Minty Pea Soup and Perfectly Poached Eggs

I have never made nor have I ever tasted pea soup before in my life. Have you? An acquaintance of mine mentioned making it for Saint Patrick's Day. I did my research and created a recipe loosely based off of Ina Garten's. The funny part is that the peas most often used in pea soup are frozen, not fresh. Apparently fresh peas are much too starchy and not sweet at all! Here's the pleasantly sweet pea result.

Fresh Pea and Mint Soup

Fresh Pea and Mint Soup

Ingredients
2 tbsp organic butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp dried dill
4 cups vegetable broth
5 cups frozen sweet peas
2/3 cup loosely packed fresh mint
1 tsp+ sea salt
Black pepper to taste
1/2 cup plain yogurt

Directions

1. Heat butter and olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat, and saute leeks and onion until soft, 8-10 minutes.
2. Add dill, broth, and peas and increase heat to a simmer, 3-5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in mint, salt, and pepper.
4. Cool slightly. Working in batches, puree soup in a food processor until velvety smooth. (Note- I tried using my immersion blender, and it could not get through the leeks! It was an asparagus soup flashback!)
5. Return to pot and reheat until hot. Stir in plain yogurt.
6. Serve garnished with a dollop of yogurt and fresh mint.

Now, poached eggs! It has been 10 days since I poached my first egg. I'm hooked. The whites are tender and the yolks are soft and just runny enough to flavor whatever else is lucky enough to be on the same plate. I got some how-to help from a wedding gift-cookbook, The New Best Recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  Instant favorite at our house!

Step 1. Get yourself some good eggs. Local is best. Organic is next-best. 

Step 2. Crack eggs into individual cups. The separate but equal cups are important, as you will need to drop the eggs into the water at eggs-actly the same time!

Crucial egg prep step

Step 3. Get your water ready. Fill a shallow skillet with water, 1 tsp sea salt, and 2 tbsp white vinegar. Cover and bring to a boil. The salt flavors the eggs, and the vinegar flavors them AND prevents the whites from getting too whispy. A shallow skillet (I used an 11-inch French covered skillet) works best, as the egg doesn't have as far of a drop and can bounce up quickly in the hot water.

Step 4. Drop the eggs at the same exact time into the water. Cover the skillet and remove from heat! Set your timer for 3 1/2- 4 minutes! (Longer for a large or x-large egg)

DON'T CHOKE!

Step 5. After the timer goes off, it's time to carefully lift the eggs out of the water and onto the plate. I used a slotted silicone spatula. If you are feeling outrageous, nest your poached egg onto a small bed of cheese!

Our most recent meal was paired with beer bread, tamari-braised portobellos, and roasted asparagus. 

thanks instagram, for making my eggs look even awesomer.

Ignore tonight's snow storm, spring is coming in 2 days! I can't wait for the outdoor farmer's market to start up so we can eat poached eggs over every other vegetable we can find.

Until next time! Happy eating!

Beet Dip, a Detox, and a Huge Cake

This recipe is no joke! Get ready for a hummus makeover with killer flavor and a distinguished zip.  I can't promise your husband will enjoy it, because mine is still anti-beet. More for me!

Tahini Beet Dip with Roasted Curry Cauliflower
Ingredients
1 cup roasted beets, cooled
1/2 cup garbanzo beans
1/4 cup tahini
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
2+ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Combine ingredients in a food processor and pulse until coarsely mixed. Drizzle olive oil in while processing to achieve a smooth texture. Season with salt and pepper to taste!

I paired this dip with cauliflower, lightly coated in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, pepper, and curry powder, roasted at 375 for about 20 minutes.

just beet it

While I can't give him credit for loving beets, I have to let you know that my Mark is a nutritional champ! Leaving (almost) no dish untasted, Mark proudly shows off his healthy-foodie-packed-lunches to his co-workers every day. He didn't even ask questions when I came home from work last month and told him I wanted us to go on a 14-day dietary detox. And he didn't complain once!

For two weeks, our diet was free from gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, sugar, caffeine, and alcohol. We sustained on organic vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, quinoa and brown rice, wild caught fish, organic/free-range chicken, and vegan protein shakes made with almondmilk. I was the cranky one the first 3 days, not Mark! (Watching the Bachelor with no chocolate and red wine? THAT was tough.) But after a few days we both felt incredible improvements in energy levels and digestion. Neither one of us craved sugar or snacky snacks when we weren't eating them! It was an amazing reboot, and I am so proud of my other half for enduring two weeks without some of his favorite foods!!

Lucky for him, the week after our detox was Mark's birthday. I pulled out all the stops to celebrate him with the tastiest of foods. For his birthday dinner I made an organic, grass-fed ribeye, roasted butternut squash and onions with pumpkinseed oil (amazing- buy it), and kale and portobello mushrooms braised in tamari and white wine...

Now for the birthday cake! I baked him a 3-layer German Chocolate Cake, with pecan and coconut icing. I followed a recipe from America's Test Kitchen, in a cookbook given to us as a wedding gift. I didn't even try to make it healthy! (I am known for ruining baked goods when I try to make them healthier by changing multiple ingredients. Yes, I know you can't do that. But I still go for it every. single. time.) The cake was far from perfect - the icing was runny, the layers were a little thin, it was slightly lop-sided - but it tasted delicious! It was a solid first birthday cake for Mark... hopefully my birthday cake baking skillz only improve from here on out.

Happy Birthday Mark!

Join us here next time for whatever detox and cake rebound we try next!