Monthly Archives: November 2014

Creamy Mint Pea Soup by Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa)

capture_26112014_133439This is a very simple, healthy, and delicious soup.  Ina sautes chopped onions and leaks, adds vegetable stock, frozen peas, and fresh mint. After she simmers the mixture, she carefully blends it to a smooth creamy consistency.  She adds chopped fresh chives as she she serves it.  Enjoy. Continue reading

Chili Roasted Broccoli with Garlic by Rachael Ray

capture_26112014_122957 Rachael shows a very quick and easy way to make a flavorful and healthy side dish.  She coats fresh broccoli with a mixture of spices and olive oil, adds some chopped garlic, and roasts it.  She points out, any leftovers from this delicious side dish can be used with pasta to make a great pasta salad.   Enjoy. Continue reading

Sweet and Sour Tofu Recipe by Manjula

capture_12112014_135446This is a stir fry dish with tofu, red bell pepper, and cabbage.  After the stir fry ingredients are cooked, Manjula adds her special sauce, covers the pot, and lets the mixture simmer.  Her special sauce is a simple combination of flavorful spices.  This dish is served with rice.  It is made with healthy ingredients and looks delicious.  Enjoy. Continue reading

Basic Herbs Masterclass with Georgie Socratous

capture_24112014_132653In this video tutorial, Georgia describes the differences between soft herbs and woody herbs, when and how to add herbs to dishes and what to do with the stalks.  She describes how to include different herbs with different ingredients, and, she shows how to dry herbs. Continue reading

How to use a Pestle and Mortar by Jamie Oliver

capture_16112014_131356 Jamie demonstrates the two basic techniques for using a pestle and mortar, bashing and muddling.  He demonstrates how to grind spices with both muddling and bashing.   He then creates a wonderful flavored oil by bashing fresh basil leaves and mixing them with olive oil.  Finally, he makes a marinade by bashing lemon peel, rosemary, garlic, and olive oil.  You can almost smell and taste his dressing, flavored oil, and marinade just by watching his video.  Learning how to use a pestle and mortar is definitely a skill worth developing. Continue reading

Cooking with Herbs by Jamie Oliver

capture_16112014_132020Jamie uses several different herbs, which are great for both flavor and health, to show how to harvest the herbs from their stems, and how to chop/cut them to release their flavors for use.  He provides tips such as – running herbs under warm water for about 7 seconds to loosen up their natural oils and increase their flavor.  Also, picking small leaves and placing them in a cup of water keeps them fresh and perky, ready to be used as a delicious and attractive garnish on your finished plate.  Try these simple techniques and take your cooking skills to a higher level. Continue reading

Vegetarian Salisbury Steaks Casserole Style by Margaret Meyer

capture_12112014_115712Margaret has been making this recipe for over 20 years.  Her family likes it, and when she takes it to pot luck dinners, it disappears quickly.  She makes hamburger type patties with a mixture of blended pecans, garlic, and onions, to which she adds extra firm tofu, nutritional yeast, Braggs Amino, onion powder, and rolled oats.  She grills her patties, places them in a casserole dish, covers them with store bought vegan gravy, and bakes them.  Easy to do.  Healthy and delicious.  Enjoy. Continue reading

Smothered Kale & Mushrooms by Rachael Ray

capture_11112014_144652Rachael demonstrates a dish with very healthy ingredients, mushrooms and kale.  She starts by simply sauteing sliced crimini mushrooms.  But, rather than leaving them open in a heated pan as in a typical sauteing process, she presses down on them with the lid of a sauce pan that fits into the saute pan.  She adds kale and presses down on it too.  She calls it smothering them.  She deglazes the pan with some Marsala wine. This simple process creates a healthy and delicious side dish.  Enjoy. Continue reading

Grilled Vegetable Focaccia Sandwich by Maithily Kale

capture_09112014_140647Maithily demonstrates how to make a delicious sandwich with grilled vegetables and crunchy focaccia bread.  The main ingredients are bell peppers, eggplant and zucchini which she marinades with olive oil and spices.  She assembles the grilled vegetables with grated cheese on focaccia bread, and toasts it in a panini grill.  This is a great sandwich for lunch or cut in smaller sections as an appetizer.  For those who wish to make it a vegan sandwich, simply use non dairy cheese.  Enjoy. Continue reading

Creamy Potato Curry Soup by Kylie Bennett

capture_06112014_134645Kylie’s soup contains russet potatoes, onions, coconut oil, ginger, garlic, curry powder, vegetable broth, and cashew cream.  Her video clearly shows the simple steps to make this soup.  Interestingly, instead of using olive oil for sauteing her onions, etc., she uses coconut oil, which is supposed to be healthier than other plant oils when cooking with oil at high temperatures as in sauteing vegetables.  This is another easy to make healthy soup that could also be made ahead.  Enjoy. Continue reading