Butternut Thyme Cream Soup

January is National Soup Month -  I don’t know about you, but I don’t need a special reason to eat soup in the winter. After a day of playing outside on the mountain or in the park, we like to return home, fingers and toes chilled, to a cozy house and a warm bowl of soup. 

In our house, this soup is simply called Yellow Soup. It’s our son’s favourite soup. In fact, it’s the only soup he’ll eat. It has to be orange or yellow. It has to have a smooth consistency. But thankfully it’s tasty and simple to make, and best of all it’s forgiving. 

Great-tasting root vegetables like squash, carrots, onions and sweet potatoes pack in the nutrition. 

Pull a pile of yellow and orange vegetables out of your pantry. Find or make some chicken stock or vegetable stock. Add some thyme. Whirr it up in a blender. Stir in a cup of delicious cream and a dash of lemon and you’re rewarded with a naturally sweet, sunshine-bright, warming bowl of soup. Play around with the amount of vegetables-to-stock ratio to get the thickness you most desire. I’ve suggested the amounts that work for our family’s taste.  

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil or butter

1 large yellow onion, chopped

8 to 10 cups mixed yellow or orange vegetables, chopped. My go-to veggies are 1 medium butternut squash (or acorn), 2 medium yams or sweet potatoes, 3-4 large carrots, and a parsnip if I happen to have. Zucchini would also work.  

7-8 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1-2 teaspoons dried thyme (depending on how strong a flavour you like)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 cup half and half or whipping cream (sometimes I just use whole milk, depending on what I have in the fridge. It’s not as creamy, but it works)

Instructions

Heat a stockpot over medium heat then add the butter or olive oil. Once the butter has melted, add the onion and cook until lightly coloured, about 10-12 minutes. 

Add all remaining vegetables, stock and thyme. Bring to a boil, then simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 30 minutes. Make sure the carrots are cooked.

To puree, use either a hand-held immersion blender in the pot, or transfer the everything over to a blender. 

Blend until smooth, or leave chunky if you prefer. 

Add the lemon juice, cream, and season to taste. 

Serve! I find this soup is best fresh. I have frozen it, and it does work, but the consistency changes once thawed. 

Chocolate-Sunflower Quinoa Cookies

Filled with protein packed quinoa, oats, a noticeable amount of chocolate chips and the sweetness of honey, these cookies are a serious boost of energy. Pass one of these cookies over to a starving, grumpy child after-school. Stand back. Then watch their mood improve as they munch it down. Grab one as a post-workout snack. Pack a few in your hiking pack as rewards. Or bribes. 

Yes, this cookies has sugar, honey and chocolate. It is, in fact, a cookie. But it also packs in quinoa, oats and a healthy ancient grain, surpassing the nutrition and staying power of most cookies. 

To keep the cookie relatively light in texture, I use a combination of regular white flour and an ancient grain to boost nutrition. I’ve used kamut, spelt and buckwheat flour. Each has offered up tasty cookie results and my 6-year-old taste tester has gobbled them up. 

Makes about 22 - 24 cookies

Ingredients

¾ cup white flour

¾ cup either kamut / spelt / buckwheat flour

1 tsp sea salt

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ cup white sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup honey

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla 

1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled to room temperature

1 cup whole oats

1 cup chocolate chips

½ cup sunflower seeds

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat butter, white sugar, brown sugar and honey in a large bowl until fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the eggs and the vanilla, beat until fluffy (1-2 minutes)

Beat in half the flour mixture, then the other half. 

Stir in the quinoa, oats, chocolate chips and the sunflower seeds. 

Spoon dough in portions that are about 2 tbsps onto the cookie sheets. Give them some space to spread. 

Bake at 375 degrees F for about 14-16 minutes. 

Chicken Stock

Chicken stock serves as the base in all kinds of soups, stews, risottos and sauces and is a great way to add extra nutrients and flavour to recipes.

My Grandma claimed homemade bone broths help cure colds, build strong bones and aid digestion. She was right. When you're under the weather there is nothing better than a bowl of chicken stock with garlic, minced vegetables of your choice (like nutrient-rich carrots, spinach or kale) and cooked noodles.

You can use leftover chicken bones to make stock but for deeper, richer and more flavourful stock use a whole chicken.

Another useful tip is to add apple cider vinegar to the water before cooking. It helps draw out calcium and other minerals from the bones.

Chicken stock freezes well – just remember to let it cool down and remove excess fat before freezing.

Makes about 12 cups / 3 litres

Ingredients:

1 3-4 lbs/ 1.3-2 kg chicken or chicken parts (wings and legs are ideal)
2 large carrots, roughly chopped
2 onions, quartered (peel on ok but will give stock darker colour)
3 celery stalks, roughly chopped
3-4 bay leaves
4-5 sprigs of fresh parsley (optional)
2 leeks, greens only (optional)
2 teaspoons of coarse salt
1 tablespoon of whole black peppercorns
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
14 cups / 3.5 liters of water


Combine all ingredients in a large pot.
Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer covered for 2-4 hours.
Let stock come to room temperature, strain into containers and refrigerate overnight.
Remove fat from top of the broth and store in fridge for 3-4 days or freezer for up to 3 months (it will last longer than 3 months but the flavour will deteriorate).

Immune-Boosting Roasted Garlic and Cremini Buckwheat Pizza

January. It’s that time of year when the holidays are over, but cold and flu season lingers like long-staying houseguests. Now’s a great time to get food working for your immune system.

This pizza recipe is in high rotation at our house. We’re always ready to eat pizza, and fighting colds seem the perfect reason this week. It’s got an immune-boosting mix of toppings and a healthy buckwheat-chia enhanced crust, which is chewy yet crisp on the bottom. Buckwheat is not a grain nor it is related to wheat. It’s actually a fruit seed related to rhubarb and it imparts a mild nutty flavor to the crust. It’s gluten free and because it helps maintain blood sugar levels, it keeps you fuller for longer. Chia seeds are loaded with omega-3s, plus calcium and magnesium.

Plain old cremini mushrooms have been shown to have great immune boosting power.  Onions and garlic help your body fight off bacteria. Red bell peppers and spinach are high in Vitamin C. And humble chicken – there’s a reason why chicken soup is such a popular flu fighter – chicken is high in Vitamin B6, which helps form red blood cells and combat colds and flu.

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

1 cup warm water

2 ½ teaspoons active yeast

1 tablespoon maple syrup

2 tablespoons ground chia seeds

¼ olive oil

1 cup / 120 grams buckwheat flour

1 ½ cups / 190 grams unbleached white flour

1 tsp sea salt

Pizza Toppings

1 medium yellow onion sliced into rings

Sliced Cremini mushrooms (4-5 large mushrooms or 8-10 small)

1 cooked chicken breast, chopped (If I have leftover chicken from another meal, perfect, otherwise I panfry the chicken. (in a teaspoon or so of olive oil and ¼ cup water to keep it moist)

1 bulb roasted garlic (Cut the top of the bulb off, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in tin foil. Roast for one hour at 350 degrees F.)

½ cup Kalamata olives

½ red pepper, thinly sliced

2 cups / 225 grams mozzarella cheese

Parmesan to grate over cooked pizza

Olive oil, for cooking

Pizza Sauce

About 1 cup of your favourite pizza or pasta sauce

Handful of baby spinach

1/2 cup of the sautéed mushrooms and onions

Instructions 

In a large bowl, add the yeast. Pour the warm water over and add the maple syrup. Whisk and let stand until you see foam or bubbles. Whisk in the ground chia seeds and the olive oil.

In a separate bowl, mix together the buckwheat and regular wheat flours with the salt. Add the dry mix to the wet mix and stir with a wooden spoon. This will take a bit of arm muscle. When you’ve got a ball of dough knead a few times. If the dough sticks to your hands, add a bit more flour – I usually add more wheat flour – until the dough is smooth and doesn’t stick.

Cover and let dough rise for at least an hour in a warm spot. I often make the dough early in the day (even at breakfast!) and let it rise all day in my pantry or cupboard. This is a great trick if you haven’t got time after work to let dough rise…

Sauté the onions and mushrooms in about a tablespoon or so of olive oil at low-medium heat. I find it takes about 15 minutes to get them soft and browned.

While these cook, chop up the cooked chicken, red pepper, olives and whatever other good stuff you’ve chosen. Grate the mozzarella and keep the grater and parmesan handy for the final touch.

Of course, one could make homemade pizza sauce…. But this is one place I take a short-cut and I use my favourite pasta sauce from a jar. I like using pasta instead of pizza sauce. I just take what I need from the pasta jar and back it goes into the fridge – no waste, and I’m not limited by the size of the pizza sauce can.

If you’ve got the time, here’s an option to sneak in a few ingredients. In my mini food processor, I put about ½ cups of the sautéed onions and mushrooms, plus a handful of baby spinach and whir it together with the pasta sauce. Now I’ve got some vegetable content onto my son’s ‘cheese and chicken’ pizza.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Using a lightly oiled rolling pin, roll out the pizza dough onto a lightly oiled baking tray or pizza stone. When I make this recipe I use two baking trays and I make one small kids pizza and one large adult pizza. For the kid size pizza, I use about one large fistful of dough. The rest goes to the adult pizza. Crust should be rolled to about ¼ inch thick.

Prebake the crust for about 12 minutes. Remove from oven. Time for toppings. I like to pile them on heavy to make it a protein and veggie meal.  

Bake again for 12 minutes. Broil for 2 minutes if you like the cheese bubbly and brown.

Homemade Ginger Applesauce

Applesauce is extremely easy to make and the final product always tastes so much better than the store-bought kind.

The first step in making applesauce is selecting the apples - choose a local sweet variety (no Granny Smith). What are sweet varieties? Most of them - Red Delicious, Jonagold, Fuji, Gala, Golden (one of my favourites for applesauce). Mixing different varieties is also encouraged. I always use whatever needs to be used up first.



This is my mom’s applesauce recipe and one of my kids' favourite after-school snack or dessert simply sprinkled with cinnamon. For extra nutrition top it with yogurt, a drizzle of maple syrup and a few sprinkles of homemade granola.

Ingredients:

Makes 2 cups

2 lbs / 1 kg of apples, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks (1-2 inches each)

2-3 slices of ginger

A pinch of salt

¼ of a cup of water

Variations: Substitute ginger for 1-2 cinnamon sticks.

Instructions:

Wash, peel, core and cut up apples - doesn’t really matter how big or small the chunks are as long as they are all more or less the same.

Add ¼ of a cup of water and pinch of salt. Just enough water to ensure the bottom of the pan doesn’t burn.

Bring to a boil and lower heat to a minimum. Cook on low for 15-30 minutes until apples are soft.

Let cool, remove ginger slices and puree using a potato masher (coarse/chunky texture) or blender (smoother).

Classic Potato Latkes

Hannukah doesn't officially start at our house until the latkes are fried. Crispy and delicious, these flat potato pancakes are eaten during the eight nights of Hannukah.

Hanukkah, the “Jewish Festival of Lights”, that starts on 25 Kislev of the Hebrew calendar - it can happen from late November to late December. This year is extra special since the first night of Hanukkah coincides with Christmas Eve - less negotiating and more celebrating for our family this year.

How often does this happen? Well, the last time was in 1978.

Light up the candles and enjoy the latkes with apple sauce and sour cream. This is the potato latke recipe we made last night. It makes 50-60 latkes depending on how big you make them.

Ingredients:

4 lbs /  2 kg of potatoes grated

2 medium size onions grated

3 large eggs

1 tsp of baking powder

1-2 tsp of salt

Pepper to taste

Instructions:

Grate potatoes and onion using a grater or food processor. We like the texture from hand grater better but if you are pinched for time use food processor.
Place grated potatoes and onions in a colander and let excess water drain for 5-10 minutes (or a few minutes longer depending on how patient you are).
Move potato-onion mixture into a large bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Warm up a thin layer of oil in a medium-large skillet over medium heat.
Drop mixture by large spoonfuls (about ⅛ of a cup) and cook until golden brown on both sides.  Approximately 2-3 minutes per side.
Serve with sour cream and homemade applesauce and enjoy with family and friends.
Merry Christmas!

Dilled Cottage Cheese No-Knead Sandwich Loaf

Flecked with dill and finished with a butter-salt glaze, this rich sandwich bread

gets added to our Christmas dinner spread every year. In fact, it’s the only thing my son has eaten for Christmas dinner for the past four years. 

The origins of this recipe are murky. It's been around our family my whole life - firmly entrenched in our Christmas food culture. It’s high in protein thanks to the addition of cottage cheese and has a smooth dill flavour that pairs well with just about any flavour. Slather it with butter. Eat it plain. Dip it in gravy. But the best reason to make this bread is for the leftover turkey sandwiches. Dill bread + leftover turkey + cranberry sauce. Smash them together. Delicious. 

Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast  (1 tbsp)

¼ tsp baking soda

2 tbsp white sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp dried dill weed

2 tbsp melted butter (plus more melted butter for the final glaze)

¼ cup very warm water (not boiling)

1 cup lukewarm cottage cheese

1 lightly beaten egg

2 ¼  cups all-purpose flour

Pinch of sea salt

Instructions

In a large bowl, mix together the yeast, ¼ cup all-purpose flour, baking soda, white sugar, 1 tsp salt and the dried dill weed. Set aside. 

Combine 2 tbsp melted butter and ¼ cup very warm water (not boiling). Gradually add to the yeast mixture with a fork.  Beat mixture for 2 minutes at medium speed with electric mixer. 

Add the cottage cheese, egg and ½ cup flour to the mixture and beat another 2 minutes at high speed. 

Beat in the last 1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour to make a stiff batter. (My mixer starts having difficulty here and I usually end up quickly kneading in the last ½ cup by hand). 

Cover, set in a warm spot and let rise until doubled in bulk. This step usually takes me about an hour. 

Stir down and transfer to a buttered heatproof dish. I use a glass loaf pan but you could use any loaf pan or even a casserole dish of around the same shape and size. 

Cover, set in a warm spot and let rise until doubled in bulk again. I find that the dough needs a pretty warm spot to rise properly. I heat the oven to the minimum temperature (around 170 degrees on my oven), then turn it off and pop the rising dough into the oven. I let the dough rise for about 45 minutes to an hour, then take the dough out, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Once it’s hot, I put the loaf back in and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. 

Glaze with melted butter and a sprinkling of sea salt. 

Try to let the loaf cook before cutting!