Ellie Krieger's Family Favorite Minestrone for Souper (Soup, Salad, & Sammie) Sundays

Sometimes a simple classic is in order for the soup bowl and this week I was craving minestrone, the perfect mix of pasta, vegetables and beans. I found Ellie Krieger's Family Favorite Minestrone through the healthy food pages of the Washington Post.

Ellie says, "This Italian-style soup, chock-full of vegetables, beans and pasta in a tomato-y broth, is sure to become a staple in your home. It has a crowd-pleasing appeal, is easy to whip up, and makes for a convenient, filling, flavorful meal that is packed with nutrition. Feel free to change the vegetables and herbs to use up those you happen to have on hand."

Family Favorite Minestrone
Slightly Adapted from Ellie Krieger via TheWashingtonPost.com
(Makes About 6 Servings)

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
2 ribs celery, diced (1/2 cup)
1 large carrot, scrubbed well, then diced
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded & diced
1 medium zucchini (about 8 oz), diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper
28 oz canned, no-salt-added crushed tomatoes (I used diced, fire-roasted tomatoes)
48 oz (6 cups) no-salt-added vegetable or chicken broth
15 oz canned no-salt-added small red beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup dried, whole-grain elbow pasta
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for garnish

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion, celery, carrot, and bell pepper; cook for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften.

Add the zucchini, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper; cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and broth; bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Partially cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, then add the beans and pasta. 

Uncover, increase the heat to medium-high just long enough to return the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes, until the pasta and vegetables are tender. 

Divide among individual bowls; garnish each portion with the cheese.

Notes/Results: Simple, satisfying and good, it hit the spot--especially when served with garlicky bread for lunch. With the pasta (I admit I added more than called for) and beans, it's a thick soup, so if you want it more brothy, use the right amount of beans and/or add extra broth. I would happily make it again.

Linking up to I Heart Cooking Clubs where it's our February Monthly Food Trends Challenge, Grandparent Food! with classic dishes from back in the day.

Let's see what is going on in the Souper Sundays kitchen:

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor brought a "recovery meal" for all the health stuff her family is having, saying, "Bacon, Corn Potato Chowder - a recipe from Curtis Stone. It's filling and served with fresh baguette it makes a decent lunch. Plus it's easy and fun to make."

Thank you Tina for joining me this week!

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!

Easy Black Bean Soup for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

It's a late post for Souper Sundays but I have house guests visiting from Oregon and they just arrived today. Who wants to have soup for dinner your first night it Hawaii? Well, they did as the temperature is in the mid-70s right now and it was a windy day. I offered up the simple black beans soup I made and tossed together some cheese quesadillas (not shown) to accompany the soup along with a selection of toppings.

I just threw what I had into the pot but these are the approximate amounts I used. You could add veggies or rice if you want. Depending on what you use for toppings, you can keep it vegan or just go vegetarian.

Black Bean Soup
By Deb Kahakai Kitchen
(Makes About 6 Servings)

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small sweet onion, diced
1 can diced mild green chilies
2 garlic cloves minced 
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin, or to taste
1 tsp chipotle seasoning or chili powder or choice, or more to taste
2 can fire-roasted tomatoes and their juice
3 (15 oz) cans low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups low-sodium veggie broth
salt and pepper to taste
Garnishes of choice--I used sour cream and crushed lime tortilla chips and lime wedges for my photos and added salsa and diced avocado for sering my guests

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook 7 to 8 minutes until onion is softened and translucent. Add canned green chilies and garlic and cook another minute or two, then add ground cumin and chipotle seasoning and cook until fragrant.

Add the tomatoes and their juices, black beans and veggie broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook at least 20 minutes or longer to build flavor. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

ladle into bowls and serve with your favorite garnishes. I served these with the above mentioned garnishes and also made simple cheese quesadillas to serve with (and dip into) the soup.

Notes/Results: Sometimes a simple black bean soup just hits the spot. I snapped only quick picks while my guests were out and about, then put the toppings on the table and served a platter of simple quesadillas. It turned out to be a great dinner for a blustery night.

Let's see what is going on in the Souper Sundays kitchen:

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor made cheese bread and used it for these delectable looking BLTs. She says, "Nothing like homemade bread.The aroma of it baking makes me hungry every time.This is a bread I have been wanting to make for a while.The recipe was lost in a pile of other recipes I want to try but...finally I have success! ... It was excellent for BLT sandwiches. Toasting the bread was definitely the way to go. Also, I apparently don't know how to slice bread thin enough for sandwiches and had huge hunks. Doug used the electric carving knife and that worked a treat. When this bread is stale I will cube it, toast it in the oven and make croutons for salad. Win-win!"

Here at Kahakai Kitchen I made this simple but stunning Clementine, Carrot & Mint Salad for a recent book tour review. I loved how fresh it tasted--the clementines and carrots are sweet but the mint, red onion (or shallot in my case) and salt keep it savory too. I love the color! I will definitely make it again.

Thank you Tina for joining me this week!

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!
 

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "Last Day" by Luanne Rice, Served with Clementine, Carrot & Mint Salad

Happy Aloha Friday! I am happy to be today's stop on the TLC Book Tour for Last Day, a new domestic thriller by Luanne Rice. Accompanying my review is a recipe for sunny Clementine, Carrot & Mint Salad inspired by by the book.

Publisher's Blurb:

From celebrated New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice comes a riveting story of a seaside community shaken by a violent crime and a tragic loss. 

Years ago, Beth Lathrop and her sister Kate suffered what they thought would be the worst tragedy of their lives the night both the famous painting Moonlight and their mother were taken. The detective assigned to the case, Conor Reid, swore to protect the sisters from then on.

Beth moved on, throwing herself fully into the art world, running the family gallery, and raising a beautiful daughter with her husband Pete. Kate, instead, retreated into herself and took to the skies as a pilot, always on the run. When Beth is found strangled in her home, and Moonlight goes missing again, Detective Reid can’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu.

Reid immediately suspects Beth’s husband, whose affair is a poorly kept secret. He has an airtight alibi—but he also has a motive, and the evidence seems to point to him. Kate and Reid, along with the sisters’ closest childhood friends, struggle to make sense of Beth’s death, but they only find more questions: Who else would have wanted Beth dead? What’s the significance of Moonlight? 

Twenty years ago, Reid vowed to protect Beth and Kate—and he’s failed. Now solving the case is turning into an obsession . . .

Hardcover: 412 pages

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (February 1, 2020)

My Review:

I going to confess that I know more about Luanne Rice's work from television than I do from actually reading her words. Follow the Stars home is an old favorite Hallmark movie I have caught other adaptations of her books over the years. I was more drawn to reading last day based on the publisher's blurb, finding the premise of a murder and theft of a painting echoing a similar crime two decades later involving the same family. When Kate and her younger sister Beth were teenagers, they were tied up in the basement of the family's art gallery, along with their mother while thieves stole artwork including a famous work by a local artist. Their mother subsequently died as a result of the crime and their father was imprisoned for planning it. The book begins with Beth's last day, as she is murdered and the same painting that had been hanging on the wall of her bedroom, is missing. (Not at all a spoiler as this is made clear right away.) Conner Reid, the young officer who rescued the sisters from the basement is now the detective on the case and with his care attachment for the sisters, takes the crime very personally. 

I won't go heavily into the plot here but there several suspects, including Beth's cheating husband, and many secrets that unravel throughout the story. Chapters are told mainly by Kate, although the perspectives of Conner, Beth's friends and daughter, others close to the crime, and even Beth herself are shared. Although a domestic thriller, the book is also a lot about family drama and the relationships between the different characters. I did guess at the ending midway through the book, although I wasn't sure if I was right. I found the journey to getting to the truth interesting, although the end wrapped up a bit quickly once the murderer was discovered and I wanted a bit more closure. Overall, I liked the book and Rice's creation of the small community and Connecticut setting. I could have used a bit more depth in some of the characters and relationships, but that isn't easy to get with so many people in the sisters' orbit. Although it is February and there is grief and it touches on some dark themes, if you enjoy thrillers this one seems like it is made for a spring/summer book bag and for reading at the beach or pool, cocktail in hand of course.

-----

Author Notes: Luanne Rice is the New York Times bestselling author of 34 novels, which have been translated into 24 languages. The author of Last Day, Dream Country, Beach Girls, Pretend She’s Here and others, Rice often writes about love, family, nature, and the sea. She received the 2014 Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award for excellence and lifetime achievement in the Literary Arts category. Several of Rice’s novels have been adapted for television, including Crazy in Love for TNT, Blue Moon for CBS, Follow the Stars Home and Silver Bells for the Hallmark Hall of Fame, and Beach Girls for Lifetime. Rice’s four cats are her muses, and she speaks their language. She lives in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

Connect with Luanne on her website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

-----

Food Inspiration:

Although there was food to be found in Last Day, thrillers involving murders of family members don't really lend themselves to food inspiration. Still there were mentions of coffee, muffins, Earl Grey tea, oatmeal cookies, clam chowder, lobster rolls, fresh-squeezed lime-aid, ice cream, white wine, iced tea, scrambled eggs, blueberries and cantaloupe, hot chocolate, hot pretzels, Darjeeling, red wine, burgers, Thanksgiving-style dinner served at the local soup kitchen, sliced tomatoes and basil, martinis, potato chips, sandwiches, an ice cream cone, gin and tonics, lemonade and grilled cheese sandwiches, roast chicken and sweet potatoes, saltines, fish and chips, Georgia peanuts, garden herbs mint and thyme, pineapple, tuna fish, and clementines.

For my bookish dish, I decided to forgo the dishes in the book that were related to sad events and instead to make something from Clementines. They were Kate's sister Beth's favorite fruit and orange was her favorite color. Kate saves a wild rabbit from a hawk in the book and names her Clementine, so when a saw a recipe for Effortless Clementine, Carrot & Mint Salad on Food52, I thought it the perfect nod to Beth's color and fruit, as well as having carrots for the Clementine the rabbit.

Effortless Clementine, Carrot & Mint Salad
Very Slightly Adapted from Catherine Tornow via Food52.com
(Serves 6)

12 clementines, peeled
2 large carrots, peeled
1 tsp red onion, finely chopped (I used shallot)
 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt (I added a little freshly ground black pepper)
 1 handful fresh mint leaves, torn

Once the clementines are peeled (thankfully and easy task) slice them horizontally, like the equator. You should be able to get about 5 - 6 slices from each clementine. Arrange them on a large platter, overlapping slightly.

Using a vegetable peeler, shave the (already peeled) carrots directly on top of the orange slices. They will create loose curly cues on top. Sprinkle chopped red onion over the salad. Pick fresh mint leaves off their stems. When you have a good handful, give them a rough tear, arrange on top of the salad anywhere that needs color.

Drizzle with a healthy dose of olive oil, and coarse salt. Don't be shy, this brings it all together.

Notes/Results: Such a fresh and tasty little salad that is quick and easy to toss together and some bright and pretty on the plate. I reduced it down by about half and used shallot instead of red onion as sometimes the red onions I can find are tough and sharp. I also added a bit of black pepper to the seasoning. It would be great as a side dish for a piece of fish and I enjoyed it with soup as part of my lunch. With it's pretty color, great taste and texture, I will happily make it again.

Linking up this pretty salad here at Kahakai Kitchen for this week's Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie Sundays). We share soup, salad and sandwiches each week--join in if you have one!

I'm sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

Note: A review copy of "Last Day" was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.  

You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here.

 

Ellie Krieger's Mushroom Stroganoff Soup for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

It's Super Bowl Sunday, and yes, as usual I will make my corny pun about preferring a souper bowl of soup to football because that is how I roll and this week's soup is pretty souper. I think this is my third soup from Ellie Krieger's newest Whole In One cookbook. At some point I will move beyond the soups and try other recipes but it's hard because there are so many soups I want to make in this book. We have had alternating sun and showers this weekend and although Mushroom Stroganoff Soup seems a bit more suited to cold weather, waiting for that is a losing prospect here, so our mid-70s temps will have to do.

Ellie says, "This soup is pure comfort food that is good for you too. It takes its cues from classic beef Stroganoff--a dish of sauteed beef and mushrooms in a sour cream-based sauce that's typically served over egg noodles--but here it is realigned into a sumptuously creamy, hearty soup that's much more healthfully balanced."

Mushroom Stroganoff Soup
From Whole In One by Ellie Krieger
(Makes 4 Servings)

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium-sized shallots, chopped (about 2/3 cup)
1 (10-oz) package white button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
1 (10-oz) package cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth (I used porcini mushroom bouillon) 
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
(I added 2 tsp Trader Joe's Umami Seasoning Blend)
3/4 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup whole wheat egg noodles (I could only find regular egg noodles)
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
2/3 cup sour cream, divided
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are softened, 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have released their liquid and they begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more. Add the broth, Worcestershire, mustard, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Add the egg noodles and boil gently, uncovered, until the noodles are nearly tender, 5 minutes.

Whisk together the milk, 1/3 cup of the sour cream, and the flour in a pitcher or medium-size bowl, until the flour is dissolved. Ladle 1/2 cup of the broth from the pot into the milk mixture and whisk well, then pour the milk mixture into the pot and stirring, bring to a gentle boil, then lower the heat and simmer until it is thickened, 2 minutes. Season with additional salt to taste.

Serve garnished with a dollop of the remaining sour cream and the parsley. 

The soup will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Nutritional Info: Per 1 2/3 cup serving: Calories: 310; Total Fat: 15 g (Sat Fat 6g, Mono Fat 5 g, Poly Fat 1 g); Protein 11 g; Carb 34 g; Fiber 2 g; Cholesterol 45 mg; Sodium 740 mg; Total Sugar 10 g (Added Sugar 0 g)

Notes/Results: I have made several great soups lately and this might be my favorite of them all. So rich, creamy and decadent tasting with a powerful punch of mushroom flavor from the two different mushrooms (plus I am sure helped along by the mushroom bouillon and umami seasoning I added). ;-) You can use non-dairy options and/or cashew cream and non-egg noodles to make it vegan and as is, it would appeal to meat eaters as well as those of us who are veg eaters. Easy, fast and it highlights what I like best about stroganoff. I will happily make it again.

Linking up to I Heart Cooking Clubs where it is Potluck week.

Let's check the Souper Sundays kitchen this week and see who is here:

Simona of briciole brought lovely Bean, Fennel, and Mushroom Stew saying, "At the farmers' market I saw some beautiful fennel, a plant that blooms tall with flowers similar to those of parsley (both plants are umbellifers, they have umbrella-shaped flowers). According to the dictionary, the meaning of fennel is strength. I like that! Around the same time, one evening I had dinner with a friend and we shared a dish called White Bean Ragout2 (white beans braised with fennel, wild mushrooms, tomatoes, herb brown butter, charred broccolini). It was excellent and made me decide to create a personal version using dry Coco Nero (black coco) beans3, beech mushrooms, fennel and oven-roasted tomatoes."

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared Pan Bagnat--"Also Reverently Called The Sandwich" and said, "This big fat sandwich has the official name of Pan Bagnat. I would occasionally take it to work and plop three heavy Florida stature books on top to crush it. Seeing me appear to destroy my lunch a coworker asked about it, seeing the end result he knew he had to have the sandwich. That’s how it had been referred to after that, in a lowered almost reverential tone. Oh, you brought the sandwich.....and you could see the envy on his face. Ha!"

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen brought Broccoli and Stilton Soup saying, "It was made over one weekend in January when it was decided that I needed to save from going to waste some Stilton cheese that had not been eaten over the festive holiday. It was comforting to eat, especially on days  when your feeling a little under the weather and wishing you could put all the wrongs of the world to right, but know you cannot.  All you can do is turn off the news channel and sit down to a bowl of goodness served up with some good crusty bread." 

Thank you to everyone who joined me this week!

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!
 

Stuffed Baguette with Cheese and Herbs for Cook the Books December/January Pick: "The Language of Flowers"

January 2020 comes to a close today and with it, this round of Cook the Books, our bi-monthly virtual foodie book club. Of course, I would be me if I wasn't running in at the last minute with my entry! This month we read The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, hosted by Debra of Eliot's Eats and while maybe not necessarily a foodie novel, it is definitely food-filled and related, and a very good book that I enjoyed. Also, it provided the inspiration for the delicious appetizer you see below.

From the Publisher; 

"The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings. Now eighteen and emancipated from the system with nowhere to go, Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But an unexpected encounter with a mysterious stranger has her questioning what’s been missing in her life. And when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness."

I will say that it took me a while to get into the book and to grow care for Victoria. I certainly empathized with her and was horrified of the life she led in foster care and when she got out of it--but she is not an easy person to like. Also, I kept picking up happier books because there was A LOT of struggle to find the happy in this book, and I wasn't sure things were going to turn out. So, although it started out as feeling like the book was an accident I couldn't look away from, at some point in the middle it drew me in and I began to root for Victoria. The Language of Flowers is definitely about love (romantic, familial, and love of self), family, second-chances, and hope, and the writing is beautiful. I especially loved reading about Victoria creating her boxes of flower photos and their meanings, and her business creating the perfect flower arrangements for brides and others seeking just the right way to say something with flowers. So in the end, I really enjoyed the book and I am happy that Debra chose it. I had picked it up a few times in the library, but I might not have gotten around to reading it or stayed with it without Cook the Books and Debra.

So for food there was a good amount including chili, lots of fruit and produce from the farmers market, fish and chips, chocolate milkshake, pasta, ham, cherry tomatoes, apples, American cheese, peanut butter, donuts, wine grapes, peach-banana pancakes, sliced pear and a muffin full of warm chunks of banana and peanut butter chips, Thanksgiving dinner, chicken curry, white rice with soy sauce, sandwiches, soup, canned beef ravioli, chocolate souffle, rosemary new potatoes, blackberry cobbler and homemade ice cream, a whole baked fish with spices and some kind of root vegetables, beans, peas and potatoes with parsley, mushroom soup, eggs over easy, raisin bread, rib roast, cupcakes, vanilla yogurt, burritos, cinnamon rolls, milk, tofu casserole, trail mix, grilled cheese sandwiches, tea, cheesecake, butternut squash soup--extra hot, a whole roasted chicken on a silver platter with a long tray of roasted vegetables, and lentil soup.

For my bookish dish, I was going to make donuts--maple ones from biscuits like my mom used to make when I was growing up or the banana and peanut butter chip muffins, but then I saw a passage (see below) about the appetizer that Grant made Victoria of a stuffed baguette with cheese, capers, olives and herbs. I liked the sound of that and the chance to use the herbs, a least close to flowers, in it. Also, although that night did not end well, I liked how Grant taught himself to cook and how he fed the always ravenous Victoria. Food is love, after all.  

I followed what the book described other than adding some tiny pickled peppers and laying mine in a circle on the plate--like a flower. I used the herbs I had on hand or could get from the grocery--although I included their meanings in the recipe (from Victoria's Dictionary of Flowers in the book and also my own book of the symbolism of herbs for the ones not mentioned) and it is a very mixed message! ;-)

From the book:

"Grant had set out slices of a baguette stuffed with something--cream cheese, maybe, or something fancier--with bits of chopped herbs, olives, and capers. The appetizers were arranged in rows on a square ceramic plate. I started at one end and went down the rows, popping each circle into my mouth whole. I looked up before I ate the last one, and Grant was watching with a smile. "You want it?' I asked, pointing to the last slice. "No. You'll need the sustenance to wait for the next course; the rib roast still has forty-five minutes.' I ate the last one and groaned. 'I don't think I can wait that long.'"

Stuffed Baguette with Cheese and Herbs
By Deb, Inspired by The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
(Serves 3 or 4, or one hungry Victoria...)

1 small baguette about 10-inches long
about 6 oz cream cheese, softened to room temp
about 12 oz goat cheese, softened to room temp
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup sweety drops or peppadews (tiny red peppers from the olive bar), diced
1/3 cup olives of choice, pitted and diced 2 Tbsp capers, drained, chop if desired
About 1 Tbsp each finely chopped:
-parsley (festivity)
-basil (hatred, yikes!)
-thyme leaves (activity)
-dill (luck or wealth)
About 1/2 Tbsp each
-sage (good health and long life)
-rosemary leaves (remembrance)
freshly ground black pepper and a little salt (only if needed) to taste

Slice off the ends of the baguette. Using a long thin knife, working from both ends, carefully  hollow the baguette out leaving about 1/2-inch thick of bread and crust all around the edges. 

In a medium bowl, mix the soften creamed cheese and got cheese together with a fork,  until smooth and lump-free. Stir in the garlic, peppers, olives, capers and herbs until thoroughly mixed together. Taste and stir in black pepper and salt if any is needed, to taste.
Using a spoon and working from both ends, fill the hollowed baguette with the cheese mixture, packing in the filling tight with the back of the spoon. Wrap the stuffed baguette well in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours and up to two days. 

Directly before serving, slice the baguette into 1/2-inch thick slices and serve. Wipe down your knife in between slices to keep it neat. Arrange on a serving plate (I did mine in a flower shape) ;-) and enjoy.

Notes/Results: Such a great little appetizer, I am sure I will be making variations of this often.  You could definitely change it out with your favorite ingredients in your favorite soft cheese and be perfectly happy noshing away. I ate a bunch for dinner and took the remainder to work with me with my vegan soup. I think they look pretty cool too. I will happily make them again.

The deadline for this round of Cook the Books is today, January 31st and Debra will be rounding up the entries on the CTB site soon after. If you missed this round and like food, books, and foodie books, join us for our February/March pick, Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran and hosted by Simona of briciole. 

I'm also sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.