Julia's Child

Caution: this soup is so sweet and comforting, it might replace your significant other.

Roasted Sweet Potato Soup with Orange and Ginger

Courtesy of: Janet and Greta Podleski (The Looneyspoons Collection)

Yield: 6 servings

• 6 cups peeled, cubed yams or sweet potatoes (about 3 large)
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onions
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 5 cups reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
• 1 tablespoon grated gingerroot
• 1 whole clove
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons light (5%) sour cream
• Minced fresh cilantro (or herb of your choice) for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Spray a shallow roasting pan with cooking spray. Add yams, onions, olive oil, and garlic. Stir well. Roast, uncovered, at 425F for 25 minutes. Stir once, halfway through cooking time.
2. Transfer mixture to a large pot. Add broth, orange zest, gingerroot, clove, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
3. Working in batches, carefully transfer soup to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Serve hot with a swirl of sour cream in the center. Garnish with herb of your choice, if desired.

Butter Chicken is surely an Indian restaurant-favourite! However, I can’t justify ordering this traditional fragrant dish. I am well aware that authentic restaurant-style Butter Chicken contains heaps of butter/oil and heavy cream. The amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in this dish is frightening! Typically, one serving in a restaurant contains nearly 700 calories and almost 50 grams of fat. In fact, there is more saturated fat in a single serving than in 2 Big Macs. Barf! Keep in mind, these numbers don’t account for those who overindulge, or for those dipping with butter-swamped Naan.

Simple solution: Make your own!

These chewy cookies are best consumed with a tall glass of milk.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Recipe adapted from: Gwyneth Paltrow (My Father’s Daughter)

Yield: ~ 30 cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup smooth organic peanut butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large organic egg, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup peanut butter chips

1/2 cup granulated sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, and brown sugars. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour in thirds and stir until smooth. Fold in the peanut butter chips.
4. Roll the mixture into golf-sized balls (about 1 1/2 tablespoons). At this point you can roll them in granulated sugar or you can press each cookie down with the tines of a fork.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, on a nonstick baking pan, rotating the pan halfway through baking time. Cool the cookies on a rack before serving.

Kale is probably one of the most nutrient dense foods on planet earth - definitely something we all should be eating more of!

Spring is finally here (no, not summer) and it’s here to stay, at least for a couple months.

The weeks of grey, cloud filled drudgery, scrounging the produce aisle for something, anything, fresh and somewhat local is almost over. And I couldn’t be happier. 

A sure sign that Spring has arrived, is when you start to see asparagus pop up in grocery stores and local markets.

Guilt-free banana bread with oat bran, pecans and chocolate chips.

I’m proud to say (after several mishaps), that I have mastered the perfect cheesecake filling.

These are marvelous (and incredibly EASY) desserts for entertaining!

Mini, cheerful, comforting, creamy, smooth, rich, sweet, slightly tart, tangy and plentiful…What more could your guests ask for?

I winged this recipe, and thankfully they turned out as planned.