Dish of the Day: Kale Bake

This scrumptious recipe goes out to my good friend Jen C!


Recipe for Kale Bake

Serves four as a side dish
1 large bunch kale, stems removed and washed in a large bowl of water; make sure leaves are ripped into small pieces
1 large bunch of fresh spinach chopped and washed 2 times in a large bowl of water, or 1 block frozen spinach
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 eggs
¼ cup of whole milk
1/3 cup sharp cheese, grated or chopped
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, add the kale and boil for 4-5 minutes. If using fresh spinach, add this in the last 1 minute of boiling time. If using frozen spinach, add at the same time as the kale.
2. Transfer to a colander, rinse with cold water, then drain and squeeze out as much water as possible. Using a sharp knife and fork, ensure the greens are chopped into small pieces, not clumped together, or they will not mix well with the eggy mixture.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously oil or butter a 8” x 8” glass pan or glass pie dish.
4. Beat the eggs with the milk in a bowl, and then stir in the cooked vegetables, herbs, and cheese. Add in 1 Tbsp of the olive oil and then salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and scrape it all into the baking dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top, and drizzle on the remaining olive oil.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until firm and starting to brown on the top. Serve hot or warm.
This will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
Adapted from Martha Shulman

Dish of the Day: Super Fast Lentil Soup

Coming home the other day I realised we had practically no food in the house. None except frozen pizza, ugh! So I grabbed a couple of things from the little corner store and made this soup to accompany our spinach and cheese pizza.

Hearty Lentil Soup Recipe - Makes 2 bowls

Ingredients:

- 1 can lentils

- handful of grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half

- 2 green onions

- 1/2 bouillon cube

- handful of leafy green vegetables - such as bok choy leaves, spinach, kale, or chard leaves - shredded into slivers

- oregano, lemon juice, ground pepper

Into a soup pot on medium heat, throw the chopped white stalks of 2 green onions, and halved tomatoes in with 1 tsp olive oil. Saute for 3 minutes, then add 1/4 tsp oregano flakes. Add in 1 tsp lemon juice and stir for 1 minute.

Open a small can of cooked lentils (8 oz) and rinse fully. Add lentils to pot along with 1/2 a can-ful of water. Add your greens and 1/2 bouillon cube (chicken or veggie) and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure that the greens get cooked. Remove from heat, add in another tsp of lemon juice, 1 Tbsp chopped green tops of onion and ground pepper to taste. Voila - fresh soup!

Dish of the Day: Stuffed chicken and potatoes

Lazy dinner,
originally uploaded by me.

Today's post is about making the process of cooking dinner easier and more efficient. This photo at left shows how I saved time preparing dinner tonight. I crammed 3 different things on the baking sheet, some for tonight and some for tomorrow's lunch.

The chicken breasts were sliced in half and stuffed with herbed feta cheese, and I rubbed the breasts in oil and rolled them in a mixture of corn bread crumbs and herbs. I chopped the potatoes and drizzled some olive oil on them and then topped them with chopped rosemary, salt and pepper. The potato on the right will be peeled and mashed tomorrow and added to leftover baked herbed salmon to make salmon patties for our lunch.

The point is, I used only one tray and the food was ready all at the same time, but for the whole potato which I left in the oven after I turned it off. The baking tray won't even need to be washed thanks to the aluminum foil, a baking aid which I try not to use too often.

On the side, we served up leftover boiled broccoli florets for our greens. All in all, a pretty easy meal!

Cheers to not cooking dinner!

It's been unseasonably hot here in Vancouver and I can't bear to cook over the stove. Plus, with an unruly mess of vegetables growing out back, we can't help but build our meals lately around big salads. Here are some of the combinations I've been putting together:

- Leaf lettuce, green onion, baby corn, colourful bell peppers, fresh peas and radishes
- Homemade caesar dressing with Romaine leaves, artichoke hearts, capers, and bacon (veggie or piggie)
- Romaine or other firm leaves with hard boiled egg, potato, tuna, green beans, olive and green onion
- Any lettuce with baby chard, blanched and chopped kale, chunks of cheese, chick peas and cucumbers
- Mixed greens with cherry tomatoes, and nuts or seeds (pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, pecans or walnuts
- Spinach with peppers, bean sprouts, BC blueberries and chopped pecans or walnuts

And to any of the above, I love to throw in delicious sunflower greens. At our farmer's marketthere is a local guy who sells them by the bag and they are so nutty and delicious. I've tried to grow sunflower greens myself but they're a bit fiddly, and I'd rather pay the $5 to this dedicated urban farmer who grows them far better than I could.

Acidic Diets - Don't Get Burned

Alright, I'd like to stand up and admit I have a problem. Now that I am doing double duty as working mom and stay-at-home mom I am relying on frozen entrees to save me time on dinners. And lunches at work are sometimes provided during lunch hour meetings or when I get a quick minute to run to the cafeteria. Let's just say that finding leafy green vegetables is a near-impossibility. I'm eating a lot of foods that aren't fresh, a lot of meats and breads.

These foods have an acidic effect on the body when they are broken down and digested. This means that what they break down into are molecules with a low pH, and an excess of these can slightly alter your body's pH to be more acidic. This is a problem because our bodies ideal pH is slightly on the alkaline side. When we become more acidic, our body's processes don't run as effectively and some believe this can cause us to become sick.

You know that craving you get when you have a cold and you can't wait to gulp down a huge glass of orange juice? That's your body sending out a message for more alkaline foods. Orange juice, when absorbed by the digestive system, provides alkaline (higher pH) molecules. When people get colds, their bodies typically become acidic and eating or drinking alkaline foods can often make them feel much better. This is one of the reasons Vitamin C (an alkaline-producing vitamin) is recommended for colds. A swig of very alkaline-producing apple cider vinegar, while horrible-tasting can instantly make you feel better when you have that achey acidic feeling.

Right now I'm really craving some fruits and vegetables to get back into a more alkaline mood. I know that I don't have a lot of spare time in my schedule so I'm going to have to do a grocery run that gets me some "green foods" which can easily be prepared and gobbled up by the Bug and me. I want items that can be added to soups, sandwiches, or go into quick salads. I'm looking for veggies that are easy to cook, and fruits I can peel, cut up and store in glass containers in the fridge for easy snacking. Here's my shopping list:

- frozen spinach
- kale
- Swiss Chard
- Brussels sprouts
- blood red oranges
- mangoes or papaya
- pineapple
- watercress
- mixed greens
- hothouse tomatoes
- avocadoes

Hopefully you, too, can use these suggestions to keep your own diet on the alkaline side, without being a slave to the stove.

Dish of the Day: Healthy Breakfast

This one goes out to my mom friend Kim who commented how difficult it is to have a breakfast that is free of processed or refined foods. This is very true when we think of the traditional breakfast of cereal with milk, which so many of us opt for each morning. However, there are lots of other, better choices. WARNING: I'm going to veer off into serious holistic nutrition territory now, but I promise to return to reality.

Cold cereal as a typical breakfast choice is a modern invention thanks to the last century's focus on the mass production of foodstuffs. Before this, people would make breakfast from whatever raw materials they had at home. And in many parts of the world, this is still the case. In Asia, people often eat rice, fish and eggs for breakfast. But in North America we tend to eat processed cereal, like Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Special K, and so many more. These flakey cereals are made by taking refined flour and mixing it with sugar, salt and then vitamins and minerals are added. This paste is then heated up and shot through an extruder that squishes the batter into puffy, crunchy bits that are then dried and placed in a box and shipped off to grocery stores. Knowing this, it's easy to see that this might not be the most nutritious way to start off your day.

What it is, is a quick and easy way to eat before rushing of to work. Convenience and efficiency have defined our eating habits in the recent past, much to the detriment of our health. Since the the second World War when many women joined the workforce, industry found a highly profitable new market in selling fast foods to busy homemakers who still wanted to serve home-cooked meals to their families, but who had less time on their hands. This spawned the era of cakes in a box, TV dinners and canned, processed foods. Flash forward 60 years and now we don't even question buying foods in a box or a can. We rarely look at the long list of ingredients that help preserve this food in its container, nor do we think about the many things that were done to this food before it arrived on the grocery store's shelf.

We were designed to eat fresh food, not dead, dried foods, and I strongly believe in trying to eat foods that closely resemble the way they came off the plant or animal that produced them. Doing so can often stand in opposition to a fast-paced lifestyle but there are still many ways to eat fresh food and not spend hours in the kitchen.

In the morning, a better option than boxed cereal would be to eat whole grains or even non-grain foods for breakfast. Porridge made from grains such as millet, rice, oats, wheat can take a bit more time to make but will naturally have more nutrients. One way to speed up the process of making porridge is to soak it overnight and this can even include a bit of fermentation that occurs when leaving grains out and in contact with water and a bit of salt, vinegar or yogurt. The fermentation process will start to break down the food, making it faster to cook, but also unlocking more of the proteins, vitamins and minerals.

Most granolas are made from whole oats and dried fruits and eaten with yogurt and fresh or frozen fruit, this becomes a balanced start to the day. Those who like to bake can make nutritious muffins in advance which are convenient to eat in the morning but you'd need to have a glass of milk and a fruit to balance this out. I've blogged before about taking last night's starch and turning it into a yummy porridge which is a quick easy meal.

Of course, you could always cook up an egg, some wholemeal toast, have some meat on the side, if you like your animal proteins. This choice of meal - low in carbohydrates - will keep you from feeling hungry for many hours since it avoids a huge insulin rush to store away these sugars, and the subsequent blood sugar drop which revs up your hunger once again.

It turns out there are a number of options for a non-processed breakfast meal that may require a bit more work and a new way of thinking. But it's your health we're talking about. Aren't you worth it?

My Omega 3 Baby

I used to be the only one in this family who appreciates sardines but now the Bug is on my side. Thanks to my Dad's Italian background, I acquired a taste for sardines on toast. Today I decided to give some to the Bug to see if she'd like them and true to her carnivorous nature, she gobbled them down.

I served them to her on bits of dry whole wheat toast. If you'd like to get your kids to try this omega 3-rich fish, you may want to serve them on their own, or on toast, or you may want to add something to enliven their strong flavour a bit. Try making a toasted sandwich with mayonnaise and relish or mustard and putting some mashed sardines inside. I don't recommend ketchup - ever - as I believe it really smothers any food it contacts, whereas other condiments tend to add and enhance flavour.

Not every child is going to like sardines but it's definitely worth trying if only to broaden their palate with a variety of different tastes. And if someone else in the house (i.e. an adult) doesn't appreciate these lovely small fish, make sure to ask him or her to remove themselves from the table or remain poker-faced during any tasting. That way they won't negatively influence a young eater's experience.

Dish of the Day: Butternut Squash Surprise

The surprise here is that the squash is for breakfast. I do love a warm, savoury sweet meal for my first meal of the day during the cool months. This is a great way to use leftover squash from last night's dinner in a new delicious way.

Fill a saucepan with about 2/3 cup of squash and add 1/2 cup of whole milk. Also add in your spices: 1/4 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom are good choices, and raisins. Warm on the stove (or use a microwave to do this in the bowl if you are so inclined) and place in your bowl when it's the desired temperature.

I like to add in pumpkin seeds or a nut at this stage too. Drizzle with honey for the perfect sweet finish.

For babies under one year, you mustn't use honey and you probably will not want to add in milk. You can warm the squash and then add in breast milk to the baby's bowl. Also, no raisin or nuts due to choking hazard or possible allergies.

Dish of the Day: Omelettes

Omelettes are a great way to have a quick and easy meal as long as you don't have a problem with eggs. I'll remind readers that I'm of the opinion that natural foods (i.e. unprocessed, in their natural state) are good for you and I don't avoid eggs, whole cheeses, milk and yogurt or meat products. These are rich foods, however, so we don't eat them all the time.

If you enjoy eggs, why not whisk up two or three with 1/3 of a cup of milk and throw them in a frying or saute pan? All you need next is some yummy fillings. We had leftovers from our veggie tray from the party so I chose broccoli, tomatoes and green peppers. I prefer some flavour to my vegetables before adding them to the egg mixture so I put a little olive oil in the pan and then threw in chopped garlic and the diced peppers and broccoli to saute for a few minutes. Then I removed them and put the egg mixture in the pan. When the egg was mostly cooked, I added in the cooked vegetables, diced tomatoes, some aged cheddar and fresh basil. I folded half the egg over and put a lid on the pan for almost one minute. Then it was time to plate.

What a way to take leftovers and quickly turn them into a warm delicious meal!

I forgot to take a photo of the dish and so the image above is of this bizarre item I bought at a novelty store. You crack the head open on this egg-shaped fellow and fill his head with water and place him in the sun. He will grow a small plant with words printed on his leaves. Kind of a Sea Monkeys for the New Millennium.

Volumetrics: Great Big News for Big Eaters

I love this very visual concept. I was watching TV the other day and saw some national diet company advertising their new way of eating called Volumetrics but in fact this term was coined by a nutritionist called Dr. Barbara Rolls back in 2000. The Volumetrics plan is all about eating lots of healthy food with emphasis on fibrous fruits and vegetables which are big in volume yet low in calories. We often talk about eating foods that are calorie-dense (packed with a lot of calories for their size) but that's not an image that easily sticks in one's head.

People who really need to diet often do not enjoy going on a diet because they think that it will mean eating piously and having an empty stomach. But eating healthfully doesn't mean going hungry. And lots of vegetables on a plate can be quite filling. As long as there is a balance of a protein source and enough healthy fat to accompany it, a large plate of veggies can keep even big eaters feeling satisfied for many hours.

To demonstrate, which would fill you up better: this small slice of pizza?


...or this huge salad?


They probably amount to around the same amount of calories, although NOT if you add a lot of salad dressing to the veggies. And I don't know about you, but I have rarely eaten just one slice of pizza. It goes down so quickly - sometimes you hardly need to chew - that it seems like too short a meal with only one piece. Whereas a very large salad requires a lot of chewing, and chewing, and lots of cutting of pieces with a knife, and then more chewing. After 20 minutes of that, you're likely full.

So I encourage all dieters - and everyone else of course! - to stick with the veggies. They're your best friend.

Dish of the Day: Carrot Soup

Whenever I've eaten too much and need to feel clean inside again I make homemade soup. It's so easy to buy prepared soups nowadays that taste like homemade but a glance at the label tells you that they are, in fact, a processed food with lots of ingredients you don't really want or need. Like MSG, too much sodium, starches and bad oils. You don't need to slave over the stove to make a healthy homemade soup; making soup from scratch is often quick, easy and delicious.

Today I made some carrot soup which isn't especially cleansing, as a light brothy soup would be, but I was in the mood for some thick, orangey goodness. This is a very rough recipe as soups should be customised to your own preferences for seasonings and thickness.

- dice a small onion (or a half a large one) and put in a heavy pot with 2 Tbsp olive oil on medium heat; stir frequently
- take 4 or 5 large carrots and roughly chop; add them to pan once onions are transparent, about 5 min
- now add all your spices and ensure they and the carrots all get coated in the oil
** I used 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp turmeric for colour and health properties, a pinch of salt and a shake of pepper
** you could try dried parsley, tarragon, thyme, sage, a bay leaf
- continue to saute spices for 2 minutes tobring out their flavour and then add enough boiling water to completely cover the vegetables; about 3-4 cups
- after about 20 minutes of simmering, your carrots should be cooked though
- cool for about 10 minutes before putting in the blender (or it will explode)
- if using an immersion blender, simply puree at your own pace
- soup should be thick, and this allows you to add additional liquids now for taste
- add in 1/4 cup orange juice, and 1/2 bouillon cube (veggie or chicken) now if desired
** I confess that at this point I also added in 1/4 cup of cream for added mouth-feel
- bring the soup up to simmer again on the stove and then it's ready to eat!

Dish of the Day: Miso-based Soups

Brrrr!!!! It is unseasonably frigid here and that calls for warm hearty soups. Lazy chefs celebrate miso paste for its ease of use and delicious flavour. Miso is a Japanese fermented food and is usually made by fermenting rice and soybeans. It's important to not destroy the natural enzymes and bacteria by boiling the miso paste and this is why a tablespoon of the paste must be added to a large serving bowl of whatever broth you choose. You don't put miso in a pot and boil it or you will kill off the beneficial bacteria that are a part of the fermentation process.

Miso soup base is a great foundation for a quick and healthy soup that can include tofu, egg or fish, noodles or rice and a large variety of vegetables. You can put whatever is in your fridge into your miso soup.

The miso paste I'm using currently is brown rice and soybeans. I added 1 large Tbsp to a bowl of the water in which I boiled my kale. This was before I discovered there was a worm in the water as well, so I had extra protein in my soup :0(
I then added a soft-boiled egg, some soft tofu, a large pile of chopped, boiled kale and some spicy bamboo shoots.
Some other good miso soup combos are:
- salmon and kale/bok choy with a teaspoon each of soy sauce and maple syrup
- ramen noodles, chicken and broccoli
- tofu, baby corn, green onions
- egg, bean sprouts and sliced, boiled cabbage

For added flavour you can also add gomasio and soya or tamari sauce. However, almost all miso pastes are quite salty so watch it when adding any additional salty items.

Making Store-Bought Soup Baby-Friendly

In the winter I used to make a lot of soup but now that I have 2 small mouths to feed (one of which is very picky) I will often buy soups in a box. Or Amy's canned soups. As I've discussed before, many soups are very high in sodium. This is a real problem because our collective taste buds are being trained to equate salty with flavourful. There are a number of ways to cut back on the sodium: watering down the soups, cooking them with slices of potato which will absorb the salt, adding in extra vegetables. But when the baby and I are sharing a bowl for lunch, I find the quickest way of cutting the sodium is to add plain yogurt. The soup becomes creamier and less salty all at once. Those who know me know that I abhor low-fat anything, so I am talking about regular plain yogurt, at leas 3%, but 5% and up is even better.

Dish of the Day: Chickpea Salad

I had some friends over for dinner last night, with only 1 day's notice, so I needed to throw a meal together quickly. I also wanted to avoid a trip to the grocery store where I would undoubtedly spend too much money. We had fish and rice, but what to do about the veggies? I had almost a whole English cucumber, some grape tomatoes left over and a can of chick peas. Sounds like a salad to me!

I washed the chick peas and took off their shells in a big steel bowl. Did you know that chick peas have a skin covering them that makes them harder to digest? I have trouble with too much fibre and so I take these off even though it's a bit of a pain. In a large salad bowl I put 1 Tbsp dijon mustard, 2 Tbsps white vinegar and 2 Tbsps of a strong olive oil. Whisked with a fork and there was my salad dressing. I chopped the tomatoes, diced the cuke and then added the chick peas.

This was made the night before so the salad ingredients could really soak up the flavours of the dressing, and so I had less to do the night of the party.

Dish of the Day: Spiced Roasted Cauliflower

Another dish that's a timesaver, this cauliflower requires very little prep and gets baked in the oven.

You'll need:
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 1 large shallot or a small sweet onion
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 2 TBsp honey
- 1 tsp each nutmeg and cumin seeds
- sprinkle of salt

Set the oven to 375F. Take a whole head of cauliflower, wash it and remove the stem. Roughly chop shallot. Then place florets and shallot in a baking pan and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle on nutmeg and add in cumin seeds (or ground cumin if that's all you can get your hands on). Sprinkle on salt and place in oven for 20 minutes or until florets are tender.

Remove pan from oven and add in raisins and honey. Mix together so that raisins a

Dish of the Day: Spinach Lasagna

I used to think that lasagna was too rich and too much work for me, but I just saw a few examples of quick methods on the old boob tube recently. That expression doesn't really work anymore does it?

Anyway, I bought some Primo whole-grain oven-ready lasagne noodles and a package of baby spinach and some mozzarella and figured I was ready to go. NOTE: Even for a small pan of lasagna you need more than one bag of spinach, and this became apparent early on. Fortunately I had a bag of Stahlbush chopped spinach in the freezer which saved the day. I was also keen to make the lasagna tasty, but to avoid using heavy cream or loads of cheese, as is the convention. A roux was the solution for making a creamy, yet not overly heavy sauce. Here's what I used to make my healthier spinach lasagna:

- box of lasagna pasta
- 2 bags of spinach
- milk, flour, butter to make a roux
- 1/2 pound (225 gm) mozzarella
- 1 tablespoon pesto
- 1 handful parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste

While I wilted/boiled the spinach (1 -2 minutes for fresh, 3 minutes for frozen) I made 1 cup of roux and dammit, I just now realised it would have been a lot better with some white wine added in). Then I drained the spinach and added the spinach to the roux saucepan and removed it from the heat. Some of the spinach water went in too, and this is okay because with the oven-ready noodles you don't want things to be too dry. I placed a saucy spinach layer in the bottom of a greased 8" x 8" square glass pan, then sprinkled on all the mozza cheese. Then added a layer of noodles, then the other half of the spinach and then noodles directly on top. Then I added the parmesan cheese and covered the pan with foil, so it would all melt but not burn and to keep the moisture in.

Baked for 35 minutes at 400F and then 5-7 more minutes with the foil cover removed to all the top to brown slightly. You don't want to brown this too much unless you have really layered on the cheese because the oven-ready noodles tend towards the dry side. Voila! Quick, easy, healthy dinner.

Dish of the Day: Breakfast Porridge

Here's another timesaver for those who like warm porridge on an autumn morning. Take last night's leftover starch and cook it on the stove with some cinnamon and milk. Now that's instant hot cereal that's healthy and good.

I made quinoa for dinner last night and this morning I put about a cup of it in a saucepan with 1/2 a cup of milk and water. This simmered away for about 15 minutes to soak up most of the liquid and then I added cinnamon, raisin and cardamom and let it cook for 2 more minutes. Into the bowl it went along with a squeeze of honey, a pat of butter and a bit more milk to make it soupy. I like some crunch in the morning so I added a few pieces of walnut.

Other suggestions:
Brown rice with dried blueberries and pecans
White rice with raisins and cinnamon
Couscous with cranberries and sliced almonds

Dish of the Day: Roasted Brussels Sprouts

The days of hating and fearing Brussels sprouts are officially over. Now everyone is giving them a try and that's largely because cooks have stopped the horrible practice of boiling the poor things. This cruciferous vegetable is packed with amazing phytochemicals and roasting at lower temperatures helps to preserve them. As opposed to boiling them to death so they turn that nasty shade of dead-frog green.

As a lazy cook, I now cook these exclusively by slicing these babies in half, placing them cut-side down on an oiled baking pan, basting with a bit more oil and then placing them in the oven for about 20 minutes at 375F. They don't even need to be turned over - they're so simple.

I'm using my silicone basting brush daily as it's such a good way to lightly coat foods in oil. This came in handy with the Brussels sprouts to ensure that the bottom of the glass baking pan was evenly coated with oil. I topped them with some nutmeg, salt and pepper and a drizzle of walnut oil when they came out of the oven.

Dish of the Day: Sweet Potato Fries

Everybody loves fries, right? But nobody wants trans fats, so homemade oven fries are a good way to have your fries and eat them too. I only seem to make them with yams or sweet potatoes and this time of year I make them fairly often.

One large yam is enough to make side dishes for three people.
- Clean the yam with soap and water
- Using a large chef's knife, cut the yam into pinky-finger sized slices, leaving the skin on
- Generously brush your baking sheet with olive oil and throw the fries on
- Shake on your favourite spices: paprika, onion powder, rosemary, ground sage, salt, pepper
- Bake at 375F for about 12 minutes then flip over (when browned)
- 10 more minutes on the other side should do it

Seasoned properly, there's no need for sugary ketchup, as these yam fries will be very savoury and yummy. If you're giving the fries to babies, watch the salt, and cut off the skin or any crunchy parts as they may present a choking hazard. They make a great finger food for kids of all ages.

Dish of the Day: Cauliflower Soup

Nothing says "Mmm mmm...cool fall weather" like a hearty homemade soup. Because I am a super lazy cook, I love to whip up cauliflower soup because it's fast, easy, creamy and good. This is also a great way to introduce members of your family who do not like cauliflower, to its subtle yumminess. As a teen, I ate cauliflower soup at home several times before I caught on that I'd been sneakily served a vegetable I despised! I soon became a convert.

- In a large saucepan, saute onions and garlic (lots of you like 'em, a handful if you're not so keen) in an olive oil/butter combo until translucent (5 minutes or more)
- Chop a whole cauliflower into 2 inch florets and place in pot
- Add milk to just cover florets
- Add in bay leaf, salt and pepper
- Cook at a low boil for 25 minutes until florets are very tender
- Remove bay leaf, then puree in blender putting in florets first and then liquid to ensure your soup has the right consistency
- Adjust seasonings to taste. I usually put in 2 more tablespoons of butter before serving. You can also add sage, cumin, thyme if you like more, or different, flavour.

Everybody in our family loves this soup, and you will too!