ROASTED CAULIFLOWER AND CURRIED COCONUT & LEEK SOUP

This recipe came into existence from a matter of praticality. I was roasting the cauliflower in the oven and prepping the other ingredients when I realised that I had no onions. I called my neighbour and she only had a quarter of one inside of her fridge. Home alone with two kids at witching hour, there was no way I was going to risk bundling everyone into the car to buy one onion. Inside of my fridge I spied two flat leek tops sticking out from the bottom drawer, they would do. I usually use vegetable stock, but today I used a beef stock just because it was found inside of my pantry during my search for an onion and I had dreams of making a bacon dust to top the soup, but I got impatient and just diced and fried the bacon and placed it on top of the soup in a heap.

CURRIED ROASTED CAULIFLOWER, COCONUT & LEEK SOUP

(Serves 4 - 5, prep 10 mins and cooking time 30 mins)

A dollop of coconut oil

A splash of olive oil

1 head of cauliflower

**1 can of coconut milk

1 litre stock

1 leek, sliced
***1 potato, diced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1 heaped tbs dried cumin

1 heaped tbs dried corriander

1 heaped tbs tumeric

large pinch of salt

pepper to taste

4 - 5 rashers of bacon

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees

2. Cut cauliflower into chunks and lay out onto a baking

 tray and drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt 

3.  Roast the cauliflower in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes, or until it is lightly browned. 

Remove from oven and rest on the bench

4. Heat coconut oil on a medium heat in a large pot, then add the sliced leek, diced potato and sliced garlic and stir around for about five minutes and then add the spices and coat the leek and garlic in the spices, keep doing this until the spices become fragrant, about 3 - 5 minutes

5. Toss the roasted cauliflower into the pot with the curried leek and garlic, 

add the stock and bring to the boil and then lower the heat to a gentle simmer, 

then add the can of coconut milk

6. Stir to combine, and then either blend with a handheld mixer or blender

7. Heat a small fry pan on a medium high heat, thinly dice the bacon and then add to the hot fry pan,

stiry fry until browned and crispy

8. Serve soup in generous bowls and top with handfuls of fried bacon.

**To make it a creamier soup, half the amount of stock and add an extra can of coconut milk and a half a cup of water.
*** A potato is used to thicken the soup, this can be replaced with 1/4 cup of any type of cooked bean 
or uncooked lentils or rice

 

This recipe was adapted from one of my favourites from when I used to be strictly vegan, just leave out the bacon and be sure to use a vegetable stock, or just plain water with a bit of extra salt if you are making this for your vegan friends.

 

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LEEK & KALE QUITATTA

 

Yum cha was cancelled today and it was raining and Vinnie had finally fallen asleep, so I decided to bake a quiche, well my version of a quiche (maybe it's formerly known as a fritatta?). I usually make this in a bigger baking dish, but today we had no eggs in the fridge and Matty had collected only three eggs from our chickens this morning. I really love this meal and it's a regular one in my home. Sometimes I add mushrooms or fetta cheese and sometimes I use lebanese bread as a quick and easy faux pastry bottom. Today I just divided the mixture into two ramekins and greedily topped them with cheese. Waiting for them to bake, I finally got to sink my eyeballs into Oak The Nordic Journal which had arrived at perfect timing. If you like magazines and you get the chance to buy it or read it somewhere, I strongly suggest that you do. It's a wonderful insight into Nordic lifestyle and culture - the subject matter and writing is very fresh and interesting and coupled with the beautiful simplistic, natural photography and the layout and design, it makes for a very straight forward but enigmatic magazine. I say that because I keep going back to it and I have probably picked it up about another three times since I received it this afternoon. Back to my Quitatta, when my little babies were ready I slid them out of the oven and they were pretty horrendous looking - the result of too much cheese and because I love cheese, I can never be frugal with it, so this always happens with any meal containing cheese. It wasn't as yummy as a steamed pork bun, but it was perfect for this rainy afternoon at home.

 KALE & LEEK QUITATTA

(approx. 10 mins prep, 25 minutes baking. serves 2)

3 eggs

splash of water

splash of milk

splash of soy sauce

two stalks of thinly sliced kale

two bulbs of thinly sliced leek

thinly sliced garlic

a dash of coconut oil

a few drizzles of olive oil

freshly cracked pepper

grated cheese 
salt and pepper

Step 1: preheat oven to 200 degrees

Step 2: lightly beat first four ingredients in a bowl

Step 3: put pan on medium heat and melt coconut oil, add kale, leek and garlic and sautee gently on a medium-low heat, add a few drizzles of olive oil if it looks too dry

Step 4: tip out the sauteed kale, leek and garlic from the pan and into the egg mixture and gently stir

Step 5: divide mixture into two small dishes or ramekins

Step 6: place into oven and set timer for ten minutes

Step 7: take them out of the oven and top with grated cheese and place back into the oven for 10 - 15 minutes, or until the cheese is golden and the quiche is firm to touch with the back of a spoon

Step 8: Season to your liking with salt and pepper.

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Images taken using Canon 5D Markiii//50mm 1.4

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HOW TO REST

1. Start with some baking. Today I made pastry-less quiche made using local leek, kale and eggs with a crumble of fetta cheese on top and a with splash of my secret ingredient - soy sauce, and I usually crack some pepper over the top prior to serving. 

2. Then you enjoy that hot cup of tea next to you and quiet literally inhale the almond crescent biscuits. I cheated and bought these from my local fruit store. They make them fresh!

3. Once you have gobbled your way through all of that, it's time to start thumbing through the stack of magazines underneath your dish.

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Images taken using Canon 5D Markiii//50mm 1.4

Please do not use my images without permission.