Pupcakes

It was my niece's birthday on Boxing Day, and for her birthday party my aunt Tante made these "pupcakes". This was the same Tante who made the Sesame Street Cupcakes.

I think these turned out to be adorable! I want my own pupcakes when it's my birthday next month.

Quinoa Cakes with Maple Pear Topping

In one of the more recent issues of Everyday Food there was a recipe for Quinoa Cakes. Similar to pancakes, but made with the goodness of quinoa, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite ingredients. The batter gets dropped into the pan in a heaping tablespoon, which will seem small, but it spreads out and puffs up quite a bit. They aren't as light or fluffy as pancakes, but I would go so far as to say that I like them better.
I topped it with a maple pear topping. It is a creation from my friend M, who is a genius in the kitchen. The recipes for both are after the jump.

Pasta with Pancetta, Tomatoes and Onion

Before we get to the food, I must share some of the latest things on my blog. I have added share buttons, which means if you really like my post you can share it by emailing it to a friend, posting it on Facebook, or Twitter. Speaking of Twitter; I have joined the masses. You can follow me, username missnoladyblog. Finally, on the right side of my blog there is a widget that makes it possible for you to tweet or Facebook my blog itself, not just a link to the individual post. Remember kids, sharing is caring, so if you like what I cook, share it!

Ok, let's get to this pasta. This is an Everyday Food recipe, they call it Bucatini with Pancetta, Tomatoes and Onion. I changed it to pasta since I made it with bowties, not bucatini. This was such a cinch to make, most of the ingredients are listed in the title, and the most time consuming part was dicing the pancetta.

Pumpkin Scones

I'm not the biggest fan of pumpkin pie, I think it has to do with the texture and not so much the taste. I love the spices that are used in pumpkin pie; cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. I like the taste of pumpkin, but put them in a pie and something just doesn't add up.
These scones are a perfect way to get your pumpkin pie fix, if you don't actually like the texture of the pie.

Salmon Burgers With Yogurt Dill Sauce

I was flipping through some of my older issues of Everyday Food when I found this recipe for salmon burgers. I know that there are some great benefits (omega 3 fatty acids, for instance) to eating salmon, and I generally like it, but I don't eat it very often. I tend to overlook salmon as a protein that I could be eating for dinner. This recipe caught my eye though, and I made it that night.
The salmon is mixed with horseradish which gives the patty a considerable bite of flavor, but doesn't completely cover up the taste of the salmon. The yogurt dill sauce is a fantastic condiment, and the whole burger comes in at roughly 330 calories. What's not to like about a healthy, filling and delicious meal?
(click "read more" for the recipes for the sides I served with the burgers, and a demonstration of my awesome Paint skills)

Onion and Bacon Soup

I received a text from my friend C the other night, she was asking if I had read the new December issue of Everyday Food. She went on to say that she made the Onion and Bacon Soup, and that her and her husband loved it more than Julia Child's recipe. Which, given how I knew she felt about Julia Child's recipe, meant the recipe had to be really good.
One thing about Julia Child's recipes is that there can be a lot of steps and ingredients involved. Great recipes for the weekend, but if being made in the work week you could end up eating at 9 or 10 pm. This particular Everyday Food recipe has 5 ingredients, and only uses about 10 minutes hands on time.
It is the perfect recipe for supper on a cold, wintry day.

Black Bean Quinoa Quesadillas

In my last post, I made a salad from Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood. The second recipe I tried was their black bean and quinoa quesadillas. The filling contains black beans, quinoa, green onion, corn, tomato and cheese. The result is a light and healthy dinner that is actually pretty filling. The leftovers reheated nicely the next day for lunch (though the tortilla was no longer crisp).

Quinoa isn't something I would necessarily think to stick between a tortilla, but I was pretty happy with the results.

Pomegranate, Almond and Feta Salad

I picked up a new cookbook the other night, Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood. I was pretty impressed by the diversity of recipes using quinoa, or quinoa flour. Quinoa is hailed as a superfood, the description for the book explains why: "One of the world`s healthiest foods, quinoa contains a perfect balance of all eight essential amino acids, and is a great source of protein, making it an increasingly popular food choice for those looking to incorporate `superfoods` into their everyday diets. Gluten-free, wheat-free, and nutrient-packed, quinoa is ideal for those who are health-conscious, vegetarian, and/or physically active, as well as for those with gluten intolerance, wheat allergies, and other digestive disorders. But that`s not all: You can eat quinoa guiltlessly knowing it`s free of cholesterol and trans fats. In Quinoa 365 sisters Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming show you how to use this miraculous superfood in all your favourite dishes."

Clearly it is awesome for you. The first recipe I made from the book was for a pomegranate, almond and feta salad. I can't get enough of it, I have ate it at four meals in the past two days. This salad is so good, it comes close to changing my mind about salad as a meal.

(also click "read more" to see a super cute picture)

Asian Meatballs

It's no secret that I love Everyday Food. When I received the newest issue in the mail, I immediately flagged a few recipes I wanted to make. The Asian Turkey Meatballs with Carrot Rice was the first one that I tried, though I made it with ground pork instead of turkey. (Ground pork is cheaper)
I was skeptical of how flavourful the meatballs would be, but I needn't have worried. Everyday Food recommended serving them with lime wedges and a squeeze of lime on the meatballs was perfect, it balanced out the spiciness from the hot sauce.

(also hit "read more" for a Sweet Marie bar recipe)

Sesame Street Cupcakes

My aunt, or Tante as I call her, has been making my nephew's birthday party cake for as long as I can remember. She made the following for previous birthday parties of his:

Last week I was looking at foodgawker, when I found the cutest Cookie Monster cupcakes, courtesy of Penguin Says Feed Me.   Since it was my nephew's birthday this weekend, I sent the link to my sister and told her she should ask my aunt to make them for his birthday.
My aunt did not disappoint. She even went beyond the Cookie Monster cupcakes, and made four different Sesame Street characters. I apologize for the poor quality of photos below. I forgot my camera at home and was relying on my cell phone to take these.

Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch

Elmo

Big Bird

The Cookie Monster ones were my favorite. Probably because it involved a cupcake and a cookie, together!

Smushed Banana Sandwich

This may look like I topped a bagel with baby food, but looks aside, this sandwich is delicious. The mashed banana is mixed with shredded coconut, maple syrup and cinnamon. I served it with apple slices which came in handy to scoop up the mash that fell out of the bagels.

Apples, No Pie, a la Mode

I'm just going to get down to the nitty gritty, this dessert was so good I made it twice in the same week. Both times I served it to company. The second time I made it, I accidentally browned the butter in the initial stage, I discarded it and added new butter which was a bit brown from the remnants of my mistake, but it still turned out really good.
This has all the makings of an apple pie (crust less, obviously) but it only takes about 10 minutes from start to finish to prepare.
The type of ice cream for a la mode part is important. If you are going to use vanilla ice cream, find the vanilla ice cream with flecks of real vanilla bean in it. If it doesn't have the vanilla bean in it, you are purchasing an inferior product.

Pasta with Leeks, Peas and Prosciutto

This is one of the easiest pasta dishes I have ever made. The dish is one of those that takes no effort or time, but the results are impressive. The most time consuming part of this was slicing up leeks, and since leeks cooking in butter is the greatest smell ever, it's well worth it.

Chipotle Chicken Pizza

I made a quesidilla a while ago that involved chipotles, chicken, avocado and monterey jack cheese. The quesidilla turned out to be so delicious that I took that concept and turned it into a pizza.

Pumpkin Bars That Are More Like Cake

On Sunday I had a killer day at the gym. I beat my personal best time for a 5k run on the treadmill, I ran straight for 13 minutes, and then I weighed myself. I have lost 19 lbs since I started going to the gym! I celebrated the 19 lb loss by buying myself a new pair of jeans (the smallest size I have bought in years) and by making this cake, courtesy of Paula Deen. She named the recipe pumpkin bars, but I think it's much more like a cake than a bar.

Spiced Carrot Cake

I have been on a bit of an Everyday Food kick lately. I have over four years' worth of issues piled up and I have started feeling bad about how little use I get out of them. I made this spiced carrot cake the other night and I was thrilled with the results. I could still taste the carrots, but it was very subtle. The glaze kept the cake moist, even over the next couple days. I topped it with a bit of Cool Whip that I had lying around, but it wasn't necessary.

Veggie Burgers

If you ask me, a burger without meat is not really a burger. Even though Everyday Food calls these bad boys a Veggie Burger, I call it a tasty sandwich. The patty is mainly made of bulgur and beans, with a few mix-ins to give it some flavor. The patty is pan fried to give it a crisp outside, and it remains soft in the middle. I really enjoyed them, they had great texture and taste.

Greek Quinoa Salad

I have blogged about my Greek salad before. I have made it as is, or tossed in some pasta to make Greek pasta salad. This time I added cooked quinoa to the mix. Quinoa is pronounced keen-wa, and contrary to popular belief it's a seed, not a grain. Quinoa is an great source of fiber, protein and is also gluten-free. To make it you simmer one part quinoa to two parts water for 15-20 minutes. I used half a cup of uncooked quinoa which resulted in just over a cup of cooked quinoa. If you are adding quinoa to my Greek salad, use a bit more olive oil and lemon juice than what the recipe calls for. 

Click here for another quinoa salad that has been posted on this blog.

Appocado Salad

I'm sorry that I haven't posted in so long, sometimes life can get in the way of the things we actually want to be doing. I am here, and hope to be posting regularly again.

A couple weeks ago a my friend M took me to a restaurant in Edmonton called Dadeo, which features Cajun and Creole cuisine. I ordered a crab cake po' boy (amazing), and sweet potato fries. My friend ordered "appocado salad" as her side. Appocado is an apple and avocado combination. I tried a bite of hers, and I knew I had to re-create the salad at home.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

I found a recipe for snickerdoodle blondies on FoodGawker, and I had to make them. The picture on the blog I got it from shows a light and fluffy blondie. I made the recipe exactly as directed, and somehow I ended up with a blondie that was pretty dense, and tasted more like gingerbread than a snickerdoodle. However, I happen to really like gingerbread, and so I really liked these.

(also see after the jump for a picture of my second attempt at cinnamon buns)

Greek Pasta Salad

I love Greek salad, and I love pasta. Combine the two, and you have my favorite summer side dish. Feels weird talking about summer right now, as Edmonton has had a bit of a cold snap and the weather is miserable. But, no matter the weather, this Greek pasta salad is delicious.

Cinnamon Buns

I love The Pioneer Woman. I have only one small problem, she is generous with the fat and sugar in her recipes. So generous, that sometimes I wonder if she is doing it for shock value. I have her cookbook, and she has a recipe for the most incredible looking cinnamon buns. I tweaked the recipe slightly to lower some of the health concerns I had regarding them, and this is what I came up with:

Mac n Cheese

I was on holidays this previous week. Normally I would try to make write a couple posts and set them up to post throughout my holidays, but I am an idiot. I thought I was on holidays this current week, and found out last Saturday that I was actually gone this past week. So it was a mad scramble to get ready to go, and preparing blogs fell to the wayside.
I made individual mac and cheese before I left. The recipe is from Everyday Food.

Taco Cups

I was watching Eat, Shrink and Be Merry the other night. On the show two sisters always compete with a restaurant's signature dish. The restaurant makes it the way they usually do, and the sisters make the recipe over in a healthy way.
The episode I watched was taco salad, and it inspired the following.

Calzone

Sorry for the lack of posting that has been going on lately. I am still here, and I am trying to cook when I can. I made calzones the other night. Ever since my friend A made these for me, I have been craving them in a bad way.

Baked Chimichangas

Chimichangas are deep fried burritos. I have made something close to a chimichanga before, only I pan fried them instead of deep frying. Recently I made a new attempt at chimichangas, making them crispy by baking them instead of frying.

Breakfast Bakes

I had half a loaf of french bread leftover from dinner one night. The next day I wanted to use up the bread, but as it was a day old and slightly stale, slicing it up and serving it alongside dinner wasn't an option. I had an intense craving for french toast, and while I was searching for recipes I found one that inspired a french toast bake. Read after the jump for the recipe for the french toast bake, as well as a savoury breakfast bake.

Stromboli

It's very rare for me to eat something that is so good, I have to make it the next day as well. My friend A made us calzones one night, that were so delicious I was inspired to make them for dinner the next night. Calzones are a delicious pizza type product, but with no sauce on the inside. Strombolis have sauce in them, and a lot of people mistakenly refer to strombolis as calzones.

A's calzone had a filling of spinach, green pepper, red pepper, green onion, mushrooms, ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese. I wanted to make them exactly the same, only my grocery store was out of ricotta, so I changed my plans and made strombolis instead.

The picture above is not a stromboli, obviously. After the jump I have included pictures of the stromboli, and the recipe for the spinach salad pictured at the top of the post.

Pulled Pork

I love love love cooking things in my slow cooker, or "the wife". Sometimes I can get stuck at work late, and it's nice knowing that I have supper waiting for me when I get home.

I have never made pulled pork before, I think this may be the first time I have used pork in my slow cooker. I found the recipe on Iowa Girl Eats. I used her basic recipe, but changed a couple things. (also click the "read more" for a faux ice cream recipe)

Simple Pizza

10 Awesome Things, Part 2

6) Being Tweeted

In Part 1 of my list I included The Bitten Word, as one of the awesome things. On Thursday I noticed that Clay and Zach commented on my post! Which was crazy exciting in itself. Then I checked my stats as I always do. Usually the locations of my readers are in Edmonton or Calgary, and on Thursday it was all places in the States, which was really unusual so I checked the referring website which was Twitter. Since I am such a genius, I figured the two might be related and I checked The Bitten Word's Twitter and saw:

Since I am not an Internet genius I can't figure out how to zoom into this, but the second Tweet says "Does this mean that Bruce Willis is now our #1 enemy? Yes, I think it does" and right beside that is a link to my blog. This may be embarrassing to admit, but I was more excited than a 13 year old girl at a Jonas Brothers concert.

7) Avocados. I have been eating avocados like crazy lately. I have put avocado on top of burgers, in wraps, guacamole, and tossing into salads.

This salad is made with carrot, celery, red pepper, avocado (tossed in lime juice), spinach leaves and dressed with Everyday Food's Shallot Vinaigrette.

8) Holidays

I am taking holidays this week, and I am heading out of town (I DON'T LIVE ALONE, SO MY PLACE WILL NOT BE EMPTY). I'm going to Jasper, Alberta for a couple days and I really cannot wait to be there! 

9) (never home) maker.

My friend sent me a link to this blog, and I love it. They talk a lot about running, which is something I have gotten into lately. (call me crazy) They also have lots of really tasty looking recipes. They are vegetarians, however, so there isn't any meat. sadface. Aside from being meatless, I do love this blog.

10) Pizza

One of my all time favorite foods is pizza. I have been making it at home a lot, and the other night I made this one...

Guacamole Turkey Burgers

When I was younger, there was no way I would ever put green mushy dip into my mouth and attempt to swallow and digest said mush. Little did I know, that avocados are one of the greatest things around. My friend C made guacamole for me once (well, for an entire party, but I was there) and I tried it, and it was to die for.
I have wrote about the guacamole here. If you haven't made it, you are missing out in a big way. Hands down the best guacamole ever.

I was craving guacamole the other day, but I wanted to do something more than just eat it with tortilla chips. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I do it all the time, but I was kind of bored of it.

Outside the Plate

I started this blog because I love to write, and I love to cook. I thought this would be a great way to combine the two, and I was right. I love cooking different things for the sake of writing about them, and I absolutely love getting feedback from people. (Speaking of, about 5 of my last posts have been commentless, c'mon people)
However, my food posts are almost always littered with my thoughts, opinions and random nonsense. I really want YMANL to be food focused, but I still want to write about random everythings. I have started a new blog, Outside the Plate. This will cover everything that isn't about food, so I can keep the focus on this one about food.

Rebekah

Stuffed Peppers

10 Awesome Things (Part 1)

1) The Expendables. The Expendables is a movie that is coming out in August. I can't tell you anything about the plot, because I do not know what it's going to be about. I do know that it's my movie dreams come true because the following people are in it:

Yes, that is correct. Jason Statham and Bruce Willis in the SAME MOVIE.

2) The Bitten Word. I have a mass amount of cookbooks and cooking magazines in my house. I do use them a lot, but not nearly enough considering the amount of money that I have spent on them. Facing the same issue, the writers of The Bitten Word made a resolution to use recipes from their collection of food magazines and started this blog. Their pictures are beautiful and they feature a lot of recipes from Everyday Food, one of my personal favorites.

3) TV on DVD. I love being able to sit and watch a season of a TV show in my own time, and not schedule my life around when it airs on television. I also love when an episode ends in a cliff hanger, and I just have to hit play to see what happens, and not wait an entire week.

4) Farmer's Market Saturdays. I can't describe how much I love going through the farmer's market. It's a really lovely way to spend a Saturday morning.

5) Lululemon! I have been spending mad amounts of time at the gym lately, so I am practically living in Lululemon. I only wish it was acceptable to wear it everywhere else, they are so comfortable! My newest purchase was these pants:

And to make it even more awesome, I got them on sale for only $39!

I picked up bell peppers on my most recent trip to the farmer's market, and wasn't sure what I would do with them, until I remembered that the roommate sister loves stuffed peppers. Fillings for stuffed peppers can vary, and I went with a spicy chili filling.

Pancakes

Throughout the week my breakfast consists mainly of cereal. I love cereal, but when the weekend rolls around I love to make more substantial breakfasts like bacon and eggs or pancakes.
I once made these pancakes for D, when she got stranded in Edmonton for a week. It was right around the time that egg nog was available in the grocery store, and I thought it would be Christmassy to make the pancakes with egg nog.
Problem. Egg nog is way thicker than milk, so the batter didn't actually pour, it kind of just glopped. The outside of the pancakes were dark, and the insides were raw. I tried to convince her that I have successfully made pancakes before, and it was the egg nog that tripped me up, but I don't know if she believed me.
The pancake recipe comes from Everyday Food. I put E in charge of making them this past weekend, as we had company and I didn't want another one of my guests to think I don't know how to make pancakes. (Sure, she can make a mean beef bourguignon, but pancakes allude her?)

To top it off I made a berry sauce. I used about a cup and a half of fresh berries (blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries). I put the berries in a saucepan and sprinkled them with about a tbsp of sugar. I put them on the stove over medium heat. The berries end up breaking down and releasing all their juices, which turns into a pretty tasty sauce as is. This was not enough for me, and I added a generous splash of rum to the mix. I let it bubble away for about 5-7 minutes before removing from the heat. (If you prefer your berry sauce rumless, you could add orange juice for flavor)

Isn't my mini gravy boat the cutest thing you have ever seen?
Since pancakes with berries would be incomplete without whipped cream, I took some Cool Whip, mixed in a dash of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla, and served that alongside the pancakes.

Avocado Wraps

It's been the hottest week I have seen in a while, and for two nights this week I was making soup. Call me crazy. By last night I was ready to make a meal that required little to no cooking, and wouldn't be hot when consumed.

For the past week and a half I have been craving avocado. I make a mean guacamole (thanks to C), but I was wanting something different. Original Joe's makes a turkey club wrap that inspired the wrap I made last night.

Rebekah's Avocado Chicken Wraps

1) I started out by taking a chicken breast and cutting it into bite sized cubes. I added just under a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil to a skillet, and heated it over med-high. Once the oil was hot, I added the chicken cubes to the skillet. When the chicken was starting to brown, I topped it with a Tex-Mex seasoning. When the chicken was cooked, I took it off the heat. The whole process took maybe 5 minutes.

2) I cut an avocado in half, removed the pit, and scooped the "meat" out of the shell. Then I sliced each half into thin slices, and immediately squeezed lime juice over top. From an actual lime. This was to prevent the avocado from browning, and also because I feel avocado and lime go hand in hand. I can't have avocado without it being covered in lime juice.

3) I took a Roma tomato, cut it in half and discarded the juice and seeds. Then I diced what remained.

4) I cut a red onion into thin slivers. In the picture the red onion is missing, because I forgot to put it in the wrap before eating. Idiot.

5) I used my microwave to cook 4 slices of bacon until crisp. If you make this wrap (which I strongly suggest), you can crisp up bacon any way you wish.

6) I placed a tortilla on a plate, topped it with half the chicken, 2 slices of bacon, and half of the avocado and tomato. I should have also thrown on some onion, but as stated before, I forgot that step.

DELICIOUS. I could eat these all week long.

To go with it I made a quinoa salad that I found on FoodGawker. Quinoa is a seed, often referred to as a grain. Quinoa is really high in protein, is good for your heart, and is also gluten free. The seeds are slightly bigger than couscous, but are still pretty tiny.

The salad consists of quinoa, radish, cucumber and avocado. Like I said, I have been craving avocado in a big way lately. It's dressed with a dressing made from lime juice, olive oil, cumin and seasoning.

I really liked this salad. It was really easy to make, the cooking of the quinoa only took 15 minutes. A really refreshing break from eating soups during the hot weather we have been enjoying here.

Tomato Soup Take 2

I realize that this post may make it seem like I am not in possession of a heart. I want to make it clear that even though I am poking fun at someone, I mean it lightheartedly.

Currently I am referring to my apartment as the infirmary. My sister R, who lives with me, has contracted some sort of plague. She has seen three different doctors, who have all diagnosed her. Unfortunately they all have different opinions as to what plague she has. (Personally, if it was me I would be demanding to see Dr. Gregory House)

Right now she can only eat things that are easy on a sore throat, like ice cream and soup. Being the wonderful sister and nurse that I am, I told her I would make her soup on Monday night for supper. What I didn't check, before idiotically promising to make her soup, was the weather forecast.

It was 28 C in Edmonton yesterday, or around 85 F. My office was so hot that one could cook an egg on my desk. Realizing that my apartment would be a similar temperature, I called R in the afternoon and instructed her that if she wanted soup (WHY????), that she needed to turn on the air conditioner.

I got home, and the infirmary was moderately cool. It was comfortable enough that I could make the soup, but still warm enough that I would have preferred making the soup in my ginch.

Now R, where was she when I was slaving over a hot stove, in 28 degree weather? On the couch, buried under a mass pile of blankets. At one point I looked over, and she had a blanket wrapped around her face. She looked like a man who had gone to the barber for a shave and had the hot towel wrapped around his head.

My first instinct was to take a picture with my Blackberry and send it to my sister E. As much as I would love to post the real picture up here, I think R might be upset, and I'm not totally cruel. So I used my awesome skills in Paint to give you the idea of what the invalid looked like.

It was the funniest thing I had seen in a long time. Those of you who think I am an awful person, keep in mind at the time I was making HOT SOUP for the invalid as I was cooking myself. I really do feel bad for her that she feels so awful, and I don't think it's hilarious that she's sick, just the head wrapping was funny to me.

I made her tomato soup. I thought about making the tomato soup that I posted about back in February, then I decided to try a different one for the sake of my blog. The inspiration came from here, but I adapted it a bit, so I will write out my recipe below.

Rebekah's Tomato Soup, loosely based from Ezra Pound Cake (serves 4-5)

Ingredients

- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus more for garnish, optional)

- one onion

- two cloves garlic

- one 28 oz can San Marzano whole tomatoes

- 1/2 tsp red chili flakes

- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf

- 1 cup of chicken stock

- 1.5 slices of white french bread

- 1.5 cups cooked macaroni (optional)

Note: I made this soup with the intention of pureeing it at the end. If you do not want to puree it, then use an onion that has been diced, and mince the garlic cloves. Use a potato masher or spoon to break up the whole tomatoes.

1) In a large pot heat the oil over medium high. Slice the onion into thin strips and add to the pot. Once the onions have softened (about two minutes), add two cloves of garlic that have been sliced. Saute for another minute.

2) Add the chili flakes, thyme, bay leaf, tomatoes, and chicken stock. It is important to use a good quality of canned tomato, since it is the main ingredient of the soup. If you can't find San Marzano, use canned tomatoes that have been imported from Italy.

3) Rip the bread into chunks and add it to the pot. My soup was looking really thick at this point so I added about a half cup of water.

4) Bring to a boil, turn the heat down to low and simmer for about thirty minutes.

5) Remove the bay leaf, and puree the soup using a hand immersion blender. Or a regular blender if you don't have a hand immersion one.

6) Stir in the cooked macaroni, if using

7) Ladle into bowls, and drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top, if using

After my trip to the farmer's market two weeks ago, I was left with a lot of fresh basil. I thought about making pesto, but I made a simple basil oil instead. I made it by adding about 1.5 cups of fresh basil, and 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil to a food processor. I pureed it, let it sit for an hour, then strained the oil into a bowl. This is will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

Instead of using plain evoo for the tomato soup, I used a tbsp of my basil oil to saute the onion and garlic. I also used the basil oil for the drizzle garnish.

The effect was amazing. The soup had a really fresh hint of basil. If you make the soup and don't want to make the basil oil, you can add the basil flavor by adding some fresh basil just before serving.

I liked this soup better than the one I previously blogged about. The macaroni isn't necessary, but ever since I was a kid I have always had tomato soup with macaroni in it, so I add it.

I used french bread for the soup. The bread gives the soup a certain thickness and texture, that it isn't getting from a fatty cream addition. Since the soup only called for a slice and a half, I had almost a whole loaf left. I sliced the remainder and laid the slices on a baking sheet. I brushed each slice with a bit of the basil oil and grated Parmesan cheese on top. I put this under the broiler for a couple minutes until the bread was golden, and the cheese had melted. A very nice accompaniment for the soup.