You know what my mom and I always say?
We always say — we can’t imagine that we used to eat canned soup and we can’t imagine ever doing it again.
Are you the same way?
Once you go homemade, you can just never go back, I suppose.
This mushroom soup is so, so good. It’s creamy, savory, warm and comforting. It’s great with a side of crusty bread for dipping. It’s satisfying.
You can find the recipe we use here.
Enjoy!
I’m really, very lucky when it comes to food.
I am surrounded by people who are great cooks and bakers. My grandma and both of her daughters — my mom and my aunt — are masters in the kitchen. There is never a lack of delicious food at family gatherings because of them.
With Greg, I am even lucky. His mom and his sisters share a love of food, cooking and baking, too, and they make so many amazing things.
This recipe is from Greg’s mom. She made it two Thanksgivings ago and also a couple of times since. I am so in love with this dish, I just had to get the recipe.
I have always loved sweet potatoes. My grandma makes the best sweet potatoes — simply cubed, cooked and then sauteed in a little butter and brown sugar. So good. They have always been a favorite of mine.
And I’ll be honest. I’ve always been afraid of sweet potato casserole. I just love the taste of sweet potatoes so much, that, I’m afraid a lot of extras (marshmallows) will conceal the taste. And, something else you should know, I don’t love the word casserole.
But this — this slightly sweet, creamy, smooth dish is just so good. The topping is slightly crunchy and adds just the perfect flavor and texture to the sweet potatoes — which still taste like sweet potatoes.
I could have this dish with every meal for the rest of my life and be a happy girl.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Thank you to Greg’s mom for such a delicious recipe!
Method:
Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 9-inch baking dish or 12 ramekins, as shown in photos.
Start with:
4 c. cooked sweet potatoes
1/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
2/3 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Place ingredients in a bowl. Mix with a handheld electric mixer until smooth. Spoon mixture into baking dish or ramekins.
Next:
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 c. oats (I used old fashioned)
1/3 c. flour
1/2 c. butter, cubed
Combine ingredients in a bowl and, using the back of a fork or a pastry blender, mix the ingredients until “crumby.” Spoon crumb topping onto sweet potato mixture, either in a baking dish or ramekins.
If using a 9-inch baking dish, bake for 45 minutes in a preheated oven. For the ramekins, bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
Enjoy!
What are the foods that you will just NOT eat?
For me, it’s most meat (I know that’s a big one). That pink ginger that comes with sushi. And I recently discovered I won’t eat a certain brand of roasted garlic hummus. Oh, and a bag of dried papaya I just bought.
More on the hummus I’m not eating: I really wanted to buy a dip just to have around to snack on. I bought the roasted garlic flavor and knew from the first bite that I just can’t eat it.
Enter: caramelized onion white bean dip. So much better than store bought anyways, right?
More proof that everything happens for a reason. I bought hummus I didn’t like so that I would be inspired to make this. 🙂
This dip is sooo good. It’s creamy and so full of flavor. I think you will really enjoy it.
Method
Start with:
1 head of garlic
Roast the garlic. I followed this method.
Next:
1 medium red onion, sliced thin
Olive oil
Salt
10 fresh sage leaves
Heat about 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add sliced onions and a pinch of salt. Cook until caramelized, 25-30 minutes. Once onions are caramelized, remove from pan and set aside. Add sage leaves to the pan to toast, about 5 minutes.
Then:
1-15 oz. can white beans (I used Great Northern beans)
Olive oil
4 cloves roasted garlic, from above
Juice from 1/2 of a lemon
Fresh ground black pepper
Red pepper flakes (I used about 1 tsp. but add according to your taste)
Using a food processor, process beans and olive oil until smooth. Drizzle in enough oil to get a smooth consistency. Add roasted garlic, lemon juice, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Process again, lightly. Add caramelized onions and toasted sage. Process once more, until just combined.
Enjoy!
*Notes:
-Add as much olive oil as you need as you are processing the dip to keep a smooth consistency. If it’s difficult to process, drizzle in some oil and try again.
-I left some larger chunks of onion and sage in my dip. If you want your dip completely smooth, process it longer, until it is how you like it.
-I served this with crackers and toasted bread.
Kale + lemon + quinoa = a trio just meant to be together.
I started making this dish over my month-long winter break from school. It was inspired by a pasta dish from one of my favorite blogs, Bev Cooks. Bev’s recipe used spaghetti. I swapped in quinoa for spaghetti and made a few other changes as well.
This dish is quick and uses simple ingredients. It’s my favorite kind of recipe.
I just know that once you make this, you will love it, and make it again, again and again!
Method:
Start with:
1 c. quinoa
2 c. vegetable stock
Thoroughly rinse quinoa. Add quinoa and stock to a pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy.
Meanwhile:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 Tbsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 of a lemon
2 c. chopped kale
1/4 c. sunflower seeds
Salt and pepper
Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook to flavor the oil, about 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and squeeze the juice of 1/2 of a lemon into the pan. Add chopped kale and stir. Cook until the kale is slightly wilted and tender, about 3 minutes. Toss in sunflower seeds and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour lemon/kale mixture over quinoa and stir to incorporate.
*I like to serve this with a dollop of goat cheese and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.
I hope that you enjoy!
This creamy, dreamy meal is sure to turn around any winter blues.
That’s what it did for me.
Yes, it is true. I am not a lover of winter. I have the winter blues. I don’t dream about being knee-deep in snow during an invigorating winter hike, or swiftly skiing down a mountain of it. I don’t even want to be outside when it is lightly flurrying! I don’t love wearing scarves and boots and jackets. I’d choose to go jacket-less every day of the year if I could. I try my hardest to enjoy being inside, looking out at snow gently falling to the ground. But even that is a stretch for me.
Escaping for a week to somewhere warm this time of the year is always an option of trying to cure the winter blues. But, when you can’t do that, eating a steaming bowl of sweet potato risotto will help. I promise.
The sweet potatoes and ricotta makes this extra creamy and the roasted brussel sprouts and sage are the perfect added flavors.
Enjoy every bite, and for all others out there dreaming of warmer weather, spring is officially 16 days away!
Method
Preheat oven to 400*.
Start with:
1 medium sweet potato
1/2 lb. brussel sprouts
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Peel and cube the sweet potato. Slice brussel sprouts. Toss sweet potato and sprouts with olive oil and season with salt pepper. Roast in preheated oven, about 30 minutes, or until sweet potato is soft and brussel sprouts are crispy. Mash or process sweet potato until smooth, using a potato masher or food processor.
Next:
3 large shallots
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 c. arborio rice
1 c. dry white wine
4 c. vegetable stock, heated
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Thinly slice shallots. Heat about 2 Tbs. olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat. Add shallots and minced garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until slightly caramelized, about 10 minutes.
Turn heat to medium-high and add arborio rice and cook about 2 minutes. Add wine, cooking until almost completely reduced. Add warm stock, 1/2 c. at a time, to rice, waiting until absorbed to add the next 1/2 c. Stir in between each addition. When done, rice should be full, creamy and tender. This process should take about 25 minutes.
Then:
1/2 c. + 4 tablespoons ricotta cheese
10 sage leaves
When rice is finished, gently stir in mashed sweet potato, crispy brussel sprouts and 1/2 c. ricotta cheese. Spoon into an oven-safe dish and top with 4 tablespoon-sized dollops of ricotta and sage leaves. Bake at 400* for about 15 minutes.
Enjoy!