Vegan Butternut Squash Soup with Fennel: ElegantBy foodjoyaOur exclusive Vegan Butternut Squash Soup with Fennel is elegant and exquisite. It belongs to an upscale restaurant where it would be served in autumn and winter. Though butternut squash is quite simple and rustic, our Vegan Butternut Squash Soup with Fennel will impress you with a complex gourmet taste. The fennel, herbs, lemon zest, and sesame seeds create a refined and rich flavor. If you wish, you can even transform the Vegan Butternut Squash Soup with Fennel into a thinner soup by adding extra broth. Try this soup, for it will be your meal’s masterpiece.Brussel Sprouts with Spicy Carrots: Novel, Zesty, FreshBy foodjoyaOur Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Spicy Carrots are soft inside and crispy on the outside. Thanks to the spices and the lime juice, they are zesty and not bitter. We achieve softness by roasting them covered for an extended period of time. We make the outer leaves crispy by finishing our brussel sprouts under broiler. After years of roasting this wonderful vegetable, we've noticed that lime juice - especially in combination with mint and chives - substantially softens its bitterness and brightens up its color. The idea to add carrots came from Food & Wine's America’s Greatest New Cooks 18 (2012). Spices, herbs, cooking methods, and even vegetable cutting methods are entirely ours.Eggplant Caviar (French) with Herbs, Roasted TomatoesBy foodjoyaWhen I was growing up, Eggplant Caviar was our summer staple. We made it with sautéed or fried tomatoes and onion, raw tomatoes and onion, plenty of garlic, or mayonnaise. This version – with roasted tomatoes and herbs – is very tasty and light. Now, why French? After all, we hail from Moldova. Even though we did not know this dish as French, we call it now "Eggplant Caviar (French)" to distinguish from Baba Ghanoush. Baba Ghanoush is a heavier and smoother eggplant dish and more likely to be used as a dip. By contrast, our Eggplant Caviar (French style) is light and chunky, just like a salad. This recipe boils down to just a few steps: (1) roasting the eggplant, (2) letting the eggplant drain, (3) roasting the tomatoes, (4) mashing the eggplant and mixing in the tomatoes. Here are our tips. First, the eggplants for this recipe should be fresh (firm, without shriveling, and with crisp stems), medium in size, and oval in shape (tear-like or round eggplants will not cook uniformly). Second, the traditional method is to grill the eggplant on a gas or charcoal grill. That way you get a nice smoky flavor. But you can certainly roast in the oven instead. Regardless of how you cook your eggplants, though, you must cook them until they are not only soft, but also mushy inside. When the eggplant is ready, its skin is brown (if roasting) or dark (if grilling) and collapses, and its flesh is mushy when pressed with a fork. Finally, this salad serves 4 as a very generous side to any dish. Atlantic salmon roasted in savory glaze: easy and pleasantBy foodjoyaAtlantic Salmon roasted in a savory glaze is easy and yummy. Though this fish tastes mild (and even somewhat bland), the glaze transforms it into a zesty entree. And what's in the glaze? All the ingredients we bet you already have, like coriander, Dijon mustard and fresh oregano. Another secret to this recipe is the high roasting temperature. We've noticed that Atlantic salmon roasted at a higher temperature tastes better. The goal is to accomplish a crispy top with a tender inside. (By comparison, Atlantic salmon roasted at a lower temperature remains soft all over, and its flavors do not fully develop.) This entree makes a delicious dinner for everyone in your family ... in no time at all! Stuffed Portobello Vegetarian: Easy Savory DinnerBy foodjoyaStuffed portobello vegetarian caps with sundried tomatoes and white beans are a soul-satisfying, flavorful entree. I love mushrooms and cannellini beans and was happy to finding a way to incorporate both into a single recipe. I made these Stuffed Portobello caps (with Prosciutto instead of sundried tomatoes) for the first time for my husband’s birthday, and he loved them! Together with my Mom, we tried replacing the ham with sundried tomatoes, using broth, or adding pine nuts. Unless used sparingly, broth can make the stuffing too soupy (it happened to us). Pine nuts go well, but without hot peppers, and with basil or oregano instead of sage. The recipe below - Stuffed Portobello Vegetarian Caps with sundried tomatoes and cannellini beans- is our favorite.Beluga Lentil Meatballs: Make a Savory Vegetarian Dish!By foodjoyaYou will love this meatless, flourless, light and satisfying dish. You can enjoy Beluga Lentil Meatballs (meatless balls made with black lentils) as a main dish accompanied by sliced avocado, or as generous side. We picked beluga lentils (black lentils) for this recipe, because they have a robust flavor, a distinct color, and a “meaty” taste. This dish is, therefore, a perfect substitute to meat. We have carefully selected the herbs used in this recipe and recommend using mint, marjoram, and thyme. However, if you do not have these in your fridge, fresh basil and parsley will do. The best part yet is that these "meat"balls are packed with nutrients. Unlike the more ubiquitous green lentils, black lentils contain anthocyanins. That is the same flavonoid with antioxidant properties found in blueberries and blackberries. And rather than taking our word for it, peep into the Science Daily news story. Garnish your Beluga Lentil Meatballs with avocado, yogurt, chives, scallions or grated Pecorino. Either way, you are in for deliciousness! This recipe yields 18 to 20 black lentils balls (about 6 servings for an entree).
