Friday, October 12, 2007

FOODIE FRIDAY: SOUP AND SALAD

I made this dish on Wednesday and it was totally yummy. I haven’t made soup in ages although I used to have this awesome lentil and potato soup recipe that has disappeared along with the recipe notebook I had in college. It is too bad, that thing was great. It disappeared sometime at Addison apartment. I am not sure when but one day I went to grab it and the thing was gone.

Anyway, I made a new soup and it was pretty easy to make. The only difficult part was straining it and I am sure there are gadgets out there much better than my mesh colander for straining soup. Or maybe not and it is just a pain to do. If I had a bowl the same size as the colander it would have been much easier. The soup will serve 3-4 while the salad will serve 2

Pear and Goat Cheese Salad with pesto vinaigrette
-4cups salad greens of your choosing, ideally something with a little bitterness
-1 pear halved and cored
-2tbsp herbed goat cheese (or regular if you like)
-2tbsp slivered almonds (I made more than needed because they taste good)
-8 radishes sliced into thin rounds
-Tsp garlic powder
-Salt and pepper to taste
Dressing
-1tbsp pesto
-3tbsp balsamic vinegar

-Preheat oven to 350
-Place almonds on a baking sheet and dust with spices
-Toast for 7 min (give or take) stirring occasionally
-Put 1tbsp goat cheese in the cored out section of the pears
-Place stuffed pear in center of 2 cups of salad greens
-Sprinkle radishes and 1tbsp almonds over salad
-Dress lightly with the pesto vinaigrette

Potato, leek, and cauliflower soup with asparagus and thyme
-4 spears asparagus chopped into bite sized rounds
-½ head cauliflower chopped but not all that fine
-1 potato peeled and sliced
-2 medium leeks sliced into thin rounds (only the white and light green parts)
-2tbsp butter
-3.5cups vegetable broth
-2 cloves garlic pressed
-10 small sprigs fresh thyme
-Salt and pepper to taste
-2tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese
-½ cup room temperature nonfat yogurt
-4 pieces thinly (1/2in) sliced ciabatta bread

-Put 1.5tbsp butter in a soup pot and melt
-Sauté leeks about 2 min
-Add garlic and sauté 1min
-Add cauliflower, potato, 6 sprigs thyme, and a dash each of salt and pepper and sauté 5 min
-Remove sprigs of thyme and discard
-Add vegetable broth and simmer 20 min or until cauliflower and potato are soft
-Pour mixture into a blender or food processor and liquefy
-Pour blended soup through a thin colander to strain out most of the pulp. It will take a while if you have a colander that fits nicely over the top of a big bowl it will be nice and easy
-Heat oven to 350
-Rub bread in the seasonings left in the baking sheet from the almonds and then cover one side with parmesan
-Bake 5-8 min until crisp and cheese is melted and browned
-Put the rest of the butter into the pan and melt
-Sauté asparagus rounds until slightly soft but still keep a nice crispness about 7 min
-Once the soup is strained add the yogurt and whisk until smooth
-Add asparagus rounds
-If needed heat over med-low heat but do not bring to a boil
-Garnish with 2 slices of ciabatta bread and the remaining thyme sprigs

Enjoy

1. If this world were mine/ I would place at your feet/ all that I own/ You’ve been so good to me. If This World Were Mine, Luthur. Identified by Urban Chick

2. I prayed to/ Heaven today/ Bring its hammer down on me/ And pound you out of my head/ I can’t think with you in there

3. I spend the afternoon in cars/ I sit in traffic jams for hours/ Don’t push me I am not ok

4. Pistol shots/ Gun shots/ pistol shots/ Gun shots/ Bullets from a revolver/ bullets from a gun/ Bullets through the atmosphere/ here they come. Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love, TheyMight Be Giants. Identified by, Monica

5. So they say I was sometimes cruel/ I don’t know if I would say that too/ Oh I/ I don’t know about that

6 comments:

Traveling Matt said...

4 - TMBG sapphire bullets of Pure Love. Hey do yu want to see them at the vic next month with me?

Urban Chick said...

1- LUTHER...'nuf said

Blog Antagonist said...

Oh my god that looks delicious. All of it. You know, every time you post one of these, I print it out, put it in my recipe folder, and forget about it. Next week, I'm going to make one of these for sure. They are too yummy looking to languish in my pitiful little folder.

thethinker said...

I tend to love anything that has pesto in it. Maybe I'll print this out and try to convince my mom to cook it for me.

Anonymous said...

Hey, guess who! RT, tony's friend and guess what else, i saw walking tall last night and. it. kicked. ass.

That's all spread the word, lord knows i will. ;)

-rt

Foofa said...

Monica- I might want to go but it depends on how I feel and if it sells out.

Urban Chick- I totally wanted to eat potatoes with you yesterday. I'm a little bummed.

BA- One of these days you will make it. I am the same way with recipes. One day I just pull something out and then there you go.

Thinker- The pesto dressing is so easy that even you could do it. A spoon of store bought basil and some vinegar. then stir. You can do it!

RT- I am so happy you loved it! I heart The Rock