Cauliflower Curry Soup

My last soup hurrah for the year, as part of Mark Bittman's "Creamy, Brothy, Earthy, Hearty" NY Times Article, was the cauliflower curry soup. If this article would have been published last October, I'm pretty sure I would have cooked from it for weeks. Sadly, it's in the 80s here, so I'll hold on to the other options for a few months. In fact, this recipe would have likely floundered in my files until then except for the fact that I am obsessed with cauliflower soup. I love how close it is in taste and texture to potato soup, but so much lighter. Since the premise of the article was customization, I made a few tweaks in my first making, earlier than I normally would. I couldn't bear the thought of boiling the onions and missing out on the aromatics, so I sauteed for a few minutes in olive oil before adding the ginger, and then the water. As a result I shortened boiling time to around 7 minutes prior to adding the cauliflower. Note: 2 cups of cauliflower is a tiny amount, not even half of a head of cauliflower, so plan ahead for that. The end result was a little magical, almost like eating a light curry sauce by itself (except it's a soup!) without lacking any flavor. I'm wavering on whether I want to try to substitute for the water next time; I may try half vegetable broth. Will let you know.

Chickpea Tagine with Chicken and Apricots

Any harsh words I had for the Minimalist the other day completely evaporated when I tried the April 9 recipe this past Friday. True, he still has the problem of claiming moderately difficult recipes are 30-minute meals, but his recipe twist on a tagine (an hour to an hour 15 to prepare) hit the right tone by giving instructions for a simple(r), healthy all-in-one meal. The dark meat chicken itself was incredibly flavorful, but the sauce, similar to an Indian gravy, was divine and we could have eaten it on its own. Every time I took a bit and tasted the sweet apricots or the piquant ginger or the rich cinnamon, I smiled at the unique flavor. Even better, the ingredients as a whole made an incredibly healthy dish. Be sure and let the bulgar sit for a few minutes after cooking to let it expand and absorb the sauce. No bulgar? The dish would taste just as good over couscous.

Chicken and Vegetable Cobbler

Last week I went to save Mark Bittman's Chickpea Tagine with Chicken and Apricots recipe in my gmail "recipes" folder and was surprised to find I had another Minimalist chicken recipe to try-- the Chicken and Vegetable Cobbler from the March 10 NY Times had gotten buried in my e-mail. Fortunately (?) we had a gray day here last Saturday that screamed for warm comfort food.

First the good: this dish is chock-full of healthy vegetables, and given that the broth is cream-less, a good deal healthier than a Marie Callendar pot pie. The buttermilk biscuit dough was simple to whip together and the mushrooms (I subbed out baby bellas for button) give the classic dish a gourmet flair.

Then the bad: between the leek, the mushrooms and the carrots, this dish takes a surprisingly long amount of time to prep and then a shockingly long time to bake (45 minutes!). I used frozen carrot coins to save time and added them in at the same time as the peas; be warned, though, that while the frozen veggies are fine for the first serving of this dish, they turn to mush when you reheat leftovers. Further, I think it's a stretch to reference this as a one-pot dish (see paragraph 5) when you end up with a sticky, gooey food processor to clean, along with a pot.

I'm tempted to say I'll have a Marie Callendar from now on and use all the extra time to burn the extra calories, but I'm too afraid to look at the nutrition info :)