse just enough to mix not to blend- keeping some of the peas whole adds a nice texture. I drizzled some of the leftover baby food on top and crunched the Bhuja peas for some added spice. It is definitely better the next day.

I apologize that this recipe doesn't have exact measurements but I really did just wing it. My mom always says a recipe is just a guideline- and with this recipe you can adjust any of the ingredients to your liking.

For the crackers I followed the recipe exactly. The only thing I would do differently is to roll them out a bit thinner.

It was a fun competition and I won this awesome prize for 'Best Use of Ingredients'!

new recipe: september

Here's a delicious recipe for a one pot pasta. I was skeptical about putting all the ingredients into one pot. Was everything really going to cook together perfectly? But it did and it was amazing. It was especially good over the next couple of days for lunch when I added peas and some pieces of chicken sausage to it. This is a great weekday recipe when you don't have a lot of time but want a hearty meal.

new recipe: august

I'm trying one new recipe a month. I decided to try something easy for August and make this raw kale salad from a daily something. It really is a simple summer dinner and if you make enough there should be plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day. We love leftovers in our house, but it's rare that we ever have them because whatever we cook is so delicious we eat it all up.

I've made kale salads before but what I liked about this recipe was the addition of the crispy chickpeas, it gave the salad a really nice crunch.

If you're looking for more kale recipes try this or this- these are perfect for fall.

{image via create.your.happy}

chipotle chicken sweet potato pumpkin ale chili

It should be no surprise that this chili has a long name because it takes a long time to make. I thought I could easily make it one night during the week but it ended up taking me a few days because I didn't plan ahead very well.

First of all, it would have been much easier if I had used canned black beans but I decided to make my own. So on the first night (Sunday) I soaked my beans thinking that in the morning I would cook them in the crock pot all day... but when morning came I decided not to. Instead, I cooked them that night (Monday) when I got home. I also cooked the chicken and prepped the veggies, once again thinking that I would just toss everything in the crock pot in the morning. Wouldn't it have been nice to come home to a dinner that was ready? Yes, that's what I thought too- but, of course, I didn't get up early enough to do that. I'd now been trying to make this chili for 2 days... and still no chili. When I got home that night (Tuesday) I ended up throwing everything in the crock pot so that it could cook all night and be ready in the morning.

That next morning Ebert and I woke up to the aromas of garlic and smokey chipotle. Those are not the usual smells that I'm used to in the morning but it certainly got me excited for some chili. And then finally that evening (Wednesday), we dined on chili...and it was delicious!

These are the variations I made to the recipe-

I used this pumpkin ale.

I couldn't find chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, instead I used 2 jalapeno peppers and 2 Tablespoons of chipotle powder.

I also used a lot more minced garlic and garlic powder than the recipe called for. You can never have too much garlic as far as I'm concerned.

Happy Cooking!

chicken tortilla soup

chicken tortilla soup

This chicken tortilla soup is my go-to soup recipe. It's delicious and really easy to make and perfect for the chilly fall nights we've been having in Chicago. It's even better the next day after all the flavors have mixed together and there's just a bit more kick to it. I would recommend doubling this recipe. You will definitely want leftovers.

roasted sweet pepper soup

roasted sweet pepper soup

I recently bought a 2-pound bag of mini sweet peppers at our favorite local grocery store. I had no idea what I was going to do with that many peppers but at $0.49/bag I couldn't resist. Eventually I came across this recipe...sounds delicious, right? Well, it is pretty delicious but I would recommend adding some cayenne pepper to give it a little extra kick, otherwise it's slightly bland tasting. It's the perfect type of soup for this crisp fall weather. We cooked kale chips to have on the side but a crusty loaf a bread would be good too!

in the kitchen

Here's what I've been cooking in the kitchen.

red lentil soup

This red lentil soup is easy and delicious. It's going to be a new fall favorite recipe. I've only ever cooked brown lentils so when I saw that Trader Joe's started carrying split red lentils I had to try them. I recommend doubling this recipe so you have left overs the next day.

veggies & quinoa

I also made this veggies & quinoa dish. I didn't follow a recipe, although I'm sure I've seen a similar dish somewhere amongst all the foodie blogs I peruse. Since this was just a thrown together dish I'm going to give you a thrown together recipe. My mom always says "a recipe is just a guideline" so feel free to add, subtract, or change anything about this. If you do I'd love to hear what you did and how your verison came out.

• Quinoa
• Trader Joe's Jalapeno Chicken Sausages, cut into quarters
• Sweet Potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Zucchini, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• Kale, thinly shredded
• Sweet Red Pepper, diced
• Fresh Ginger, minced
• Fresh Garlic, minced
• Cumin
• Oregano
• Sea Salt
• Black Pepper

Start cooking the quinoa. While the quinoa is cooking saute the sausages in some olive oil until they are browned. Then in a separate pan saute the garlic and ginger with olive oil. Add the sweet potatoes. Cook the sweet potatoes for about 5 minutes, until they are just slightly tender but still a little crunchy. Add the zucchini. Once you add the zucchini sprinkle some cumin and oregano over the veggies and cook until soft. Add the kale, sea salt and black pepper. Toss the cooked sausages over the kale and cover for a couple minutes. The kale will cook quickly since it's thinly shredded so it doesn't need to stay covered for very long. Once the kale is cooked make sure you mix everything to incorporate all the flavors. Add the diced sweet red pepper just before serving. The crunchiness of the pepper adds a nice texture to the dish. Adjust the flavors to your liking and voila! A healthy and hearty supper.

the cobb salad

via create.your.happy

This is how Ebert and I started the long weekend...with a homemade cobb salad and a bottle of rose. It was the perfect combination for a warm May evening, a perfect way to welcome summer.

And, in case you're wondering, here's one story on how the cobb salad came to be. I love that it was created at the Brown Derby. One of my favorite 'I Love Lucy' episodes takes place at the Brown Derby with William Holden ordering a cobb salad. It is so funny. My side hurts every time I watch it.

pancakes

via browndresswithwhitedots

via katiequinndavies

via sproutedkitchen

via bippityboppityboo

via honeyandjam

Thank goodness it's almost the weekend when I can finally celebrate National Pancake Week properly. My Saturday morning is going to be fully dedicated to pancake making....short stacks, full stacks, drizzles of maple syrup. Oh, it will be delicious!

sunday supper: dinner with friends

There's nothing like spending an evening with good friends cooking, drinking wine and eating a delicious meal together. That's how Ebert and I started our weekend and it was the perfect way to welcome in October. Our friend's Eric and Ivory got married in September and this was our first time hanging out as married couples. It was a fun evening- despite some outrages during an intense round of The Newlywed Game. I'm happy to report that this old married couple smoked the newlyweds. We reassured them that after 1000 days together you really get to know how someone will answer silly questions.

Ivory set a simple, yet beautiful table.

I made an arugula and pear salad adapted from this recipe.

Ivory made a hearty pasta dish- perfect for these chilly fall nights. She sauteed together mushrooms, zucchini, fresh garlic and Trader Joe's chicken garlic sausages. Then, she mixed in capers and Trader Joe's Arrabiata sauce and let all those flavors cook together for a while. She added the veggies and sauce to penne pasta and topped it with some parmesan cheese and fresh basil. It was so yummy!

For dessert we had Trader Joe's pumpkin ice cream with ginger thin cookies. Why have I never had pumpkin ice cream before? It is so ridiculously good!

I hope your weekend was spent with good friends (or family) and lots of good food!

Happy Cooking!

sunday supper: figs

I bought a carton of figs at Trader Joe's the other day. Can you believe that was my first time buying fresh figs? What's even more shocking is that up until then Ebert had only ever eaten a fig in the 'Newton' form. He was pleasantly surprised with how much he liked them. We have know been eating a lot of figs - for dinner I made a spinach, blue cheese, and fig salad with an olive oil and fig balsamic dressing. I've been putting fig and banana slices on top of yogurt with almonds and walnuts for a delicious, healthy breakfast. And I've been eating them whole for a quick and easy snack. I haven't been able to cook with them yet, maybe with the next carton I buy I'll be able to try some of these recipes.

rosemary-scented mascarpone fig tart via mikestable

quinoa salad w/figs via dishingupdelights

I also want to try her fig yogurt cake, it looks so yummy!

chocolate-covered figs w/sea salt via circlebkitchen

rustic fig & goat cheese pizza via sproutedkitchen

Happy Cooking on this dreary Sunday!

sunday supper: miso soup

Ebert's been sick for about a week (poor guy!) so we've been eating a lot of soup. Today I made some miso soup for him because miso helps strengthen the immune system, among it's many other benefits. I remember having to eat miso soup as a kid and I hating it, so it's funny that I'm resorting to these natural remedies as an adult. Hey, whatever works right? And it helps that this soup is not only good for you but that it's quite tasty too.

Miso Soup

(adapted from learning herbs)

Ingredients:

olive oil

1 inch piece of wakame

1 cup water

2 cups organic chicken broth

1 carrot, diced

6 garlic cloves, minced

1⁄2 inch piece of fresh ginger root, grated

1 cup fresh shiitake mushrooms, slice

2 TBS miso

Soak wakame in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes, once the wakame is done soaking mince it.

Put water and chicken broth in a pot and bring to a boil.

Heat olive oil, sauté carrot, garlic, ginger and wakame until soft and aromatic. Add contents of skillet to the pot of boiling water and chicken broth. Boil for 5 minutes.

Reduce to a simmer, then add miso. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Happy Cooking!

sunday supper: german chocolate brownies

It was my father-in-law's birthday this weekend and instead of making a german chocolate cake, which happens to be his favorite, like I did last year I came across this german chocolate brownie recipe and just knew that I had to try it. I was hoping that my brownies would look like this....

via bakingdom

but, instead they looked like this.


They were still delicious though! However, I'm realizing that I just don't have the patience for baking. But, I'm sure I'll come across another recipe that I will just have to try, then I'll spend hours in the kitchen baking and once again come to the conclusion that I just don't have the patience for baking.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

cooking inspiration

beet cake from tiger in a jar

What a beautiful, inspiring video. Doesn't it make you want to bake a cake? Or at least eat one.

sunday supper: cobb salad

This salad is amazing. I think I've made it about three times this week. Do you want to know the best part? The turkey bacon! Now, why didn't I think of using turkey bacon sooner! Also, Whole Foods has a great vegan Worcestershire sauce that I used for the dressing. And you can find out how to make the perfect hard-boiled egg here.


Hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day! Happy Cooking!

sunday supper: mexican fiesta

Last night we had a Fiesta party that we called "Catorce de Mayo". It was a party for Ebert's birthday and even though he doesn't like a fuss to be made about his birthday he graciously allowed me to go a little overboard, like making party decorations (hence the homemade birthday sign), but really it was just a good excuse to get together with family and friends. There was lots of eating and drinking done by all, although with playing the role of the host I forgot to take pictures of all the food. I made some traditional favorites like rice and beans, but I also wanted to try some new recipes like Chicken Chile Verde and a
Mexican Chocolate Cake for dessert. I don't think my cooking is quite as good as my nana's or mom's, but with a little more practice I'm sure I'll get there. The best part is all the delicious leftovers we ate today!

homemade pizza

Ebert and I bought a pizza stone a few weeks ago- making homemade pizza was the something that I couldn't wait to tell you about. It's a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. The most challenging part is rolling out the dough to make a perfectly round and thin crust (we prefer thin crust to deep dish - is that blasphemous to admit when living in Chicago?). As you can tell from the pictures below we have to work on our dough rolling skills, but at least it tasted good. The best part is choosing your toppings! So far we've kept our topping selection pretty simple using just olive oil, fresh basil, fresh garlic, roma tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. Next time I'd like to try some fancier pizza toppings like...lemon, fig, goat cheese, potatoes, acorn squash, kale, beets, or apples. What are some of your favorite pizza toppings?

sunday supper: bacon anything

I won't be watching the "big game" today, even though I'll be at a superbowl party. I'm just not a sports watching kind of gal. But, all this game-day talk got me thinking about the perfect kinds of superbowl party food—and what's a party without bacon. Bacon anything.

In all honesty I've never had real bacon. I grew up a vegetarian and I've only been eating meat (poultry) for the past 8 years. However, I will admit that even during my veggie days the smell of bacon was pretty damn good. I don't consider myself a full-fledged carnivore yet- I'm still very particular about what kinds of meat I eat and, alas, bacon is not on that list, but turkey bacon is. So, feel free to substitute turkey bacon for any of these recipes. I'm sure it'll be just as good!

Bacon Wrapped Dates

I made these bacon wrapped dates for New Year's Eve and they were oh so yummy! I did use turkey bacon and only stuffed half of them with goat cheese, the other half I left plain. I think adding an almond to them would be a nice, crunchy addition.

Cream Cheese and Bacon Stuffed Jalapenos via Life'sAmbrosia

Sweet Potatoes with Blue Cheese & Bacon via familyfreshcooking

Bacon Pops! via TheKitchn

Candied Bacon and Rosemary Shortbread via tiffintales

Happy Cooking!