favorite.

brazilian cheesy bread. such a yummy treat! since I have an adopted sister, Jozi, I have been quite blessed to eat a fare amount of this deliciousness.

source: what katie ate

1*30 - Croque Madame

I am kicking the New Year off with a bang! This AM I knocked out one of my thirty goals for the New Year. I learned how to make Croque Madame… well with a couple of variations to the recipe, which always seems to happen whenever I am cooking. The recipe can be a smidge overwhelming at first glance, so I recommend finding a partner to go on this creative cooking adventure with you. I recruited one of my sisters to grate the cheese, another to butter a pan, and my dad to fry the eggs (he is a master at eggs, many Sunday mornings of practice). Because we did not have gruyere in the house I used Raclette, which was actually quite delicious. Overall, everyone seemed to be pretty happy with the outcome, the only thing I would have changed was the ham. The ham we had in the house was very thickly sliced, it would have been better to have very very thin pieces. Noted for next time.

How about you? Have you created some goals for this year?

photo source: unknown

Creamy Vegetarian Split Pea Soup

Feel free to throw in other veggies such as spinach, corn, or broccoli as well. Also, you can use a vegetable stock if you like in place of the water.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic or 2 large onions (depending on your preference), chopped
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
2 cups dried split green peas, picked over and rinsed

3 carrots chopped

handful of Cilantro, chopped
5 cups water
juice of 1/2 lemon (reserve the zest)

2 Cups of Unsweetened Soy Milk

a few pinches of smoked paprika
more olive oil to drizzle

Add olive oil to a big pot over med-high heat. Stir in garlic or onions, cilantro and salt and cook until they soften, just a minute or two. Add the split peas, carrots, and water. Bring to a boil, dial down the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the peas are cooked through (but still a touch al dente). Using a ladle place half of the soup into a blender, add soy milk and puree. Stir pureed soup into the reserved (still chunky) soup the pot - you should have a soup that is nicely textured. If you need to thin the soup out with more water (or stock) do so a bit at a time. Stir in the lemon juice and taste. If the soup needs more salt, add more a bit at a time until the flavor of the soup really pops.

Ladle into bowls and serve each drizzled with olive oil and topped with a good pinch of smoked paprika and a touch of lemon zest.

Serves 4 to 6.

I tweaked this recipe: vegetarian split pea soup