Wednesday Winners

This week I have really been trying to use my Bountiful Basket items in my cooking. I have chosen 3 recipes that Jer and I both really loved this week:

Main Dish:
Curried Cauliflower Soup

Curried Cauliflower Soup

adapted from Martha Stewart Every Day Food

Ingredients:

2 heads cauliflower, cut into florets (about 8 cups)
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt
1 tablespoon chopped butter
1 onion, sliced 1 inch thick (note, I prefer to remove as much onion before purreeing, so I like to slice them really thick)
2 teaspoons (or more) curry powder
4 cups water
2 cups reduced-sodium canned chicken or vegetable broth
salt & pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a baking sheet, toss cauliflower with vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Spread out, and roast until the florets turn brown, about 25 minutes.
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in curry powder, cauliflower, water, and broth; cover, and bring to a boil. Uncover, lower heat, and simmer 5 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer 4 cups cauliflower to a bowl, and set aside. Put remaining florets into a blender or food processor, add 1 teaspoon salt, and process until smooth. At this point I also chose to remove the onions. (You can keep them in if you like, it's just a texture thing to me.) Stir puree into broth in pan, and reheat if necessary. Ladle soup into bowls, and top with reserved florets and parsley.

What we liked:
-We love pureed soups but this one was nice because there were a few whole veggies mixed into the puree which broke up the texture quite nicely.
-Super healthy and light
-Meatless
-Had a nice kick to it

Bread:
Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Zucchini Bread {makes 2 loaves}
Recipe by Our Best Bites 2 C flour
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t baking soda
6 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 C canola oil
1 C sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
3 eggs
2 t vanilla
1/2 C sour cream
3 C grated zucchini
3/4 C mini chocolate chips
optional: zest from one orange
Topping:
2 T brown sugar
2 T white sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 loaf pans and set aside. I actually used one 8″ disposable pan to give away and a larger 9″ one for me and the batter divided perfectly. So you should get 2 very full 8″ pans or slightly less full 9″. Do one of each like I did!

What we liked:
-This bread was soooooo tasty and moist!
-I did one loaf with chocolate chips and one without and I thought the chocolate chips made the difference, but Jer liked it better without.
-A great way to  use zucchini besides just eating it plain.
-Our Best Bites is my absolute favorite cookbook right now so I trust anything in that book.

Smoothie:
Oatmeal Smoothie
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 1 cup ice
• 1/2 cup frozen raspberries (I added some frozen strawberries as well.)
• 1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt (I used fat free greek yogurt)
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon honey (I used agave)
• 1 cup coconut water (or other liquid, such as juice)(I used unsweetened coconut milk)

Directions

1. Place ice and raspberries in the bottom of blender, and all other ingredients on top. Whir until completely smooth. Serve.

 What we liked:
-We're all about texture here in the Pendleton home and we loved that the oatmeal in this smoothie gave it a little more body than the average smoothie.
-It was a great template for a smoothie you can change and adapt to what you have in your freezer.
-Great meal replacement and something that sounds good after you have had a hard workout. (Jer has been running a lot and often doesn't feel like eating anything but a smoothie or juice usually sounds good, it is the same for me after a long dance practice.)

Hope you get a chance to try these fun recipes sometime this week!

I have been sewing away these days so hopefully I can get some pictures up soon of my latest projects.