Totally changed my mind. I thought I'd like to share some soup recipes, but no one is in the mood for soup right now.... That's for winter! It's much more fun to get in the summertime, entertaining frame of mind. Snack food - that's where it's at!
I went to Kelowna on April 30. The girls and I got to see Sarah McLachlan's re-booked concert (which was great.) I also got to do a little grocery shopping for the girls while I was there. We went to Costco.... Yikes! There's a lot of BIG food there! Huge food. Huge quantities. I bought a huge tub of artichoke/spinach hummus. It was pretty good. I took the hummus to work on Monday, and shared it with my co-workers. Lorraine's daughter, Aiko, said that she had seen a recipe for the same stuff in a magazine recently. She copied the recipe and I made it last week. It's much better than the store bought version.
Artichoke/Spinach Hummus
Throw all these ingredients into a good blender or food processor
1 can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
1 Tbsp tahini
2 cloves garlic
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 can artichokes, drained
Salt and pepper to taste.
Process until just blended (some chunks are okay).
This hummus is great with carrot sticks, pita, or on a sliced baguette.
It is probably best to eat it right away or within a couple of days, so the spinach doesn't get too yucky.
Thanks, Aiko.
With all the graduation celebrations, and weddings coming up, this dip is sure to become a popular replacement for all of those greasy (but delicious, I know) cheese-and cream-filled dips.
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Stone Soup
Of course, as an Early Childhood Educator, I have a passion for my work. It's a great day when my passion for my work and my passion for cooking come together.
Remember the story "Stone Soup?" (There have been many versions of it over the years.) - The stranger(s) comes to the village of grumpy people (or a single grumpy person) and tricks them into being generous, by pretending to make soup from a stone (or stones.) Well, we had introduced that story to the kids and got them each to bring an ingredient for making stone soup. It turned out beautifully. Just a basic vegetable soup, but so easy and delicious.
Stone (Vegetable) Soup
Saute in bottom of large soup pot:
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 Tbsp olive oil
Add:
3 carrots, diced
3 potatoes, diced
1/2 cup barley (or rice for gluten free option)
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
4 cups water
1 lg can tomatoes (sometimes it is nice to use just the juice, if you don't like lumps of tomatoes)
Simmer above until veggies and barley are cooked.
Add:
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 can white beans (rinsed and drained)
Salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer for 5 more minutes.
I know.... too easy, right? Soup is. So many variations exist. Adding cabbage to this one would be delicious. Lots of people like pasta in their soups, but it pays to cook it first and throw it in at the end, to avoid the humungous slimy noodle thing that happens with over-cooked pasta. Throw in some rice, black beans and chili powder instead of the white beans and you've got a great southwestern option. Mmmmm. Maybe May should be soup month on The Normal Vegan.... more to come :)
Remember the story "Stone Soup?" (There have been many versions of it over the years.) - The stranger(s) comes to the village of grumpy people (or a single grumpy person) and tricks them into being generous, by pretending to make soup from a stone (or stones.) Well, we had introduced that story to the kids and got them each to bring an ingredient for making stone soup. It turned out beautifully. Just a basic vegetable soup, but so easy and delicious.
Stone (Vegetable) Soup
Saute in bottom of large soup pot:
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 Tbsp olive oil
Add:
3 carrots, diced
3 potatoes, diced
1/2 cup barley (or rice for gluten free option)
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
4 cups water
1 lg can tomatoes (sometimes it is nice to use just the juice, if you don't like lumps of tomatoes)
Simmer above until veggies and barley are cooked.
Add:
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 can white beans (rinsed and drained)
Salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer for 5 more minutes.
I know.... too easy, right? Soup is. So many variations exist. Adding cabbage to this one would be delicious. Lots of people like pasta in their soups, but it pays to cook it first and throw it in at the end, to avoid the humungous slimy noodle thing that happens with over-cooked pasta. Throw in some rice, black beans and chili powder instead of the white beans and you've got a great southwestern option. Mmmmm. Maybe May should be soup month on The Normal Vegan.... more to come :)
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