Comfort Chickpea Noodle Soup

This soup recipe began with two lonely leeks in my fridge. I could have done a delicious hearty potato-leek soup, but I wanted to do something different with leeks this time. I searched around and somehow found this vegan chickpea soup recipe that sounded great. I love chickpeas and never had it in a soup, so I wanted to test it out. I used my two leeks instead of yellow onions and it turned out just as hearty and delicious. I used thin egg noodles, which I boiled separately so the noodles won't get overcooked and soggy in the soup. I loved the simplicity of the frozen veggies in this soup, I just dropped it in the pot and the soup was ready. Perfect for an quick snack and a great way to get all your veggies in for the day!

Chickpea Noodle Soup

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 leeks, sliced (or 1 small to medium onion)

4 cups broth (I used chicken broth, so vegans can use vegetarian broth)

1 tsp dried dill

1/2 tsp thyme

1 can cooked chickpeas

2 cups thin egg noodles

1 small pack frozen veggies of your choice

salt and pepper to taste

1 In a small soup pot, saute leeks and garlic until softened.

2 Boil another small pot with water and cook the egg noodles.

3 Add broth, dill, thyme and chickpeas, bring to a boil. Add frozen veggies and simmer.

4 Simmer soup until veggies are tender. Serve with plenty of noodles.

 

Pistachio Cherry & Cinnamon Granola

Another delight I had at Cracker Barrel, besides the hashbrown casserole, was their homemade granola! You would never think to order granola at a cracker barrel, I know, but I was blown away. It was so crunchy and cinnamon-y delicious! I decided to try to make my own at home. I looked at a few recipes and decided to combine them together and put my own spin on it. I had a half bag of pistachios in the pantry as well as some dried cherries. I figured pistachios would be a nice salt to the sweetness of the cherries. I also added some maple syrup to the honey and it turned out delicious. Sprinkled over a dollop of yogurt, it was a delicious start to a sunday.

Pistachio Cherry & Cinnamon Granola

4 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 and a half cups oats

1/3 cup pistachios

1/3 cup dried cherries

a few sprinkles of cinnamon

1 Preheat toaster oven to 300 degrees.

2 Over low heat, heat a small saucepan with the honey and maple syrup and let melt together.

3 Meanwhile, in a big bowl combine all ingredients except the cherries.

4 Once honey and maple syrup are combined, about 5 minutes, pour over oat mixture and mix thoroughly until all is coated.

5 Spread coated oats into a baking sheet in one even layer. Bake for about 20 minutes, making sure to watch it so it wont burn and toss every few minutes to evenly toast the oats.

6 Let cool and store in an air tight container.

Cauliflower Soup with Cheddar Crisps

It's soup season! Hooray! Making soups is one of my favorite things to cook, its relaxing in a weird way. I thought my first soup of the season would be with something I have never cooked before – cauliflower.  I've always been intimidated by cauliflower when I pass it by in the grocery store or market. It seemed so big and scary. But, I finally got one and it turned out to be really easy! You just remove the inner core and chop into smaller florets. This soup came out so flavorful, and the cheddar crisps, wow! They were such a nice touch! I could snack on those all day long. Great just by itself as an appetizer with a glass of wine.

Cauliflower Soup with Cheddar Crisps

adapted from Dave Lieberman

1 head cauliflower

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 leek, light green and white parts, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 quart chicken stock

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan

salt and pepper

1 Preheat oven to 350

2 Remove leaves and inner core of the cauliflower and chop into pieces.

3 Heat olive oil in large pot and saute leeks and garlic until soft.

4 Add the cauliflower and stock and bring to a simmer, cover and cook until cauliflower is softened, about 15 minutes.

5 Use a hand immersion blender to puree the soup until creamy and smooth. Add the parmesan and and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste,

Cheddar Crisps

handful of shredded cheddar

1 Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread the cheese in 1 thin even layer.

2 Bake around 10 minutes until golden and crisp. Break into large pieces and garnish each soup bowl with 1-2 crisps. Enjoy!

Maple Mustard Garlic Chicken Thighs

Last but not least, I'm posting the main dish to the dinner of a few nights ago. Its a chicken recipe I found through the food network site by Ellie Krieger. It sounded really good mainly because I'm a huge mustard fan and the sound of maple syrup doesn't hurt either! It's a very simple recipe with tons of great flavor, perfect for a weeknight meal.

Maple Mustard Garlic Chicken Thighs

8 pieces boneless chicken thighs, you can use breasts or bone-in thighs

4 tablespoons country style course ground mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon marjoram

4 tablespoons maple syrup

1 Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2 Pat dry chicken and season with salt and pepper. Arrange in 1 layer on a baking dish.

3 In a medium bowl, whisk all ingredients together and brush on the chicken pieces. Slather the chicken with plenty of sauce to form a crust once baked.

4 Bake for 40-50 minutes until juices run clear or mustard sauce is golden brown.

Hashbrown casserole

This past weekend Adam and I drove to Knoxville, TN for my friends' beautiful wedding. On the drive back home, we were determined to find a cracker barrel and chow down. Exit after exit, every cracker barrel was packed to the brim. Eventually, even after following the GPS to a cracker barrel that doesn't exist anymore, we found one that only had a 10 minute wait! I know I've had their hash brown casserole before, but I didn't get it this time. Adam, however, did order it. I tasted a bite from his and I was in heaven! Melty, oniony, cheesy hashbrowns. Mmmm. When we got home I started investigating for the recipe and I found it! It tastes almost exactly like it and is satisfying hot or straight out of the fridge. If you know the cracker barrel hashbrown casserole Im talking about, you will love this! This was also the side dish to last night's dinner, stay tuned to find out what the main dish was!

Cracker Barrel's Hashbrown Casserole

1.5 lb frozen hash brown package

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1.5 cups sour cream, reduced fat

1.5 cups sharp cheddar, grated

Bread crumbs

salt 'n' peppa

Original recipe included a can of cream of chicken soup, but I omitted it

1 Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350

2 Defrost the hashbrowns and mix all ingredients except the bread crumbs in a big bowl. Mix well.

3 Spread the mixture in a glass dish evenly, sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake for 40-50 minutes.

4 Savor every bite.

Honey Balsamic Garlic Grilled Eggplant

I've missed cooking and posting so much! Tonight I finally put my foot down and told myself that I'm going to cook, photograph and post everything I make tonight for dinner. Its sort of a mish mash of stuff, but oh so good together. First up was this honey balsamic garlic grilled eggplant. I picked up an eggplant at the market today and didn't feel like making eggplant parmesan like I usually do. After searching the internet for inspiration, I found this eggplant recipe. I liked how the flavors sounded together and I had everything for it already at home.  I used my amazing george foreman grill to cook the eggplant slices. It worked great as a side dish and was delicious. Tune in tomorrow to find out what else I cooked up!

Honey Balsamic Garlic Grilled Eggplant

1 eggplant

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

salt 'n' peppa

1 Preheat grill. Slice eggplant into 1/2 inch slices.

2 Lay out a sheet of paper towels and arrange the eggplant slices in one layer and sprinkle with salt on both sides to release the bitter liquid. Let sit for 15 minutes  and dry both sides.

3 In a bowl, mix honey, olive oil, garlic, and balsamic and salt and pepper.

4 Dip both sides of the eggplant slices into the marinade and place on the grill until grill marks appear and the eggplant is soft and broken down.

5 Arrange grilled eggplant on a plate and sprinkle with sea salt. Enjoy!