Tag Archives: bread

Bruschetta

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Mmm…bruschetta. This is one of our favorite summer meals and was inspired by the bruschetta in the movie Julie and Julia.

I decided to make homemade bread rather than using store bought, so my Kitchenaid mixer got a good workout!

Once the bread was done baking, I chopped up lots of fresh tomatoes, garlic, and basil. After mixing in a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, I let the tomato mixture sit to get all juicy and flavorful.

In the movie, it looks to me like Julie pan fries the bread; while I’ve done this (and it is delicious!), I decided to just brush the bread with a little olive oil and grill it. The bread was done quickly, so then it was up to Jon and me to each assemble our own slices of bruschetta at the table. The tomatoes were highlighted by the garlic and basil, and there was enough juice to soak into the bread making it a yummy crunchy gooey meal. Yum!

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Pappa Al Pomodoro (Tuscan Bread Soup)

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Pappa Al Pomodoro

Pappa Al Pomodoro

Yum…this is one of my favorite comfort soups combining some of my favorite things: bread, tomatoes, and white beans!

Sauteing Onions and Garlic

Sauteing Onions and Garlic

I started off with onions and garlic, of course, and let these saute in a big soup pot until they were soft and starting to brown a little bit. Then, I added in some herbs and spices…basil, red pepper flakes, aleppo pepper flakes, turmeric, and a little allspice. I know it sounds like kind of a strange combination, but it gives the soup a little spiciness and warmth.

White Navy Beans

White Navy Beans

After the spices had heated up a little bit, I added the white beans to the pot. This time I decided to use white navy beans, but I’ve also used cannellini beans in this dish. The beans gave off a little liquid, so I let them hang out to reduce the liquid before the next step.

Adding Tomatoes and Stock to the Soup

Adding Tomatoes and Stock to the Soup

Next up was my favorite part – adding the tomatoes and liquid to make it into soup! I used a combination of diced and crushed tomatoes, plus added a little bit of veggie stock until it had the right soup-like consistency and then covered it to let the soup simmer and all the flavors combine.

Bread Cubes - Defenseless Against Cats!

Bread Cubes - Defenseless Against Cats!

While the soup was simmering away, I cut up cubes of bread to add to the soup. Of course, this then meant that our cat Kaley went on “bread hunt” mode in the kitchen. For some reason, she desperately loves bread so I spent the next 15 minutes defending the counter from her assaults until the soup was ready to have the bread added.

Mixing in the Bread Cubes

Mixing in the Bread Cubes

Finally, I mixed in the bread cubes and let them soak up the soup for a few minutes. The soup was perfect with a little freshly ground pepper on top!

Pappa Al Pomodoro

Pappa Al Pomodoro

Beans Bourguignon…The Vegan’s Version of Beef Bourguignon

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Last night, I decided to make “Beans Bourguignon”, a vegetarian version of the Julia Child classic. I roughly followed a recipe from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes cookbook (I say roughly because I really just use recipes as inspiration!), and decided to accompany it with a loaf of fresh-baked bread.

Fresh Bread

Bread Fresh Out of the Oven

Sauteed Mushrooms

Sauteed Mushrooms Hanging Out on a Plate

Sauteed Veggies

Veggies Sauteeing Away!

I started the dish by sauteeing some mushrooms. Once they were brown and yummy, I put them on a plate to hang out.

Finding pearl onions is really difficult when it’s not the holidays, so I did a large dice on an onion, minced some garlic, and added some whole carrots to the pan, in addition to salt, thyme, and pepper.After the veggies had sauteed for awhile, I added in veggie broth, bay leaves, and tomato paste, and let everything simmer together to get soft.

Finally, I added white navy beans, the mushrooms, and some red wine. While the beans finished simmering together with the veggies, I cooked some whole wheat noodles to serve the beans over. Served with the homemade bread, it was a pretty gourmet meal for a Wednesday night (though perhaps not the most photogenic dish ever)!

Beans Bourguignon

Beans Bourguignon...A Gourmet (if not photogenic) Meal for a Wednesday