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I have a confession to make. While I'm seemingly confident when barking out amounts for ingredients, I'm actually a total fake. I have no idea how much I actually put into dishes when I'm cooking because I never measure anything. I just add a bunch of ingredients together and when it looks about right, then I stop. Now, that's not to say I have no idea what I'm talking about, but merely that I approximate how much I use. Maybe it's because I cook a lot that I know approximately how much a tablespoon is when I'm dumping in spices or sauces but I do think I'm fairly accurate in the measurements I give. This is the result of having an Asian mom, as Asian moms are infamous for never measuring anything. You can imagine how difficult and frustrating this can be to someone trying to learn how to cook. Then again, my mom is pretty clueless when it comes to cooking so maybe she really was telling the truth when she would say she didn't know how much of each ingredient she used! Anyway, back to the soup. It was creamy, smooth, light yet hearty, and slightly sweet from the vegetables. It's also super healthy since it's just vegetables and broth. Can't beat creamy and healthy! I used beef broth because that was what I had in the fridge but you could use any kind of broth you want. The sandwich was yum, yum yum! I don't like sandwiches and that's why when people at work see me eat sandwiches, they're always shocked, but usually the reason I don't like sandwiches is because they're boring or too loaded with mayonnaise and butter. This sandwich was perfect. The cranberries brought a sweetness to the sandwich that cut through the creaminess of the mayonnaise and avocado and balanced the saltiness of the turkey breast and ham. You could even add tomatoes and cucumbers to make it even healthier.
Cooking the vegetables after roasting
Roasted Cauliflower Soup adapted from Anne's Food
Ingredients
1 cauliflower head, cut into florets
1 potato, cubed
1 carrot, cubed
1 onion, cut into quarters
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
500ml beef stock
400ml water
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place cauliflower, potato, carrot, onion and garlic cloves on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Bake until vegetables are soft and golden brown, about 30-40 minutes.
4. Heat pan and add vegetables. Cook for 2 minutes. Add beef stock and water. Bring to boil and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Transfer vegetable mixture to a blender and blend soup in batches. Alternatively you can use a hand blender to puree soup. Soup should be thick, creamy and smooth.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with crusty bread or sandwich.
Cranberry Mayo
Turkey Breast, Ham, and Avocado Sandwich with Cranberry Mayo
Ingredients
4 slices multigrain bread
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
4 slices turkey breast
4 slices ham
1/2 avocado, sliced
Directions
1. Mix cranberries and mayonnaise together. (If you want it slightly spicy, add chili powder as well.)
2. Spread each slice of bread with mayonnaise and cranberry mixture.
3. Place 2 slices turkey breast and 2 slices ham on a piece of bread. Repeat with a second slice.
4. Place sliced avocado on both slices of bread with ham.
5. Cover bread slices with additional slices. Press down gently and slice sandwich in half.
I'm personally not a big fan of chili but my tombee loves it and I always aim to please. Plus, it's always nice in winter to have a steamy bowl of chili to warm you up. I made this in my slow cooker but if you don't have one, just simmer it for 2 hours until it thickens. I made this the night before, then let it sit in order to fully develop the flavours. Tombee loved the chili and I think the chocolate addded a sweet taste and silky mouthfeel to the chili. I made southern buttermilk cornbread from Andrea's blog to go with the chili and I loved the corny taste of the cornbread. However, I found it a little dry and crumbly but since I haven't had much cornbread, I can't compare to other types. When I was searching for a cornbread recipe, most of them included sugar as an ingredient but I thought a savoury, rather than a sweet, cornbread would taste better. I'll definitely have to try a sweet cornbread in the future to compare and see which I like better. Andrea's southern cornbread did go really well with the chili and I ate more cornbread than chili while tombee ate a bite of cornbread and two bowls of chili, and then ate my bowl too!
Chili con Carne
Ingredients
4 tablespoon oil
1lb ground beef
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 can whole tomatoes
3 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon sauce from chipotle peppers
1 chipotle pepper, minced (optional if you like your chili really spicy)
3 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups beef stock
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kernel corn, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoon chili flakes (reduce or leave out if you don't want it spicy)
2 tablespoon chili powder (reduce to 1 tablespoon if you don't want it spicy)
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoon paprika
1 tablesoon oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 square bakers chocolate
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
1. Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a pan and add onions, green pepper, red pepper and carrots and cook until vegetables are soft. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
2. Add remaining 2 tablespoon in a pan and add garlic. Fry until fragrant, then add ground beef. Break up large pieces of ground beef, then add spices. Mix with meat and fry until mixture is fragrant.
3. Add vegetable mixture back into meat, then add tomatoes, beef stock, chipotle and chipotle sauce, tomato paste, and sugar. Mix until well combined. Taste mixture and add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add the drained kidney beans and corn and bring everything to a boil. Transfer mixture to a slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours. Alternatively, you can simmer chili for 2-2 1/2 hours until liquid dries and mixture becomes thick.
5. Add chocolate and stir to completely melt and mix the chocolate in. Taste and add salt and pepper if you'd like.
6. Let sit overnight to allow flavours to develop and reheat when ready or serve right away with cornbread.
