Chilly outside and only soup and a sandwich will do!

I picked up these flowers at a local market and they completely set the tone for the weekend.

Even the colors inspired this Sunday’s menu.

Creamy baby lima bean and yukon gold potato soup with Kerrygold cheddar grilled cheese.

Fragrant rosemary and roasted garlic add to the rich creaminess of this meal.

Start by soaking the beans overnight.

Pour out the water and add fresh water for quick boiling.

When you’ve brought these beans to a boil pour out this water, as well.

For the final cooking add enough water to cover plus about 4 cups.

Add a large sweet onion and allow to cook until the onion is soft and translucent.

Meanwhile, roast a head of garlic in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes

When the onion is done remove and place in the food processer with the roasted garlic, about 2 Tbspn of dried rosemary, 1/4 cup of olive oil and 2 Tbspn flour.

Blend until creamy.

Add this to the boiling beans.

Add 2 Tbspn of vegetarian boullion and salt and pepper to taste.

Chop 5-6 Yukon Gold potatoes and ad to the soup and allow to cook on medium heat for 2 hours.

Grilled cheese is perfect with this soup!

This is the perfect winter meal for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Enjoy!

Meatless Monday! was a huge hit tonight. It may have been the best to date.

The soup and sandwich idea was inspired by a cold and rainy day

This meal was not just meatless but vegan deliciousness.

My kale obsession continues and I have made it kid friendly and so satisfying.

I had planned to put the white beans in the soup and serve with a gourmet toasted cheese sandwich. When I mentioned this to my daughter she turned up her nose at the cheese sandwich idea, which actually made me happy as I am all about vegan meals.

So I began “deconstructing”. What to do with the beans? What do we get from cheese that we like so much? The creamy, filling, salty goodness! I can do that with white beans!

A baguette thinly sliced and lightly coated with fragrant organic olive oil was the beginning.

I then lightly toasted them and put them aside.
I sautéed ¼ of a white onion with 5 cloves of garlic and about 2 big tablespoons of rosemary in ¼ cup of olive oil until the onions were transparent.
Then I placed the cooled mixture into the food processer with 2 cans of white northern beans and pureed and set this aside, also.
I then sliced 1 large roasted red pepper.

I also had a large bunch of fresh basil. I used 5-6 cloves of garlic and toasted about a half cup of pine nuts and combined in the food processer with ¾ cup of olive oil and set that aside to assemble right before dinner so that the crostini did not become soggy.

The kale soup was easy plus I cheated with vegan soup bullion.

In a large soup pot I sautéed ½ a white onion with 5-6 cloves of garlic and about ½ cup of olive oil.

I chopped the kale and sautéed it for a bit, then added cubed yellow organic potatoes.

I then added about 8-10 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of vegan bullion and allowed it to cook for about an hour and a half.

Parmesan cheese tops my daughters soup.

This wine was great with the soup.

This was my “cheat” ingredient!

My food processor was my best friend today. I couldn’t have done it without her! I could have but it wouldn’t have been as easy or as fun!

Having a recipe that you can make quickly and get right everytime is a great skill to master.

Red skin potatoes are a great side dish for so many dishes and these are great alone; as a treat.

I have made these for appetizers and as a snack to go with cocktails.

These are like a dressed-up version of potato skins minus the huge calorie count!

They take about 30 minutes from washing the potatoes to serving them. So you can whip them up in a jiff if need be.

Tahini Sauce

Tahini sauce is made from tahini – a sesame seed paste. Tahini sauce is thinner and used in pita sandwiches, marinades, and dips. Tahini sauce is very easy to make. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and it will keep for about two weeks.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
3 gloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon parsley, finely chopped (optional)
Preparation:
In a food processor or mortar and pestle, combine garlic and tahini. Add kosher salt.

Remove from food processor and add olive oil and lemon juice. If too thick, add a teaspoon of warm water until desired consistency.

I washed and quatered about 12 medium sized organic red skin potatoes

Saute in about 1/4 cup of olive oil

I added about 10 shakes of red pepper flakes and 4-5 pinches of dried rosemary

I let this cook until the potatoes became browned

I then removed them from the frying pan and wrapped them in aluminum foil and placed them on a cookie sheet in a 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

Salt to taste

Top them off with the tahini sauce and serve.

Enjoy!

I needed healthy, hardy fast food. I am a vegetarian/vegan ( I sometime slip with cheese) so there were not a lot of options as I was running errands today.

I am working on a writing deadline and just needed to fill the growling belly…quick.

That is when, as I was hunting through my pantry, I came across this gorgeous soup idea.

Here is a recipe for a simple soup. This was insanely good and I would serve it to guests.

RECIPE

1 can cannellini beans
2 cloves garlic sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
A handful of fresh spinach
½ cup of veggie stock
2-3 pinches of dried rosemary
Salt to taste

METHOD

In a medium sauce pan add olive oil, garlic and rosemary

Drain some of the liquid from the can of beans and pour the beans into the sauce pan.

Stir it around a bit. I mashed up my beans, too. That’s how I like it.

Add a large handful of fresh spinach. Let it cook for a few minutes on medium to high heat.

Add ½ cup of the veggie stock and salt to taste.

This was amazing! So simple, so fast and truly filling and delicious!

If you want to get fancy I would puree it in the food processor for a more genteel presentation; however, the rustic look with say a Panini sandwich would also be fantastic.

I tore this page out of a House Beautiful magazine about a year and a half ago and it has been like a sacred document in my house ever since.
I now know the recipe by heart but always pull it out to keep my eye on this familiar page and to refer to Devon S. Frederick’s notes which are helpful.
I did not make mine with the onion tomato topping suggested but I made two variations with tomato, basil and parmesan, and tomato and parmesan. Both with coarse sea salt and lots of really good olive oil.
You can vary the toppings just get the bread recipe down to a science. Once you do, well , you will always be able to pull fresh bread out of the oven for snacks, entertaining, or just plain eating! This is so good that you could just top it with olive oil and dried herbs from your pantry. I think rosemary, garlic and coarse sea salt is perfect. (done it, love it!)
HINT I line my baking pan with parchment paper as I have had “sticking” issues. On the stone it is not as big a problem but it has happened here as well.
There is nothing as wonderful as bread fresh from the oven.

Recipe courtesy of Lidia Matticchio Bastianich
ONION-TOMATO FOCACCIAFocaccia d’Altamura
MAKES A LARGE ROUND FOCACCIA, SERVING 10 OR MORE
2 packets active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
5 1/2cups all-purpose flour, plus more for handling the dough
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups warm water, or as needed
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil for the bread bowl
FOR THE TOPPING
1 large onion, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced (about 2 cups slices)
2 cups ripe cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half
1/2cup extra-virgin olive oil, or as needed
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt, or as needed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1. To make the dough, dissolve the yeast in G cup warm water and let it sit for several minutes, until it begins to bubble. Put the flour and salt in the food-processor bowl.
2. Stir together the active yeast and 2 cups lukewarm water in a spouted measuring cup. With the processor running continuously, blend the flour and salt briefly, then pour in all the liquid through the feed tube and process for about 30 seconds. A soft, moist dough should gather on the blade, with some sticking to the sides of the bowl. If it’s very sticky and hasn’t come off the sides at all, incorporate more flour, a tablespoon or two at a time, to stiffen the dough and bring it together. If the dough is dry, process in more water in small amounts.
3. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, scraping the bowl and blade clean. Knead by hand for a minute, using as little flour as possible, until the dough forms a smooth round, still soft and a bit sticky. Coat a big bowl with the tablespoon of olive oil, drop in the dough, and turn it to oil it all over. Seal the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.
4. While the dough is rising, toss together the sliced onion, cherry tomato halves, 4 tablespoons of the olive oil, and H teaspoon salt in a small bowl, and let them marinate.
5. Coat the baking dish or pan, bottom and sides, with 2 tablespoons or more olive oil. Deflate the risen dough and lay it in the pan. Gently press and stretch it into an evenly flat round that fills the pan. If the dough is resistant, let it relax for a few minutes before stretching it again.
6. Lift the marinated onion and tomatoes out of the bowl with a slotted spoon, draining off the juices. Scatter the vegetables all over the focaccia, and lightly press in with your fingertips, creating dimples in the soft dough. Finally, drizzle the marinating oil over the top.
7. Let the focaccia rise, uncovered, for about 20 minutes. Set a baking stone, if you have one, on a center oven rack and heat to 425°. Just before baking, gently dimple the dough again with your fingertips, and sprinkle another H teaspoon coarse salt all over.
8. Bake the focaccia for about 20 minutes, rotate the pan back to front for even cooking, and bake another 10 to 15 minutes, or even longer, until the bread is golden brown and the onions and tomatoes are nicely caramelized.
9. Remove the pan, drizzle another tablespoon or two of olive oil over the focaccia, and crumble the dried oregano, scattering it on top. Let the focaccia cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing. Serve it warm or at room temperature.

I am including Devon’s notes as they very helpful to me and may well be to you, too.

DEVON MAKES THE FOCACCIA
A home run here. This is a great, easy to make, not messy- to-clean-up-after recipe for bread dough. You’ll love being able to use it when good bread isn’t available—a Wonder bread–infused vacation on the coast of Maine comes to mind. Simply whip up this dough, top it with whatever you’re in the mood for, and serve it warm from the oven.
You make the dough in a food processor. The flour filled mine to the very top, and I was dubious about whether there was enough room for the two cups of water. But within seconds the whole thing had formed a very malleable dough and was ready for quick kneading.
The tomato and onion topping was very tasty, but so was a topping I made with sautéed onions and dried thyme. For that matter, when you have focaccia this good, a topping of nothing more than coarse salt and a drizzle of olive oil is wonderful.
I had a little trouble timing this to come out of the oven for dinner. The first time I made it, we all had a snack at 10 P.M. I would advise leaving 2H hours from start to finish.