Back in the kitchen!

There is a good explanation for the lack of food and cooking related posts. I've been a bit of a slacker. It's not that I haven't been cooking, it's that I started doing a lot less of it. Needless to say my health has not been as top notch as a result- there is definitely a correlation!

So, let me share some of my latest endeavors at creating healthy, tasty, and body nourishing and cleansing food!

First, this image should be framed somewhere. Roasted garlic with thyme. I wish I could describe the smell of this in the oven. The house smelled amazing. There is something truly special and warming about the smell of garlic, olive oil, and herbs roasting away in the oven. And this was just for part of a soup recipe! I almost ate it straight out of the package!

The beautifully roasted garlic did not disappoint in the soup either. It was a roasted butternut squash and garlic soup topped off with cool salsa. The recipe called for homemade, but with tomatoes not being in season or looking very good at the markets I opted to throw in some store bought natural salsa. It worked, though I do believe it would have been a completely different experience with the homemade roasted salsa- there was so much depth of flavor to the soup, the store bought blandness detracted from it's magic a bit. Nonetheless, the amount of time it took to roast the squash and garlic was well worth it, and this soup will definitely be made again very soon.

As I was preparing for a very long work week at the time, I was super happy to be able to enjoy the butternut squash soup and the other soup I made, Potato and leek for many days. Hence the non-artistic Tupperware shots, too! Wanting to up the nutritional content of the potato and leek soup I added kale for some extra flavor and filling. The soup was great, though I accidentally put a bit too much onion in it. My husband liked all the onion though, so it was okay by him and I had him eat more of this soup than the squash soup as a result- everyone won!

Another great dish for leftovers is risotto. Sure the risotto loses a bit of it's creaminess after being reheated, but that doesn't mean it loses it's flavor! This particular risotto is one that has a strange effect on my brain, and I can't remember what it's called. Sensory recall? Anyway, the first time my mother ever made this risotto- chicken with green and red peppers- was the night the first Operation Desert Storm started. On top of that, it happened to be the day I sprained both of my wrists after an attempt at poking fun at some boys in my junior high class went awry. Oh, childhood. That aside, I always think of Desert Storm when I eat this risotto, can't be helped. The flavor is wonderful and a great beginner's risotto to make. My mother made it with the wrong kind of rice- long grain instead of arborrio- but I still remember loving it just the same. Now that I make it myself I am proud of the level of refinement I bring to the recipe, having stolen the cookbook from my mother who never really made risotto again after that night.

Last night, neither the hubs or I was hungry, but I cooked anyway. It was a good thing I made this recipe because it was so like and easy to digest. Baked herbed halibut (yum!) and a Warm German Potato salad recipe that I got out of Vegetarian Times magazine. It was a hit. The halibut was cooked to perfection and I was happy to have had it after not eating it for a while- I forgot how much I like it! The Potato salad was a great vegetarian twist on your traditional German potato salads that are laden with bacon and onions. I dare say it was quite refreshing with white balsamic vinegar, sauteed green onions and the addition of some blanched green beans on a bed of spinach. I can't wait to eat the leftovers!

And, did I mention how easy all of these recipes were to make? Who says being healthy is hard? Not this girl!