Recipe Box, Roasted Cauliflower Soup, Baked Potato Chips & Grilled Romaine Salad
It’s almost the end of September and I realized that I hadn’t made many recipes from the “Paint Bucket,” my monthly bucket list of recipes [see Aug 31, 2012] Since I was at the beach for the first 2 weeks of September I didn’t do much experimenting in the kitchen so a lot of my bucket list recipes are piled onto the month’s end here. When I did my weekly menu plan on Sunday I had NO ideas for the upcoming week and didn’t really care…I was tired from cleaning out the basement all weekend and wasn’t feeling too energetic…then I remembered my bucket list! OF COURSE! That’s what it’s for, INSTANT INSPIRATION and a list of recipes that have already been narrowed down and categorized. In no time at all I had the week planned out and my grocery shopping list was complete.
Last night I made Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Aged White Cheddar, Baked Potato Chips, and Grilled Romaine Salad with Orange and Bleu Cheese…sound complicated? It wasn’t, these are all easy peasy recipes, and it was a delicious, comfort filled autumn supper!
Cut off stem of cauliflower and separate it into flowerettesSlice flowerettes and put on a foil lined baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray
Drizzle with Olive oil and season with salt, pepper and a little garlic powder
Toss cauliflower around to coat evenly with the oil and seasonings. Spread out and roast at 400 for 20-30 minutes until edges are brown.
While cauliflower is roasting start the soup base
Saute the onion in a little oil until transparent, about 5 minutes, add the broth and seasonings.Add the roasted cauliflower and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat and let soup simmer for 20 minutes.
If you have an immersible blender you can proceed to the next step. I don’t so I am letting the soup cool before pureeing in the blender. Have you ever tried to puree hot soup in a blender? Well, you will only do it ONCE! Apparently hot liquids don’t like blenders and they escape…making a major MESS. So now I let my soup cool.
Return the pureed soup to the sauce pan and add the cheese.
I used Vermont White Cheddar. I love the tangy saltiness of white cheddar.
Cover the pan and let the cheese melt into the puree. When you are ready to serve, increase the heat to medium and finish melting the cheese and add the milk.
Heat over medium, stirring constantly until soup is nice and hot.
This recipe was on my bucket list as ROASTED CAULIFLOWER SOUP w/AGED CHEDDAR
.this recipe is from closetcooking.com
CAULIFLOWER SOUP with WHITE CHEDDAR
Ingredients
- 1 small head cauliflower cut into florets
- 2 tablespoons oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tablespoon thyme chopped
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 1/2 cups Vermont white cheddar shredded
- 1 cup milk or cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- cooked bacon, crumbled optional garnish
Instructions
- Toss the cauliflower florets in the oil along with the salt and pepper and arrange them in a single layer on a large baking sheet.
- Roast the cauliflower in a preheated 400F oven until lightly golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat.
- Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic and thyme and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the broth and cauliflower, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
- Puree the soup until it reaches your desired consistency with a stick blender.
- Mix in the cheese, let it melt and season with salt and pepper.
- Mix in the milk and heat, stirring until soup is hot and cheese has melted.
- Serve soup garnished with bacon if desired
This is delicious and EASY! I found this soup on Pinterest and encourage you to check out closetcooking.com, he has some mouth-watering recipes!
Okay, now for the potatoes…
This is basically just slice, oil and roast…something you probably have already tried…but it’s so simple and so delicious and a great CHANGE from serving the predictable slice of bread with soup and salad.
Slice potatoes to desired thickness, I sliced mine about 1/4″. If you want to slice them really thin, like potato chips, just reduce cooking time.
Cook slices for 15 minutes, then flip over and return to oven for 10-15 more minutes until desired doneness. This is all going to depend on how thick your slices are so keep an eye on them.
Yum!
This was on my bucket list as BAKED POTATO CHIPS
Here’s the recipe from various pins on Pinterest
BAKED POTATO CHIPS
Ingredients
- 1 large baking potato per 2 people
- Olive oil S & P
Instructions
- Slice potato and put on a foil lined baking sheet.
- Season and drizzle with Olive oil.
- Toss slices around to coat with oil and seasoning and then arrange in a single layer
- Roast at 400 for 15 minutes [adjust according to thickness] and then flip slices and return to oven for another 10-15 minutes.
- Also good sprinkled with Parmesan cheese during the final 5 minutes of baking.
GRILLED ROMAINE SALAD with ORANGE & BLEU CHEESE
Start with some washed crispy Romaine lettuce leaves
Slice a navel orange into halves and then cut peel from end to middle and gently remove the peel from the orange segments.
Chop orange segements
Chop 1/2-1 shallot, depending on your taste and the size of the shallot
Then slice the ham and dice the bleu cheese and the ingredients are ready for cooking and salad assembly.
Heat a grill pan to medium high heat, add shallot and place ham pieces on the edge of pan. Saute the shallot 1-2 minutes.
now lay the lettuce leaves into pan and coat with oil and shallot and turn over.
Toss the bleu cheese and orange segments on top of the Romaine and let sit just long enough for the cheese to start melting.
Plate the salad immediately, using a spatula to remove lettuce from pan and keeping toppings in place. Distribute warmed ham on top of salad and drizzle with some orange juice squeezed from reserved peel. Season with S & P.
Here’s the recipe:
This was on my bucket list as ORANGE & BLEU GRILLED ROMAINE SALAD
GRILLED ROMAINE SALAD with ORANGE & BLEU CHEESE
Ingredients
- 10 romaine leaves washed and crisped
- 1 T olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese*
- 1 navel orange, peeled
- 1 shallot
- 2 slices Deli Ham [I used Boar's Head Honey Maple Glazed Ham] or prosciutto
- 2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
Instructions
- Drizzle the pan with Olive oil and put the ham over to the side to warm while preparing the lettuce.
- Add the shallot and cook 1-2 minutes.
- Lay leaves on hot pan and turn to coat in the shallot and oil. Top with bleu cheese and orange and cook just until cheese begins to melt.
- Remove to plates and top with ham. Drizzle with orange juice and season with S & P. Serves 2
Notes
Enjoy!
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