Roasted Broccoli Cauliflower Soup

Today was really cold and rainy here in sunny Arizona so I felt like soup was the perfect choice for dinner. This recipe came out of my own mind, it is my take on a a popular favorite broccoli cheese soup. This version is thick and creamy without any dairy (yes it is possible) I did add some fake cheese to mine at the end but it would still be good even without the cheese. I have been on a real roasted veggie kick, that is the secret of this soup, roasting your broccoli and cauliflower it gets these great caramelized bits on it and that adds lots of good flavor. I tyred to have lots of photos for this one but don't get scared this recipe is so easy and really fast for a soup.. I think that I made enough to feed at least 5 people so.... Leftovers :) It was the perfect Saturday night dinner, I served it with a big green salad and my homemade Rosemary Foccica bread. On a side note the other exciting thing about this meal is that I got to use my brand new stick blender, it totally rocks!

Ingredients
1 head of broccoli
1 head of cauliflower
1 medium potato
4 cloves of garlic
1 shallot
1 medium onion
4 tablespoons EVOO (divided)
2 quarts of veggie stock/broth
1/4 cup cooking Sheri
S&P
1 package shredded vegan cheddar cheeze (of course I used Daiya) http://www.daiyafoods.com/products/cheddar.asp

Lets get started, Preheat your oven to 425. Then begin to chop up your broccoli and cauli, toss them in a bowl and add a few tablespoons of EVOO and some S&P

once they have been lightly tossed around the bowl, out the broccoli and cauli onto a baking sheet. and pop them in the oven for 15 min.

while your veggies are roasting get started on the other ingredients, chop up the onion, garlic and shallot.

using a nice heavy soup pot on medium heat add the remaining olive oil and your onion, shallot, garlic. saute until they become translucent, then add the Sheri and cover.

Next chop your potato, I always leave the skin on, that is where all the good nutrients are and you will not even notice them.

add the potato to the pot, then add 1 of your quarts of veggie broth, bring the heat up till it comes to a boil. by this point your broccoli and cauli should be ready to come out of the oven. Add the roasted veg to the pot.

now turn the heat to medium, and add the other quart of veggie broth and cover (I really must draw attention to the yummy bits of goodness on the the veggies)

Now for the fun part..... My new stick blender, I am so excited about this! Just blend, blend, blend, try to get all the chunks out. make sure your heat is down to low for this part. you will be so surprised how creamy it will look and with no dairy.
from here your soup is  done, I added a 1/2 bag of Daiya Cheddar style shred's and then saved the other half for garnish.

This is the final product, I think it is perfect for a cold rainy day. This recipe is so good I challenge you to make it and serve it to the carnivores in your life and see if they even notice its vegan!

Rosemary Focaccia Bread

There is nothing better than homemade fresh baked bread, today is a rainy cold day in phoenix so I have a fire going in the fire place and am baking bread. I also have intentions to make some homemade soup tonight as well (I will attempt to blog if all goes well) in the mean time this recipe is naturally vegan (as lots of yeast breads are) I doubled this so I made 2 loaf's you can always freeze one. Give it a try it was much easier than I thought it would be, and you can just let it rise in between loads of laundry or whatever your weekend holds! :)

Rosemary Focaccia Bread 

    Dough:
    1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
    1 cup lukewarm water, divided
    3 tablespoons olive oil
    1/2 teaspoon sea salt
    2 cups unbleached wheat flour

    Topping:
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    1 tablespoon crushed fresh rosemary leaves
    1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Directions:

1. Place yeast in a bowl with 1/2 cup of the lukewarm water and stir until dissolved. Add remaining water, oil, salt and flour and mix well. Cover bowl and let rise in warm place until doubled in size.

2. Oil 1 9" cake pan. Knead dough on floured surface, adding more flour if needed to make a shiny and elastic dough.

3. Place dough in prepared pan. Press dough into pan and let rise again for at least 1/2 hour. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Mix topping ingredients.

4. When risen, make many deep holes in dough with finger and brush on topping. Bake for 20-30 minutes.

 

Espresso-Bean Shortbread Cookie

These cookies were really good, they were supper buttery like a shortbread and had a serious espresso kick. Not the cookies you want to eat before bead! they will keep you up, they are loaded with caffeine goodness!

 

Espresso-Bean Shortbread

• 1 1/2 cup Earth Balance
• 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp instant espresso powder
• 2 Tbsp warm water
• 2 Tbsp finely ground espresso beans
• 3 cups plus 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp salt

Cream together Earth Balance and sugar in a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat until slightly fluffy.
Combine the espresso powder and warm water in a small bowl and stir until combined. Beat the espresso mixture and beans into the EB and sugar.
Whisk together flour and salt and gradually add to butter mixture, beating until combined. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a tablespoon or cookie scoop, and your hands, create small ovals bean shaped cookies. Place each cookie on the baking sheet 1 – 2 inches apart. To create the split in the coffee bean press a chopstick over the top of each cookie. Place each tray in the freezer to firm for 10 – 20 minutes
Bake for 16 to 18 minutes rotating sheets half way through. The bottoms should be browned, with the tops, just barely browning when you remove them.  Let cool completely on a wire rack before eating.