Leek and Potato Soup

Hopefully I haven't become too predictable with the onset of cold weather, but I'm always craving a satisfying bowl of soup that warms me up from head to toe. After going for a run in Central Park yesterday (I know, what's happening to me?!), I already knew I wanted to make soup for dinner. I tend to gravitate towards soups that are, at their core, veggies and broth that I can blend up into a thick soup with my immersion blender. I found this recipe for leek and potato soup that I knew would hit the spot!

Sticking with my resolution to use new ingredients, this was the first time I've cooked with leeks! The leek and potato mixture made our apartment smell amazing as they were cooking down. I still need to figure out what I can to do with the leek tops since I have a lot left over that I don't want to waste. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

While the veggies and broth were simmering, Matt caramelized the mushrooms (another resolution to cook together more often!). We both forgot how much they cook down so we only had enough for our two bowls of soup. Luckily I forgot to buy more butter for another recipe so I was able to pick up some more at the grocery store so we don't miss having these with our bowlfuls today!

We blended the soup smooth, not leaving it chunky as this recipes suggests - whichever you prefer will still produce a delicious soup! We added a generous amount of salt and pepper to really bring out the flavor from the veggies.

Each bite of this soup was the perfect mixture of flavors and textures. The soup itself was creamy, with hints of citrus from the lemon juice. The mushrooms were perfectly caramelized and gave the soup some chewiness and a great earthy flavor. The creme fraiche cooled the soup down a bit, and the green onions (I already had some in the fridge so I used them instead of chives) offered a little crunch and just the right amount of raw onion flavor without overpowering the dish. I would make this soup again in a heartbeat!

Black Bean Pita Pizza

Happy Tuesday to all of my lovely readers! I'm always looking for motivation and ideas to try out new recipes, but sometimes nothing speaks to me. I don't know how that happens when there are so many delicious recipes out there, but I guess when there are so many options, it's hard to know where to start! Luckily, I have a hungry husband who I can ask for suggestions when I'm stumped as to what I should whip up in the kitchen.

I recently had a recipe brain fart and Matt suggested pizza so at least I had a starting place! There are so many directions you can go in when it comes to pizza so I started combing through my options on Foodgawker. I came across a very appealing recipe for Mexican style pizza that uses a black bean paste instead of your typical sauce. Black beans, cilantro, hot sauce and cumin? Sign me up!

This black bean paste is AMAZING. You can just eat it on its own with tortilla chips and call it a day. The paste is about the consistency of hummus, but the bits of cilantro and warmth from the cumin really make this "sauce" delicious. I would recommend making this recipe for the paste alone! I only made half of the amount called for in the recipe, which still left some extra at the end - I certainly wasn't complaining about having a yummy snack the next day!

Since my grocery store was completely out of pizza dough (I know, I'm too lazy to make my own), I went with the next best option and bought pita! Who doesn't love an individual pizza that you don't have to share with anyone? After cooking the pizza in the oven with the black bean paste and pepper jack cheese, I topped it with some shredded lettuce, diced tomato, and sour cream (just for Matt since sour cream is not my cup of tea).

These pizzas were really delicious, primarily from the black bean paste. In case you didn't get it by now, you've got to make this paste! The gooey cheese and crisp, crunchy lettuce really make this a satisfying and quick dinner to make during the week. Let me know what you think!

Enchiladas Verdes

My husband made enchiladas verdes last week, using two new ingredients that we've never cooked with before - tomatillos and cotija cheese! We made some improvisations along the way to make the recipe work for us, but they are turned out very delicious!

We cooked the tomatillos, serrano peppers and garlic in our cast iron Dutch oven, lined with aluminum foil, since we didn't have a griddle pan. It worked really well, blackening the veggies until they were ready to be blended into a delicious sauce. We only used 2 cups of chicken broth for the sauce, which already made the sauce pretty watery. We ended up adding several scoops of cornstarch to thicken it because it wasn't doing it on its own once we started heating it up.

We also decided to lightly crisp the corn tortillas in a pan instead of frying them, which worked out well, but took longer than frying. I think next time we would want to fry them, just to see if there is a difference.

The sauce was really spicy from the serrano peppers, but once we dipped the tortillas in the sauce, rolled up the chicken and lettuce/cilantro mix inside, and slathered on some creme fraiche (I couldn't find any Mexican crema at my grocery store) and cotija cheese, the sauce really mellowed out and wasn't too overwhelming. We had these again the following night and the sauce was even more flavorful than when we first made it.

I would definitely recommend trying the dish! It takes some work with all of the steps involved, but it was a lot of fun (to watch) - I was the kitchen supervisor for this meal while Matt cooked a delicious dinner for me!

Roasted Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Soup

It has been quite the winter wonderland in New York since the end of last week. Winter storm Hercules (seriously, who comes up with these names?) came into New York full force on Thursday, dumping at least six inches of snow all over the city. Of course, I was happy as can be because I love the snow! Unfortunately, it started melting this weekend and the slushy snow has come. If only I had proper waterproof winter boots and I'd be able to deal with it better. Oh well, my love for snow outweighs the gross slushiness :)

Due to the cold weather, I thought, what better way to enjoy it than with a comforting bowl of soup? I already had a head of cauliflower in my fridge so I decided to try out this recipe for roasted sweet potato and cauliflower soup. 

I roasted the veggies for about 40 minutes since my oven only likes to go up to 350 degrees before setting off the fire alarm (gotta love NY apartments). I would recommend baking them until they are fork tender so that blending is easier, depending on the quality of your blender. I used an immersion blender and then transferred everything to my food processor since it was still fairly chunky.

I added about three cups of chicken broth to start, once I blended the soup. I used my immersion blender again as I added more broth, ending up using about 5 cups. The soup had a slightly thick consistency, not silky smooth as the original blog suggested, but I was happy with the results.

I also added more spices than the recipe suggested, as I felt the flavor was a bit on the bland side. I didn't realize at first that I had paprika so I added a few pinches of cayenne pepper instead. Once I found my paprika, I added about a 1/4 teaspoon along with a few pinches of ground ginger. I also added a generous amount of salt as the original teaspoon was not enough, in my opinion.

This soup provides a really great foundation and allows you to doctor it up with whichever spices you like. I feel like there are other directions you could go in, such as adding curry powder, turmeric and ground ginger. The flavors really meld together after a day or two as well so you'll get even more of the flavor from the spices you've added in. I hope you enjoy the soup and let me know what twist you put on it!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had an amazing night celebrating the new year. I still can't believe it's already 2014 - where did 2013 go? It was a great year traveling to new cities and a new country with my love, two trips to NC to see both of our families, a beautiful wedding, and many great NYC memories - more than I can list! I'm very excited and optimistic for a new year, especially my sister's wedding! It's going to be a great 2014 and I have a few resolutions to kick off the new year.

• Cook more homemade meals with my husband
• Try new ingredients
• Blog at least once a week (starting today!)
• Focus on creative projects instead of getting into a mindless TV/internet routine
• Go to bed at a reasonable time to feel more well rested
• Read at least 25 books

Last lunch of 2013!

I hope you all have an amazing 2014! Feel free to share your resolutions for the New Year in the comments section!

Lasagna Roll-ups

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas, celebrating with friends and family! Matt and I had a quiet Christmas, just the two of us, and it was perfect. We cooked a delicious meal on Christmas Eve - glazed ham, brussel sprouts with a balsamic glaze, mashed sweet potatoes, and chocolate pudding pie. On Christmas day, I was given an amazing present from my love - a new camera! I can't wait to learn the ins and outs of it and I really really can't wait to start taking awesome pictures for my blog!

Matt was craving lasagna right before the holidays so I decided to try a spin on traditional lasagna by making lasagna roll-ups! They were really fun to put together and even better to eat!

After cooking the ground beef/onion/garlic mixture and the lasagna noodles, it was time to layer each roll-up! This was the really fun part, being so hands on while cooking. Sometimes I forget the fun you can have with cooking and then a recipe like this comes along - such a great refresher to just slow down and get your hands dirty! The first layer was ricotta cheese, topped with pasta sauce, a sprinkling of parsley, and finished with the ground beef. Are they ready yet? I was so ready to eat at this point!

They were really easy to roll up, without all of the ingredients popping out the side, and twelve roll-ups fit perfectly in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. When I was getting to the last batch of three, I was a little worried they wouldn't fit in very easily, but it was perfect fit!

My favorite part was the ease in removing each roll-up when they had finished cooking. It's always really hard to get a nice piece of lasagna out of the pan without the cheese and sauce melting all over the place, making for an unattractive presentation. This was perfect - each portion stayed intact and looked really pretty from the side. I hope you enjoy!

Dried Cherry and Orange Peel Bark

Wow, it has been such a whirlwind during the last few weeks! Our two week vacation started with a week in North Carolina, a wedding in Tampa, and a week lounging on the beach and drinking out of coconuts in the Dominican Republic - it was just what we needed. It felt like we had been gone for a month, with all of our flight hopping to new places. After all the traveling, we were happy to come back to New York and get in the holiday spirit!

Hello DR!

We bought our Christmas tree the day after we got back to jump right in! Decorating the tree, listening to Christmas music, and having a Home Alone night (large cheese pizza and Coca Cola are a must!) kicked us right into holiday mode - especially with some snow last Sunday evening!

I got even more into the Christmas spirit during my book club. We decided to have a favorite things gift exchange, where you bring three of your favorite thing (all the same item), draw names, and hand out your gifts to your friends while explaining why they are your favorite thing. My favorite thing was a hand painted mug and a box of English Breakfast tea! We had a great time, complete with wine, prosecco, and of course, a holiday spread of delicious goodies!

I had a busy week so I knew I wanted to make an easy, but delicious sweet treat. And what's easier or better than holiday bark?! There are limitless combinations of chocolate and toppings to make any type of holiday bark you fancy. 

Bark before going in the fridge to harden

I knew I didn't want to go with the classic white chocolate and peppermint, so I looked for a recipe with dark chocolate and pops of flavor. I found a great recipe for dried cherry and orange peel bark that was beyond easy to make.

After I melted a pound of semisweet chocolate, I poured it into a 9 x 13 casserole dish covered in parchment paper (a baking sheet of the same size would also work - I just didn't have one that size). I then added zest from one orange and 1/4 cup of chopped dried cherries evenly on top. I wanted to add a little extra crunch element so I toasted some slivered almonds, chopped them up a little, and sprinkled them on top too.

After firming up the bark in the fridge for at least an hour (I did mine for about 1.5 to 2 hours), you can break it apart into random shapes. The flavor is really great - the chocolate is sweet and a little bitter, the almonds add a nice crunch and nuttiness, and the dried cherries add a chewy element and sweetness. The best ingredient by far was the orange zest. The touch of citrus and acidity really made all of the elements of the bark really come together. I highly recommend bringing this to your next holiday get together - it will definitely be a hit!