Fall
Roasted Eggplant and Lentil Soup
Yeah, so remember how I said all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch with a blanket? Apparently it’s not because it’s fall… it’s because I’m sick! Ugh. I have a terrible cold – the worst one I’ve had in years. Three of the last four meals I’ve eaten have been soup. Luckily, I have a big pot of this roasted eggplant and lentil soup in the fridge, so all I have to do is heat it up (which is about all I have the energy for right now).
This soup is just want I need though. It’s rich, earthy, and slightly spicy, with a subtle Middle Eastern flavor from roasted eggplant, tomatoes, and ras el hanout. A dollop of coconut yogurt finishes it off and balances out the spiciness.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
I feel like I’ve been posting an overabundance of desserts lately – that was definitely due to a very poorly planned editorial calendar for this month. I have a few more sweets planned for next week but I have some great savory recipes planned for early October. (And I promise, what I have in store for next week is definitely worth it!)
But for today, let’s eat soup. I took a quick facebook poll to see what people wanted me to post next and soup won by a landslide. I love that you all love soup as much as I do! This chicken tortilla soup is one of my new favorites. It’s rich, spicy, and super satisfying.
Braised Eggplant with Ground Lamb
I’m so excited to finally share this braised eggplant with ground lamb with you all – I made it almost a whole month ago and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since!
The recipe came out of a craving for eggplant… for days, all I wanted was eggplant that was cooked until it was so tender that it collapsed in on itself. I had no idea what I wanted the rest of the meal to be, but once I got the image of that eggplant in my head I just couldn’t shake it. The end result – tender, braised eggplant and tomatoes cooked with richly spiced lamb and topped with cool yogurt sauce and tangy cucumbers – ended up being perfect and is one of my favorite meals of 2012.
Seafood Chowder in Bread Bowls
Soup weather is officially here and I couldn’t be happier! There’s not much that’ better than warm soup eaten out of a bread bowl, is there?
This seafood chowder was inspired by one that I had a few week ago at The Original Soup Man; I love how thick and rich it was and couldn’t get enough of the sweet bay scallops. I drank every last drop and left with plans to recreate it at home ASAP!
Apple Butter Barbecue Pulled Chicken Sliders
These tasty sliders are so much fun – perfect for game day, backyard parties, or just as something a little different for dinner. They have a great balance of sweet, spicy, and tangy flavors and are easy to make on a weeknight with ingredients from your pantry.
Deep Dish Pizza with Brussels Sprouts & Bacon
I’ve been waiting for months to make this pizza.
There’s a restaurant around the corner from our house that serves a pizza topped with brussels sprouts, pancetta, and brie. I excitedly gave it a try over the summer but was pretty disappointed. It just wasn’t right – the flavors were too flowery, the crust was too delicate, and the brussels sprouts were too small. Plus, who eats brussels sprouts in August anyway?
I promised myself that as soon as the weather was a little more appropriate, I’d make my own version of the pizza at home. It was hard to wait, but I didn’t want to start eating all of my favorite all foods too early because I was afraid that I’d get burned out on them before the cool weather even started to set in. Finally, I decided that it was sufficiently Fall enough. This version is everything that I had hoped the restaurant’s would be: the dough is thick, chewy and charred; the meat is smokey; and the brussels sprouts are slightly caramelized and abundant.