creamy butternut squash soup

More soup! Thick, hearty, sweet, rich, amazingly tasty soup. Expect a sweet surprise with this one.

Here's what you need:

1 large butternut squash, cubed
2 shallots, diced
1 head garlic, diced
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cups vegetable broth
2-3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 tbsp sweet paprika
1/2 tbsp nutmeg
1 tbsp parsley
1/2 tbsp onion powder
salt and pepper

Here's another reminder that cooking goes way smoother when the majority of prep is done before the stove is even turned on. Have all the veggies chopped and diced, get out all the other ingredients and any spices you need. It sucks to be halfway through a recipe when you suddenly realize you have misplaced a key ingredient!






Do this: Saute the shallots in a large pot over medium heat until soft and add the garlic and peppers. Cook, stirring often, about 5-10 minutes and then add the butternut squash. Cook for another 15 minutes or so, until the squash is soft. (I cook it just a little longer until it's starting to brown, it really brings out the flavor!) Add the broth and spices and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. In batches, puree the soup in a food processor or blender. (I save a cup or two of cooked vegetables to add after the rest is blended.) Put the soup back on the stove over low heat and add the whipping cream and 1/2 cup of the parmesan. The soup is ready in another five minutes and is best garnished with the remaining parmesan and fresh parsley. Goes great with a nice crusty bread.

badass broccoli tacos

TACOS ARE MY FAVORITE. Put it in a tortilla and pour some salsa on it. I'm all about it. Seriously. Here's one of my favorites taco combos. You can add whatever you want to this. It's really the structure that matters: Cook some badass vegetables. Put badass vegetables in tortilla. Dress up as desired. Devour.

 Here's what you need:
2 cups broccoli
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
1 cup fresh chopped spinach
1 onion, finely diced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
tortillas
chili powder
garlic salt
paprika
taco toppings*

THIS IS SO EASY. Saute the onions in the oil until translucent and soft. Add broccoli. I like to saute the broccoli for a couple minutes before adding the carrots and cabbage and spices. Once you've got everything in the pan on medium heat, cook it up for about fifteen minutes or so, until the veggies are almost the way you like them. Add the spinach at the end and cook a little longer, until it's nice and wilty. Heat up the tortillas while the veggies are finishing and serve everything nice and hot.


*taco toppings include but aren't limited to:
salsa
shredded cheese
sour cream
diced tomatoes
chopped lettuce
sliced jalapenos
guacamole
other assorted hot sauces
raw onions (gross, not sexy)
cilantro (double gross, also not sexy)

veggie tortilla soup

I know I'm posting a lot of soups, but it's winter and I LOVE SOUP. Calling this particular dish a soup is kind of pushing the boundaries anyway, as it is so hardy and chock full of chunky vegetables and delicious flavor! This recipe will feed four or five hungry friends easily, and you'll probably still have leftovers. I would suggest adding cilantro to the recipe if you're into that sort of thing, but you will NEVER see it in my recipes, I'm one of those people- cilantro totally ruins a meal for me. See below the recipe for an awesome leftover suggestion and a picture of one of my cooking buddies.

Here's what you need:

one cup crushed tortilla chips

4 medium sized tomatoes

one onion, diced

4-6 cloves of garlic, diced

2-4 jalapenos, chopped

4 small red potatoes, cubed

one 15 oz. can black beans

one 15 oz. can corn

one 5 oz. can diced green chilis

2 tbsp vegetable oil

4 cups vegetable broth

3 tbsp chili powder

one tbsp garlic salt

one tbsp onion powder

red pepper flakes, paprika, 

salt and black pepper

sour cream for garnish

Pro-tip before you begin! When I'm preparing meals that involve a lot of vegetable cutting and prep-work, I keep a large bowl close by on the counter to quickly discard all trash/compost. It eliminates a surprising amount of walking back and forth between the work space and the trash can, and if you do compost it's even better.

Fun fact: I believe this "trash bowl" technique was popularized by Rachel Ray, but I'm NOT a fan.

 READY? Here's what you do: Prep your veggies, of course! Chop, dice, cube, open cans and strain the beans and corn, and get your spices ready. It's a smooth operation once you are fully prepped and ready to cook. In a large pot on medium heat, saute the onions in oil. Once they are soft and just beginning to brown, add the diced garlic and jalapenos. Saute another ten minutes or so and then add the broth, cubed potatoes, diced tomatoes, green chilis, and spices. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat back down, simmering covered for about 15-20 minutes; add the beans and corn and cook for another 15. I threw in another dash of chili powder and extra red pepper for good measure (I like my food spicy!) and mixed in the tortilla chips last. Ta-da!

I garnished mine with a dollop of sour cream, but it would also be good topped with a sharp cheese, cilantro, plain yogurt, or more chips!

Miss Cleo helps me cook. (She really just wants to eat cheese.)

MAKE LEFTOVERS AWESOME: I preheated the oven to 400, hollowed out half of an acorn squash (like a bowl) and filled it with the soup. I baked it for about 40 minutes, added grated cheddar cheese to the top and baked it for five more minutes. It. Was. Amazing.

vegetarian "afterburner" chili

This dish brings me some wintery nostalgia something fierce. My mother would make a huge batch of this chili several times during the cold season and we'd eat it for weeks at a time. I didn't mind, because I loved it. It's meals like this that were the hardest for me to get over when I went vegetarian: tummy-warmers that are more than slightly reminiscent of childhood. But yeah, my mother's recipe called for two pounds of ground beef, something I won't eat anymore. So I've wondered for some time now: is there a substitution?

For a long time I was afraid to try. Scared it wouldn't do the recipe justice and I'd just be throwing away a pot's worth of spicy mush in complete disappointment. But I was desperate for a good chili one night and decided to give this particular brand of veggie ground "beef" a try, and to my happy surprise I found I could hardly tell the difference. It was delicious! Here's the recipe I re-created, with the help of one of my trusty sous chefs.


You need:
baking potatoes (one per person)
one 12 oz. package of LightLife Smart Ground (original)
1 large onion, diced
4-5 cloves garlic, diced
2-3 fresh jalapenos, diced
one 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
one 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup kidney beans (canned is easiest)
1/2 can beer (I usually grab a Pabst or Shiner Bock)
4-5 tbsp. chili powder
1 heaping tbsp. molasses
1 tsp. cumin
garlic salt and black pepper to taste

For garnish:
grated cheddar
sour cream

Okay, here's what you do!

First prep your potatoes. Remember to give them a few jabs with the fork so they don't explode in the oven, and then throw them in at 350 during the chili's cooking time (apx. 1 1/2 hr). Slightly brown the diced onion in a large pot over medium heat and add the garlic and jalapenos. Once this mix is all golden and aromatic, toss in the crumbles (you can put the whole brick in the pot and break it up with a spoon!) and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the spices and mix well. Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce, beer, and molasses. Simmer uncovered for one hour, stirring often. Serve over the baked potatoes and garnish as desired!! Enjoy!

eggplant parmesan monster sandwich

I like sandwiches. I like italian food. I like cheese. And I LOVE EGGPLANT. So, at the suggestion of a friend, I decided to try my hand at a recipe combining all these delightful elements between two pieces of bread. The result of this endeavor is a recipe for a giant sandwich that make a perfectly delectable hot meal. This will make two monster sandwiches (see above pic) or four normal-sized sandwiches!

Here's what you need:
one medium-size eggplant
two roma tomatoes
two cloves of garlic, diced
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 c. of your favorite marinara sauce
1/4 c. ricotta cheese
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
garlic salt and black pepper, to taste
several generous sprinkles of parsley
slices of good bread!

Cook it! Thinly slice your eggplant like the picture to the left. I usually salt eggplant before using it, but I was in a hurry the night I was making this, and I braved not salting, and I found that it cooked just fine and wasn't bitter at all. So, salt it if you want [but you don't have to!]. Toss the slices of eggplant in olive oil and saute with the diced garlic in a large pan over medium heat for about five minutes. Add the marinara sauce, garlic salt, and parsley and saute for another five minutes.

Meanwhile, slice your tomatoes too. Add the tomatoes to the pan along with the ricotta cheese and mix well, sauteing another five to ten minutes until the mixture is a big, delicious, cheesy, tomato-y mess. Toast your bread and heap on that eggplant and tomato mixture, sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese and more parsley [if you desire] and serve!

belgian endive & roasted garlic soup

I don't have any pictures for this recipe [yet!] but it's been featured on my personal blog and B*tch Fits Cookbook! I have found that this recipe is an excellent vegetarian replacement for homemade chicken-soup, it's naturally flavorful spice clears the sinuses and warms the belly- a perfect comfort food, especially when sick.

As a vegetarian cook, I am always looking for new and exciting ways to make food and eat. A good friend and I won a crockpot in a chili cook-off we participated in last week, and he let me keep it, so I had to try it out right away! The following recipe is one that I have made before on the stove, but I was curious to see how well it could convert to a slow cooker. The results were fantastic, so I must share!

You need:

a large-slow cooker

one large onion, or two shallots

a head of garlic

3-4 belgian endives

6-8 cups vegetable broth

drizzle of olive oil

1/2 tbsp. garlic powder

1 tbsp. paprika

1 tbsp. red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Do this: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Cut the top off of the garlic and drizzle olive oil over it. Roast the garlic whole in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour. Meanwhile, combine your broth and spices in the slow cooker, diced the onion and endives and throw them in. When your garlic is roasted, let it cool (so you don't burn your fingers!) and pull it apart, adding the roasted garlic to the pot. Let the soup cook for 6-8 hours. It is best to eat with fresh bread to soak up the delicious broth! Top with a little grated parmesan or asiago cheese if you desire. Boom. Dinner.

Alternatively, if you wish to make this soup on the stove, be sure to brown your onions in the pot before adding the broth, and let the soup simmer for 1-2 hours.

cream of jalapeño soup

THIS IS THE BEST cream of jalapeno soup on the internet. ASK GOOGLE. Ask Yahoo. Ask your mom. This is it. No one else was brave enough to try this. But two of my best friends and I took on this challenge tonight and it turned out FANTASTIC. This is an ORIGINAL recipe we're going to share with you. It's WORTH IT. Everything we found online wanted to call "cream of jalapeno soup" some weak nonsense with 2-6 jalapenos. PLEASE. We used THIRTY, and I'm tempted to use more next time. What started as a simple experiment turned out to be an incredible flavor experience. This recipe is huge- it'll easily feed eight hungry people or you can eat some of it and freeze the rest for a quick, delicious, spicy meal. Try it and enjoy**!

Here's what you need:

30 jalapeno peppers

2 green bell peppers

1 yellow onion

1 head of garlic

6 red potatoes

8 oz. cream cheese

2 tbsp. olive oil

4 c. vegetable broth

1 c. fresh spinach

3/4 c. heavy whipping cream

      1 tbsp. parsley

1/2 tbsp. sweet paprika

salt & black pepper to taste

for garnish:

2 pieces of toast per person

olive oil, garlic salt, paprika, parsley
pomegranate seeds (very optional)

PREP:

For the peppers, cut the tops off and de-seed (keep some seeds for extra heat, if you so desire!), place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, flipping them over halfway through cooking. Meanwhile, dice your onion, mince the garlic, shred the potatoes, chop the fresh spinach.

COOK:

Saute the onion in the olive oil in a large pot. Once the onion is soft, add the garlic and saute until everything is golden brown and deliciously aromatic. Add the broth and potatoes and cover for about fifteen minutes on a medium heat. Let the peppers cool enough to handle and chop them roughly, setting about 7-8 chopped jalapenos to the side. Add the rest to the pot, along with the spices and fresh spinach, and cook about five to ten minutes more.

BLEND:

Using a blender or food processor, process the all of the soup in batches until smooth and creamy. Put the creamy soup back into the pot and add the remaining chopped jalapenos. Add the whipping cream and all of the cream cheese in 1 oz. chunks and stir until melted smooth. Add salt and pepper as needed.

GARNISH:

We garnished our soup with simple garlic toast. Using a hearty whole-wheat bread, we cut the bread into inch-wide strips, placed it on a baking sheet, drizzled it with olive oil and sprinkled it with garlic salt, paprika, and parsley. We discovered on accident that a small garnish of pomegranate seeds added on top of the soup contributed this PERFECT sweet, cooling effect. SO GOOD. Don't hate it until you try it!

**THIS SOUP IS NOT FOR THE DELICATE PALATE. You should know that.