Carrot-Ginger Soup

I first had this soup at an Italian grocery and sandwich shop in Pike's Place. I had no idea the flavors of carrot and ginger could work so well together, so, of course, I had to duplicate it at home. For making a smoothly blended soup, an immersion blender is essential. Although, if you do not have one, the soup may be blended in a blender after it has cooled (if you put the hot soup in a blender, the gases inside will force the top of the blender off and the hot soup splatter will hurt you!)

Vegetarian Chili

Sometimes you just don't want to eat meat or the fat that comes along with it. This chili is great just topped with fat-free yogurt (or fat-free sour cream) and mozzarella cheese or, for a more decadent comfort-food-dish, top a baked potato with this chili. Yum.

However, if you'd like to add some meat to this, brown 1 pound lean ground turkey. Add one tablespoon, or so, Worcestershire sauce to the meat. Add this meat to the chili after the addition of the water. If adding the meat, you can take out the mushrooms and bulgur, if you like.

Salmon Burgers with Farro Tabbouleh

Ok, so this isn't really a recipe, more of a meal plan, however, I discovered this combination was amazing for dinner last night. Plus, we got a new grill and I just had to try it out! Just so you know, Costco carries some really tasty frozen salmon burgers.

Roasted Chicken and Root Vegetables

This weekend was the beginning of Farmer's Market season and we stocked up. I took the opportunity to try a few root vegetables I hadn't tried before. In the freezer I had a whole chicken I'd bought quite a while ago and it needed to be cooked. So, in a dutch oven I made a bed of chopped root vegetables for the chicken to cook on. The sweet and spicy, yet savory smell of this cooking is truly mouthwatering and not to be missed. For our dinner, I served some roasted asparagus on the side.

Sunchokes (or Jerusalem artichokes), if you have never tried them, are the tuber of a variety of sunflower. The taste is rather like a nutty artichoke and the texture is that of a water chestnut. When boiled, they become mushy like a potato.

Parsnips are pale root vegetables related to carrots. They have a sweet and spicy flavor—perhaps butterscotch-y flavor.

Mustard Marinated Chicken Breast

This is a simple, adaptable recipe that can easily be modified to have different flavor profiles by simply changing the vinegar, mustard, and herb components. If you are making this recipe as is, I highly recommend making the pepper/mushroom topping. 

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Recently, I had a wisdom tooth pulled. The perfect solution to not being able to chew was a creamy, filling soup. So, I developed this delicious and unique cream of broccoli.

Chicken with Lemon and Lemon-Rice Pilaf

This recipe is impressive yet quite easy with the oven doing most of the work. The savory, buttery sauce is a delicious complement to the pilaf. The pilaf recipe was adapted from a recipe from Central Market.