Heat soup pot. Add butter and oil and let it brown, covered (to prevent splattering), over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add cauliflower, onion, and a pinch of salt. Cook, covered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.
Uncover, turn heat to medium-low and add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring often.
Add lemon juice, remaining salt, parsley, and vegetable stock. Cover and bring to a boil. Uncover and reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, or until veggies are tender.
Dish soup into oven-proof bowls or ramekins and top with toasts. Top toasts with a sprinkle of gruyère. Broil in the toaster for 5-10 minutes (in the oven broiler, broil with the door open, paying attention the whole time, it should be a much shorter amount of time).
Notes
The toasts will soak up some of the soup as they broil. If you’d rather, you could toast the bread with the cheese and place it on top of the soup right before serving. Leftover soup makes great pasta sauce.
A long long time ago (or about a year and a half ago), when I first started my blog, I asked a few people if they would be ambassadors. I told them that if they would tell people about my blog, I’d create a dish for and named after them.
Heat soup pot. Add oil. When oil is hot, add carrot and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add shallot and another pinch of salt. Cook 2 minutes more.
Add tomato paste, parsley, dijon, pepper, remaining salt, red pepper flakes, cumin, paprika, balsamic vinegar, and maple syrup. Stir and cook 2 minutes.
Add lentils and rice to pan. Cook 2 minutes, stirring often.
Add stock. Cover and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce heat to medium and cook for 55-65 minutes, adding more stock if needed, until veggies are tender and lentils and rice are cooked.
In last 5 minutes of cooking time turn heat to low and add spinach.
1 T Fennel Pollen Dipping Sauce (plus more for topping)
1 lb. ground beef
1 t olive oil
1/4 to 1/3 C water
tomato, for topping
lettuce, for topping
4 hamburger buns (for Gluten Free, use GF buns!)
Instructions
Whisk together lemon juice through dressing. Add beef and combine (but don't overmix). Shape into 4 patties. Press each patty in the middle with your thumb to make a slight indent.
Heat skillet over high heat. Add oil. When oil is hot, add patties and turn heat to med-low. Cook covered for 5-6 minutes. Flip, add water to pan, and cook uncovered for 5-7 minutes more (or until beef reaches desired temperature - I prefer mine to be cooked to 160F).
Place on a bun and top with Fennel Pollen Dipping Sauce, lettuce, and tomato.
I think at this time of year, the word pollen might be a bad bad word. I, for example, have sneezed approximately seventeen hundred thousand times in the past two weeks. I wonder if I’m allergic to something?!
Here’s a kind of pollen you can get into: Fennel Pollen. I told you about it in December when I’d just begun to try it out. I’m still experimenting, but so far, everything I’ve added it to I’ve liked (not to be confused with “add it to everything”).
And this week, I used it again. This time in a dip for some beets, fennel, potatoes, and carrots. Not just any beets, fennel, potatoes, and carrots though. They’re roasted. Which makes almost any vegetable about a thousand times better (and that’s saying a lot, because I like vegetables).
They’re meant to be served alongside Fennel Pollen Burgers. But, those weren’t for the show. They’re for Friday’s post, so you’ll just have to wait… If you can’t, just make the veggies twice!
Last week there were two special birthdays in our family. My dad turned 60 on Saturday. Unfortunately we couldn’t be there to celebrate with him because we live kinda far away. So we make do with phone calls, Skype dates, and celebrating when we’re all together, even if it’s a completely different time of year.
It’s good to have birthdays, I think. It’s a good reminder to appreciate wonderful individuals. We can appreciate them any day, all year round. We should. We are, aren’t we?! But, on someone’s birthday, we can be reminded of how extra special they are, and thank God that they were born.
I am very thankful for my Dad. He is one of the few people that I know who has always loved his work. So many people complain about their jobs. Not my Dad. He really likes what he does and he’s good at it. What a blessing!
I love seeing the ways I’m similar to my dad, and the ways that I’m different. Dad was the person who inspired me to want to try my hand at photography as a kid. My brothers and I all enjoy it and we get that from him. Dad also loves nature – he told me when we talked on his birthday that he’d spent most of the day outside. He was very pleased about that. We differ a little bit there. I mean, being outside is great, buuuut, I’m not as nature-inclined as he is. I enjoy it, but from a little more of an observer/distance way. Except when it comes to gardening. I don’t mind getting my hands dirty then (but the bugs can stay away – they are not welcome!).
My dad is levelheaded, wise, patient, and kind. He’s silly and can giggle with the best of them too. He is a great dad and I’m thankful for him.
The second birthday that we celebrated was our dog, Brando’s 5th birthday. Yes, we celebrate our dog’s birthday. We buy him bones and toys, bake him dog cookies and take him for a walk. Not too unlike any other day, except that we say the word birthday a lot. 🙂 I think that he thinks it’s special. I could be wrong since he doesn’t speak english.
He and I don’t have as much in common as say my Dad and I do. Although we do both like to walk and eat, so… If he were permitted to, Brando would be eating the same foods that we do at the same time. Since that doesn’t happen very often, he just waits until he hears the sounds of us finishing up our food and begs with his eyes to please clean the plate. He usually gets to since our dishwasher requires a pre-rinse anyways. 🙂
On birthday morning, since we hadn’t walked to the pet store to get him his bone and toy, I made some cookies. I know that he doesn’t know when his birthday begins and ends, but I do and I care. What he cared about was cleaning the batter bowl so carefully. I think he spent about 5 minutes on it. The cookies are really simple and make a cute little treat. I used Gluten Free flour, because we’re trying to avoid gluten in the dog’s diet (hoping it might help with allergy skin), and because I had some, so why not use it. These would also be good human cookies. Just add some maple syrup, honey, or sugar, maybe some chocolate chips or raisins, and they might be good. Might be. They’re dog tested, not people tested. 🙂 Oh and if you add stuff, especially chocolate, don’t give ’em to your dog. You know this. But just in case…
Happy birthday Dad! Happy birthday Brando. One special human, one special dog.
Last modified on 2013-04-01 20:32:48 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Brando’s Peanut Butter Dog Cookies
Recipe Type: Dog Treat, Cookies
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
1 C AP Gluten Free flour
3/4 C rolled oats
3 T peanut butter
1/2 C water
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 225F.
Mix all ingredients together. Dough should be slightly sticky, like cookie dough.
Press out to about 1/2″ thick on a floured surface. Using a cooking cutter or a knife (occasionally dipped in flour so it doesn’t stick) cut into shapes (I used a bone shaped cookie cutter).
Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Bake for 60 minutes (baking time may vary depending on thickness and size of cookies).
