Cooking

I've been trying a few new dishes lately, mostly soups.  With a chicken or beef stock as base, there are a lot of different types of soups that can be made fairly quickly and easily daily:

•  An Asian soup can be made by just adding some tofu, green onions, and imitation crab meat
•  A Mediterranean stew by mixing curried tomatoes and cucumbers with garbanzo beans
• A Fish stew by mixing curried tomatoes with garlic spinach, and then adding fresh fish at the end
• Any vegetables can be mixed with cooked chicken and rice to make a one-pot meal

Also, in a clay pot, I slowly cooked vegetables with some mock abalone.  Then, when making the soup, I added rice and then fish at the end.

French Onion soup actually turned out surprisingly well also.   Just sauteeing onion in olive oil till it browns, and then adding water and simmer for a couple of hours is already fairly tasty.  Adding broth instead of water would probably be even better.    I baked diced bread mixed with olive oil to make croutons (baking time is short, since it can burn easily).   So, the soup topped with croutons and cheese, then baked, not only tastes good; but, also looks nice presentation-wise.

I've found that stock can be made the normal way, boiling celery, carrots, and any meat bones, mixed in with a variety of herbs (cilantro, parsley, etc).   But, I can also use the bones from marinated meat that is cooked, and the bones removed.  The flavor from the marinade and cooking is then added to the stock.

The other thing I made was a parfait.   I made granola by baking oats, flax seed, chopped walnuts, brown sugar, butter, honey, brown sugar, and maple syrup.   Optionally, coconut flakes and vanilla may be added as well.  Again, baking time is short since this can burn easily.   Then, to make the parfait, layer Greek yogurt (it would be good to get one that is more sweet - the nonfat one I got was a little "bitter") with granola and fruit that has been soaking in orange juice; repeat, and then top with orange zest.  This makes for a nice breakfast, or even for a snack or dessert.

I also tried making a modified version of a sausage paella.  This would seem like a good potluck dish.  I pan fried onions with smoked sausage, then added rice, water, and peas at the very end, until water was gone and rice was cooked.  It seemed like it needed a little more in the dish, so maybe adding the traditional bell pepper may be useful; or maybe just tomato and turmeric, particularly for the added color.