Vegetables

Cream of Carrot Soup, Soup for Syria, and Photographs That Will Break Your Heart

Cream of Carrot Soup, Soup for Syria, and Photographs That Will Break Your Heart

    This is one beautiful (and delicious) soup. The original recipe comes from a cookbook titled Soup for Syria photographed and compiled by Beirut chef, photographer and cookbook author Barbara Abdeni Massaad. Massaad also is the author of the best-selling cookbook Man’oushe: Inside the…

S’Wonderful: Cauliflower, Potato and Cheese Soup

S’Wonderful: Cauliflower, Potato and Cheese Soup

Soup is hot! Fortunately for us all, soup recipes seem to be having their moment. There have been any number of interesting and innovative soup cookbooks published in recent years. I know I’ve added Anna Thomas’ Love Soup, Barbara Abdeni Massaad’s Soup for Syria and…

Squash, Apples And A Little Sage Advice For The Holidays

Squash, Apples And A Little Sage Advice For The Holidays

  Best wishes from those of us here at Blue Cayenne (that would be me and Juliet)  for a happy Thanksgiving. And, if the going gets tough around the table tomorrow, you might do well to remember the sage advice of Oscar Wilde: “After a…

Of Cabbages, Kings and Flying Pigs: Creamy Cabbage and Potato Soup

Of Cabbages, Kings and Flying Pigs: Creamy Cabbage and Potato Soup

The time has come, the Walrus said,       To talk of many things: Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —       Of cabbages — and kings — And why the sea is boiling hot —       And whether pigs have wings.          …

Barley And Lentil Salad With Feta

Barley And Lentil Salad With Feta

  What a delightful way to get some fiber! According to the medical experts, you need about 30 grams of fiber each day (women/25 and men/38). This salad meets about half of your daily requirement. If you hog all the avocado, you get even closer…

Fast Food:  Skillet Chili

Fast Food: Skillet Chili

  This probably never happens to you, but I sometimes find myself wanting to get in and out of the kitchen quickly after a tiring day.  If I can do that and still produce a great meal, I’m one happy camper. This is a recipe…

Minestrone, A Wistful Pup and Letting Go of Summer

Minestrone, A Wistful Pup and Letting Go of Summer

    There is an old Italian saying O mangi questa minestra o salti dalla finestra. That roughly translates to “Eat the soup or jump out of the window”–an exclamation for those times when inaction is off the table and you just have to do something–anything. Take it…

Eggplant Gratin in Parmesan Custard

Eggplant Gratin in Parmesan Custard

  I’ll confess right off. Eggplant and I have a rocky relationship. It’s not because eggplant isn’t Robert-Redford handsome. Just look at that smooth skin and that sensuous coloring. It’s also not because I don’t try. I do.  I just have trouble finding stellar recipes that…

Ho. Ho. Ho. and Spinach and Mushroom Gratin

Ho. Ho. Ho. and Spinach and Mushroom Gratin

It is the Christmas season here in Huntington Beach. I know that because my local Costco has Christmas trees for sale.   Seems a tad early to me, but there is some research that holds that people who decorate early for the holidays lead happier…

Farro: You Can Take It With You (Apparently)

Farro: You Can Take It With You (Apparently)

This is a post about farro. People have been enjoying farro for a very long time. Farro images can be found on the walls of the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs. The Egyptians stocked the tombs of their leaders with all the good stuff they would…