pieces

Way back here, Rebecca challenged me to create recipes featuring America’s top twenty hated foods. I started with the beets.

I love beets. They are sweet, and when prepared correctly (by which I mean anything other than boiled), they are seriously yummy.

I invited Rebecca and one other friend to dinner, neither of which had ever tried them.

This was the first course:

And it was approved by all.

The recipe was simple. Cut off the stems and scrub the beets. Rinse and place in individual foil packets, wrapping them up like pieces of candy (like this). Bake at 350(ish) for 45 minutes. Remove the beets from the foil and when cool enough to handle, rinse the skin off - it should practically fall off. Slice the beets and you’re ready to use them for whatever.

What I did was take two slices of beets and sandwich them with two slices of goat cheese. I then sprinkled on some toasted walnuts and drizzled with a homemade dressing.

The dressing consisted of:
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar
fresh-squeezed orange juice
dijon mustard
honey
habanero pepper
cilantro

Yum!

but this cauliflower soup is definitely going to become a new standard at our house.

Here it is, pictured with some fresh flowers from our garden:

I found the recipe here.

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QUICK CAULIFLOWER SOUP
or QUICK BROCCOLI SOUP
Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time-to-table: 25 minutes
Serves 4

* 4 cups chicken broth
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
* 2 dried bay leaves
* 1 head cauliflower OR 1 pound of broccoli crowns and stems, chopped into small pieces (or frozen cauliflower or broccoli)
* Salt and pepper to taste

Heat broth to a boil in microwave.

Meanwhile, heat a large pot on medium high. Heat olive oil, then add the onion and bay leaves, stirring to coat with fat. Cook until onions begin to soften and turn gold, stirring often.

Add cauliflower or broccoli, stirring to coat with oil and onion flavor. Let cook, turning occasionally for 1 - 2 minutes. Stir in hot broth. Cover and cook for 5 – 10 minutes or until the vegetables are fully cooked. Remove the bay leaves.

Transfer a third of the hot mixture (see ALANNA’s TIPS) to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth while continuing to cook the rest. Repeat with another third, then the final third.

Season to taste and serve topped with a small spoon of low-fat sour cream or croutons. Or both!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE Per Serving 96 Cal (28% from Fat); 3g Tot Fat; 13g Carb; 4g Fiber; 533mg Sodium; 0mg Cholesterol, Weight Watchers 1 point

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I used the recipe as-is, except I really didn’t think it needed either croutons or sour cream, making this a perfect low calorie snack or light meal.

This is my entry in Bookmarked Recipes.

I finally downloaded the pictures on my camera, so, after much delay, here is my first attempt at eclairs:

They were yummy. A little eggy, which I attributed to not baking the dough long enough and also not leaving enough space between pastries, although I did notice quite a few people commented on the egginess. I loved the chocolate filling.

In fact, the only thing I didn’t like about the recipe was that it called for this:

The recipe can be found here.
Would I make these again? Definitely. They were fantastic and really took very little time.

In August, in Texas, with the oven on, this is not a good idea.

As found on the Fail Blog:

Wow. Just wow.