Wintermelon soup.

This is a soup I grew up eating. My dad always made it with beef or
pork and a meat broth. The spirit of the soup is simple and light yet
earthy with cooling subtle flavors.

I decided to try a veggie broth version.
I made a fresh stock using onion, celery and cilantro.

Remove rind and seeds from enough wintermelon to make 3 cups.
Cut into 1 inch pieces.

Add:

3 cups of chopped wintermelon to
4 cups stock

Simmer until melon turns translucent. Salt to taste. You can garnish
with cilantro, buy usually I prefer the simple clear broth and melon
without additions. Scrumptious!

Veggie Soup and Stock

Simple vegetable soup. Simply strain and squeeze out veggies for a

nourishing broth. Cures what ails you!

Dice:

4 medium onions

2 cups carrots

2 cups celery with leaves

2 cups potatoes

Add 2 tbsp olive oil to a large soup pot and over medium heat:
Sautee onions till color begins to change.

Add carrots and celery and cook for a few minutes.

Add potatoes and water till it covers veggies by almost 2 inches.

Add an herb bouquet that might contain:

A bunch of parsley

2 bay leaves

Several sprigs of thyme

A few leaves of sage

Also add:

1 tsp black pepper or peppercorns

2 cloves

1/2 tsp fennel seed

A small piece of ginger

A squeeze or slice of lemon

Bring to a boil then turn down to simmer for 20 minutes.

Salt to taste. Scrumptious!

Quinoa Arugula Salad with Hazelnuts

I hesitate to call this a salad because salads are thought of as more
of a side dish and this could more than pull it's own as a main
course. And yet with the arugula you're getting your green leafy veg
too! Score!


1 cup quinoa rinsed and cooked in 2 cups water (I used half red quinoa and half regular)

You can gently toast the quinoa before cooking. Add water and bring
to boil then simmer for 10 to 15 minutes till grains are cooked
through, bit still have a little bite to them.

Meanwhile, toast:

1/2 cup hazelnuts (you could use almonds or another nut)

slice and sautee till carmalized:

2-3 shallots or 1 medium onion.

When quinoa is cooled a bit transfer to large bowl and add:

Juice and zest of a lemon
The onions
2 cups arugula
1/2 cup broken toasted hazelnuts
1 tsp salt or so to taste

Mix it up! Scrumptious!