Winter

Spiced Carrot Soup with Green Tahini Swirl

January 6, 2018ALL, Soup, Winter0

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This Spiced Carrot Soup with Green Tahini Swirl recipe is full of vegetables and topped with green tahini dressing. A perfect soup for cold weather meals.

Happy New Year! Hope you all are having a wonderful 2018 so far. I usually start off the year with a bang here at VV with a plethora of new healthy recipes to get your year going. To be honest thought, things are starting out a bit slow around here while my studio space is in limbo (the floors are getting redone next week so everything is packed in boxes in the basement). I just keep telling myself it’s going to be so great when it’s done and I’m hoping to be back into my weekly routine in the next few weeks once the construction is finished up later this month.

In other news, we are on about week 3 of freezing temperatures that hover in the negatives. I’m all about bundling up and being active in the winter but these temperatures make it hard to be outside for more than a few minutes. Instead of taking winter hikes and exploring our new neighborhood, I’ve been hulled up inside the house downing cups of tea and eating endless soup…like this Spiced Carrot Soup with Green Tahini Swirl!

The green tahini may sound familiar to you and it’s because I just shared it on a pita / egg situation with you last month. I can’t help it…this sauce is just that good. I’ve been making batches of it and then using it for dressing, drizzled on eggs, drizzled into soup, and as a dip for veggies.

The soup itself is a pretty standard pureed carrot soup that I upgraded with extra spices and a ton of toppings. I love how flavorful you can get purreed soup but often times get bored with the silky texture so I usually always like to finish them with a few crunchy vegetables and some sort of seed (or other crunchy addition).

5 from 1 vote

Spiced Carrot Soup with Green Tahini Swirl

This Spiced Carrot Soup with Green Tahini Swirl recipe is full of vegetables and topped with green tahini dressing. A perfect soup for cold weather meals.

Ingredients

For the Soup:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion diced
2 celery stalks diced
1 pound carrots diced (+ more for topping)
2 garlic cloves minced
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup whole milk
salt / pepper to taste

For the Green Tahini:

1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
1/4 cup parsley chopped + more garnish
1 garlic clove peeled
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp Za'atar optional but recommended (+ more for topping)
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp lemon juice

For garnish:

Sesame seeds
parsley chopped
chives chopped
chili pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

For the soup:

Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add in onion, celery, carrots, and a dash of salt and saute for 5-7 minute or until soft.
Add in garlic, chili powder, paprika, oregano, and cayenne pepper and saute for another 30 seconds.
Next, add in vegetable broth and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to medium-low and let simmer for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are very soft.
Remove from heat and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. Stir in the milk and season with salt and pepper.

For the green tahini:

Meanwhile, while the soup is simmering, In a high speed blender or food processor, blend the tahini, cilantro, parsley, garlic, cumin, za'atar, salt, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup water until creamy and no lumps remain. If it's too thick to drizzle then add more water, 1 Tbsp at a time, until desired consistency is reached.

To Serve:

Scoop soup into serving bowls and swirl with green tahini. Top with chopped carrots, sesame seeds, parsley, green onions, and chili pepper flakes. Serve warm.

Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies with Cardamom Orange Caramel

December 17, 2017ALL, Sweets, Winter0

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This Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies with Cardamom Orange Caramel recipe deserves a spot on your cookie tray this holiday season. It’s melt in your mouth buttery and spiked with aromatic cardamom and orange caramel sauce.

Wow – how did we already get to the last VV recipe of the year? It feels just like yesterday I was whipping up this Creamy White Chili and fretting about the political future of our country. So much good has happened this year for me – I released my first cookbook, we bought our first home – but I won’t go into too much detail yet as I usually do a yearly wrap up that is still to come. For now, I need to focus on the fact that Christmas eve is ONE WEEK AWAY! I haven’t even started shopping yet. Yikes!

Have you ever had those Danish shortbread cookies that come in all sort of different shapes in the blue tin? My brother and I always received a tin for Christmas growing up and I remember so vividly fighting over who would get the sugar coated pretzel shaped one because that was our favorite. It makes me smile now because they were all the same cookie but just different shapes but I was so positive as a kid that I didn’t like the round ones, only the pretzel and square ones. Anyway, I bring this up because these taste exactly like those cookies. Well, exactly like those cookies + more because of the citrus-y caramel sauce.

Speaking of this caramel sauce, it’s good. Like lick the spoon and be-careful-you-don’t-eat-it-all-before-you-put-it-on-the-cookies delicious. The cardamom is subtle but compliments the bright citrus and sweet caramel flavors perfectly. It reminds me a bit of nutmeg in the way that most non-bakers might not be able to put their finger on what it is they are tasting but they just know they like it.

Anyhow, hope you have a wonderful holiday season and I’ll probably check in one more time before the end of the with my annual yearly wrap up. Until then, catch me on Instagram because I’m obsessed and post over there daily.

5 from 2 votes

Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies with Cardamom Orange Caramel

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

50 mins

This Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies with Cardamom Orange Caramel recipe deserves a spot on your cookie tray this holiday season. It's melt in your mouth buttery and spiked with aromatic cardamom and orange caramel sauce.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Sweets

Servings: 3 dozen

Ingredients

For the cookies:

1 cup unsalted butter cold and diced into pieces
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup coarse sugar

For the caramel sauce:

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 tsp cardamom
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp orange extract
coarse sea salt for finishing (optional)

Instructions

For the shortbread:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and 2/3 cup sugar. With the stand mixer running on low, add in the vanilla extract and salt. Next, add in the flour slowly and mix until the mixture comes together to one big dough ball.
Place coarse sugar in a shallow dish and set aside.
Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough and use clean hands to shape 1-inch balls. Roll the ball in the coarse sugar until completely coated and transfer the dough balls to the prepared baking sheet, 2 inches apart.
Use a wine cork or your clean thumb to press a small indentation into each dough ball. Transfer to the freeze and let chill for at least 10 minutes (this will make sure the cookies don't spread too much while baking).
Bake for 14 - 18 minutes or until browned on the bottom. Remove from oven and use the cork to press down on the indent again if it puffed up while baking. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

For the caramel sauce:

While the cookies are baking, combine the brown sugar, cardamom, and unsalted butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to boil. Once boiling, continue to cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the cream and orange extract. Set aside.
Pour the caramel sauce into the indents of the cookie and sprinkle with a tiny bit of coarse sea salt.

Roasted Grape Crostini with Chevré and Rosemary + Scenes From Fox Island

November 30, 2017ALL, Appetizer, Fall, Side, Snack, Winter0

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This Roasted Grape Crostini with Chevré and Rosemary recipe is the perfect accompaniment to your next cheeseboard or appetizer table. This post was made in collaboration with and sponsored by the generous folks at La Brea Bakery but all opinions expressed are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

I’ve had a lot of ‘pinch me’ moments this year. After spending the previous 2 years focusing all of my time writing my book, I knew I wanted to devote this year to traveling and more freelance. When I set that goal last January I could not have even begin to guess the opportunities that were in store for me. Not only did I triple my freelance work this year but I also found excuses to go out to the west coast three times. Excuse me, you want to fly me to a beautiful cabin in the woods with some of my favorite blog friends to cook up a storm for 3 days? Uh DUH!

Last month I had the pleasure of joining some of my favorite blog friends on Fox Island for a weekend shoot which involved cooking, catching up, exploring the nearby towns, a picturesque sea view, and eating so much delicious La Brea Bakery Bread. The weekend revolved around three main meals that we each were in charge of preparing one item for: a cocktail hour, a formal dinner, and an elegant breakfast spread. Krissy and I took charge of the cocktail hour with this Roasted Grape Crostini with Chevré and Rosemary (recipe below!) and a Aubergine Spread. For dinner, Alanna made a Golden Vegetable Chickpea Minestrone, Sasha served a Fall Panzanella with Roasted Squash and Creamy Lemon Pepper Dressing, and Eva finished the evening off with a Apple Bread Pudding with Caramel Drizzle. The next morning we enjoyed Natalie’s Coconut French Toasted with Poached Apples and Pecans and Trisha’s Shashuka with Chevré and Fresh Herbs. Needless to say, we did not go hungry over that weekend.

All of the food shared one common ingredient: . All La Brea Bakery bread begins with a starter from 1989 (the same year I was born! Woah!) and each loaf takes at least 24 hours to make which means more time for complex flavors to develop. We sampled an array of delicious varieties that weekend but the Sesame Semolina Loaf was my favorite. I’m pretty excited knowing that I can even find these loaves in my smallish city because that means even more french toast is in my future!

Now onto this Roasted Grape Crostini with Chevré and Rosemary recipe. I love how effortlessly this appetizer comes together, making it a perfect option when you want to impress your guests but not go to too much trouble. I like to keep the grapes in small clusters, for a striking presentation, and then just let the guests pull off the stems if they wish. Make sure to cut the La Brea Bakery French Baguette into thick slices to allow the flavors to soak into the open, airy crumb of the loaf’s interior.

Scroll below for the recipe and scroll below that for even more photos of the weekend.

Roasted Grape Crostini with Chevré and Rosemary

This Roasted Grape Crostini with Chevré and Rosemary recipe is the perfect accompaniment to your next cheeseboard or appetizer table.

Servings: 10

Calories: 125 kcal

Ingredients

For the roasted grapes

1/2 pound grapes (I used a mix of concord and red) split into small clusters
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
4 sprigs rosemary

Everything else

1 La Brea Bakery French Baguette sliced and toasted
4 oz chevre
Zest from 1 orange

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss grape clusters in olive oil and salt and place on baking sheet. Sprinkle rosemary sprigs around the baking dish.
Roast for 20 minutes or until most of the grapes have blistered but haven't burst.
Arrange La Brea Bakery French Baguette slices in a single layer on a serving dish. Divide the cheese evenly between the slices and top each one with a small grape cluster.
Garnish with orange zest and serve right away.

More photos from the weekend and the other meals:

Cranberry Molasses Mulled Wine + A Giveaway

November 24, 2017ALL, Drinks, Thanksgiving, Winter0

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This Cranberry Molasses Mulled Wine recipe is perfect for chilly winter evenings or big holiday events. Serve it with a few orange slices and fresh cranberries for a stunning presentation.

First off, I didn’t post yesterday because I was with family but I just want to say that I am so thankful for all of you here! So many of my favorite opportunities would not be possible with VV and VV would not be possible without all of you. You are the best.

And happy BLACK FRIDAY! Did you wake up at 2 AM to wait in line for that new laptop? Oh wait, I’m still living in 2001 – stores open at like 8 PM on Thanksgiving now. Or does everyone just do their Black Friday shopping online these days? I’ll admit that I’m guilty to snagging a few deals today on CB2 and West Elm for our new house (which we are closing on in ONE WEEK! eeeep!).

Winter

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