Archives for March 2013

Quinoa Peanut Soup

March 9, 2013 by Mackenzie

I made this soup for dinner last night because we had most of the ingredients already and we needed to use up the produce before we all left for break! The recipe comes from the most recent Eating Well magazine and it just sounded so good that I had to make it!

The proportions we used are quite different than the original recipe because we wanted to use everything in the fridge – almost all the veggies are doubled from what it calls for. But I think that made it better because we ate this as our main dish instead of as a first course or a side and so all the veggies made it more substantive and filling. The peanut butter gives it a really distinct flavor – transforming it from a traditional vegetable soup to one with some South American flare.

After every drop was cleaned from our bowls, I thought of one addition we should have made – peanuts. I think they would have complemented the existing flavor really well and been a perfect texture addition. Alas, I will have to try that next time!

Quinoa Peanut Soup
Recipe adapted Eating Well Magazine, April 2013
Serves 2, easily doubled

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1 large red potato, fist sized, cubed, skin on
1/4 cup dry quinoa, rinsed
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
1/2 of a red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup peanut butter (more to taste – we added one more spoonful)
1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley (optional)
1/2 tablespoon hot sauce, tobacco (optional)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft, 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Then add the carrots, potato, quinoa, broth and water. Bring to a boil over high heat.

2. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover and cook for 18 minutes, until the quinoa is cooked and the vegetables are tender. Stir in red pepper and cook for another 3 minutes. Microwave the peanuts butter for 39 seconds or so to thin it out. Then stir it into the soup, mixing well. Remove from heat, stir in the parsley, hot sauce and pepper and serve!

Vanilla Bean Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

March 8, 2013 by Mackenzie

This recipe is one I made more than two months ago for Steve’s birthday! It’s been buried on my “to blog” list and I just haven’t had a chance to write it up! But with spring break upon us, I have all the time in the world to blog and cook and bake and blog and bake and cook and blog and…. 🙂 It’s going to be a great weekend 😀 We don’t leave until Monday morning for Arizona and with all of my suite and all my friends gone – I literally have nothing to do except cook and bake and blog about it 😀 Don’t worry, I don’t plan on eating all of it. I plan on giving it to some boys I know who are staying here over break, and bringing some of it to AZ for the team.

But back to this recipe… It’s pretty easy to whip up and the vanilla bean/salted caramel combo is to die for. The cake is quite dense, and almost has a cornbread-feel to it (or maybe I was just hungry for cornbread). I think we all agreed that the leftovers the second day were even better than having it the first day – not sure why, but hey! That just means another excuse to eat cake!

Vanilla Bean Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce
Makes one 9-inch cake
Recipe from Food and Wine

Ingredients:

Cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped or 2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream

Salted Caramel Sauce:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3/4 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a nine-inch round cake pan. Cut out a circle pf waxed paper the size of the pan and place in bottom. Spray lightly with cooking spray so that it comes out easily. In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients, for the cake, together (flour, baking powder, salt). In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Add both sugars and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well in between and then add the sour cream and the vanilla. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

2. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour
, until golden and springy and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes then invert onto a wire rack, remove parchment paper carefully and allow to cool completely.

3. When the cake is almost cool, make the caramel sauce. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup and bring to a boil. Using a wet pastry brush, wash down any crystals on the side of the pan. Boil over high heat until a deep amber caramel forms, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream, butter and salt. Let cool.

4. When ready to serve, poke the top of the cake all over with a skewer and pour the caramel sauce over the cake, allowing it to seep in and drip down the side. Cut into wedges and serve.

Anything and Everything, Chewy Oatmeal Bars

March 5, 2013 by Mackenzie

Now that the golf season has officially started, my days are a bit more jam-packed than they used to be. I fly from my last class to my dorm, change and am up to the Clocktower in just 15 minutes (usually that would take least 25 minutes). And of course, it’s 4 o’clock, which means I’m starting to get hungry…

I made these bars this weekend as a grab-and-go snack for when I’m running out the door to practice. I knew I wanted something that wasn’t crunchy and would make a mess in the car when I bit into it, that would reenergize me for golf and that would be a tasty snack to look forward to!

These bars are great because you can use whatever you have on hand – hence the name, “anything and everything.” I used what I had on hand – dried figs, raisins, walnuts, coconut and sunflower seeds – and they turned out great! I also cut down on the butter from the original recipe and substituted it with applesauce to make these healthier – and you couldn’t tell a difference!

Anything and Everything, Chewy Oatmeal Bars

Makes 1 8×8 pan – 9 large bars
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups quick oats
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup oat flour (if you don’t have oat flour, measure out 1/3 cup of oats and process in a food processor until very fine)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 to 3 cups of dried fruits or nuts (my combination was 1/2 cup diced dried figs, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup of roughly chopped walnuts, 1/3 cup ofshredded coconut, and 1/3 cup raw, unroasted sunflower seeds – other options would be dried cranberries, pecans, almonds, dates, apricots, pepitas, chocolate chips…)
1/3 cup peanut butter or almond butter
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
2 tablespoons lightcorn syrup
1 tablespoon water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper, making sure it comes up the sides so you can easily remove the bars from the pan. Lightly spray the parchment paper with non-stick spray as an extra precaution.

2. In a large bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients – oats, sugar, oat flour, salt, cinnamon and all the dried fruit and nuts.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients (all the remaining ingredients). Add wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix it all together – I found using my hands was easiest.

4. Spread mixture into prepared pan and pat it all down nice and firm. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the edges have begun to brown. When you pull them out, they may seem a little soft but they will harden as they cool, plus you want them soft and chewy. Allow to cool completely and then slice bars. I found that storing them in an airtight container in the refrigerator helped to solidify them if they seem a little crumbly. Enjoy!

Archives for March 2013

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