I love lasagna as much as the next person but it is a production. Sometimes you just don’t want to put in the effort but you still want something that is vaguely lasagna-like and this fits the bill really well. You don’t have to use ground meat (I used ground chicken) but if you skip it I’d definitely add some lentils just to round out the soup. Also the original recipe had a genuinely distressing amount of cheese and I’ve cut that down to about 1/3 in this version and I couldn’t imagine adding more, but you do you.
Continue readingCategory: make ahead
Recipe: Chocolate Brownies
These brownies are a super simple single bowl recipe. I halved the original recipe to make a small batch (about 4-6 brownies depending how large you want to cut them). If you decide to make these for a special occasion you can top them with some melted chocolate and crushed dried raspberries but it’s completely optional as they’re great on their own. Make sure to let them cool completely before eating otherwise the texture will be a little gooey.
Continue readingRecipe: Vegetable Green Curry
This is probably one of the more interesting recipes I’ve made in a while because it’s not only 100% vegan but it also uses coconut milk as the fat that you cook off the vegetables in. I supposed you can just use coconut oil if you want to make it even faster but since I already use green curry paste (because I don’t really have access to any of the fresh ingredients) this recipe is already pretty easy.
Continue readingRecipe: Coq au Vin Blanc
This is one of those recipes that seems extremely fancy but it comes together with just a few minutes of work. It’s basically chicken and vegetables stewed in a white wine sauce, you can use bone in chicken which is traditional but if you’re in a hurry you can use chopped thigh meat and it’ll cut the cooking time down a little.
Continue readingRecipe: Tuscan Soup
Originally I was supposed to use white beans in this soup but I only had chickpeas on hand and those worked just fine. When I made this a second time I did use the white beans which were just as good but I also chopped the chard much finer which is my best suggestion otherwise this absolutely delicious soup is not to be missed. I wouldn’t skimp on the heavy cream it is what takes the soup over the top. I found this soup to be too filling for extras but no one would complain if you made a nice bread with it I’m sure.
Continue readingRecipe: Spicy Cheesy Rolls
The recipe so nice I made it two weeks in a row. This is a really super simple tear and share style bread which is basically savory cinnamon rolls. If you weren’t in the mood to make your own roll dough you could probably substitute ready made pizza dough as well. The original recipe called for a spicy masala paste but all I had on hand was harissa, I imagine any fairly dry sauce or paste like pesto would do but even a savory jam would probably be nice.
Spicy Cheese Rolls
Adapted from Food with ChetnaRecipe: Plum Crumble
I guess this is a recipe but it’s more of a vague idea I had when I accidentally ordered too many plums. I originally stored the plums in the fridge and when they got a little less enticing to eat I decided they could become a baked good instead. This is very much a throw together recipe, you can adjust it to make as much or little as you like. You can make the streusel style topping I used or make an oatmeal topping if you prefer and it’ll pretty much turn out nice either way. I would recommend it for a rainy day with too much fruit.
Plum Crumble
Recipe: Chocolate Fool
If you’re not British you might not be familiar with the concept of fool which is usually a kind of puree fruit dessert. This parfait was inspired by a Christmas fool using fruitcake posted to the BBC but also didn’t really fit the definition of “fool”. In the end it’s basically a chocolate cake with fruit and whipped cream in a glass and you can call that whatever you like but the name “fool” is cute for a dessert so it’s fine if that’s what you want to call it. I used this chocolate cake recipe which takes about 5 minutes to throw together but feel free to use store bought cake or your own favorite chocolate cake.
Chocolate Fool
Recipe: Squash-Carrot Soup
Technically you don’t have to roasted the squash before you make this soup but the flavor is much richer if you do and it’s easier to cut squash up if you roast it first. You can absolutely used pre-cut squash and roast that also. This soup is a real warm winter treat and can be topped off with crushed nuts, breadcrumbs, or grated cheese. Paired with a nice roll or a salad it can easily be a full meal.
Squash-Carrot Soup
Adapted from Lovely Little KitchenRecipe: Donauwelle
This is such an interesting cake and it’s really delicious too. The layers are supposed to look like the waves of the Danube. I’m not entirely sure I understood how to achieve this effect the first time I made this recipe but it’s certainly good enough that I’ll probably give it another try in a few months. It’s not complex per se but it does have quite a lot of parts. I cut down on the amount of buttercream frosting used as well because I like more balance in my cake but if you feel like you need 6 leagues of buttercream on your cake, I’m not going to stop you.