Caramelized Cauliflower + Onion Bisque

I know it's almost July, and a recipe for hot soup is probably not what you're looking for, but when your air conditioner is in the kitchen (your favorite room in your house), and the kitchen is where you can be found at all hours of the day, you're going to make something hot to warm up those bones of yours. I mean I can only wear so many layers in the height of summer without looking completely nuts. And yes, I do take advantage of the heat and make my way outside to eat, but I'm also paranoid that I'm getting a sunburn pretty much everyday of the year. So if you don't have a large umbrella and a hat for me, maybe invite someone else over - we'll meet up again come October. 

Even if you have to wait a few months, make this soup. It's delicious. Roasted anything will pretty much guarantee you a sweeter, more flavorful meal. And when you're throwing onions into the mix, they basically come out caramelized, and like a fried egg, caramelized onions can send any recipe over the top. If you've made Greek lemon-roasted potatoes before, this is sort of a soup version of that, just lightened up a bit with the addition of cauliflower. And I'm not sure who's familiar with the Plymouth, MA area (pilgrims, mayflower, think back to your early school days), but my absolute favorite breakfast/lunch/dessert spot, Blue Blinds, serves an incredible butternut bevy soup, where rosemary-roasted butternut squash meets creamy feta meets my mouth. And somehow, in my crazy mind, this caramelized cauliflower and onion bisque is on it's way to being that coveted butternut bevy, with a lot less butter I'm sure. Even without any changes it bares a pretty strong resemblance, but if I sub the majority of the potatoes with butternut squash and throw in some feta cheese, I think I'll find my new favorite thing- check back for an update on that.    

If you're ever in the Plymouth area, make sure you check out Blue Blinds Bakery. Located in America's homeland, in a gorgeous old colonial, everything is made in house, and primarily organic. Their breads are out of this world (all my friends swear by the jalapeno cheddar). They're hours can be a little tricky, and they're closed on Saturdays, so make sure you call ahead to guarantee they're open. I'm sure everything on the menu is delicious, but my frequent visits include the aforementioned butternut bevy (soups are always changing with the seasons), caprese sandwich, egg and cheddar on cranberry almond bread, incredibly fluffy and nutty spelt pancakes, dried fruit, nut, and carob clusters (appropriately named plymouth rocks), and an iced lemon maté to wash it all down. And if that doesn't entice you, come for a little history of where it all began. 

Caramelized Cauliflower + Onion Bisque

make sure to leave the cauliflower, onions, and potatoes pretty chunky for roasting

slightly adapted from The First Mess

2 heads cauliflower, core removed and chopped into rough florets

2 lg Vidalia onions, chopped into 2-inch pieces 

4 sm-med yukon gold potatoes, chopped into 1-2 inch pieces

3 sprigs fresh rosemary, minced

4 tbsp olive oil

sea salt + pepper

1 lemon, halved, plus 1 more for after pureeing 

4 cups vegetable broth

3 or so cups water

Preheat your oven to 400ºF. 

Spread the cauliflower, onions, and potatoes onto a couple baking sheets, and divide the rosemary and olive oil between the two. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked black pepper, and give it a toss. 

Roast the vegetables for about an hour, tossing everything a few times along the way to promote even browning. When everything is nice and caramelized, remove from the oven, and squeeze your lemon halves over the top, dropping the lemon rinds themselves onto the hot pans afterwards. Scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of your pans while you spread the lemon juice around. 

Throw everything into a big soup pot and add your broth. Using an immersion blender (or let cool slightly for a regular blender), puree the soup, adding water along the way until you reach your desired consistency. Leave it slightly chunky for some good texture (no baby food here). Stir in the juice of an additional lemon (I LOVE lemon, so maybe start with half, or none at all), taste for seasoning, and pour yourself a bowl of comfort on this warm and sunny Saturday. 

Pisto Manchego with Eggs

Did You Know? White shelled eggs are produced by hens with white feathers and white ear lobes. Brown shelled eggs are produced by hens with red feathers and red ear lobes. Brown egg layers usually are slightly larger and require more food, thus brown eggs usually cost more than white eggs.

Just in this past year have my tastebuds developed a love for eggs. I've always eaten a healthy diet, but when I started going to acupuncture, my doctors really examined the foods I was incorporating into my daily life. Surprisingly, I wasn't eating the type foods that my body required to function at it's best. So to get my system in its optimal condition, and my chi in balance, I reworked a lot of aspects of my life, diet being one of them. I was instructed to eat eggs, a lot of eggs. In fact, they were perfectly fine with me consuming at least a dozen every week, if not more. And while I didn't take it to that level most weeks, I did go from not eating eggs at all, to eating at least 1/2 a dozen every week.

This recipe came about in one of my late night recipe searches for things to do with eggs. If I was going to be eating a lot of eggs, I needed to find ways that I would enjoy them (scrambled not being one of them). To this day, I pretty much only enjoy them fried or poached, with the yolks still runny. This pisto manchego incorporates my love of vegetables with my new found love of poached eggs.

Swimming in a ratatouille base, the creamy egg yolks are blanketed by a firm white, making this dish perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I can't wait until Summer arrives, when the farmers markets spring up again, and you don't think you'll ever see the end of your zucchini and tomato bounty. Until then, here's the recipe...

Pisto Manchego with Eggs
Adapted from The New York Times: Recipes for Health section

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds zucchini, or a combination of green and yellow summer squash, diced
2 pounds tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (juice reserved)
Salt & Pepper
4-6 eggs

Heat the oil in a large, heavy, nonstick skillet over medium heat, then add the onion. Stir often, until transluscent — about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute or two until fragrant. Stir in the squash and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook for 5 minutes, until the squash is coated with oil and beginning to soften. Add the tomatoes, and salt to taste (3/4 to 1 teaspoon), and turn the heat to medium-high. Stir often for 5 to 10 minutes, until the tomatoes have slightly cooked down. Add the juice from the tomatoes plus 1/4 cup water, stir together, and turn the heat back down to medium-low. Cook uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and easy to mash. Stir often until the mixture cooks down and begins to stick to the pan. From time to time, press on the squash with the back of your spoon so that it breaks down. Taste, adjust the salt, and add lots of pepper.

Using the back of your spoon, make 4-6 wells in the vegetable mixture and break an egg into each well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover the pan, and cook until the eggs have set, about six to eight minutes (the whites should be set, but the yolks should still be runny). Serve, using a spatula to dish out portions of pisto topped with an egg, or two.

YaYa's Potatoes

Did You Know? In 1995 the potato was the first vegetable grown in outer space.

As you all know, my best friend, Brittany, comes from a large, Greek family. Picture "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," and then you'll get a sense of what I'm talking about. There's no time to be shy around these people, as hugs and kisses are passed out like you were one of their own. Although we might give Britt a hard time about the resemblence her family has to the previously mentioned, none of us can complain when she's cooking us dinner.

I had never been a very adventurous eater as a kid, but growing up with Brittany definately improved my taste buds. I hated pretty much every vegetable, and had never experienced such a variety of flavor combinations until I started eating dinner at her house. One of our all time favorite meals comes from her YaYa, but lucky for me, Brittany has mastered the technique of recreating all of her grandmother's delicious recipes. Known as Avgolemono soup to most, and YaYa's soup to us, it blends lemon and orzo into a creamy egg-whipped broth. And although we could finish off an entire spaghetti pot between the two of us, it's these potatoes that really steal the show. Dotted with rich, caramelized onions, the potatoes are roasted in a lemon-spiked broth to a deep golden finish. You've never had roasted potatoes until you've had these. And if you don't have a Greek best friend now, I suggest you find one.

I know you'll all be wondering about that soup I mentioned, and I promise it will be posted in the future. Britt and I just moved back to school, so once we get nice and situated, we'll definately be cooking up a batch. Until then, here's the potatoes...

YaYa's Potatoes
2 pounds potatoes, peeled & cut into large chunks (I usually use Yukon Gold, but all I had was Idaho, so that's what was used here)
2 onions, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup vegetable broth
1 teaspoon oregano
3 garlic cloves, minced or grated
2 lemons, zested & juiced
Dried Parsley
Sea salt & pepper
Paprika powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place the cut up potatoes and onions in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish (I forgot about the onions, which is why I added them after everything was mixed in the above picture). Set aside while you make the lemon dressing.

In a medium bowl, combine lemon juice, zest, broth, oregano, garlic, and a little salt and pepper. Whisk in olive oil, in a slow steady stream. Pour the dressing over the potatoes and onions, and give everything a good toss.

Sprinkle with additional salt (for crunch), paprika (for color), and parsley (for presentation), and put into your preheated oven.

Bake for 30 minutes, give the potatoes a toss, then bake for an additional 45-50 minutes, tossing every 20 minutes or so.