I have been really into Asian flavors lately, and I have started to keep white miso paste in my refrigerator to make quick miso soups for those nights that I don’t feel like cooking dinner. This is even better, because you know what else I always have? Carrots! And onions! And sesame oil. You really can’t skip the sesame oil in this recipe, it magnifies the deliciousness of the soup.

Making carrot soup is easy, but you have to spice it up a little bit so it doesn’t seem like something we made for Richie. We already know that carrot, ginger and miso are a perfect trio, and Deb gave us a more substantial way to combine them! This makes a great light dinner with some string beans, or you can make it a good first course in a more substantial meal, whatever floats your boat!

Carrot Soup with Miso and Sesame from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped or grated ginger, or more to taste (it could easily be doubled)
• 2 cups vegetable broth or water
• 2-3 tablespoons white miso paste, to taste
• Drizzle of toasted sesame oil
• Scallions, very thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and carrots and saute for 10 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
2. Add the broth or water and ginger. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the carrots are tender.
3. Puree the soup with your immersion blender, or, if you don’t have one, in a blender or food processor. Add 2 tablespoons of miso, puree again, and taste to see if you’d like to add more miso.
4. Serve with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and/or chopped scallions.

Carrot Miso Soup with Sesame is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

I love making lasagna for company. It’s not so easy, but it’s something that can be made ahead of time, making the day-of much easier to handle. This lasagna is a little different and “dressier” than the classic cheese-and-tomato-sauce or meat-and-tomato-sauce kind. Plus, it is a nice filling main dish! We all really enjoyed it, and I’m glad I made the entire box of lasagna noodles and made a little extra of this for the freezer. That’s right, lasagna is a great freezer food!I made this over the course of two days. The first morning, I washed, peeled, de-stemmed, sliced, and sauteed the mushrooms. I refrigerated them and waited until nighttime when Richie was sleeping to do the rest. That night, I made the bechamel and assembled the lasagna. I put it in the fridge. I took it out a few hours before dinner the next night, baked it for the regular amount of time, and voila, a no-fuss main dish for my dinner party.

Does anyone else peel their mushrooms? I don’t know why I do it, and I guess I don’t have to clean them if I do. I actually find it kind of fun to do, so maybe that’s why whenever I cook mushrooms I sit there peeling off the outer layer. Any thoughts on this?

Mushroom Lasagna, adapted from Ina Garten

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt
• Olive oil
• 12 lasagna noodles (3/4 pound)
• 4 cups whole milk
• 1 stock unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 pounds mushrooms (I used plain old white buttons)
• 1 cup shredded muenster cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles and cook according to package directions. Drain and lay each noodle out on a piece of wax paper so they don’t stick together.

3. Make the bechamel: Heat the milk either in a small pot or in the microwave.

4. Melt the stick of butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and stir constantly with a wooden spoon for one minute.

5. Pour the milk into the butter-flour mixture all at once and stir until combined.

6. Add 1 tablespoon salt, the pepper, and nutmeg. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon and then a whisk until thickened. Set aside.

7. Separate the mushrooms from the stems and discard the stems (or save them for mushroom broth!). Slice the caps into 1/4 inch thick slices.

8. Cook the mushrooms: Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan. All half the mushrooms and sprinkle with salt. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and release some juices. Repeat with the remaining mushrooms.

9. (This is a step I didn’t do, and resulted in a watery lasagna, nothing like Ina’s picture: drain the mushrooms!)

10. Assemble the lasagna: Spread some sauce on the bottom of an 8x12x2 baking dish. Arrange a layer of noodles on top (3) then sauce, mushrooms, and cheese. Repeat two more times. Top with a final later of noodles and the sauce, and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

11. Bake the lasagna for 45 minutes, until the top is browned and the sauce is bubbly and hot.

12. Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Mushroom Lasagna is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

We have a baby foodie in the house! He’s older than 6 months, which means we are thinking about food. And although right now he survives only on breastmilk and single veggies, pretty soon he’ll be sharing family meals with us. Which is why when he was born I had to buy Tyler Florence’s new baby food cookbook Start Fresh. First of all, Tyler Florence is awesome. Second of all, I love people’s takes on what babies should eat. He thinks baby’s first food should be baby carrots (the real kind, not the cut and bleached processed kind).

At around 9-12 months, babies can really start eating what the family is eating, only a little differently. Tyler recommends cooking one meal, and pureeing some for baby’s portion. Thing is, this recipe looked so great that I had to try it even before Richie was able to eat this kind of food! So I altered the recipe for our tastes just a bit, and alas our dinner was a delicious family-friendly meal. I will remember it when it’s time for Richie to be eating meats and many different veggies.

When I saw this recipe, I really wanted to use a pressure cooker to make it. First of all, it’s super fast that way, and secondly, the recipe was created for a pressure cooker. Alas, I don’t have this kitchen gadget! Though I think it might be useful for really quick weekday meals. And I think they are super safe now, so I wouldn’t blow up the kitchen, even if I tried to. I had to settle on using my Le Creuset, which isn’t really settling at all because I love that pot. It turned out great, and I actually just left it simmering on the stove on Sunday and reheated it for dinner the next night. That’s a quick dinner.

Oh, and another great thing about this baby/family-friendly recipe is that it basically requires no steps. Just brown the meat and throw everything in the pot. Cover. Simmer. That’s it. Can’t get any easier than that.

Short Ribs with Apples and Roots, adapted from Tyler Florence:
Serves 4 grown ups or 8 kids

Ingredients:

• 1 pound beef short ribs (bone in)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste (but not so much salt – this is for baby!)
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut in half (or 6 baby carrots)
• 2 medium parsnips, scrubbed and sliced into the same shape as the carrots (1/2 inch thick and in half if long)
• 1 beet, cut into wedges (Tyler uses a golden beet. I used a regular red one)
• 1 Rome apple, cut into wedges, seeds removed
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 cup apple juice

Directions:

1. Season the ribs with a little bit of salt and pepper.

2. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the ribs and brown, about 5 minutes on each side.

3. Add the carrots, parsnips, beet, apple, rosemary, stock, and apple juice. Cover and cook on medium heat for 2 1/2 hours until the meat is tender and falling off the bone and the vegetables are soft.

4. Remove the pot from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

5. For adults, serve the meat and veggies with some of the liquid spooned over. For kids, transfer to food processor and pulse on and off, adding some of the cooking liquid, until at desired consistency. Eat your meal at the table together!

Short Ribs with Apples and Root Veggies is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

This side dish is so easy, and I love peas. The best part? You can make it all year long, since it’s great with frozen peas. If it’s springtime and you want to bother with shelling fresh peas, feel free, but I find that frozen ones are just fine.

Mario Batali’s recipes always look simple and delicious, and this one is no exception. These peas are spicy, so feel free to decrease the chili flakes if you’d like.

Peas in the Style of Tuscany, from Mario Batali

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, cut into a fine dice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon chili flakes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cups green peas (I used frozen)
• Salt
• Fresh mint leaves

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Add the sugar, chili flakes and tomato paste and cook until rusty looking, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Add the peas and cook until very tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Season with salt.
4. Serve hot or at room temperature garnished with mint leaves.

Peas in the Style of Tuscany is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

The smell of caramelized butter and sugar is definitely a great way to start your morning. Mix that with chopped apples and fluffy batter, and you have this apple pancake, which isn’t like any pancakes I’ve ever made before.

This is one large pancake that’s cooked in the oven, and the edges get nice and golden brown while the inside stays gooey. It’s tart and sweet at the same time, and it’s a great start to your Sunday morning.

German Apple Pancake is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

Can you tell that I like soup? It’s a warm, wintry way to add a vegetable to your dinner, and leftovers make the perfect lunch alongside a simple sandwich. Ever since I watched Mario Batali make broccoli soup (and it looked so easy!) I knew I had to try it. Someone recommended the recipe for broccoli soup from Chef at Home, thickened with oatmeal, and I knew I had to try it for a few reasons. 1. I never had soup thickened with oatmeal, and I wondered how it would taste, and if it would really make it thick enough (could’ve used more), 2. Oatmeal is good for milk production and it’s always nice to add it to dishes when I can, 3. We like finding gluten free recipes, and oats, unlike chunks of day-old bread, make this soup gluten free. Turns out, we like broccoli soup!

So it turns out that pictures of pureed soups are kind of ugly. Pictures of fresh veggies, on the other hand, are quite pretty. So I made the main picture both, to entice you to actually click on the recipe. And maybe you’ll then actually try it?

Also, I really like leeks. And this recipe called for leeks instead of onions, so I knew I should try it. Don’t forget to wash them really well so they don’t get your soup all sandy!

See this oatmeal? It’s basically indistinguishable in the soup. Makes it a tiny bit thick, and you can’t taste it. Next time I’m going to double to oats to make it a little thicker, and maybe the flavor will poke through that way. The broccoli starts out beautiful and green (see above photo), and after cooking and boiling for a while, turns this mushy brown. Normally I wouldn’t want my broccoli to be this color, but when making a soup, it’s just perfect! It’s soft and delicious, just the right texture and flavor for a winter soup.

The picture in the cookbook is way more green than my picture of the soup is. I don’t know how they got their broccoli to stay so bright. And it couldn’t have just been the lighting.

Broccoli soup, adapted from Chef at Home:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 head leeks
• 4 stalks celery (leaves included), diced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 heads of broccoli florets (save the stems to roast or for veggie broth)
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1/3 cup oatmeal (like I said, I’d increase this to 2/3 cup)

Directions:

1. In a large pot, saute the leeks and celery in the oil until soft.

1. Add the broccoli florets and saute for about 10 minutes, until the edges just begin to turn brown

3. Add the broth to the pot and bring to a boil.

4. Once boiling, add the oatmeal.

5. Lower the heat and cover. Simmer for one hour. Let cool slightly.

6. Using an immersion blender (or a food processor, regular blender, food mill, or your preferred method of pureeing soups), puree. Reheat on the stove.

The book recommends garnishing with blue cheese. I don’t like blue cheese, but if you do, give it a try!

Broccoli Soup is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

The first time I had a macaron was in Paris, and I liked them so much I brought a box home to New York. Fast-forward to three years later and you can buy macarons as easily here as you could in Paris! We’re not talking about Passover macaroons here, which are gross when they come in a box, but I recently discovered are good if they’re homemade. These French macarons are popping up everywhere, but they’re expensive little cookies, some costing around $3 each. So I decided to make them myself.

It took me a few tries to get the hang of these; actually, my first two attempts were total failures, but don’t let that stop you from trying! They may be a little fussy, but they’re really not that hard. First, go out and get yourself a kitchen scale. Okay, are you back? Do you have batteries? Good, now we can begin.

I made the mistake of buying almond meal from Trader Joe’s. You see, it was cheap, and I was excited about that, but it wasn’t meant for macaron-baking. It wasn’t finely ground enough, and there were little flecks of almond skin in it, which wasn’t pretty. I did successfully use it eventually, but it wasn’t a good ingredient for a beginner. So splurge on the expensive stuff. You can keep it in the freezer, and one bag lasts quite a while.

There are plenty of resources online about macarons that helped me with my experiments. I made vanilla ones with chocolate, peanut butter, and homemade jam fillings. And then I finally got the hang of it and decided to make chocolate ones. The results were very rewarding, especially after my first failed attempts, and a great contrast of textures and flavors!

French Chocolate Macarons from David Lebovitz

Ingredients:

For the Batter:

• 1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
• ½ cup powdered almonds (about 2 ounces, 50 gr, sliced almonds, pulverized)
• 3 tablespoons (25 gr) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar

For the filling:

• 4 oz. pareve chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º F (180º C).
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready.
3. Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps; use a blender or food processor since almond meal that you buy isn’t quite fine enough.
4. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.
5. Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you’re alone).
6. Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.
7. Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then bake them for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.
8. Make the filling by melting the chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave.
9. Spread a bit of batter on the inside of the macarons then sandwich them together. (You can pipe the filling too.)
10. Let them stand at least one day before serving, to meld the flavors.
11. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze. If you freeze them, defrost them in the unopened container, to avoid condensation which will make the macarons soggy.

Chocolate French Macarons is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

The best part about eating Indian is the colorful variety. I already made a vivid green palak paneer, so  I needed a contrasting side dish: This is an easy solution, and the yogurt has a cooling affect against the peppery spinach dish.

I cheat and use the pre-cooked beets, but they’re really great for when you want to save an hour and/or don’t want to stain your hands red.

Beet Raita from How to Cook Indian

Ingredients:

• 2 beets (I use the pre-peeled and cooked ones from Fairway)
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon red chile powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Dice the beets and set them aside.
2. Put the yogurt in a large bowl and beat until smooth (you can use an immersion blender or just a fork).
3. Add the beets to the yogurt, then add the cumin, chile powder and salt. Stir well and let chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Directions:

Beet Raita is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

My favorite kind of tea is Earl Grey. I probably drink it too much. But don’t worry, I switch between brands so I don’t get sick of it. My favorite? Revolution Earl Grey with Lavender (in a box with a silk bag!). So this “grown up cookie” has been on my list of things to bake for a very long time. Ever notice how that list always gets longer, even during my week off? I need to stop looking at new cookbooks, reading blogs, and watching cooking shows until my entire “to bake/cook” list is checked off. Yeah, sure. Anyway, this is the perfect cookie to bake for a tea/coffee get together with friends, and the perfect end to a meal. Why? Because it’s easy to make. All you need is a food processor and some pantry staples. And some loose earl grey tea (only about a tablespoon). And I have plenty of that in my house (decaf, too!).And of course I make these amazing cookies for a small dinner party, serve them on a pretty long plate, and we finish them, and all along I forget to take pictures! Well, I’ll just have to make them again. I am fully stocked with tea.

These cookies can be made pareve very easily. Just use Earth Balance instead of butter. Of course, you lose that buttery taste, but I really don’t think you’ll miss it. The tea flavor is so strong, anyway. And Earth Balance does a good job with the flaky texture. Added bonus: they’re vegan, too! No eggs in shortbread!

I think I cut these cookies a little too thick. I was a little nervous that they would crack if I cut them thinner, though now I realize that they won’t (or if they do I can just smush them back together). So show me how thinly you cut yours (or, if you roll yours out and use cookie cutters, how’d that work out for you?)

When you first dump the dough onto the counter, don’t panic! Yeah, it looks dry and like it will never come together. All you have to do it smash it together and it really sticks – wow! It’s as easy as adding ingredients to the processor, dumping, piling together, and then refrigerating in a log (that’s probably the hardest part). Another bonus: you can freeze the dough in log form for super easy last minute dessert cookies. Or maybe not everyone’s as obsessed with stocking their freezers as I am?

Chocolate-Earl Grey Shortbread Coins, adapted from The Art and Soul of Baking:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon (1/4 ounce) good quality Earl Grey tea leaves
• 1 stick cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces) all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) cocoa powder
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Place the sugar and tea leaves in the bowl of your food processor and process for a minute, until the leaves are finely chopped.

2. Add butter, flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Process for about 45 seconds, until everything is together. Break down clumps and scrape the bowl with a spatula.

3. Process for another 30 seconds until the dough looks uniform.

4. Dump the dough onto a work surface and knead to bring together.

5. Squeeze the dough into a log about 12 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, and roll back and forth until smooth. Don’t add flour!

6. Roll the dough in plastic wrap and twist the ends to secure it.

7. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

8. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees

9. Remove the plastic wrap and use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 3/8-inch thick rounds.

10. Place cookies 1-inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

11. Bake the cookies for 30 minutes, rotating halfway, until the cookies look dry on top.

12. Transfer the cookies to a rack to let cool completely.

These cookies are really good with some buttercream spread on top. Just saying.

Chocolate Earl Grey Shortbread Coins is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

I like to stock my freezer with different kinds of veggie burgers. Of course, you can buy these pre-made in the grocery store, but homemade things are just more fun! Not to mention better for you, tastier, and cheaper. But enough of that…you know all this already. This veggie burger (I know, we’ve shared many with you since the summer. One more can’t hurt, though) uses quinoa as the protein and has a much softer (read: mushier) texture than the rest. It’s great on a salad with some roasted or fresh veggies or a homemade hamburger bun with chummus.

Since all the ingredients are already cooked in this burger, you really only need to pan fry them to crisp them up and hold them together. I baked some of them to hold them together and really enjoyed both kinds. Baking was easier, though, so I recommend that method. Just stick them all in one pan instead of standing over the stove for a while. It’s also really easy to double this recipe for even more freezer awesomeness.

Quinoa Veggie Burgers, adapted from Chef at Home:

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces mushrooms, stems removed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 small zucchini, grated
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 leek
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cup quinoa, cooked according to package directions
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (I used seasoned)

Directions:

1. Chop the mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped. Set aside in a large bowl.

2. Shred the zucchini (I used my box grater) and place between towels or cheesecloth. Squeeze out the excess moisture. Add to the mushrooms.

3. In a large pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat. Add the leek and red pepper flakes and cook until the leek is softened, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the mushroom and zucchini mixture and cook another 5 minutes, until tende.

5. Remove the pan from the heat and add the quinoa, salt, and pepper. Let cool completely.

6. Stir in the egg and bread crumbs. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour, until the mixture is firm.

7. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

8. Shape the mixture into patties (I used a 1/2 cup measure) and cook in the oil until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Alternatively, bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes on each side.

Quinoa Veggie Burgers is a post from: The Kosher Foodies