Tag Archives: Recipe

Doug’s Delicious Beet and Leek Soup

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Ashley| 6 Comments

BeetsHello lovelies!
Sorry I took a day off, I’ve been busily working away at a story due tomorrow and it’s taken up much of my time.  Ah, the simplicity of one project due a week!  I’m just anticipating the serious crisis I’m going to undergo in the next four weeks as the semester comes to a close.  Get ready for some baked goods and ramen, folks, because I have a feeling I’m going to be needing some serious pick-me-ups!

But for now fear not, because this week hasn’t been outrageous and today I have a delicious beet soup for you.

Beets

Now, I know to some people “delicious” and “beet soup” may not sound like the two most natural phrases when placed together.  For whatever reason, beets are not given the respect they deserve.  I mean, maybe I’m alone here, but I didn’t try my first beet until about a year ago.  And I didn’t learn how to cook them until about seven months ago.

But for all of you beet virgins (or beet haters, or beet ambivalents), I have to say “give beets a chance!”  They are sweet and earthy and add beautiful color to a dish.
My childhood pal Doug would most certainly agree:
The Beets-Killer Tofu
(Okay, after watching that, let’s just pause for a moment to appreciate the fact that The Beets had some really great songs.  Not just because I grew up with them.  Come on, I would listen to that on a regular day!)

Beet Knife

(Couldn't help being a little macabre...)

But anyways, this soup is really simple.  I just so happened to have a lot of beets in my fridge in need of a transformation from bulbous root to tasty soup.  I also utilized leeks.  What else is new?  You’re probably noticing a trend here: I get a certain vegetable in high quantities and subsequently have to figure out how to use it.  Well, here’s a way:

Soup

Doug’s Delicious Beet and Leek Soup
Ingredients:
-1 leek
-a bunch (literally, a bunch) of 5 small beets
-5 cups of water
-1 tbsp olive oil
-1/4 cup whole milk  (you can always use 2% or something, but I had some delicious raw whole milk that I wanted to enjoy)
-salt and pepper to taste

Make it Happen:
1.  Chop the leek and those lovely beets into little pieces.  (The beets stain, so make sure you aren’t wearing a wedding gown.  If you’re planning to dress like Dexter for Halloween this would be a good way to get your costume underway.)
2.  Drop the chopped veggies in a pot and add 5 cups of water (or enough to cover), and put the heat on high.
3.  Bring the water to a boil for five or so minutes, then take the heat down to medium high so that you don’t evaporate all your water.  Leave heated for twenty minutes or so until leeks are translucent and beets are soft.
4.  Bust out the blender and puree the beet/leek water in small batches.
5.  Once it reaches your desired consistency add the olive oil and milk for thickness.
6.   Add salt and pepper (I found that my soup didn’t need salt, but was very delicious with a lot of pepper).

Soup and Bread

I told you it was easy!  Just toast some bread to dunk in it and you’re set.  Maybe listen to “Shout Your Lungs Out” or “I Need More Allowance” while you’re eating…

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Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Blondies

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Ashley| 4 Comments

Sugar Hand

I usually don’t buy sweets or junk food.  If I’m going to have a party I load up on Trader Joe’s snacks (I definitely have no qualms about that), but other than those times I generally keep my foodmoney focused on the essentials.

Plus, I’ve found that I’m a really lazy person.  So if my choices are, A) don’t eat a late night chip snack and B) drive to the store to get a late night chip snack, I’m almost always going to cuddle up in bed and forgo the drive.  It’s the best way for me to curb cravings.  I just don’t keep sweets and salty snacks around.  And then, if I’m superdupergonnadiewithoutit craving something, badly enough to go to the store for it, then I know it’s worth it.  Easy solution.

But having said all that, sometimes my inner baker comes out as a result of cravingtime.  Instead of reaching for the keys I reach for the sugar and flour.

Whisking

Now, full disclosure, I’m not really much of a baker.  Baking requires many more precise measurements than I’m usually willing to muster.  With cooking, I can substitute with ease and throw in ingredients willy-nilly.  Whenever I try that with baking, though, I find myself with rock-salt brownies or completely flattened cookies.
However, when I find a fairly straightforward recipe (and make sure to follow it!) I can usually make it work.

For whatever reason, I was craving blondies.  I have no idea why.  I’ve never made blondies before, I’m usually a brownie girl all the way.  But the idea of making blondies got into my head and, of course, I had to make them.  I thought I had a bunch of butterscotch chips in my cabinet and figured that blondies would be a good excuse to use some of the chips up.

When I went to grab the bag, however, it turned out that they weren’t butterscotch, but rather cinnamon.  Who knew those even existed?  I had also bought a dark chocolate bar at the store, so thus the Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Blondies were born!

Blondies Bites

The recipe was inspired by Simply Recipes’ Blondies recipe, but I made a few adaptations (I know, I know, I can never just leave well enough alone!).

Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Blondies
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup melted butter
-1 cup packed brown sugar
-1 lightly beaten egg
-1 tablespoon honey
-(at least) 1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-1/8 teaspoon baking soda
-pinch of salt
-1 and 1/4 cup flour
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/3 cup cinnamon chips (or to your liking)
-1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate bar (or chips)

Make it Happen:
1.  Butter your 8×8 pan (this is what was suggested, I used a larger pan and thus got flatter Blondies… again, making changes…).  And set oven to 350°F to preheat.
2.   Mix melted butter and sugar.
3.  Beat egg and then add to butter/sugar mixture along with honey, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour, cinnamon.  Mix well.
4.  Add cinnamon chips and dark chocolate.
5.  Spoon mixture into pan, then bake for 20-25 minutes.  If you’re like me and always forget to set a timer, keep your nose alert and check the center with a fork or toothpick for doneness.
6.  You know the drill: cool, cut, eat.

Blondies

Anyways, this scheisse is seriously delicious.  I think the combo of cinnamon, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla made my tastebuds deliriously happy.  Even my friend, a self-proclaimed non-blondies fan, loved them!  And, can you believe it, they actually turned out despite my self-destructive desire to make changes left and right!

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Posted in Baking, Dessert, Personal, Recipe

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Lazy Granola

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Ashley| 12 Comments

So I’ve been having one hell of a busy week, thus the ramen two days ago and today’s recipe, which is basically oatmeal masquerading as granola.  In other words, I didn’t have time to make granola but still wanted some cereal for breakfast.  Thus, I turned to Lazy Granola.

Honey and Oatmeal

I love granola because I can tailor it to all of my specific cereal needs.  When I have the ingredients I’ll add dried fruit, coconut oil, nuts, flax seeds, and any other goodies I can find.  But that’s really a topic for another post and another day.  Today I’m talking about granola’s poor white trash cousin, aka Oatmeal Mixed Up in Milk and Some Other Stuff.

But, you know, I really shouldn’t bash this faux-granola.  It was quick, easy, and the same as regular granola, just without the crunch.  And either way, homemade cereal is a million times better than artificially-colored sugar rice puffs.  (Not to hate on the cereals I grew up with, really.  They’re just expensive and not so healthy.)

So, without further ado, I introduce you to this easy-peesey cereal substitute.

Lazy Granola aka Oatmeal in Milk and Some Other Stuff

 

Honey

Ingredients:
-plain, uncooked oatmeal
-nuts of your choice
-wheatgerm or ground flax seed or something similarly healthy and tasty
-honey
-vanilla
-milk

Make it Happen:
1.  Pour as much uncooked oatmeal into a bowl as you feel like eating this morning.
2.   Add a handful of nuts (dried fruit too, if you have it), as well as some wheatgerm or flax seed.  (This stuff is supposed to be healthy, plus it tastes nutty, which is good in my book)
3.   Add honey and vanilla to taste.  I’m crazy for vanilla so I always add too much.  Start slowly with the honey because it sweetens the mix up pretty quickly.
4.  Add your milk.
5.  Eat up!

Cereal

So, there you go.  If you have no time to dehydrate or cook granola but still want to get your hippie vibe going in the morning, have some Lazy Granola.  It seriously takes less than ten minutes to make.  And since it’s all to your specifications it will taste wildly delicious.

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Quick and Dirty Ramen

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Ashley| 3 Comments

So tonight I broke a cardinal rule of “healthy eating”…

I had microwave ramen.

We all know the scary high sodium and crazy amounts of generally not-so-good stuff, but I’m sure I don’t speak alone when I say some nights are just ramen nights.  I didn’t get home until late, I was hungry as a horse, and the 99-cent six-pack of ramen at Walgreens seduced me like no other.  So, much as I hate to admit it, tonight was definitely a ramen night for me.

Ramen Ingredients

However, I was not about to subject myself to that freaky little “shrimp flavor” packet that comes with those quick-cook noodles.  Instead I raided my fridge and found a half-used leek, some wilting kale, a bunch of old pre-shredded carrots, and an egg.  I sliced the sad little veggies up, threw ‘em in a bowl with water and the noodles, and put my microwave to work.  The whole affair took no longer than ten minutes and now I’m flying high, eating noodles and feeling pseudo-healthy about it!

This isn’t a real recipe, but what the hell, I’m going to pretend like it is:

Pseudo-Healthy Ramen

Ingredients:
-packet of ramen (sans seasoning)
- handful of sliced leek
-handful of sliced carrot
-handful of sliced kale
-low sodium soy sauce (or high sodium, whatever you have and like)
-cayenne pepper (optional, as are all of the ingredients, really)
-1 egg

Make it Happen:
1.  Crack noodles in package, then place in bowl and cover with water.
2.  Slice all veggies (and any others that are hogging fridge space), and toss in bowl.  Mix into water as best you can.
3.  Stick it all in the microwave for three minutes or until the noodles get soft.
4.  Open microwave and season soup to taste with soy sauce and  cayenne pepper.  If these aren’t your favorite flavors add whatever sounds delish.
5.   Crack your egg into the soup and swish it around.
6.  Continue heating until egg is cooked through and soup is sufficiently hot.  Then give it another sixty seconds for good measure so you can’t say I gave you salmonella poisoning!

Ramen Soup

And there she is, a quick and dirty ramen recipe that takes the health factor up a smidgen.  It wont taste like your favorite restaurant’s soup, but it’ll definitely taste better than plain ramen with “shrimp flavor.”  And you wont get the MSG shakes!  Everybody wins!

 

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