Saturday, September 19, 2015

Kitchen Fun!

Corn Chowder
I found another way to use silken tofu where you don't notice its texture! This is in creamy soups and chowders (used in place of dairy).
This soup is easy and absolutely delicious. I can't believe there is no dairy in it! 

The ingredients are as follows:
3.5 cups of vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (or to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
2 medium potatoes (chopped into 1 inch cubes)
3 cups of frozen (thawed) or fresh corn
package of 12.3 ounce silken tofu (the Mori-Nu brand is just the right size) pureed until smooth in a food processor or blender

First boil the broth with all the spices in it. Add potatoes, cover and cook on high until tender. Then turn down to low. Add tofu and corn. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes. Then enjoy. It taste amazing as a leftover too!

I will definitely be playing around with silken tofu in soups this coming winter!

A Delicious Stack
We had a bunch of extra red bell peppers that I was worried about going bad so I roasted them. They are perfect in this lunch of a simple stack with the pepper, tomato and mozzarella cheese. Topped off with a balsamic vinaigrette and dried basil. Yes, it completely fell apart when I ate it!

Freezing Fresh Carrots
I have frozen fresh carrots in the past, but never properly. So internet searching I went to learn how to help these orange guys maintain their flavor.

These were baby carrots that I chopped up. Then put them in boiling water for 2 minutes. Then added the carrots to ice water for an additional 2 minutes. 

This blanching process takes care of natural enzymes and bacteria that can cause the carrots to lose flavor, color and nutritional value. So now I have 2 batches in freezer bags ready to be added to soups in the near future!

Thank you for stopping by! ~Val



19 comments:

  1. Yummy recipes! Thanks for the carrots freezing tip!

    ReplyDelete
  2. in my world, the words kitchen and fun are rarely said together. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yum! all kinds of things going on in your kitchen! we must be on the same wave length as I made a large batch of corn chowder today as well!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love corn chowder....but I just open a can. lol
    Debbi

    ReplyDelete
  5. Silken Tofu is amazing - I'm lucky if I can get it, though! That mozzarella stack looks so yummy :) I've never put carrots in the freezer before, great advice!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Val, that chowder looks so delicious! Hard to believe there's no dairy in it. It looks so creamy.
    Thanks for sharing this here.
    You have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  7. The corn chowder sounds good. I will try that! Never thought of pureeing tofu though. Would it work with pieces in the soup?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yum...the chowder looks so good. I love that there is no dairy and it's a creamy soup that's actually healthy! I wonder if I could sneak this by the boyfriend :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. The red bell pepper and the mozzarella cheese looks delish nom nom! regarding my post yes it's crazy weather for reals :/

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, looks delicious! I will try it even if, it will be kind of hard to find tofu here in my city. Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I want to try that roasted bell pepper recipe! Thanks Val :D
    http://www.averysweetblog.com/

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow delicious!!!
    Have a nice day, dear Val!!!:)))

    Besos, desde EspaƱa, Marcela♥

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hola de nuevo ...te acabo de leer en el blog te sigo por gfc 436 te espero de vuelta en el mio.
    Besos!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hola de nuevo ...te acabo de leer en el blog te sigo por gfc 436 te espero de vuelta en el mio.
    Besos!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Val, I miss your food! LOL! Writing down everything you have shared ;o)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by! I love reading visitor comments! ~Val