Broccoli and Stilton Soup

It's been a good educational week of learning, hence a little late blogging this evening but I really wanted to share what we ate earlier today: Broccoli and Stilton Soup.

The reason why I wanted to share it, just made me chuckle.  The recipe comes from New Covent Garden Soup for Every Day and this Broccoli and Stilton was the recipe they actually suggested to make on the 28th February and what is the date today?!  See why i am chuckling to myself.  It was really accidental and not planned. 

D keeps bringing home broccoli from the supermarket and then it sits there taunting me, what to do with it.  Often its just steamed and served as a side dish. But i want to be bit more creative with my vegetables, but its not one of favourite greens. In fact i am not that keen on it.  I only ever prefer the stalks and the bushy green heads ends up on D's plate.  But something had to be done with this head of broccoli just staring at me - so soup it was.

The soup was rich and quite creamy naturally from the addition of the potatoes, so i omitted the cream from the original recipe in the cookbook. I have decided that I actually like broccoli in soup. 

I am sharing this Broccoli and Stilton Soup with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Broccoli and Red Pepper Tart

Quiches and Tarts are so popular in my home at the moment.

I make the pastry from scratch and then the filling is made up of whatever vegetable we have laying around in the kitchen that has to be used up; and saved from the compost bin.

This time round, it was Red Pepper, Broccoli with stalks and all.   It was actually quite nice and quite pretty to boot with its red, green and dare i say yellow gold colouring.  The sweetness from the red pepper complimented the broccoli. I served it alongside some left over orzo pasta that in a funny way, it felt more like a buffet dish.  The recipe is adapted from here if your interested in checking it out. 

I am looking forward to my weekend.  I've signed up to two different classes this weekend, both educational for personal development and interest.  It won't feel like a weekend off, as the weekend will entail lots of screen time, reading and listening.  I was thinking about taking Monday off as annual leave, but i have a one to one with my Line Manager that i cannot cancel. So it will be a long working week.  

Anyway, what plans do you have for the weekend? 

Yellow Pea Soup with Red Pepper and Tofu Croutons

Too much turmeric in a dish can be overpowering and that is what happened with this Yellow Pea Soup .  It was edible though, albeit not the flavour i was quite expecting.  

To tone down the turmeric yellow flavour and colour, i first added in some minced red pepper for sweetness and for a change,. I also  made tofu croutons that were fried in a little olive oil and fried until golden on sides to add a bit of body.  It was okay but nothing to get excited about.

However, on the following day, when i decided to through some chopped spinach from the garden and honestly, it made such a difference to the whole soup.  I think it made it even better I think, but no photographs and I regret it. Still, I am not going to share the recipe as it's not one I'd recommend highly. Even though it was not such a good soup, i will still share it with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen only because i like participating and admiring other contributors contributions. 

The soup is all gone, so next few days we will be tucking on another homemade Cheese and Onion quiche - just like school days .  

Here it is, still to have its pastry sides trimmed down, so don't go judging for poor presentation. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, i am going to perch myself on the sofa now having finished cooking for the day and watch some nonsense.   

Some Homemade Eats from My Kitchen

Once again there is not much new in my kitchen.  But I very much do love participating with In My Kitchen that Sherry's Pickings hosts, so I thought, I'd share some home made eats over the past few days and weeks; and I just made it in the nick of time as the linky closes in exactly five minutes.

Starting with this one bookmarked from Nigel Slater from The Guardian. 

Savoury Sweet Potato Cakes with Kimchi. 

Homemade Pie adapted from the Post Punk Kitchen vegan chefs Isa Chandra Moscowitz and Terry Hope Romero in their publication Vegan Pie In The Sky. 

This Pie was made with a mixture of tinned and fruit namely apricots and peaches, the original recipe is made with Rhubarb and Strawberries. 

Next we have a Vegetable Tagine of sorts made up with vegetables lurking at the bottom of the fridge or in the vegetable basket. 

Yes, a lot of orange - warming coloured food making an appearance here.  I guess, it makes sense as we are in the middle of winter in the UK and it is snowing as I type.  

Next we have  Butternut Squash and Chickpeas Curry. It is what it is. 

I had some left over butternut squash that I roasted and tossed into some couscous making this rather simple Salad. It was perked up a little Sriracha and baby spinach from the garden for colour.

Whilst, I am here, I will share this Sriracha Butternut Couscous Salad with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Another Sweet Potato dish.  This one is Peanut Butter and Sweet Potato Curry.  Its one that makes a regular appearance on my blog as i have made it numerous times.  This one is missing the tinned Kidney Beans, that I often stir through when reheating.  This one also has perpetual spinach from the garden. 

We also have this Kidney Bean 'Chorizo' Dip, that is also making a second appearance in our home. The recipe comes from The Savvy Cook. 

Its so easy and so good, as long as you have a blender. 

Moving on from Orange food, here are a couple of Yellow dishes in an attempt to evoke some warmth and sunshine. 

Turmeric Cauliflower served with a tomato salsa of sorts. I must admit, it wasn't one of my favourites.  It was quite bitter.  There was quite a bit left over, so I decided to make use the leftover Turmeric Cauliflower in this very yellow Quiche doused with black onion seeds, known as Nigella seeds.

The Turmeric Cauliflower Quiche served us well for working lunch. 

And finally this vegan Rosemary Banana Bread bookmarked from Post Punk Kitchen. It took ages to bake, hence why it is a little on the burnished side.  

Okay, I am off to have a lazy weekend, which may mean sitting on the sofa under my blanket watching TV and reading. But one thing for certain, I am turning off the computer screen. Have a good weekend. 

Laziest Pasta Salad

I think this may really be one of the laziest pasta salad dishes I have ever made for work lunch at home.

The spinach pasta packet was lurking in the back of one of the kitchen cupboards, pushed back as it not the most vibrant of colours. But it could no longer be ignored. Some of you may remember me sharing the Spinach Farfalle pasta in one of my In My Kitchen blog posts. It was the only pasta left on the supermarket shelves last year when everyone was panic shopping.

The red peppers, artichokes and black olives all came out of a jar and chopped down and stirred into the cooked pasta. Then doused in even quantities with extra virgin olive oil and white wine vinegar and seasoned to taste.  Lunch was served.  Then it was back to day job, which is staring at the computer at words, then faces on Teams calls, more staring at the computer screen and honing in on words spoken amidst poor connectivity. Sometimes, its good to close down the computer screen. But then its onto turning on the TV screen; and if its not the TV screen its opening and turning pages of a book, which also means more words.  I am loving reading words, but my eyes are wary.  I think I need to visit the opticians, but presently with Coronovirus restrictions - that is on pause. 

So roll on the spring, so that I can start turning thoughts to the garden and sowing seeds. 

I am sharing this Lemon Orzo with Broccoli recipe with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen.