Broccoli Cheese Soup

 We've finally reached 80 degree weather here...and it's nearly November. Not sure I'll really ever get used to the 'seasons' here. However, we will get a little taste of fall/winter next week as we head to Denver. When I visit my mom it is usually a balance of her cooking our favorites and me introducing a few new recipes. If the weather is chilly (which I'm sure it will be), this is a likely contender. Lots of veggies and lots of cheese are always a great pairing.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. butter
1 chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped carrot * See note below
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
3 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. sea salt (this seemed like a lot, I just eye-balled it)
1/2 Tbps. freshly ground black pepper (again, to taste)
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2  baking potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 Tbsp. flour
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup whole milk
3 cups chopped broccoli (about bite size)
2 cups chopped cauliflower (finely chopped)
1-2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup pepper jack cheese, grated (I omitted and just did a total of 2 cups cheddar)

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large soup pot.  Add onions, carrots, red pepper, and celery and saute over medium heat until tender.  Add garlic and cook 1 or 2 additional minutes. Season with salt and pepper.  Add  broth and potatoes, bring to a simmer, and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the flour with water, add to soup along with the broccoli and cauliflower.  Simmer until broccoli is tender, another 10-15 minutes.  Add milk and cook until heated through.  If the soup is a bit too thick, add water or broth slowly until desired consistency is reached and bring back to a simmer. Stir in cheese, allow to melt, and serve.

*note- Instead of taking so much time finely dicing, I buzzed the soup with an immersion blender after the potatoes were tender and before I added the flour mixture, broccoli, and cauliflower. This helped to thicken the soup as well.

from My Green Diet

Peach Pound Cake

Seems kinda funny to be posting this when most of the recipes I see popping up are for chili, apple or pumpkin inspired something etc. Well, fall in Arizona is (unfortunately) quite different as we are still well in the 90s. Sigh. A few weeks ago we got a load of Utah peaches and this was a great way to finish them off.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups white sugar, plus a bit more for dusting pan
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2- 2.5 cups fresh peaches, pitted and chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Butter a 10 inch tube pan and coat with white sugar.  

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla and almond extract. Reserve 1/4 cup of flour for later, and sift together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Use the reserved flour to coat the chopped peaches, then fold the floured peaches into the batter. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes (mine baked at about 65) in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy warm or at room temperature, perhaps even with whipped cream and additional fresh peaches.

 slightly adapted from allrecipes.com

Sugar Cookie Crust Fruit Pizza

Siena's birthday cake...she only ate the fruit.

Ingredients

Crust
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp.vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt 

Spread
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest 

Fresh Fruit
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup kiwi, sliced (omitted this time)
1 cup peaches, sliced
1 cup strawberries, sliced 


Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugars until smooth. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract and mix until just incorporated. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the creamed butter and mix until blended. Remove dough from bowl and press into a greased 10 inch tart pan or pizza pan. 

2. Bake at 325  for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges just start to brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a cooling rack.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest until smooth. Spread evenly on the cooled crust. 

Arrange fresh fruit in desired pattern on top of filling and chill until ready to slice and serve.

slightly adapted from Kelsey's Kitchen

Cherry Crumble

At the end of July, my sister-in-law came for a visit from Washington and brought us fresh blueberries and cherries from her rural farming community. We enjoyed eating them everyday, but despite our best efforts we couldn't quite put the dent in the cherries that we did in the blueberries. It was really just a good excuse to make a quick treat. I mean, I had to, right? We loved this so much we made it again two days after the first go.

Ingredients

6 Tbsp. butter

1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

6 Tbsp. packed brown sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

2 heaping cups fresh pitted cherries

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1/4 cup raw almonds

1/4 cup old-fashioned oats

2 Tbsp. butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

2. In a large saucepan, melt butter. Remove pan from heat; stir in oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt until a dry, crumbly mixture forms. Press 3/4 of the mixture into the bottom of a greased 9" square pan, making a firm, even layer. 

3. In a bowl, combine cherries with sugar, flour, and almond extract. Layer cherry mixture on top of crumb crust. 

4. In a food processor, plus almonds, oats, and butter. Add to remaining crumb mixture in the saucepan. Sprinkle on top of cherry mixture. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until top is lightly browned. Serve warm or at room temperature...possibly with ice cream on the side!

adapted from All Recipes

Massaged Kale Salad

While this salad may sound kinda high maintenance, it is really pretty simple. It has a lot of the usual suspects, but this time they are paired with kale, which was a nice change.


Ingredients

1 bunch kale
3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt or sea salt
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup small-diced apple
1/3 cup toasted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup crumbled Feta cheese

Directions

1. Wash the kale and pat it dry. Slice off the stiff stems below the leaves and continue slicing the stem away from the leaf until you have cut a thin v-shape into the kale leaf and removed the tough stem all the way up. Stack the kale leaves two or three at a time, roll them up, and slice the leaves into thin ribbons.
2. Place the kale ribbons in a large mixing bowl. Add the salt and massage it into the kale with your hands for two minutes. You’ll notice the kale start to turn a darker green and the texture of the kale will begin to soften a bit.
3. Toss in the red onions, dried cranberries, apples, and sunflower seeds. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar and sugar. Pour over the salad and toss. Sprinkle feta cheese over the top and serve. The salad can be refrigerated for up to a day before serving, in fact, I think it's better after it's had time for all the flavors to really combine.


from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Chicken Salad with Peaches and Blue Cheese (Feta)

This recipe has been up since I first starting typing up our favorite recipes. A great summer meal that is on frequent rotation in our kitchen. And, since I'm extra lazy these days- I often skip the recommended vinaigrette and use a little bit (because those peaches are so juicy) of my favorite poppy seed dressing.

Ingredients:

Salad
2 heads romaine lettuce, cut crosswise into 1-inch strips.
1 rotisserie chicken, meat sliced into bite-size pieces
2 peaches, roughly chopped (with or without peel)
3/4 cups (3 oz.) crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup (2 oz.) almonds, roughly chopped

Vinaigrette
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Arrange lettuce, chicken, peaches, cheese, and almonds on a platter or on individual plates.

2. Whisk together the vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad.

This can be customized to what you prefer, or what you happen to have in the refrigerator.
Instead of peaches... sliced pears, halved red grapes
Instead of romaine...spinach, arugula, spring mix
Instead of blue cheese... goat cheese, feta
Instead of almonds... walnuts, pecans

Serves 4-6.

from Real Simple: Meals Made Easy

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Since part of our wedding cake was carrot cake we thought it would be a fun tradition to make some around our anniversary. We spent a lazy Sunday afternoon watching our wedding DVD with Siena and eating too many cupcakes. (They were made with the intention of freezing some...I think we all know that did not happen.)

Yes, this is the exact recipe I have posted for carrot cake...with one key difference. We decided cupcakes are the way to go when it comes to a frosted dessert. We left the cupcakes themselves at room temperature and pulled the frosting out of the fridge as needed to frost (smother?) each individual cupcake. The cake stayed so moist this way and the cooking time was drastically cut down-who wants to wait 50 minutes when a cute cupcake is ready in 18?




Ingredients

Cupcakes
3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2-3 cups grated carrots (use larger side of grater)
8 oz. can crushed pineapples
1/2 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Frosting
1/3 cup butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2-3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan, or two 9-inch round pans.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, applesauce, sugars, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Gradually add dry mixture to wet mixture. Stir in carrots, pineapple, coconut, and fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

2. Bake standard cupcakes for 18 minutes, extra large cupcakes 24-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

3. To make the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese together until completely blended. Add vanilla and blend. Gradually beat in sugar to desired consistency.