Soulful Creations

This was purely coincidental- Harini (guest host) announcing this month's theme for the mingle and me making a soup the very same day, in  fact even before I read her or Meeta's blog that day! This soup stems from my feel-like-asian mood and no-beans-but-yay-to-pasta-please feeling. So I combined the two things that I craved for the day- Ingredients 3 cups Vegetable broth 1 medium onion, chopped 1 1/2 cups diced celery and carrots 1 head broccoli, separated as florets chopped spring onion and parsley, for garnish (I did use a lot of these, so am not sure if I can call them " garnish ") 1/2 cup soy sauce 1-2 tbsp chilli garlic sauce (depends on your taste) a handful of tiny-weeny seashell pasta a handful of frozen peas, thawed salt and pepper to taste a couple of bay leaves 1 tbsp minced ginger Butter/oil whichever you prefer Methdod Add butter to a stock pot, heat it and then add the bay leaves. After a few seconds, add onions, celery an...

I love having snacks with my cuppa, well in my case it is a cup of coffee and not tea, but hey that does not stop me from making calling it high tea. And isn't that a lovely theme- high tea treats , yes it is the theme for this month's mingle hosted by Aparna. The event is Meeta's conception. Phew,  I thought I would not be able to join them this month but boy am I glad I could make it! Yeah make it with a handful of cream scones. I modified the recipe from here C ream Scones Ingredients 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour and 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour 1 tbsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder 1 tbsp ground ginger 1/4 cup sugar (I mixed half dark brown and half white sugar) 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup  heavy cream and 1/4 cup half and half 1 tbsp melted butter for brushing the tops brown sugar for sprinkling the tops Method Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, baking pow...

...and an asparagus soup. Yeah, the recipe for the soup is from Ganga's blog and the melon dessert is my own and therefore only alright. In my defense- it was 90F with the oven on at 375F and no AC. I had it today folks..it was a good work-out, I must say (LOL). For the soup, I followed the recipe closely from her blog, except for a few differences I have pointed out below Ingredients one packet of frozen small green asparagus a gentle herb – chervil if you can get it. I can’t so I used some lemon verbena and a tip of lemongrass (I also used lemon verbena (from my own garden) . 1.5 Tblspn extra virgin olive oil 1 Tblspn arrowroot (did not add this) 1 cup milk salt and freshly ground pepper large pinch of nutmeg 3 Tblspns thick crème fraîche or thick cream For how to cook this soup, you can check Ganga's blog. I also added some roasted asparagus for garnish. This goes to Yasmeen who is hosting this month's Tried and tasted event featuring Ganga's blog. The event w...

While I found a lot of interesting Mexican recipes that I wanted to try for the Monthly mingle this month, I had to stick to one of my favorite dishes- black bean soup! And that is only because I waited till the last minute and had a hard time deciding on what to make....as usual (and I am not even sure if the picture is in focus!) Well here is the recipe, modified from here Ingredients olive oil 1 tbsp cumin seeds 1-2 tsp turmeric powder 2 tbsp chopped ginger 1½ c. chopped onions (reserve ½ cup for garnish) ½ c. chopped celery 1/3 c. chopped carrots 1/2 cup corn (whole kernel or corn on the cob, when in season) 2 medium jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced 3 15-oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained Vegetable broth 1 15-oz. can chopped fire roasted tomatoes 1 tbsp ground cumin (I added a generous amount) 2 tbsp ground chilli powder chopped parsley and cilantro 1 lime, juiced Salt and pepper Method Add oil to a pot. When the oil’s hot, but not smoking, add the cumin seeds, then add cho...

The entire day has been quite tiresome, especially because I could not figure out for the longest time why I was hungry almost 3h after lunch (usually I can go on for about 5 to 6h!). Then I realized it was the brown rice (healthy but not quite enough- you see I have abig appetite!). Anyway after we shopped for a few things at local grocer, we ate at Qdoba (this was at 6:30PM- both of us could not withstand the hunger pang anymore). So why I am telling you this story- I have no idea! But I do want to share with you a recipe that I saw on Foodnetwork . I had been planning to make it for so long (Well ever since Meeta announced the monthly mingle theme) and finally got to making it today (a day before the deadline). I made a few additions that are noted in red italics Ingredients 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon fine salt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1 large egg, beaten 1/2 cup whole milk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1- 1...

Caribbean food is as flavorful as the land and the people are. I have my own utopian version about these islands and the people that reside there (I love Naipal's books, you should try them if you have never read his books). I have had a lot of Caribbean food but I have never been to any of the islands (that will not be true after this Thursday, off to Puerto Rico, yippee!!). So I could not hold back my urge to make something caribbean especially since this month's MM theme is " Caribbean food " (hurrah!!). So I decided to make a Jamaican rundun and ducuna, a sweet dish from Antigua. Jamaican Rundun Ingredients 1 medium onion, chopped 1/2 cup spring onions, chopped 2 small tomatoes, diced 1 1/2 cups carrots, thinly sliced (I used baby carrots) 1 1/2 cups beans, sliced diagonally 1 cup broccoli florets 6 green chillies, slit 1 tsp dried thyme 1 can coconut milk 1 tsp all spice, ground salt and pepper to taste Method Saute the onions (inlcuding green onions), t...