self-control at its finest

butternut squash is pretty much one of my favourite foods of all time. i have been meaning to make butternut squash soup for almost a year now. i just can never get it to that part... this is where the whole lack of self control comes in. i always end up nibbling on the deliciously sweet and caramelized bits of roasted butternut squash.. and then.. they're all gone and there's no more for soup. every. time. people! this time though, i was committed to it and controlled my nibbling urges. that's because i just had to try out my new awesome kitchen aid immersion blender i got for christmas! even more, i added my second favourite thing in the world: chorizo. OH YEAH I DID! seems like a combo made in heaven, right? naturally sweet squash plus spicy chorizo? salivating. right. now.

because i made this at home during the holidays, chorizo was really easy to find at the thrifty foods by our house. in vancouver however, it took me over a year to find some. every time i went to safeway i would ask and never receive. this year i managed to find some at the IGA so the world is safe again. i now know where to go when i need to fill my chorizo craving.

what you need:
1 large butternut squash
3 celery stalks
1 carrot
1 onion
1 tbsp cumin (or to taste - i added lots)
1/2 cup skim milk or cream
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 chorizo (mexican or spanish works fine)
olive oil and butter for cooking

step 1:
preheat oven to 400 degrees. quarter and scoop out the seeds and icky bits from the squash. roast on a pan with olive oil for ~1 hour or until tender and a bit caramelized. add oil, butter and onion to a big pot and saute until nice and caramelized. then add the chopped carrot and celery and cook down for ~10 minutes. add the cumin.
step 2:
when squash is ready, take the skin off and add chunks into the pan. cook and stir until everything is evenly incorporated. then add the stock and bring to a boil. turn down and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
step 3:
while the soup is simmering, slice your chorizo and brown in a separate pan. let it get nice and crispy. you can also take it out of the casings and crumble it up as another option.
step 4:
take mix off the heat. blend in the pot with an immersion blender, being careful not to scratch the bottom of the pot (in this case a le cruset!). you can also blend small ladelfuls into a regular blender, being careful not to let it explode everywhere. add back to pot.
step 5:
put on low heat add the cream to the mix. depending on how big your squash was, you may need to add more liquid. it's best to start slowly with small amounts as it's harder to add squash back to make the soup thicker.

ingredient of the week: spinach

oh, hey there! here's another installment of ingredient of the week! this time it's spinach. i know, i know, why the hell would i want to eat spinach? well. for one, it's full of iron and i'm anemic.. soo... that's just a match made in heaven. two, it's so versatile! it can be eaten raw or cooked, and it wilts down super small so you can fit lots of it into one portion, magnifying the amount of nutritiony goodness! now who doesn't like that? so, how do i like to eat my spinach? well... usually any salad i have has spinach in it, cause in my case, you can never get enough iron. i also love adding it to my morning fritattas!

spinach fields forever

nutrition wise, spinach is pretty much a superfood. its super high in vitamin k, a, e, b2&6 and c, manganese, folate, calcium and iron, not to mention has tons of fibre, some omega-3s and is super low in calories. along with all these, spinach is also full of health promoting phytonutrients such as carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein etc) and flavanoids which provide powerful antioxidant protection. these function as anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer agents and reduce free-radical damage all over the body. spinach also has certain antioxidants that help prevent eye problems including macular degeneration, blindness in the elderly and cataracts. sooooo i eat spinach a lot of ways, but this time i decided to make a soup. it's uber important that you have a nice big piece of crunchy, delicious bread with this!

spinach and sweet pea soup

what you need:
1 9oz package of spinach
2 cups of frozen peas
1 onion
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable stock
2 pinches of nutmeg
salt and pepper
1 tbsp cayenne pepper (less if you don't like it spicy!)
1/3 cup skim milk 
* optional: 1 package of crimini mushrooms

step 1:
put a big pot on medium heat and add in your oil. while that's heating up, dice your onion, celery and carrot and add in. let that cook down for ~15 minutes. once the onion is translucent, add your spinach, stirring to help wilt it down.
step 2:
once wilted, add in your broth frozen peas, cayenne, nutmeg, salt and pepper. let that simmer away for ~15 minutes. in the meantime, if you want, sautee mushrooms. these just added an extra depth of flavour to the soup.
step 3:
once your soup is done, set it aside and let cool for a bit. ladle out ~1 cup of the broth so you can adjust the thickness of the soup. carefully blend the soup in batches until nice and smooth. if it needs to be thinned, add the extra broth. add the soup back to the pot to heat and pour in milk. this just makes it nice and creamy.

enjoy!

ingredient of the week: garlic

well.... it's been a very, very long time since our last ingredient of the week! my life has been pretty crazy for the last few weeks... so i haven't really been focusing on the blog. but i have been cooking some pretty epic food (that's my way of dealing with stress!) slowly but surely they will be popping up here! so for this installment of ingredient of the week, i chose garlic. love love love love love love love. i can't get enough garlic. some people don't like it raw or find it way too overpowering, but i just love it. i mean, who doesn't like waking up with garlic breath in the morning? or having their hands smell like garlic for 2 days?! well.. i don't exactly like those parts but you just gotta put up with it! in fact, my duvet actually smells like garlic. it's an issue. doesn't exactly put me to sleep...

anyways. yes, garlic. we all love it. so let's talk about why you should eat more of it! garlic is a cardiac savior. first, garlic is rich in sulfur-containing compounds such as thiosulfinates and sulfoxides, which give it that distinct smell, as well as most of it's nutritional benefits. one benefit of these compounds is that they dilate our blood vessels, helping our blood pressure stay under control. they do this by blocking the activity of angiotensin II (man, never thought HKIN 191 would ever come in handy!!). angiotensin II is a peptide protein that helps out blood vessels contract (then causing blood to be forced through a smaller space, increasing the pressure). by blocking this, the sulfur-containing compounds found in garlic can minimize the unecessary contractions of our blood vessels and therefore the unwanted increased blood pressure.

good for your health, and keeps away vampires  : )

another health benefit from these compounds is lowering of our triglyceride and our total cholesterol levels. but, the major cardiac benefit that these compounds provide is cardioprotection, meaning they protect our blood cells and blood vessels from inflammatory and oxidative stress (ie: damage). basically, highly reactive oxygen molecules wreak havoc on the linings of our pretty little arteries and veins. this damage can cause plaque to form which, in turn, can lead to heart attacks and atherosclerosis. the sulfur-containing compounds found in garlic minimize this by inhibiting the activity of inflammatory causing mechanisms in the oxygen molecules. another compound, ajoene, helps to prevent clots from forming inside our blood vessels by preventing platelets in our blood to become too sticky. ajoene helps maintain a kind of "stickiness homeostasis", if you will.

ok, time for a change! let's stop the cardiac talk -- garlic also has amazing anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal properties, and has been used throughout all of history for treating illness! various compounds in freshly crushed garlic show huge benefits in controlling infection from worms, yeasts, bacteria and viruses. they've been used on burn victims, stomach ulcers, and on bacterial infections that are not responding to antibiotics. that's pretty awesome if you ask me! i really could go on about antioxidants, vitamin C, selenium, anti-inflammatory/arthritic properties, increased iron metabolizing properties, cancer prevention etc, etc. that garlic provides... but i'm tired of writing. basically, garlic is a superfood when it comes to your health, and if you're not eating it.. then you better start! it basically cures everything!

so, now onto the meal i used an epic amount of garlic in. i made a traditional greek lentil soup called Φακές/fakes (pronounced fah-KESS). yes. yes, i know. it sounds like fuckers. ha ha ha ha. but of course, that's not what the old greek ladies are saying! anyways, its quite an easy recipe to make, all you have to do is chop and let cook!

fakes lentil soup: simple flavours, but delicious!

what you need:
1 1/2 cups of brown lentils
1 onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
8 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 potatoes, cubed
4 cups water/chicken broth (i used half of each)
2 bay leaves
2 tsp oregano
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tbsp red wine vinegar

step 1:
after sifting through the lentils for rocks and twigs, put them into a large pot and cover with water. bring to a boil and cook for ~15 minutes. while this is cooking, take the time to chop up all of your ingredients. when cooking time is up, strain into a collander.
step 2:
in the same pot, add olive oil and saute your onions until translucent. add in the celery and cook down for a few minutes. add your sliced garlic, bay leaves, oregano, potatoes, tomato paste and water/broth. let simmer for ~30 minutes, stirring frequently, or until lentils are soft.
step 3:
ladle into a bowl and spoon the red wine vinegar on top. this may seem weird to people who haven't tasted this before, but you need to add this. it lifts the entire dish to a new level! and of course, soak up the liquid with a nice piece of crispy bread! enjoy!

when life gives you lemons, make αυγολέμονο

damn, life has given me lemons this week. not only is it the week before midterms - which is stressful enough on its own - now plus the fact that i'm all sickly-ickly. to make me feel better, i made avgolemono (ahv-goh-lem-oh-noh), a traditional greek soup with eggs ("avgo") and lemon ("lemoni"). it is the ultimate nommy nommy soup. i am eating it right now, and am in awe that i managed to make something soooo delicious. this is probably the best thing i've made. ever. now, i don't know if that's me and my cooking, or just the awesomeness that is greek food. who knows.

so, i did make some changes to the traditional version. mainly because i lack the equipment (a kitchen aid), but i also wanted a thick soup to help me feel not so sick. in the traditional version, you whip the egg whites until they form peaks, then add it to the broth to make some kind of foamy thing. another traditional version of this soup is magiritsa, made with lamb and served at easter to break the 40 day fast. if ya want it really traditional, you put in the icky bits of the lamb (intestines, heart, head, neck, liver.. ewwies). buuuut since i didn't want any of that lovely stuff, i added normal chicken breast to make some weird, but awesome greek version of chicken soup.

my version of the traditional soup

so, here's what you need:
2 chicken breasts or 3 thighs
2 tsp canola oil
salt and pepper
7 cups chicken broth
3 eggs
juice of 3 1/2 lemons (note: i like mine really lemony, but if you're not a fan, add less)
1 cup kritharaki (also known as orzo) or rice.
1 tsp water
1 tsp corn starch
1 scoop greek yogut
note: you don't need the corn starch, the eggs act as a natural thickener. i just wanted mine a bit thicker than usual.

step 1:
pre heat oven to 350 degrees. pour oil into an oven safe dish and then place both chicken breasts in. add salt and pepper over top and stick in the oven for ~45 minutes, depending on the size.
step 2:
while waiting, juice your lemons into a bowl. set that aside and then put a big pot on the stove. set to high heat and add in all the chicken broth. bring to a boil. once boiling, add in your orzo. it should take ~15 - 20 minutes to cook.
step 3:
when your chicken is done, take it out and slice into small, bite-sized pieces and put into the pot.  set it to low heat. crack your eggs into the bowl with the lemon juice and whisk. set aside. get a small bowl and mix the corn starch and water together to form a slurry.
step 4:
this is the hardest part: tempering the eggs. with whisk in hand, slowly ladle the hot broth into the egg and lemon mixture, whisking quickly. if they scramble, start again. add into the pot, along with the corn starch. stir for about 2 minutes until it thickens and serve with a dollop of greek yogurt!

rich but light, hearty and yummy  : )

as a side note, you can make avgolemono sauce as well, to put over meat or vegetables. it's the same recipe just with no chicken, no orzo, and less chicken broth. a traditional greek way to serve it is over celery and pork which is also really, really good! or of course, on top of dolmades (which hopefully i will be making at some point!)

ingredient of the week: lentils

lentils are this week's ingredient of the week! i've been meaning to highlight them for a while but for some reason, the grocery store closest to campus didn't have any. luckily, i was able to find both the green and red types on a mega shopping trip a few days ago.

now, i talked a bit about lentils being healthy in my recipe for dahl here. but since this is ingredient of the week, it's time to get into a bit more detail of their awesomeness. lentils are part of the legume family, which to me is just kind of confusing. mainly because i was always learning french and legume in french is veggies. i couldn't understand how other things such as chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans and pinto beans could be in the same category as lettuce or broccoli or something.

red lentils like these were used in the recipe below

anyways, legumes are really important for people who are vegan or vegetarian. they are a high, non-animal source of protein. lentils in particular have about 20 grams per cup, which is pretty good considering you're not getting the added fat of meat!
lentils also are high in iron, which is super important for young women. i am anemic, and i take an iron pill to help keep my levels up and avoid the freaking crazy symptoms and just feeling tired all the time. so it is really important to me to always have a high amount of iron in my meals whether i'm eating a meal with meat or not.
lentils are also high in folate, which acts to reduce the amount of artery damaging homocysteine levels in the blood. in my human growth and development class (where we basically just talk about babies) we learned about neural tube defects.. and they aren't nice things. folate helps prevent these from occuring, so thats why anybody who's thinking about getting pregnant should eat lentils and take their folic acid.
other than all that, lentils are high in fibre (approximately 20 grams per cup!) and have a low calorie count, which is super good for any dieter because they will keep you full for a reaaalllyy long time, but you can save on those cals.

moroccan pottery

i decided to make a kind of moroccan-inspired soup with lentils. i've always wanted to go there... not that i can right now, so i went there by food and flavour. i am starting to feel a little sick so i really just needed something healthy, but warm to keep my sore throat away. this soup just gets tastier by the day!

what you need:
1 large onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
2 potatoes
1 cup red lentils
1 cup frozen peas
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
6 cups water or broth (i used half of each)
2 tsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp turmeric and cinnamon
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp chilli powder
1 scoop greek yogurt

step 1:
chop up your veggies and garlic and peel and cube your potatoes. in a large pot placed on medium heat, add olive oil. when warm, add your onions and garlic and saute for about 3 minutes. once onion is translucent, add in the celery, carrots and ginger and saute for ~5 minutes.
step 2:
then add in your spices: turmeric, cinnamon, chilli powder and cumin. cook, stirring often for about 3 minutes. once all mixed together, add in your tomato paste, diced tomatoes, water or stock, lentils and potatoes.
step 3:
stir to ensure the flavours have combined and bring to a boil. reduce heat and then simmer for ~40 minutes. for the last 5 minutes of cooking, add in your cup of frozen peas. once warm, add a dollop of greek yogurt on top and you're ready to eat!

good timing for soup - just started to get a sore throat!

this soup recipe made such a huge portion (serves 8!) and it's so filling that i ended up freezing about half of it. i enjoyed mine with some nice jalapeno foccacia bread.

UPDATE: also a nice addition when serving this soup is sriracha sauce. it adds a nice little zip!

soupa trahana

this is one of my favourite greek soups. it's simple, hearty and perfect for a cold, rainy fall day. this is the first time i've made this on my own, from my yiayia's (ya-YAH) recipe. i have to say, it didn't turn out too bad! i did change a couple things from the original recipe. i used low-sodium, low-calorie broth, i used skim milk, i added more tomatoes, and i only used a bit of feta. while i could have gone with a low-fat feta, i felt that a really good quality cheese was just worth it to splurge.

trahana soup

now, τραχανά (trah-hah-NAH). what the hell is that, you ask? to be honest, i'm not reaaallyy sure. it's some type of cracked wheat thing, but all i know is that it's super super tasty! you can find it at any mediterranean specialty shop, along with some really good feta. we brought back 5 pounds of the trahana made in my mum's village, Desfina, (english wiki site here) but somehow i forgot it at home. sad. so, instead, i went to Minerva's Mediterranean Deli on west broadway. 

sweet trahana from minerva's

anyways, at minerva's they have sweet trahana (made with milk) and sour trahana (made with yogourt or traditional buttermilk). i literally just stood there for 10 minutes trying to figure out which one to buy. before this, i didn't even know there were 2 types!? well, i'm going to save you those 10 minutes of your life by telling you to get the sweet one. i'm not really sure why they call it sweet, cause it's not sweet at all. so, without further ado, here's the recipe!

you will need:

5 cups water

1/2 cup milk (i used skim)
1 cup stock (i used no soduim stock, the feta adds all the salt you need)
1/2 cup diced tomatoes (i used canned cause that's all i had, and i added extra)
4-5 handfuls of trahana
chunk of feta
step 1:
add water, milk and stock into a large pot and bring to a boil
step 2:
once boiling, add in tomatoes and trahana. cook for 30 minutes, stirring often to avoid trahana sticking to the bottom or sides of the pot

30 minutes into cooking process

step 3:
crumble in the feta cheese and cook for another 30 minutes, stirring often.
step 4:
serve in a bowl, add extra feta cheese on top if desired

enjoy!