Super lime ice cream

There are simple things in life that have the power of lighting up our day – like arriving home and finding a package or your favorite magazine waiting for you in the mailbox. I love that.

My copy of David Lebovitz’s ice cream bible was delivered Friday and Saturday morning I was in the kitchen, preparing a recipe from it. Are you surprised my first choice was a citrus flavor?? Didn’t think so

Spicy White Bean and Turnip Soup

Aside from actually traveling to the Mediterranean and dining at a seaside café, the next best way to cope with a relentlessly long and cold winter might be to set a big soup pot full of hot and nourishing Mediterranean vegetables and beans to cook on the stove. This hearty, colourful and slightly spicy Croatian recipe is adapted from Martha Rose Shulman's wonderful Mediterranean Harvestboth to boost the vegetables and to deal with the fact I didn't have parsnips on hand — in went the turnips instead, and to delicious effect.

This is my contribution to My Legume Love Affair, a popular monthly food event started by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook and hosted this month by Laurie of Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska.

Spicy White Bean and Turnip Soup

1 1/2 cups dried cannellini (white kidney) beans
5 cups water
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
1 pound turnips, peeled and chopped
1 large potato, diced
1 large carrot, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon hot paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes, or to taste
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
fresh ground black pepper
small handful fresh parsley, finely chopped

Rinse the beans under running water and soak overnight covered in several inches of cold water with a little yogurt whey or lemon juice added. Drain the following day and add to a large saucepan along with 5 cups of fresh water and a bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour or until the beans are just tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat a large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat. When hot, toss in the olive oil, wait a few moments, then swirl around to coat the pan. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion turns translucent. Add the garlic, turnips, potato and carrots, and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in the red pepper, paprika, chili flakes, along with the beans and their cooking liquid. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Remove from heat and discard the bay leaf. Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Serve hot in bowls with a spoonful of chopped parsley on top. Serves 6 to 8.

If you liked this recipe you may also enjoy:

Italian White Bean and Kale Soup
Cannellini Bean Soup with Fontina Gremolata
Cream of Potato and Turnip Soup

Basil and parmesan madeleines

Even though I have my pride – I’m a Scorpio, after all – I will admit it when I’m wrong and apologize.After telling you that I wasn’t in the mood for Mr. Benjamin Button, I changed my mind and decided to watch it – with a little push from my good friend C. I’m so glad I did - what a beautiful movie. It touched my heart like very few have. David Fincher really gets the best out of Brad Pitt, every

Vanilla butter rounds

It’s been such a while since I last posted cookies I almost did not recognize my own blog – Technicolor Kitchen without cookie recipes is like a Tim Burton movie without Johnny Depp. :D

These are deadly simple to make and, aside from the nuts, only simple ingredients are involved – I’m sure there’s a little butter and a couple of eggs in your fridge.



Vanilla butter rounds
slightly adapted

Spicy Mung Bean Soup with Coconut Milk

Spring tempts and tickles with rather frosty tendrils, but the tease is not enough to resist the lure of a warming bowl of nourishing soup. Craving mung beans, I came up with this creamy soup that includes a good little handful of hot peppers, but the coconut milk tempers the chilies and the spice resulting in a flavourful, but somewhat subdued dish that goes well with some nutty brown basmati rice. An added bonus is it tastes even better the next day. Next time I make this, I'm going to increase the spices a wee tad and add dried red chilies for a slightly fiery undertone.

Spicy Mung Bean Soup with Coconut Milk

1 cup of mung beans, soaked overnight
1 tablespoon of ghee, or a mixture of butter and oil
1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
4-5 hot green chilies, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of asafoetida
handful of curry leaves (I used dried)
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne
1 tomato, finely chopped
3 cups of water
1 can of coconut milk
juice from one small lemon
1 teaspoon of jaggery or rapadura sugar
1/2 teaspoon of garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt

Drain and rinse the soaked beans and set aside.

Heat the ghee (or butter and oil) in a large pot over medium heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds and cook until they begin to sputter and pop. Immediately add the garlic, hot peppers and ginger and stir and fry for a minute or two. Toss in the asafoetida, curry leaves, turmeric, cumin, coriander, cayenne, stir and then add the tomato. Cook for a minute or two and then add the water and the mung beans. Simmer over medium heat for roughly 15 minutes, and then add the coconut milk. Simmer for another 15 minutes or until the beans are tender. Add the lemon juice, salt, sugar and garam masala. Cook for another few minutes and serve hot.

Serves 6

This is my humble entry to Running With Tweezers Souper Soup Challenge.

You might also want to try:
Mung Tamarind Dal
Indian Sour Mung Bean Soup
Mung Beans with Cottage Cheese

Very berry meringues

After so many batches of custard based ice creams – there are recipes I’ve made three or four times – I had several egg whites left. I did freeze some but there were a couple of whites still in the fridge – that seemed like the perfect excuse to make meringues.I’d bookmarked this recipe ages ago – I just love Delicious. magazine’s website – and it called for only 5 ingredients, all of them in my

No Croutons Required - The Winner for February and the Theme for March

Congratulations to Alisa of One Frugal Foodie for winning the potato soup and salad challenge with this lovely Creamy Potato Miso Soup. She certainly had some tough competition.

I'm especially eager for Spring right now and after much thought, decided to focus on a cuisine from a warmer area of the globe and to go with a theme that falls in line with my specialty. For March, the challenge is to come up with an Indian or Indian-style vegetarian soup or salad. Soupy dal dishes are also welcomed. You have until the 20th to email us your entry. For a recap of the submission guidelines, please go here.