Light cauliflower soup with chicken

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series Soup

This soup is light  and is a great comfort food. I like to have this warm soup for dinner after a very busy day.The best thing is that you can prepare all the necessary veggies when you have time (or buy the ready mix) and just enjoy the soup in 20-40 minutes. You can also prepare the chicken broth a day (or an evening before). All in all it’s agreat comfort food for the whole family.

 

Serves: 4 people

Preparation time 20-30 minutes

Cooking time 20 minutes

Ready in 40-50 minutes

For the soup you will need:

Veggies:

1 finely chopped onion

1/2 big shredded carrot (or you can just slice it width-wise)

1 medium bell pepper (yellow or orange)

4-5 medium potatoes cut in cubes

1/2 of large cauliflower (flowers cut separately into a mid-sized chunks)

Poultry (not  a must , but I cooked it  as a non vegan soup. You can easily eliminate all animal based food if you’d like to).

2 chicken thighs ( skinless)

Herbs:

1/4 cup of dill

1/4 cup of chives

Salt

Pepper

Preparation:

Wash the chicken thighs,take off the skin and cut off the fat.

Set to boil in a 3-4 quart saucepan, add the salt and pepper (I add about 1-2 tablespoons of salt and 1/2 of black pepper).Boil for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the veggies: Peel the potatoes, onion and carrot,  wash carrot, potatoes, bell pepper and onion.

After the 20 minutes are up and you see that the chicken thighs are cooked, take them out of the saucepan and let them cool down on a plane. (So that you could cut then in cubes as well)

Cut the potatoes in cubes (mid-sized) and add to the saucepan. Shred the carrot and chop the pepper and onion.  Put everything  in the saucepan. At this time, turn the gas down to medium-low and continue simmering your soup.

Take the cauliflower, cut the flowers of , wash them and them cut the flowers in quarters or halves (depending on their size).  Set the cauliflower aside, you will throw them in 10 minutes before turning the gas off).

Now work with your cooked chiken- just cut off some meat from the chicken thighs, so that they wouldn’t be so huge and  impossible to serve in a plate.

After cooking the veggies for another 20 minutes, add the cauliflower and the chicken into the saucepan; wash and chop the hers.

Stir everything well , taste for salt and spices.

The soup will be ready in 10 minutes after you have added the cauluflower.

Serve warm!

Catfish stuffed with crabmeat, cream cheese and Italian peppers.

This recipe is very delicious and is the invention to make an alternative to turkey or chicken for the holidays. Simple and fast to prepare, festive and  colorful , but mainly this dish is healthy and will vanish very fast from the plates.

For the recipe you can use whole catfish and catfish fillets. You can use any other fish like tilapia or flounder steaks, whole carp etc. This recipe is very low on cholesterol.

1 Catfish (4 lb.) cleaned, or catfish fillets (8)

½ pack of cream cheese

¼ of Italian pepper

¼ stick of sweet unsalted butter melted

½ onion chopped

1 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. black pepper

1 cup of crab meat (imitated or real crab meat)

½ cup of shrimps (optional)

3 tsp. salt

1 lemon

 

Step 1. Clean the catfish (if you are using whole fish). Wash in hot water and rub very well under the hot water to clean the skin better. (Or skin the fish, if you prefer)

Step 2. Prepare the stuffing:  finely chop the pepper and onion, add the cream cheese and mix very well. Cook the crab meat by boiling it in salt water for 3 minutes.  Cool the crab meat and shrimps, then drain and chop it. Add crab meat and shrimps to the rest of the stuffing, season and mix very well.

Step 3. Stuff the cleaned and seasoned fish. (Season the fish by rubbing into the skin 1 tsp. of cumin,1 tsp. pepper and 2 tsp. of salt). Sew the fish up and put on a greased baking dish.

Step 4.  Preheat the stove at 350F. Bake the fish for 25 min, pouring the melted butter on it after 10 min of baking and squeezing in half of the lemon onto it 20 minutes after the baking was started.

If you are using fish fillets just put the stuffing between the fillets and bake the fillets for 20 minutes pouring the melted butter and lemon juice 10 and 15 minutes after the baking started accordingly.

After the fish is ready let it sit in an oven fir the next 5 minutes. Put on a large plate, and take the threads before serving.

Top 5 holiday vegan dishes. Pick yours!

This entry is part 6 of 7 in the series Holidays

Christmas is when you spend a lot of time with your family, give a lot of presents and cook  a lot of food. Even if you have a vegan or vegetarian family member or friend there’s virtually million of dishes you can treat them with. I chose my 5 favorite Christmas vegan dishes for the holiday table.I y will have them on mine. If you have any other favorite dishes you want to share with me post the picture of the dish and recipe link below! Happy holidays!

Green beans with sesame seeds.

Simple, yet delicious, this dish is great for holiday table.Sesame seeds and olive oil give the dish rich taste and doesn’t matter if you are vegan or not, you will anyway enjoy it a lot!

Healthy and Easy Vegan beet salad with prunes.

Beets with prunes have sweet taste, if you add a little garlic the dish will be more  more salty and this contrast will be very appealing to your senses. In addition to this this dish possesses  many healthy benefits, so don’t leave it behind. Enjoy!

Read the recipe

 

Pickled eggplants with carrots, garlic and herbs

Goes well with mashed potatoes and with broccoli, with rice and beans. Great contrast dish, but takes time to prepare.

See the recipe

Delicious braised cabbage with raisins

Great as the main and side dish, sweet raisins and bell

pepper and salty cabbage go well together.

There won’t be too much of this dish it will vanish fast!

 

 

Read the recipe

Vegan spicy sautéed mushrooms in 10 minutes.

This is a very fast to cook dish chop mix and saute and you have a great dish in matter of minutes. It’s up to you to decide if you wanna make it spicy or not! I like it spice with saurkraut `and cranberries on the side. Read the recipe

Soup with meatballs, mushrooms,spaghetti and cheese.

This entry is part 4 of 5 in the series Soup

This is a great warm winter soup. It takes only 30 minutes to cook, but it vanishes even faster than it took you to cook

 

it.

Cooking time 30 minutes.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Serves 4 people.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:5]

 

Top 3 Fall Soups

This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series Soups

 These three soups are the best comfort meal for the lunch in fall: it enegrizes, keeps you warm and boosts your taste buds. You can add lots of flavors to these soups by experimenting with herbs: basil, dill, parsley and others.

 

Vegetarian Pea Soup 

Vegetarian pea soup is good those days when you want a rich-creamy soup without any meat component in it. It’s a comfort food perfect right for the days when it’s chilly and drizzly outside. This recipe has simple ingredients and doesn’t require to be a skillful chef to prepare it.

All in all perfect autumn soup for the family. Read more

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin crème-soup with shrimp, cream cheese and basil.

It’s autumn and it means that it’s time for a great pumpkin soup with shrimp that I just LOVE cooking.

It doesn’t require a lot of effort but it comes out perfectly smooth, bringing in the autumn flavors and colors into your kitchen.

I tasted this soup long time ago in Europe, brought it into my kitchen and my family just loves it. Hope, you will too. Read more

 Zucchini crème-soup

This is a very simple crème soup. It takes 40 minutes to cook and your family will enjoy this meal. It’s a great summer or fall soup for your to enjoy! Simple and flavorful! It takes little effort to cook and it’s a really light  dish. It gives you energy and makes you feel good. Read more

Vegan spicy red cabbage

This entry is part 7 of 7 in the series Delicious fried veggies

I hope you love the colors of this dish: it’s so autumn and bright! My family members call this dish “weird braised cabbage”:-)

To me the red cabbage tastes absolutely different, than the ordinary green one. It’s more flavorful, tender…. mmm, it’s more autumn!

 

For this recipe you will need:

1 lb of red cabbage (shredded)

1 onion

1/2  red bell pepper (or yellow one for the color)

1 chili pepper (small)

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 pinch of salt

Serves 4 people.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Shred the cabbage carefully, peel, wash and chop the onion, wash and chop the red bell pepper.

Chop the chili separately.(you will throw it in 3 minutes before serving).

Season the cabbage and squeeze it , so that it would be more juicy!

***Tip from Helen*** You can add 1/4 of shredded carrot if you would like to. I sometimes do.***

Start braising the cabbage with onions, then add peppers after 10 minutes of braising and 3 minutes before taking your cabbage off the stove throw in the chili.

*** Tip from Helen*** be careful with chili , wash carefully your hands and don’t touch your eyes when just worked with chili. Wash the knife and your cutting desk very well.

If you need during the cooking add some salt as well, I don’t as I don’t like too much salt in my food.

Vegan spicy sautéed mushrooms in 10 minutes.

This entry is part 6 of 7 in the series Delicious fried veggies

It is mushroom season, and I wrote a lot about (button) crimini mushrooms lately.

Button mushrooms have an excellent amount of selenium, zinc and manganese; all three are great antioxidant minerals. Also daily intake of crimini mushrooms for 1-2 months can reduce levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and TGs. And if you are not convinced yet then you gotta know that One cup of button mushrooms provides a good, very good, or excellent source of 18 different vitamins, minerals & antioxidant phytonutrients.

So this recipe should be fast and delicious for you, same as nutritional and helpful.

For this recipe you will need:

1 lb button mushrooms

1 small chili pepper

1 medium carrot

½ red bell pepper

½ white onion

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

1 pinch of salt

Wash the button mushrooms (clean them if you normally do it).

Peel the white onion, wash the red bell pepper and chili, take away the seeds out of both of them.

Finely chop the onion, red bell pepper and chili. Peel the carrot, wash and shred it.

Now: preheat the frying pan, add the cooking oil, throw in the mushrooms, season and braise at the medium heat for 5 minutes covered with lead.

Add the chili pepper and red bell pepper with onion and fry for additional 5 minutes at the medium heat without the lead.

Serve on a leave of romaine lettuce separately or with a brown rice.

Enjoy!

***Tip from Helen*** I normally add little or no salt to my dishes, so add additional salt according to your taste if you need to.***

 

Button Mushrooms stuffed with minced meat with lemon basil and grapes.

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Fast and simple dishes

This recipe is really amazing and fast to cook, considering the fact that button mushrooms contain 17 different vitamins, the benefits from this dish increase dramatically.

This dish has a long history in my house, it was cooked without cheese and grapes, but I decided to add the sweet twist to it. THe bitterness of cheese and buttin mushrooms combined with sweetness ofgrapes and lemon basil make the combination very rich and the taste pallette wider.

Recipe serves: 2  

Cooking time:20 minutes

Preparation time :10 minutes

For the recipe you will need:

8 big button mushrooms

1/2 lbs of minced pork meat

1/4 of white onion peeled and finely chopped

1 pinch of salt

1 pinch of black pepper

8 leaves of lemon basil

grapes

2 pieces of provolone sliced cheese.

Step 1: Take the button mushrooms stalks away. Clean the mushroom from the inside peel the skin (optional), wash carefully.

Step 2: Chop the onion, mix with minced pork and seson very well.

Step 3: Take the washedbutton mushroom caps, put them near you, form the meatball out of the meat, put the meatball inside the button mushtoom cap.

Step4: Repeat with all 8 mushroom caps, set on a baking dish and set to bake at 350F for 17 minutes.

****Helen’s cooking tip*** Don’t forget to add water into the baking dish (1/2 cup)***

Step 5: While the mushrooms are baking take the cheese slices cut them in quarters and set aside. Take the seedless grapes,  cut it in slices and set aside. Wash the lemon basil leaves.

Step 6: In 17 minutes take your button mushrooms out of the oven, sover with cheese and set to bake for 3 more minutes.

Step 7: In 3 minutes, take the mushrooms out and decorate with sliced grapes and lemon basil.

Serve warm.

Enjoy!

 [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:4]

 

Top 3 Tortilla Recipes: 10 minute healthy recipes.

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Fast and simple dishes

Tortilla is a unique ingredient: every dish you incorporate it in is simple, easy to cook , yet very delicious.

These 3 recipes are my favorites when I am on the run and the family needs to have a snack.

Fried tortillas with beef

It’s good to take with you if you decide to go camping or travel by car at the long distances.

You can also cook this dish with fruit, berries, I sometimes use bacon and cheese, whatever you want.

 

For this dish you will need

Meat ( in my case beef) for 4 tortillas I used ½ pound

1 small onion

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper Read full recipe 

Apple hot pockets:

Apple hot pockets are a great fall breakfast for a weekday. with Tortillas you can cook them in minutes in the evening and reheat in the morning.

For the recipe you will need:

4 medium apples;

4 tortillas;

2 tablespoons of sugar;

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil Read more 

 Burrito with sausage, cheese, tomato and basil.

Burritos should be spicy and meaty, but as my family loves burritos and doesn’t loce them too spicy I decided to invent mine.

(Honetly there’s nothing to invent) Just throw in together the delicious vinnagraitte of saucage, tomato, cheese and onion with herbs. Read more

Healthy Fall Dessert: Baked apples with walnuts, honey and cinnamon.

This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series Dessert

This recipe is as easy as it can only get. I think the hardest part is to take the apples’ seeds out, so that the apples would be intact. :-)

I am cooking these apples since the time I remember myself cooking. My Daddy cooks these apples in red wine, but, let’s not get too crazy here. I’m on a quest for a healthy, kid-friendly dessert. :-)

You will need:

9 apples (you can take more, you can take less. 9 apples are good for 3 people)

1 cup of walnuts

1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon powder

2-3 tablespoons of honey (depends on how you like them: too sweet or not so sweet)

¼ stick of butter.

I don’t use sugar, caramel or anything unnatural in this dessert. It’s sweet, delicious healthy. Your family members will LOVE this desert because combination of the ingredients is amazingly delicious.

You will like this dessert, because it is healthy and doesn’t involve sugar.

Step 1: Wash and take the seeds out of the apple as shown in the picture.

Step 2: Crush the walnuts, add some honey, cinnamon, melted butter and honey. Mix very well.

Step 3: Preheat the oven at 350F. Put the stuffing (walnuts with honey, cinnamon and butter) inside the apples, place in a deep baking dish, add some water.

Step 4: Bake for 25-30 minutes and serve warm.

Enjoy!

***Tip from Helen*** I prefer mid-sized red apples for this dish, but green will also be fine. Just they shouldn’t be too firm. Yellow apples won’t taste as good, because they will be too sweet and soft ***