Roasted Vegetable Soup

I've been eating this soup for lunch these days and I love it.  I'll usually make a grilled cheese for me and Stella to share and a bowl of this soup on the side (Stella won't eat the soup, just the grilled cheese).  It tastes warm, comforting and delicious!




Roasted Vegetable Soup

Butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes (2 cups)

Carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (1 cup)

Parsnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (1 cup)

Celery, cut into 1-inch pieces (1 cup)

Celery root, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (1 cup)

2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme

Olive oil

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 1/2 cups whole milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place the cut vegetables on a baking sheet in a single layer.  Add the sprigs of thyme to the vegetables.  Drizzle the vegetables and thyme with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Toss well.  Bake for 25-35 minutes or until vegetables are tender, turning once with a metal spatula.  Once the vegetables are done cooking, discard thyme sprigs.

In a blender combine vegetable broth, milk and roasted vegetables.  Blend until smooth.  Add additional vegetable broth, milk or water to reach desired consistency.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Pour soup into a soup pot and heat through.  Serve with grilled cheese on wheat (or any good crusty bread) for dipping.

Banana Oat Pancakes

This morning Stella and I had pancakes after the boys left for school.  We sat at the counter with a homemade snow globe between us.  I would shake the snow globe in between bites of pancakes and we would watch the silver snow float around the tree and finely settle on the bottom and then I would shake it again.  Lazy mornings with Stella, banana oat pancakes and snow globes are things to be grateful for.

Banana Oat Pancakes

3 small bananas, mashed

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or honey

2 eggs, room temperature

1 cup oat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

In a small bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, coconut oil, lemon juice and maple syrup.  Beat in the eggs.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, salt and spices.  Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients.  With a wooden spoon, stir until the dry ingredients are just moistened.  Let the batter sit for 10 minutes (I forgot to do this).

Heat a heavy cast iron skillet or nonstick griddle over medium-low heat.  Lightly oil surface of pan or griddle with cooking spray.  Once the surface is hot, pour batter (about 1/4 cup) onto the pan.  Let pancakes cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until bubbles begin to form around the edges of the pancake.

  

When the pancake is just beginning to set, flip it with a spatula and cook for an additional 90 seconds or until golden brown.  Serve pancakes immediately with sliced bananas, toasted unsweetened coconut and a little maple syrup.

*To make oat flour out of old-fashioned oats, pour one cup into a food processor and process until it is ground into flour.

 

Recipe slightly adapted from cookiesandkate.com

Granola-Crusted Nuts

Thank you Smitten Kitchen (I think)!  These granola crusted nuts are sooo good and sooo addicting!  I am eating them by the handfuls (and so is the rest of my little family).  I have thrown portion control (let's be truthful, I'm not that great at portion control to begin with) out the window and I may end up eating the entire pan!

Granola Crusted Nuts

3/4 cup old-fashion rolled oats

1/4 cup shredded or flaked unsweetened coconut

2 tablespoons pepitas, or another nut or seed of your choice

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 large egg white

1 tablespoon water

2 cups walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a food processor, pulse oats, coconut, pepitas, sugar, cinnamon and salt in short burst until the mixture is very well chopped but not powdery.  In a large bowl beat egg white and water until frothy.  Add nuts to bowl and coat them very well, using a few more stirs than will seem necessary because if the egg doesn’t get into the craters of the nuts, no granola will stick there.  Pour oat mixture into bowl and very gently fold it together with nuts, so that it just barely sticks.  (Just a few folds will do, too much stirring and the granola coating will fall off the nuts.)  Spread nuts and granola on a baking sheet in a single layer.  Sprinkle any granola mix leftover in the bowl over the nuts.  

Bake for 20-25 minutes (I kept mine in closer to 25 minutes), moving nuts around just once in the baking time.  Transfer pan to cooling rack and let nuts cool completely there.  Once cool, break up any nut clusters and place mixture in container or eat.

Recipe slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen