I didn't post when I made these, but they were both delicious so I'm posting here.
Potato and Cauliflower Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium casserole dish.
- In a pot with enough water to cover, boil the potatoes 10 minutes, or until tender but still firm. Drain, and set aside.
- In a pot, place the cauliflower in a steamer basket over boiling water. Steam 5 minutes, until tender but still firm. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, and whisk in the flour. Gradually stir in the heavy cream until thickened. Remove from heat, and mix in 1/2 cup Swiss cheese until melted. Season with salt and pepper.
- Arrange the potatoes and cauliflower in the prepared casserole dish. Pour the cream sauce over the potatoes and cauliflower, and sprinkle with the remaining Swiss cheese.
- Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly browned.
I made a couple of changes to this one. We didn't have any swiss cheese or cauliflower on hand (unfortunately) so I used cheddar and broccoli. And because I was making this as our main course I doubled the recipe. I also used coconut milk in place of the heavy cream because it was all I had. I worried it might make the dish taste too coconutty, when I mixed up the sauce I could really smell it. But once everything cooked, you would NEVER know I used coconut milk at all! It was DELICIOUS and with not even a hint of coconut flavor. I look forward to trying this recipe again with the cauliflower and I think I will use the coconut milk again!
White Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 1 (10 ounce) can golden corn, drained
- salt and pepper to taste
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 2 (15.5 ounce) cans white beans
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
Directions
- Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Saute garlic until tender, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in carrot and corn, season with salt and pepper, and cook another 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in vegetable broth, beans, thyme and parsley, and bring to a low boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook approximately one hour.
- Separate soup into 2 equal portions, and allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, puree half of the batch in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return both batches to the stockpot, and heat until warmed through. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Serve hot.
The changes I made to this recipe are as follows: I diced probably 4 sm-med potatoes and added those to the mix. Then, instead of separating and waiting for the soup to cool I just used the hand blender to puree some of the mix right in the pot! In the end I found it to be a little thin, so I added a small spoonful of flour to thicken it up a bit. Worked like a charm! I served homemade dinner rolls and they were AMAZING dipped right into the soup and used as a spoon to scoop up all the yummy soupy goodness! TASTY! Will definitely be making this one again!!! Maybe adding some barley next time.
