It's soup season!  In our house, we love soup. Every week I make a new kind of soup. We have it for lunch or a light dinner with salad, and if there are any leftovers I freeze them in 16oz. deli-style containers.  I found that 16oz. is a perfect size for an individual bowl of soup.  You can get these containers at any food service stores like Gordon Food Service (GFS) or you can order them online.  Just make sure that when you are filling them up to freeze, you leave a little room at the top.  The soup will expand and pop the lid off if it is filled too much.

Roasted carrot ginger soup is so comforting when it's cold.  I roast the carrots to bring out the sweetness and the ginger gives a warmth to the dish.  I also cut my carrots two ways, rounded and small dice.  The reason I do this is I like to have the small dice to add texture to the creamy soup.  It's like a little surprise in the creamy base.  The rounds I blend with carrot juice to make the soup base.  If you just want a creamy soup, cut all the carrots into rounds and blend them with the juice.  

I mentioned juice.  Yes, you can use vegetable broth or even water but I found that by using carrot juice, the flavor is enhanced and over the top. I buy organic carrot juice at the store.  I have gotten it at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Costco & Sam's Club. If you have a juicer and an abundance of carrots, by all means, juice away.  

Have you seen the beautiful colors carrots come in now?  I absolutely love them.  They are not only beautiful but each color has a different taste and sweetness. I try to use them whenever I can get them. If you only have or can only get orange carrots, this soup will still be great.  

Why do I roast the carrots instead of just sauté? Carrots are pretty bland in taste. By roasting the carrots the natural sugars caramelize, and gives another layer of flavor to the soup.  

2 lb. of organic carrots, peeled (1lb. cut into rounds, 1lb. small dice)
3 tablespoons of olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 heaping tablespoon of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1-1/2 teaspoons of dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
8 cups of organic carrot juice
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Peel and cut 1lb. of carrots into rounds.  Peel and cut the other pound of carrots into small dice. Add one tablespoon of olive oil, some salt, and pepper to each pound. Place them on separate baking sheets and roast in the oven until soft, approximately 15 minutes.  Keep an eye on them.  You want them soft but not mush.  The small dice will cook faster than the rounds and you want the small dice to keep their shape and add texture to the finished soup.  

While the carrots are roasting begin sautéing your onion with 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a deep stock/soup pot over medium heat.  Soften the onions and then add the garlic, ginger, thyme, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Continue to sauté.  You want everything to soften but not brown. Add the carrot juice to the pot. When the carrots are done roasting, add all the rounded carrots to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes.  Keep the small diced carrots on the side.

Ladle the hot soup into a blender and carefully blend until completely smooth.  Remember to always put a towel over the top of your blender when blending hot liquids for your safety.  You may have to do this step in batches.  You can also use an immersion blender if you have one.  Just make sure that the soup is super smooth.  

Pour the blended soup back into the stockpot.  If it seems a bit thick add a little water.  Not too much. The soup should be creamy, not watery.  

Gently stir in the diced carrots to the creamy soup. Taste for any additional salt and pepper needed.  Enjoy!

Today started out nice.  The early morning was warm and dry but by 9 a.m., the winds changed.  It became dreary, cold, and rainy.  On days like these, I like to see what ingredients I have in the house and I try to transform them into something special.  I came up with this quiche.  I call it elegant because it is entertaining worthy.  It is one of those dishes that guests would think you slaved over but this came together in a very short amount of time.  Because I used what I had on hand, my measurements will be approximates so don't get caught up on them.  If you want to use a little more of an ingredient or switch a similar ingredient, I'm sure it will be just fine. 

My ingredients:
1-9"tart pan with a removable bottom, sprayed with cooking spray
1 sheet of puff pastry (thawed in the refrigerator)
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 of a red onion, diced
1 cup of chanterelle mushrooms, torn
2 cups of Swiss chard & spinach mix, rough chopped
1/3 cup chopped parsley 
1 garlic clove, minced 
1 Tablespoon of dried dill
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
Zest of 1 lemon
Salt & pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
Pinch of nutmeg
Soft goat cheese

On a lightly floured surface, I laid out my puff pastry sheet and carefully rolled it out so that it would cover the entire tart pan.  Make sure to use a light hand when rolling it out.  It won't take much.  Then I placed the puff in the tart pan making sure it came up and over the sides.  Gently, I lifted the sides so that they would fall into the bottom.  Don't stretch or push them in.  You want them to just rest in the pan. Then place the pan with the puff back in the refrigerator until ready to fill.

In a sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat.  Add the diced onion and the mushrooms (any mushrooms would be delicious).  Once they begin to soften, add the greens (all spinach or even kale would work here), parsley, garlic, dill oregano, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Continue cooking until the mushrooms are soft and the greens have wilted.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from the pan and let cool for about 10 minutes.

While you are waiting, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  

Now measure 1 cup of heavy cream into a measuring cup. You really need cream to add richness to the quiche but if you only had 1/2 cup of cream you could add 1/2 cup of milk or half and half and it would still work.  Straight milk would not.   Add the 3 eggs to the cream and a pinch of nutmeg and whisk together.  

Take the tart pan out of the refrigerator and place it on a baking tray.  Spread the mushrooms and greens evenly all over the bottom of the puff in the tart pan.  Next pour the whisked eggs, cream, and nutmeg mixture over the mushrooms and greens.  Dollop pinches of soft goat cheese (feta would be an alternative) on top of the entire mixture.  Trim off any overlapping puff pastry so the tart has a nice edge.  Place the pan in the oven and cook for approximately 25 minutes.  You will know it is done when the puff around the edges are browned and the quiche is puffed up.  The quiche will sink back down as it cools.  

Eat it warm or cold.  Enjoy!

Recently a friend asked if I could give her ideas for make-ahead meals.  She wanted meals she could just heat up after work.  Meatballs are always a great idea.  Having meatballs in your freezer gives you a lot of versatility.  A good meatball can be the base for so many quick meals.  They can be added to pasta sauce, to soups, to gravies and, to a stir-fry.  

This recipe for  Piri-Piri meatballs is made with ground turkey but feel free to use beef or pork or a combination of both.  They make a great lunch or dinner.  I like them on a bed of raw spinach with some yogurt or stuffed in a warm pita with tzatziki sauce or on a bed of rice with sautéed veggies.  These meatballs, and sauce, are super delicious and definitely make-ahead and freezer friendly no matter how you choose to prepare them.

First the sauce.  Piri-Piri sauce is a Portuguese-South African sauce usually made with the African Bird's Eye Chili.  While that type of pepper is not available in my local grocery store, a red Fresno chili or another red hot pepper will work as a substitute.  Typically this sauce is used on grilled or roasted chicken, but I find this sauce delicious on almost anything.  

1 cup of roasted red peppers (the jar ones are fine), drained
1 red pepper, seeded
1 garlic clove
3 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 Tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon of paprika (regular or smoked)
1/2 teaspoon of granulated sugar

​Place all items in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Done.

For the meatballs.  Like I said I used ground turkey but ground chicken would also be great.  Just remember if you are using ground poultry, use the dark meat or at least 70% dark.  All-white meat poultry doesn't have enough fat in it and will make the meatballs dry.  


2/3 cup of breadcrumbs 
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced or grated
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of paprika (regular or smoked)
1-1/2 lbs. ground turkey
1 egg, beaten
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
3/4 cup of plain yogurt
3 Tablepsoons of piri-piri sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

In a large mixing bowl combine the breadcrumbs, garlic, salt, cumin and, paprika. Next add the ground turkey, beaten egg, olive oil, yogurt and, Piri-Piri sauce.  Gently fold all the ingredients together.  You want to incorporate all of the ingredients but you don't want to over mix.  Over mixing will make the meatballs dense and dry. 

Once mixed, use a tablespoon or a small scoop to form (roll) meatballs and place them on a lined baking sheet.  Bake in the oven until the meatballs are firm, cooked through, and register 160 degrees with a meat thermometer.  

If you are freezing the meatballs, just let them completely cool on the baking sheet and then place the baking sheet in the freezer.  Once frozen, you can add the meatballs to a freezer bag.  Freezing them this way allows you to just take out as many as you like without having to defrost the entire bag.