Winter days are quite the challenge here in Chicago, so I’m always trying to find ways to warm up with food. I haven’t had a cold salad in months, as I just really believe in eating as many hot meals as possible, and I never have cold drinks in the winter. Even the sandwiches I make are on toasted bread with melted cheese- am I the only one who does this in the winter months?
That said I’m always experimenting with my favorite type of meal: soups. And my favorite type of soups are the Italian-inspired ones because I love anything with lots of tomatoes and lots of garlic. Now add some greens and a really rich broth and we’re in business…
That’s why I’ve made this Tuscan Kale and Chickpea Soup. It’s “Tuscan” because the kale is of the Tuscan seed variety, and it’s one I feel I can digest better than the other varieties, for some reason. It’s a long, thin variety and the stems aren’t so thick that I feel like I need to chop them like crazy before throwing them into the soup.
If you make pasta dishes often, you probably have most of the ingredients necessary to make this; and if you know how important a good broth is, you can make your own or use the convenient, halal option of Saffron Road’s Classic Culinary Vegetable Broth. In Chicago, I find my stash at Jewel grocery stores in their organic foods section. They can also sometimes be found in The Fresh Market stores, Whole Foods Markets and I’ve also seen their simmer sauces in World Market! That’s some amazing presence in the retail food world.
I like to start my soup with, of course, chopped onion and garlic (because that gives everything the base of flavor most dishes need), but also some of the very best tomato sauce or crushed/diced tomatoes you can find.
The broth will add a lot of flavor and color, too. You can use chicken broth if you like, but it will obviously change the flavor. Saffron Road carries two types of halal broths that might interest you, which you can see more about here.
Add the chickpeas and kale.
Once the soup is done, I like to keep it in mason jars in the fridge or freezer. Last time I made so much that I had to freeze some and when I defrosted it, it was absolutely perfect.
I simply simmer it in a pan and serve.
You can, however, add some type of pasta noodle to this soup, but I don’t recommend doing this if you think you may end up freezing it, as the noodles end up broken and makes the soup starchy and frankly, look a bit messy. We do eat with our eyes first, after all…
If you want to add noodles, I suggest small ones like ditalini or pennette (small penne) because there is already a lot going on in the soup and those smaller noodles are a similar size to the chickpeas so they just go together nicely in your mouth. That’s important, too.
I love, love, love this soup for lunch. In fact, I’ve been having it for days. I especially love it with freshly grated Pecorino cheese on top, after it’s warmed up and just before eating.
Because it’s pretty filling, you may or may not want to have a sandwich with it. If I make it with pasta, I don’t eat any bread with it because of the carbs, but maybe you want a piece of rustic bread to sop up all the tasty liquids at the bottom of your bowl. Who knows, just make it, warm yourself up and treat yourself to a wholesome, delicious bowl of goodness, day or night. Once you make it yourself, I believe you will really taste the difference between making your own and going out for a soup and sandwich. You tell me, once you’ve tried this recipe for yourself!
*This post was sponsored by Saffron Road. All opinions and recipe creations and photos and opinions are of my own design.
If you’re like me, sometimes there isn’t time to think about really fancy appetizers when you’re having guests over because you’re so focused on the main event, (the actual dinner) and, of course, the dessert, which most guests really look forward to when they’re invited to your house and don’t have to cook a thing. It can be a lot to orchestrate and these days no one really ever expects appetizers anyway, but you can be different because this, my friends, is super easy. So easy, in fact, you’ll make it for yourself and your family even when you don’t have dinner guests coming. Maybe not just as an appetizer, but as a snack or even an open lunch sandwich for yourself. Anyway, it’s pretty versatile, so you can see where I’m going with this…
Pulling from my Sicilian side of my heritage, one of the first dishes I ever tasted when I went to Sicily was a simple Roasted Pepper Salad, made by my uncle from fresh, local and always normally organic red and green peppers. If other colors were available, they would go in, as well. So, in the summertime, that’s what I use; in the wintertime, I use a jar of peppers but I don’t like the vinegar-y taste so I tend to rinse that off. They must be nicely roasted for me to buy them, however, because that’s the whole point of this recipe and that’s what makes them taste so good. Otherwise, forget it, it’s just not the same dish at all.
In my first cookbook, Summer Ramadan Cooking, I included the recipe for just the salad- and for many reasons. First and foremost because I make this all the time myself; and second, I also serve it to guests who seem to really love it. Most home cooks can access peppers, olives, capers, garlic, olive oil, lemon, and parsley- the ingredients in it, so that makes it a plus for suggesting it.
In this particular recipe that I recently posted a photo on Instagram (seen above) which showed me making it as an appetizer on toast with mozzarella. Essentially this ‘salad’ is part of the mezze (appetizer) table at a Sicilian lunch, but I was looking for a new way to eat it, something a little heartier because I had no time to make anything heartier for myself that day. What I always have on hand, however, is some rustic sourdough bread and fresh mozzarella. That works for me. Toast the bread, add the mozza, which essentially melts on the hot toast and then add the prepared salad on top. Bellisimo!
If you were serving this as an appetizer, you could gut the bread in half or in fours to make it even smaller and do the same thing; or do the really rustic way and serve single pieces- one per person will have them satisfied for a good long while.
See? Versatile: 1) an open sandwich; 2) small appetizers; 3) large appetizers; 4) just eat the salad.
What do you think? Will you make this? How will you serve it up?
I don’t eat too much rice or pasta in Ramadan because it leaves me feeling too full before eating other things, but if I’m going to make rice, it’s a special dish. That’s why I love risotto, the Italian rice dish made with arborio rice.
It can seem intimidating to cook because it’s often cooked with cream and Parmesancheese, but hopefully I can show you the steps to make it perfect- light and fluffy and creamy and delicious- exactly how it should be. Once you master it this way, you’ll want to keep your pantry stocked with arborio for any last-minute meal side dish you crave that can be made into a wonderful risotto of your own style.
For this one made with cut asparagus (it cooks faster) and green peas, it really came out of my usual cooking style: either something classic from my family culinary recipe box or out of what I ended up finding in my refrigerator and thought would go well together.
In this case, it was a little bit of both.
What I had in my fridge was what reminded me of dishes I’ve made in the past based on either my mother’s or my aunts’ cooking styles- so it was a little bit of both here. Regardless of where and how it was derived, it’s just superb in taste.
You can also use some chicken stock or broth to add flavor and nutrients to the rice.
The key to cooking the arborio rice is to let it steam cook at the end, once it’s off the stove. I have played around with many ways of making it. If you want to skip the addition of Parmesan cheese, then you don’t have to even open the lid once it’s cooking; if you add the Parmesan then you’ll have to stir it in (towards the end) just to make sure it’s mixed in thoroughly.
It’s such a fantastic one-pot rice dish that if you’re interested in having just this for dinner or any other meal, I am pretty sure it could be quite satisfying and filling that way, too.
Over the early part of the summer when Ramadan was in full swing, I took advantage of the somewhat cooler weather and made soups for Iftar (meal that breaks the fast). The main reason for that was not only the fact that I love how soups really acclimate my stomach to food after fasting, but more motivation actually came from the beautiful fresh greens I began finding at a local farm stand run by Loyola University called the Loyola University Retreat Campus in Woodstock, IL. There’s a very nice farmer named Emily who runs the greenhouses, gardens and Friday farmsteads and I’ve come to familiarize myself with what’s there every week and try to plan my meals around what’s being sold, if I’m in town at the time. What has been constantly abundant and beautiful has been the Tuscan kale and the beets, which I actually buy more for the greens than the beet itself, although I do use both.
A photo posted by Yvonne Maffei (@myhalalkitchen) on
I use these greens the same or the next day, usually. To keep them fresh and crisp I wrap them in paper towels and put them in a brown paper bag and don’t wash them until just before cooking. Once I do wash them, it’s always in cool water, leaving them in the water for a few minutes which really freshens them up even more.
I love all the beautiful and bright colors, and the other thing about this soup is that you don’t have to strictly use the kale and the beet greens, but instead you can use just one. Also, you can add some fresh broccoli into it, too. It’s that versatile and so rather than just follow the recipe strictly use what you have or what is fresh and local and appealing and I’m sure it’ll come out tasting fabulous. Just take a look at this color- isn’t it simply inspiring?
And the key ingredient, the key to making any soup nice and rich and healthy- is the broth. If you can, don’t just use water. Water is great and all, but in order to give your body the minerals and vitamins it may be craving to be healthy and strong, real beef, chicken or lamb broth is a wonderful ingredient to include. My go-to convenient, halal and healthyoption if I haven’t had time to make my own is the Saffron Road variety. It’s spoiled me a lot (in a good way) to be able to grab a box at the store, know and trust that it’s completely halal, and wholesome.
I used the Artisan Roasted Chicken broth variety but you could also use their Culinary Classic Chicken Broth variety.
Now that Ramadan is way over, I’m still making soups over the summer, but I’ve also got a taste for trying new things- have you seen the new Fish Bowls from Saffron Road? How cool do those look? I have yet to try them, so let’s do it together!
I’m giving away one week’s worth of Saffron Road coupons so that you can try something new every day of the week– they have so many cool, convenient halal, gluten-free and Non-GMO products like frozen entrees, lentil crackers, lamb broth (trying finding another brand that makes that), and even desserts!
Here’s how this fun giveaway works:
U.S. participants only. I know, bummer. Sorry, guys and gals, but products are only available in the U.S., but anyone in the world can watch our Instagram feed once the giveaway is over and food pics are shared :)
Entrants must have an Instagram account that they will use to share pics with the Saffron Road products they buy from the coupons received.
To enter, go to the PRODUCTS section of Saffron Road and see the types of items they have.
Leave a comment about which one(s) you’d love to be able to try with your FREE coupons for FREE Saffron Road products.
Check back here and on my Instagram account for the winner, which will be announced on August 12, 2016. No more entries will be accepted after August 8, 2016. As a winner, you agree to post pics of the products (i.e. shopping, packages, your dish, etc.) using the hashtag #mhksaffronroadfoodpics and tagging both @saffronroadfood and @myhalalkitchen on Instagram. Once that’s happening, anyone can follow the food pics using the hashtag #mhksaffronroadfoodpics!
Have fun exploring some of those really great halal global cuisine products and share this with all the foodies you know!
If you’ve never had Risotto, now’s the time to try it. Yes, it’s most popular as an Italian style rice, but anyone can make it. Actually, I think it’s even easier to make than some of the other types of rice, the only difference being that you should spend a lot of time stirring it while it cooks.
It’s so easy to make and some people enjoy it as a meal all its own, otherwise it makes a wonderful side dish for any season. If you don’t like mushrooms you can even make it with other veggies like chopped asparagus. Want it vegetarian? Make it with Saffron Road’s Classic Culinary Vegetable Broth instead. Either way, it’s delicioso!
2 tablespoons butter (salted is fine if you pull back on the salt later in the recipe. Taste as you cook!)
3 cloves garlic, minced (be sure it is either organic or at least not bleached white on the bottom. There should be some hair/roots on the bottom of garlic to ensure it has not been bleached)
Wash mushrooms thoroughly by placing in a bowl with fresh cool water. Swish the mushrooms around and rub the tops with your thumbs to remove any dirt. Lift the mushrooms out of the water as opposed to pouring the water out. Brush off any excess dirt with a towel and dry them completely so they will brown properly when cooking.
In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat the butter over medium flame. When it froths, add the olive oil, mushrooms and garlic, cook until all of the liquid from the mushrooms evaporate completely and they begin to brown.
Add the rice and cook for about 1-2 minutes, stirring the whole time. Add the half and half, broth, salt, pepper and parsley. Cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring continuously. Cover with a lid to finish cooking, about an additional 5-10 minutes on low.
Remove from heat and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese upon serving.
Just because it’s not summer, it doesn’t mean you can’t still indulge in a craving for fresh produce and a taste of sunny Italy…at least I don’t deny myself that when I find great organic tomatoes, fresh basil and of course the best fresh mozzarella around. It’s such a treat and takes away some of those winter blues.
Choose a variety of fresh tomatoes- yellow or red, if you like. And always, always choose fresh mozzarella, as that is the key ingredient. Fresh mozzarella can be found in logs in the cheese section of many grocers or in plastic containers in the dairy aisle near things like cottage cheese. It may come in small balls labeled, bocconcini, too.
You can find a few brands made with vegetarian rennet and enzymes (or just look for cheese that is suitable for vegetarians). Check out my Cheese & Dairy Page for brands and links to things I recommend.
Overall, it’s so easy to build and goes great as a snack, side to a meal or even put it together to throw onto a sandwich. Well, don’t actually throw it.
Add the chickpeas and kale.
You can, however, add some type of pasta noodle to this soup, but I don’t recommend doing this if you think you may end up freezing it, as the noodles end up broken and makes the soup starchy and frankly, look a bit messy. We do eat with our eyes first, after all…
I love, love, love this soup for lunch. In fact, I’ve been having it for days. I especially love it with freshly grated Pecorino cheese on top, after it’s warmed up and just before eating. 
Because it’s pretty filling, you may or may not want to have a sandwich with it. If I make it with pasta, I don’t eat any bread with it because of the carbs, but maybe you want a piece of rustic bread to sop up all the tasty liquids at the bottom of your bowl. Who knows, just make it, warm yourself up and treat yourself to a wholesome, delicious bowl of goodness, day or night. Once you make it yourself, I believe you will really taste the difference between making your own and going out for a soup and sandwich. You tell me, once you’ve tried this recipe for yourself!
