Category Archives: Soup

Purple Carrot Files: Italian Cannellini Bean Stew

Posted on November 28, 2016 | Leave a comment

I’ve been using Purple Carrot vegan meal planning/prep service on and off for about a year. While I like it, I don’t exactly love it. The cons are: tons of trash/recycling, expensive ($69.00 for 3 meals x 2 people OR 2 meals x 4 people), produce can be iffy upon arrival, produce doesn’t last long after delivery, some recipes are missing steps, instructions, ingredients or seasoning, there are lots of Asian & Thai flavors, and some meals seem suuuuuper cheap for what I pay for the box (like this one I’m profiling). The pros are: convenient, pre-measured, tasty and fun recipes I might not have otherwise tried, all the prep is done for you but the chopping (even in most cases the washing), lots of Asian & Thai flavors (yeah I listed that as a con too -but for me, I love these flavors), and finally, great customer support. Every single time I’ve emailed them, ranted on Twitter or tried to get a jab in on Instagram upset about a crappy piece of produce they have refunded me at minimum $20.00 and responded very promptly.

This last part is why I stick around: service. While it is not a perfect produce science. The service is friendly, prompt and honest. I’ve always been a big fan of a sincere apology, so I will take Thanksgiving off – they did a cool box donation to Feeding America, I fell for that noise and donated my meals to a charity this week and I’ll come back after the holiday in the hopes of more delicious Asian & Thai foods to combat my Thanksgiving sides hangover. Speaking of hangovers, food or otherwise, one of the recipes that I made this week struck me as being an excellent hangover cure: Italian Cannellini Bean Stew. 

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Ingredients:

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 large shallot, minced
  • 6 ounces carrot, diced
  • 3 ounces escarole, deveined & chopped
  • 1 can Cannellini beans, rinsed
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 3 T veggie broth powder
  • 3/4-1 tsp smoked paprika (I prefer Penzeys – especially because they are social justice badasses)
  • Fresh basil, chiffonade
  • 1/4 – 1/3 C vegan Parmesan
  • Olive oil (EVOO)

Directions:

Mince & dice: rinse & dry produce. Mince the peeled garlic and shallot. Peel and dice the carrots into uniform pieces.

Chop & rinse: rinse the escarole and basil. Separate the leaves from the thick/tough stems and discard the stems to both greens. Separately, stack the leaves of each green up, roll them and roughly chop them into ribbons (chiffonade). Drain and rinse the cannellini beans, set aside.

Start stewing: add 1 T EVOO to a stock pot and heat over medium high heat until hot. Add shallot, carrot, red pepper flakes and a bit of salt. Cook for about a minute stirring – careful not to burn the shallot. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant – 30 seconds to 1 minute – do not burn the garlic. Repeat: do not burn the garlic.

Finish stewing: add 4 C water, the veg powder and paprika to the pot. Scrape the bottom of the pot to dislodge any nummy bits from the bottom then add the beans. Bring the stew (stoup really) to a boil and reduce heat to low, simmer 10 minutes or until the carrots are tender (not mush). Add the escarole leaves to the pot, let wilt x about 2 minutes. Remove the pot from heat.

Garnish: season the stew with salt and pepper. Ladle into shallow bowls. Garnish with basil ribbons and vegan Parm.

 

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Posted in Dinner, Fall Food, Product Review, Recipes, Soup, Vegan

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Vegan Curried Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder

Posted on September 13, 2014 | Leave a comment

The last call for summer corn is upon us in Michigan. My favorite time of late summer/early fall is the week or two in which Honeycrisp apples overlap sweet summer corn harvest. Today from Versluis Farm I picked up 16 ears of corn, a half bushel of the last of the Ginger Gold apples, a half bushel of the first Honeycrisp apples, a few of the remaining plums and a few pints of white peaches. This time of year makes me a little sad…squash season will be upon us at anytime which means, more butternut, spaghetti, acorn and buttercup flesh than I can stand to consume frankly. I hope to make a few more grabs at the apples before they disappear and savor the sweets of summer.

To make the best use of corn today, I stripped it from the cob and created this soup to freeze for when I get all squashed out this winter. Savor summer friends, it is disappearing before our very eyes.

  • 2 large sweet potatoes, diced
  • 1 large red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 large green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, diced
  • 1 poblano pepper, diced
  • 8 ears corn, stripped of kernels (save cobs for broth)
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 3 shallots, diced
  • 1 T garlic, chopped
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp powdered onion
  • 2 tsp powdered garlic
  • 2 tsp – 1 1/2 T hot curry powder
  • 2 tsp black pepper, ground
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 can full-fat coconut milk (approx 11-15 ounces depending on brand)
  • 6-8 C water
  • 3 T powdered bullion (I use Rapunzel brand)
  • 1-2 T extra virgin olive oil
  • juice and zest of 1 lime

corn

Instructions:

In a dutch oven, saute in extra virgin olive oil red bell pepper, green bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, poblano pepper, red onion, shallots, and garlic. Add corn after veggies are cooked through and cook together for one minute. To the veggies add spices, bullion, water and corn cobs stripped of kernels – the remaining starch helps thicken the soup. Simmer soup for 30-60 minutes then remove cobs and add full-fat coconut milk, lime juice and zest, stir. Before serving, do one of two things: use immersion blender to achieve additional thickness or transfer half of soup to food processor or blender until desired consistency is met. If you like a thicker chowder, consider using part mashed sweet potato and part diced. Serve with naan or any other carb. Freezes well.

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Posted in Fall Food, Recipes, Soup

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Crock Pot Vegan: Sweet Potato, Kale, and Chickpea Soup

Posted on January 13, 2014 | 1 comment

And….we’re back! After a few weeks off for bad behavior and a new ACL, I’m glad to be back. I’ve had my eye on this recipe for a few weeks now. It is sweet, savory, smooth and lumpy (in the best chickpea way). It’s sure to keep you full and warm when battling the winter chills. The original recipe calls for farro from Cookie + Kate but since I didn’t have any handy, I grabbed some wheat berries instead which I cooked first on the stove and added toward the end. 

 

Ingredients
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 small to medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (or butternut squash)-I used a mix of both as I had some cubes frozen from fall.
  • Salt, to taste
  • 2-3 T red Thai curry paste (available in the Asian section at most grocery stores-check to be sure no anchovies or shrimp were sacrificed for your paste)
  • 1 C uncooked farro, rinsed (or 2 C cooked whole grains, like wheat berries, spelt berries or kamut)
  • 6 C vegetable broth (or water flavored with vegetarian bouillon cubes)
  • 1 C coconut milk (from a can-okay to use light)
  • 2 C cooked chickpeas (or one can of cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained)
  • 1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 small bunch of crinkly purple kale or green kale, finely chopped
  • Sriracha to taste, I dropped in 1T
Instructions for crock pot:
Chop and dump. Simple as that. Omit the cooked wheat berries and chickpeas until about an hour before you are going to serve then pop them in the cooker to warm up with the rest of the items. My soup took 6.5 hours in a large crock pot. I used the last hour to add the wheatberries and chickpeas.
Instructions for stove top from Cookie + Kate:
  1. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
  2. Stir in the onions, raw sweet red pepper, and sweet potato and a big pinch of salt. Sauté for five minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to soften.
  3. Add the curry paste and stir until the onions and sweet potatoes are coated and the curry is fragrant (about a minute).
  4. Add the farro, if that’s your grain of choice, and six cups of veggie broth or water and bouillon cubes and the coconut milk.
  5. Bring to a boil, then set the timer for thirty minutes, cover the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer.
  6. After thirty minutes, uncover the pot and add the chickpeas. Taste and season with more salt as needed (if it tastes flat, add more). If you chose to use cooked whole grains, add them now. Cover and simmer for another twenty minutes.
  7. Uncover, stir in the kale, add cayenne pepper if desired, and serve.
Notes

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Posted in Dinner, Fridge Finds, Lunch, Make Ahead, Meatless Monday, Quick Cooking, Recipes, Soup, Vegan, Vegetarian

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Veganize your “normal” food cravings with VeganGR

Posted on December 16, 2013 | 2 comments

At VeganGR, we find that one of the stumbling blocks for many people struggling to eat a more plant-centered diet is that they feel like they are going to have to give up eating all the wonderful meals they grew up with and love. The truth is, anything can be veganized! Of course, that doesn’t mean you’re ever going to have a vegan porterhouse steak, but it’s really easy to replace certain flavors and foods in pretty much any recipe once you get the basics down. For instance, we use cashew cream in place of heavy whipping cream in recipes. Other substitutions are easier: Earth Balance butter in place of dairy butter or margarine, almond milk in place of cow’s milk, or vegetable broth in place of chicken broth. Take, for example, one night last week when Jon and I saw an ad for Olive Garden. It sparked a memory in him of having some sort of creamy potato and sausage soup from there many years ago. A quick Google search revealed it to be Zuppa Tuscano Italian Soup. We also found some copy cat recipes. A few minutes later, Jon was in the kitchen making it. Here’s the original recipe we found (from Food.com).

The ingredients:

  • 1 lb Italian sausage (I like mild sausage)
  • 2 large russet baking potatoes, sliced in half, and then in 1/4 inch slices
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1/4 cup bacon bits (optional)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 cups kale or 2 cups swiss chard, chopped
  • 2 (8 ounce) cans chicken broth
  • 1 quart water
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream

This recipe is pretty simple, and super easy to veganize! We happened to have some Tofurkey Italian Sausage in the fridge, so we used that. You might already know this, but most bacon bits are accidentally vegan, just check the label and you should be good to go. We didn’t have any on hand, so we just left them out. For the chicken broth, you could just sub vegetable broth, but we’re partial to Better Than Bullion’s No-Chicken Broth. It’s a great way to replicate the chicken flavor, and color in soups. The hardest part of this (which isn’t so very hard at all) is making cashew cream in place of the whipping cream. It’s pretty simple, especially if you have a high-powered blender like a Vitamix. Soak 1 cup of cashews in water overnight, or at least for several hours (you can skip this step if you have a high-powered blender) Drain and rinse. Place them in your blender and cover with ½ inch of water. Blend on high for a few minutes until they are smooth. If you think they’re too thick, add more water. In the end, this is what our recipe looked like:

  • 1 lb Tofurkey brand Italian sausage chopped into small pieces
  • 2 large russet baking potatoes, sliced in half, and then in 1/4 inch slices
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 cups kale or 2 cups swiss chard, chopped
  • 16 ounces Better Than Bullion No-Chicken broth
  • 1 quart water
  • 1 cup cashew cream

Instructions:

soup bowl with breadsticks on the side

Chop or slice uncooked sausage into small pieces. Brown sausage in your soup pot. Add vegetable broth and
water to pot and stir. Place onions, potatoes, and garlic in the pot. Cook on medium heat until potatoes are done. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn to low heat. Add kale and cream. Heat through and serve.

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Posted in Recipes, Soup, Vegan

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Virtual Vegan Potluck – Ginger Carrot Soup

Posted on November 16, 2013 | 20 comments

I know what you were thinking….when is the next Virtual Vegan Potluck? Well, it is YOUR lucky day. VVP is TODAY! The VVP is an online party that happens twice a year where food bloggers share PLANT-BASED recipes (of course) in any one of eight courses. We’ve been eating an obscene amount of soup in our home lately due to the dreary, drizzly, midwestern weather we are enduring in the mitten state so I didn’t have to go far for this recipe selection.

The coolest thing about the VVP is the linking up of every blog via the “back” (Vegan Runner Eats) and “forward” (Quinoa Kale and Exhale) buttons on the bottom of each blog in the Potluck. You are welcome for providing you with the opportunity for entering this veggie wormhole! Be sure to visit my friends in the other categories of course, but soup…soup is where it’s at. Click the buttons below for delish noms for the fall/winter months. I know you are spending most of you work time browsing the web for Thanksgiving meal ideas anyway, so why not hang out in the potluck for a while?

virtual vegan potluck welcome logo

I make a trek to Whole Foods Ann Arbor every so often and the first thing I usually grab from the produce section is a 5 pound bag of their organic carrots. I do this to 1) remind myself that baby carrots are not really a carrot, 2) that I love the serene process of preparing veggies for consuming (i.e. peeling, chopping, etc), and 3) that carrots have a TASTE. Yes. An. Actual. Taste. You don’t get a whole lotta taste from those Dole carrots at my local supermarket. You just don’t.

While scouring the Interwebs for delish recipes I often find that I like certain elements of multiple recipes, or a regular recipe that could stand to be veganized, and so I collect them, mix them up and then execute delish, satisfying, warm-in-your-belly soup.

  • 2 pounds carrots, peeled and diced small for fast cooking
  • 1 tsp garlic powder or 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
  • 1-2 tsp onion powder or 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 tsp curry powder (I did 1 tsp hot, 1 tsp sweet)
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1-2 T fresh chopped ginger or 1 tsp ground ginger (the fresh gives it a certain lively flavor in your mouth and a lot of zip!)
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp garam marsala (optional)
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 5-6 C water (you want all of your carrots covered with liquid to start)
  • 2 veg boullion cubes
  • 1 can (14-16 oz) nondairy milk (in keeping with the spice theme above, I chose light coconut milk)
  • fine grain sea salt (as much as you need)

Process your carrots by peeling and chopping into uniform chunks so they cook at the same rate.

If using real garlic, onion, and or ginger heat a stock pot add 1 T of water and drop in raw ingredients. Heat until transluscent over medium heat careful not to burn fresh garlic. After your fresh ingredients are cooked through, or if not using fresh garlic, onion, and/or ginger, next drop carrots into stock pot followed by all other ingredients and bring mix to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to simmer or low and cook the soup until the carrots are tender. Remove from heat and let cool.

If you wish to puree the soup with a hand blender you can probably get away with blending right in the pot off the heat with some care so as not to splash molten carrot on yourself. If using a blender, be careful as you transfer hot liquids and above all consider the pressure factor in putting hot liquids in a covered blender. I will leave a part of the lid open and cover with a towel lightly so as to avoid an explosion. With either method, you control the consistency with additional water, veg broth, or as one blog suggested, orange juice! Taste and season with salt or more curry after your soup is pureed.

Some of the recipes I viewed suggested a squeeze of lemon after puree to bring out a lightness in the soup. Others finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, lemon oil, nut oils, sesame oil or chili oil. We love our carbs at the Wallace-DeVries home, so instead of oil, we finished this soup with Naan 🙂

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Ideas for this mashup come from: The Curvy Carrot, Eat Live Run, Whole Foods,  Simply Recipes, Mind Body Green, and May I Have That Recipe.

VVPL go back                                                             VVPL go forward

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Posted in Fall Food, Fridge Finds, Make Ahead, Meatless Monday, Recipes, Soup, Vegan, Virtual Potluck

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Yesterday Tacos, Today Taco Soup

Posted on September 16, 2013 | 2 comments

Yesterday I made the tacos that I sometimes dream about in the winter, full of summer veggies practically radiating sunshine, tender-crisp, and juicy.  I love tacos, but even I can’t eat them every night for leftovers, so this seemed like the perfect solution: taco soup for the freezer and rest of the week.

Recipe:

Cook all veggies using summer tacos recipe found here spices and all, we will add a little more flavor below due to the dilution from the water. While I was charring all the veggies, I set half of each batch into a soup pot to create taco soup for later in the week.

To that add:

  • 1 tsp epazote
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1-2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp to 1T chipotle en adobo (sauce), depending on your like of heat
  • 2-3 C or 1-2 cans black beans, drained
  • 3 cans diced tomatoes, these can be fire roasted or normal diced tomatoes
  • 2 cubes veggie boullion 
  • 4-6 C of water, depending on your thoughts on consistency of soup

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Heat all ingredients through give it a taste and adjust the seasonings (salt for sure). Serve warm with a squeeze of lime, vegan sour cream, and tortilla chips or freeze to preserve the summer.

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Posted in CSA, Dinner, Fall Food, Fridge Finds, Leftovers, Less is more, Make Ahead, Meatless Monday, Michigan, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Soup, Vegan, Vegan MoFo, Vegetarian

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Ceci-Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Posted on December 31, 2012 | 1 comment

New Year’s Eve is for two things:  1) resolution making and 2) drinking, heavily.  The day after your first thought:  1) resolving to not EVER drink again….like for real this time, ever.  Right?  So for your hangover cure I did a little research and decided that one of my fave soups can be your cure for what you overdo on NYE.

Nutrient-rich foods that are good to eat with a hangover are bananas, red peppers, broccoli, nuts, and oats. A banana smoothie is an excellent choice, as it acts as a natural antacid as well as replenishing vitamins and minerals. To make one, blend together one ripe banana, one a half cups of nondairy milk, and two tablespoons of honey or agave (for those of you that are strict vegan).

This soup is great.  Protein, vitamins, sits on stove all day without getting icky so you can eat when you get that small window of opportunity when you feel “better” than you did when you woke up at Noon.  Tastes excellent with saltines…see, it’s like perfect.  Take care.

  • 2 large red bell peppers
  • 1 medium size onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp. rosemary, dried
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • black pepper, to taste
  • 2 c. tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 tsp. ground coriander
  • 3 c. vegetable broth
  • 1 (15oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  2. Cut out the stems of the peppers and discard along with the seeds. Stand the peppers in a small baking pan to roast the peppers for 35-50 minutes.
  3. Remove from oven and let cool, additionally, I removed the skin, then cut into bite-sized pieces.
  4. Saute the onion in a large pot in very little oil (or none at all if you like) for 5 minutes until translucent.
  5. Add garlic, rosemary, salt, and black pepper to pot and saute for another minute.
  6. Mix in tomatoes (canned are okay here too, let’s be honest you aren’t going to cut up tomatoes hungover) and stir for another minute.
  7. Add coriander, vegetable broth, and chickpeas and stir.
  8. Bring contents of pot to a low boil and cook covered for 15 minutes or all day…whatever you need/want.
  9. Add the roasted peppers.
  10. Blend half the soup with an immersion blender OR blend about half the soup in a blender, being careful not to let the steam build up in the blender while you are blending, add the blended soup back to the pot.
  11. Let soup sit for a few minutes, taste for salt, and serve.

Adapted from Appetite for Reduction; shown here with bread and goat cheese (omit goat cheese for vegans).

IMG_6222

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Posted in Bread, Fall Food, Fridge Finds, Leftovers, Make Ahead, Meatless Monday, Quick Cooking, Recipes, Soup, Vegan, Vegetarian

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Tortilla Soup Take 2

Posted on January 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

I already have one recipe for tortilla soup here on my blog, and now I am adding another to the collection; both are excellent.  This one is a little more pedestrian, meaning you are much more likely to have these items on hand than you are the 101 Cookbooks version of tortilla soup I published earlier in my blogging life.  Enjoy yet another recipe adapted from the cookbook Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 small red onion, sliced thinly
  • 2 jalapeños, seeded and sliced thinly
  • 2 poblano peppers or green bell pepper, seeded, chopped into ½-inch pieces
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¼ tsp red pepper flakes, optional
  • 3/4 tsp corriander
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 (24-ounce) can diced tomatoes, juice and all
  • 1 (24-ounce) can gluten-free vegetable broth or water
  • 1 heaping T ground cumin
  • 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 C frozen corn
  • cilantro for garnish
  • tortilla chips for garnish
  • Juice from 1 lime
  • Salt, to taste

1. Place oil in a 4-quart pot and sauté onions, jalapeños and poblano pepper over medium-high heat until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. (Add a little more oil or broth if needed.) Add garlic, red pepper flakes and salt and sauté for another minute.
2. Add tomatoes to the pot, including the juice. Fill the tomato can with vegetable broth or water and add to the pot. Stir in the cumin and corriander.
3. Add beans, corn and let simmer for 5 more minutes. Add lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt to taste.
4. Ladle soup into serving bowls. Crumble tortilla chips over the top and garnish with cilantro.

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Posted in Fridge Finds, Make Ahead, Recipes, Soup, Vegan, Vegetarian

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TVP Chili – Say That Three Times Fast

Posted on October 17, 2011 | Leave a comment

This is the chili I take tailgating.  Carnivores have no idea this doesn’t have meat in it thanks to the chipotle which adds a smokey beefy taste to the dish.  Add a little liquid hickory or hot sauce to increase the meaty factor.  I love this over vegan dogs, it makes me feel just like everyone else, which if you are veg, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

TVP Chili for Meat-Eaters

  • 1/4 C cumin
  • 1/2 C chili powder
  • 2 C cooked chickpeas
  • 2 C cooked great northern beans
  • 2 C cooked cranberry beans
  • 1-46oz bottle V8 Hot & Spicy reduced sodium
  • 1/3 of the V8 bottle, water
  • 2 medium onions, finely chopped
  • 4 T garlic, minced
  • 3 bell peppers (your choice of color), chopped
  • 1 C frozen or fresh corn off the cobb
  • 2 chipotle en adobo, chopped finely
  • 2 C whole crushed tomatoes, with juice
  • 3/4 C hot water
  • 1 C TVP
Rehydrate the TVP in a bowl with the 3/4 C hot water.  Set aside.
Saute onion, garlic, bell peppers, cumin and chili powder over medium heat until onion is soft.
Add V8, water, tomatoes, stir to loosen up the charred bits in the bottom.
Last, add the beans, corn, and TVP then stir to combine.
Let simmer for flavors to develop for 20 to 30 minutes.

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Posted in Dinner, Fall Food, Leftovers, Make Ahead, Meat Substitutes, Recipes, Soup, Vegan, Vegetarian

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Soup’s ON! Yellow Split Pea.

Posted on October 13, 2011 | Leave a comment

I’m wild about soup.  Instead of talking you to death, I’ll just hit you with the recipe pronto.  This is a good intro to Fall or kick in the ass to Winter to usher in spring.

Yellow Split Pea Soup

Adapted from Heidi Swanson’s 101cookbooks.com

  • 2 cups dried split yellow peas, picked over and rinsed
  • 6 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 large onions, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 7-ounce container of greek yogurt (omit if vegan)
  • 1/2 cup shredded unpeeled cucumber, (deseed before shredding)
  • 1 clove garlic, mashed and minced
  • scant 1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
  • big pinch of salt
  • chopped olives
  • more olive oil to drizzle (I use Fustinis Meyer Lemon for topping)

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Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan, add the yellow split peas, and cook for 20 -30 minutes, or until tender. Drain, salt to taste and set aside.

Add olive oil to a big pot over med-high heat. Stir in onions and salt and cook until the onions soften, just a minute or two. Add the cooked split peas and stock/water. Bring to a simmer and let cook for a few minutes. Now remove from the heat. Using a large cup or mug ladle half of the soup into a bowl and set aside. Using a hand blender (or regular blender) puree the soup that is still remaining in the pot. Stir the reserved (still chunky) soup back into the puree – you should have a soup that is nicely textured. If you need to thin the soup out with more water (or stock) do so a bit at a time. Give the soup a taste, if it needs more salt, add more a bit at a time until the flavor of the soup really pops.

In the meantime make the yogurt topping by mixing together the yogurt, cucumber, garlic, mint, and salt. Set aside.

Ladle soup into bowls or cups, and serve each with a generous dollop of the yogurt, a drizzle of olive oil, a touch of chopped mint (any that was left on the cutting board), and a sprinkling of black olives.

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Veg Tortilla Soup

Posted on October 10, 2011 | 4 comments

It hasn’t exactly been soup weather here in Michigan (thank goodness)!  Yesterday it was 82 degrees, I’m sure we will pay for that later.  I love soup so much, that I couldn’t wait until it was cold to make some tortilla soup.  Heidi Swanson from 101cookbooks.com has some of the most simple and delicious soup recipes one could ask for, however, when I have extra delicious ingredients on hand or in the freezer…I like to embellish on her deliciousness.  Here is my version of Veggie Tortilla Soup.

  • 6-8 corn tortillas, cut in half and then into matchstick-thin strips
  • a big splash of extra virgin olive oil
  • fine grain sea salt
  • 20 small yellow or red cherry tomatoes
  • another splash of extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 large white onion, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne or other spicy red chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon chipotle en adobo
  • 1 small can diced green chiles
  • 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
  • 2 cups black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 6 cups vegetable broth (or water)
  • a few sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/4 cup of goat cheese, crumbled (omit if vegan)

Gently toss the tortilla strips with a glug of olive oil and salt. Turn them out onto a baking sheet, arrange them across the pan and bake in a 350F degree oven for 10 minutes or until golden and crispy. Set aside.

I usually do this whenever I have tomatoes that have to be used up in a hurry.  I call them “crack tomatoes”.  They have so many uses…limitless really as a fridge staple.  To make:  halve (or quarter) the tomatoes lengthwise and put them in a small roasting pan, oven proof dish, or rimmed baking sheet. Toss with a bit of olive oil and a pinch or two of salt. Bake in a 350F degree oven for 40-45 minutes (less time if you use smaller cherry tomatoes), or until the tomatoes are shrunken and golden around the edges. The tomatoes keep nicely in a jar for days (refrigerated).  If you are going to keep them for a little longer, douse them in olive oil and store them under the oil in an airtight container, I use a Ball glass canning jar.

For the soup itself – in a big pot over medium-high heat cook the garlic and onions in a splash of olive oil along with a couple pinches of salt for just a minute or so. Stir in the spices and then the tomatoes, chiles, chipotle en adobo. Cook down for about five minutes or so, it should thicken a bit. For a smooth soup don’t add corn or beans then remove from heat, add one cup of the broth and puree with a hand blender (or puree in a traditional blender). Add the remaining 5 cups of broth and puree until smooth. Bring the soup back up to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes.  If you like chunkier soups to mop up, don’t puree, and add the corn and black beans.  Serve as is.

Serve the individual bowls topped with plenty of tortilla strips, the roasted and sun-dried tomatoes, and some crumbled goat cheese. Alternately, as I mention up above, you can finish with sliced avocado, cilantro, white onions, and a squeeze of lime. If you like a creamier soup base add a splash of half and half, or stir in some extra goat cheese.

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Simple Solution – Veg Broth

Posted on October 3, 2011 | 3 comments

It has been a busy few weeks at the nonprofit I work for, so mostly dinner has been take out or warming up stuff out of the freezer, and plenty of veggie burgers (on buns, on tortillas, on naan), not a ton of creativity going on in the kitchen.  With that in mind, my CSA share and Doorganics delivery look limp and sad, but not rotting in my fridge, I decided to get ahead of the game and make veg broth to store in my freezer for the upcoming soup season.  Making your own veg broth is cheap, and a good way to use up items that are unsavory for cooking at face value but are still wonderful for a broth base.  During the summer, I keep a freezer bag full of items that would make good broth like the stems of mushrooms, the tops of radishes, celery greens, washed carrot peels, the ends of onions, parsley and the like then when I get a few extra seconds, I dump it in a soup pot cover it with water, add whatever fresh herbs I have in the fridge if any, and let it boil away.  I store it in 2-cup measures in freezer bags marked with the date and freeze flat, that way whenever I need a quick base for soup, I have a lightly flavored, sodium free, cheap alternative to store-bought broth.   Since the consistency of the veggies doesn’t make a difference in the taste of the broth, the freezer step doesn’t hurt, I promise.

My current batch of broth has in it:

  • celery greens
  • celery
  • portobella mushroom stems (trimmed and washed)
  • red bell pepper (seeds and all)
  • carrot shavings (cleaned)
  • turnips, quartered
  • onion ends & parts
  • garlic cloves
  • peppercorns
  • rosemary
  • thyme

Put all the items into a soup pot, cover with water and let it simmer away for an hour or so.  Remove from heat, let cool for hours and hours, then pour into labeled freezer bags (label them before you pour into them) and freeze flat. Remember this will not have salt added as is, so when you add to soups be sure to season well.

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Posted in Fall Food, Fridge Finds, Gluten Free, Leftovers, Make Ahead, Soup, Vegan, Vegetarian

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Coconut Red Lentil Stew

Posted on April 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

You will just have to take my word for it sans pictures this time.  This stew is delightful.  Here’s the recipe, go play in the kitchen while I look for my memory card full of delightful food pictures that I have misplaced somewhere…damn.

Coconut Red Lentil Stew

Adapted from 101Cookbooks.com Heidi Swanson

  • 1 cup / 7 oz / 200g yellow split peas
  • 1 cup 7 oz / 200g red split lentils (masoor dal)
  • 7 cups / 1.6 liters water
  • 1 medium carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice
  • 4 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger
  • 2 tablespoons curry powder
  • 2 tablespoons butter or ghee
  • 8 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
  • 1/3 cup / 1.5 oz / 45g golden raisins
  • 1/3 / 80 ml cup tomato paste
  • 1 14-ounce can coconut milk
  • 2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
  • one small handful cilantro, chopped
  • cooked brown rice or farro, for serving (optional)

Give the split peas and lentils a good rinse – until they no longer put off murky water. Place them in an extra-large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the carrot and 1/2 of the ginger. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft.

In the meantime, in a small dry skillet or saucepan over low heat, toast the curry powder until it is quite fragrant. Be careful though, you don’t want to burn the curry powder, just toast it. Set aside. Place the butter in a pan over medium heat, add half of the green onions, the remaining ginger, and raisins. Saute for two minutes stirring constantly, then add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two more.

Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato paste mixture, mix well, and then add this to the simmering soup along with the coconut milk and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so. The texture should thicken up, but you can play around with the consistency if you like by adding more water, a bit at a time, if you like. Or simmer longer for a thicker consistency. The thicker this soup got, the more I liked it.

This stew freezes great.  I took it over to Ben and Janna for emergency freezer meals after the birth of their very lovely Olivia.

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Curried Noodle Pot

Posted on April 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

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Curry on the brain this week I guess.  Monday I wrote about Curried Hash and now, we have the Curried Noodle Pot courtesy of the lovely Heidi Swanson from 101cookbooks.com.  This recipe comes from her cookbook Super Natural Cooking.  Why buy one of her books?  Her photography.  You can thank me later for the copious amounts of food porn present.

Curried Noodle Pot

  • 8 oz whole-grain wide Asian noodles ( I used whole spelt udon)
  • 2 T coconut oil
  • 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 1-1/2 tsp red curry paste
  • 12 oz extra firm tofu pressed and cubed
  • 1-14 oz can coconut milk
  • 2 C veggie stock
  • 2 tsp ground tumeric or curry powder
  • 2 T shoyu sauce (or any other type of soy sauce)
  • 1T agave syrup
  • juice of one lime
  • 2/3 C peanuts (optional)
  • 1/3 C slivered shallots
  • 1/3 C chopped fresh cilantro

Cook noodles in plenty of water until just tender.

Start making curry while noodles cook. Heat coconut oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Stir in garlic, onion and curry paste and mash the paste around the bottom of the pan a bit to distribute evenly. Cook until fragrant – just a minute or two.  Add the tofu stir until well coated with curry. Stir in the coconut milk, stock, shoyu and agave, bring to simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in the lime juice and add the noodles.  Turn to coat.

To serve, heap big piles of noodles into individual bowls and top with a ladle or two of curry. Top with peanut and cilantro and shallots.

Note:  I thought this needed a bit of salt because I used unsalted peanuts for garnish.  From start to finish, this took me less than 20 minutes to make.  Bonus points for quick dinner.

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Want some Kale with your Black Beluga Lentils?

Posted on April 1, 2011 | 6 comments

Perhaps you saw the title of this post and thought, WTF I don’t even know what Black Beluga Lentils ARE let alone why I would want Kale with THEM!  I know, I know, weirdo veggie Adrienne wants us to eat crazy stuff and be kind to things with faces…well, yes, but Kale is a powerful, versatile and sturdy vegetable.  It is often overlooked, mostly because the only interaction you ever have with it is under that crappy obligatory unripe melon slice, next to your steak and baked potato at the steakhouse.  Yep, that’s Kale and it’s delicious.

Kale seems a little dark and mysterious, a little scary, and so is the amount of times this woman says “super” in this Kale video.  Nonetheless, it’s a good primer-when you are done watching, come back for the soup recipe will ya?

Black Beluga Lentil Soup

Adapted from Heidi Swanson’s Lively Lentil Soup at 101cookbooks.com

  • 2 C black beluga lentils (or green French lentils), picked over and rinsed
  • 2 C great northern beans, cooked
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 2 T chipotle en adobo sauce (from the can)
  • 2T cumin
  • 2T smoked paprika
  • 2 tsp pepper, ground
  • 2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1T extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 tsp fine-grain sea salt
  • 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 C water
  • 3 C of a big leafy green (chard, kale, etc), rinsed well, deveined, finely chopped

Saffron Yogurt

  • a pinch of saffron (30-40 threads)
  • 1 T boiling water
  • two pinches of salt
  • 1/2 C 2% Greek Yogurt

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan, add the lentils, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain and set aside.

While the lentils are cooking, make the saffron yogurt by combining the saffron threads and boiling water in a tiny cup. Let the saffron steep for a few minutes. Now stir the saffron along with the liquid into the yogurt. Mix in the salt and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat, then add the onion, carrot, and spices and saute until tender, a couple minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, lentils, and water and continue cooking for a few more minutes, letting the soup come back up to a simmer. Stir in the chopped greens, cooked beans, and wait another minute. Taste and adjust the seasoning if need be. Ladle into bowls, and serve with a dollop of the saffron yogurt.

This soup hurts so GOOD!!  It has a little kick to it, but the saffron yogurt is cooling.  To make less spicy, just put in less of the hot stuff up there silly!  I of course added Frank’s Red Hot to this before I served it.

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Yahtzee! Red Pepper SALE=Spicy Red Pepper Soup

Posted on February 3, 2011 | 1 comment

Some like it HOT.  I for one, basically drink Frank’s Red Hot. It has some kind of hold on me.  A sale on red peppers is like hitting 3 or 4 numbers in the lotto, not the full monty, but you still get an excellent monetary reward…especially at D & W.  So when I saw red bell peppers, 10 for $10 dollars and sprinted to the produce shelf, leaving poor Mr. Wonderful in the dust returning with 20 red bell peppers, he had no idea what had just happened.  Since he knows better than to actually ask about such things, he agreed to just wait for the finished product which we lapped up 2 days in a row and several lunch servings later.

This recipe was adapted from the klutzychef at her blog; check her out she is cute and honest…and talks about burning Rice Krispie treats, my kind of gal.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

serves 4 people as a main meal

Ingredients

  • 8 red bell peppers, roasted (no, it does NOT taste the same if you use canned-just roast them in your oven..super easy)
  • 1 baked medium russet potato, smashed
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup half and half
  • 2 medium chopped onions
  • 6 garlic cloves peeled and left whole
  • 2 tsp roasted red pepper flakes (half of this for a milder soup)
  • 1 tsp chipotle powder (omit for mild soup, I like to hurt myself eating soup like this…)
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 2 cups crushed tomatoes (16 oz)
  • 1 3/4 cups reduced-fat coconut milk (or whole fat, whatever)
  • 2 cups veggie broth or water

Directions

  1. Bake your potato, set aside to cool.  Roast your peppers, whole, washed and then coated lightly with EVOO or canola oil on a foil-lined (you will thank me later for this step) jelly roll pan at 400 or so until they are black, yes, black.  Set them aside in a tightly covered bowl to cool and then stem, seed, and peel them.  This is not hard, suck it up and do it.  Seriously, the taste is worth it.
  2. In a covered non-reactive pot, heat oil in a dutch oven on medium-high heat.
  3. Add onions, carrots, salt, pepper flakes, chipotle powder, and garlic.  Sauté on medium heat for 15 minutes or until onions are soft and translucent.  DO NOT INHALE DEEPLY when you put the flakes and powder to the oil.  You might want to turn on the fan for a few minutes or suffer for about an hour.
  4. Remove the pot from heat and add canned tomatoes, red peppers, coconut milk, smashed potato guts, half/half and broth/water.
  5. Mix together so ingredients are fully integrated.
  6. Now, in batches, add the soup to a blender or food processor to mix all together.  An immersion blender works beautifully here as well since you can just throw it right into the pot.  If you have a dish towel to spare and are using a standing blender, you may want to put the towel under the cover to prevent hot soup from spilling out the top.
  7. Keep warm until ready to serve on stove over low.
  8. Top with Frank’s Red Hot (I know it’s too much, but it’s soooooo good).

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Simple Split Pea Soup

Posted on January 31, 2011 | 1 comment

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You know it has been too long since last you blogged, when you can’t remember the login or password to your WordPress account.  Sorry friends.  I have a few backlogged items to share with you in the next few days and then hopefully next week some new cooking (I have a few new cookbooks, shocker).

This easy and super cheap soup comes to use via my fave Heidi Swanson of 101cookbooks.com.  You can pre-order her newest and greatest cookbook on Amazon right now SuperNatural Every Day.  If not for the recipes buy it for the food porn pics.  She is as good a photog as she is a veggie chef.

  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (I used Fustini’s Meyer Lemon)
  • 2 large onions, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
  • 1 1/2 cups dried split green peas, AND 1/2 cup dried split yellow peas, picked over and rinsed.
  • 5 cups water
  • juice of 1/2 lemon (reserve the zest)
  • a few pinches of smoked paprika
  • more Meyer Lemon olive oil to drizzle

Add olive oil to a big pot over med-high heat. Stir in onions and salt and cook until the onions soften, just a minute or two. Add the split peas and water. Bring to a boil, dial down the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the peas are cooked through (but still a touch al dente). Using a large cup or mug ladle half of the soup into a bowl and set aside. Using a hand blender (or regular blender) puree the soup that is still remaining in the pot. Stir the reserved (still chunky) soup back into the puree – you should have a soup that is nicely textured. If you need to thin the soup out with more water (or stock) do so a bit at a time. Stir in the lemon juice and taste. If the soup needs more salt, add more a bit at a time until the flavor of the soup really pops.

Ladle into bowls or cups, and serve each drizzled with olive oil and topped with a good pinch of smoked paprika and a touch of lemon zest.

Serves 4 to 6.

This froze well, and all my work friends were jealous when it was beef on noodles day again in the cafe’ and I was eating a bowl of spring yum.  Also pictured with the soup was home-baked (from a freezer loaf) bread topped with chili sea salt and Meyer Lemon EVOO.

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Clean Out Your Cupboard Mexican Sopa

Posted on December 15, 2010 | Leave a comment

I really, really wanted to go out and get half-off sushi at XO in downtown GR tonight, it’s just simply too cold to leave the house, really!  Typically Mr. Wonderful and I eat at XO for lunch on Tuesdays, because can you really pass up a 9 dollar stuff your face with sushi lunch?  No way.  Today however, I had a lunch and learn speaker session to attend and could not go to half-off sushi day. I was crying on the inside, really.  Instead, while listening to a charming and informative session put on by AMA West Michigan, I ate a crappy warm mixed greens salad without dressing (it looked gross), limp and flavorless “veggie pad Thai” (or my translation for the table was peanut butter spaghetti for white people-gag) and starchy, clumpy COLD rice, with a stale dinner roll.  I pushed my plate forward and covered it with my napkin for a proper burial after I ate the greens and then waited to get home to eat my leftovers from last night’s Pineapple Tofu dish.

While I am known on occasion to exaggerate (I know you are surprised by this revelation), I have to get this out of my system as I work in a catering department of a very well-known west Michigan establishment and hotelier:   food at other venues is shit compared to what we produce at my beloved place of employment.  Yes, really, shit.  I mean, I cannot emphasize enough, what an outstanding team of chefs and talented staff we have on our team.  A luncheon on our turf, would NOT leave you wishing for your leftovers at home, this I assure you.  I even passed on, are you ready for this…the Christmas sugar cookie.  The Pillsbury cut and bakes I can buy in the refrigerated section  are more desirable than the floury mess with butter frosting.  Honestly people…and you call yourselves professionals?

Sorry about that distraction, I’m still mad that while my $40.00 paid to attend the session today was in my eyes a donation to the organization, approximately $0.00 went to the food bill.  I feed my dogs better quality meals than I received at that country club, and not to the detriment of the host organization, this is all on the country club, 100% #epicfail.

On to the recipe.

As I wasn’t about to brave the cold, I took what I had and made “stone soup” or as I have dubbed it, “clean out your cupboard Mexican sopa”.  Proof you can take normal stuff from your cupboards, toss it in a pan, add some broth and have a dinner in under 20 minutes.  Mix it up people, your only limitations are what you currently have in your pantry or freezer.  Good luck!

Ingredients:

  • 3-15 ounce cans diced or whole tomatoes, zapped in the food processor to make your base
  • 3-15 ounce cans black beans drained, or 4 cups cooked black beans, one cup zapped with tomatoes above for base
  • 6 cloves garlic, zapped in food processor with first two ingredients
  • 1 large sweet onion diced
  • 1-15 ounce can whole corn kernels
  • 1 can or 2 cups great northern beans drained
  • 2T cumin, ground
  • 1T ancho chili pepper, ground or your fave chili powder blend
  • 3T chipotle en adobo, less if you don’t like spicy, play around with it beginning at 1T to taste
  • 1tsp epazote, ground
  • 4 C veggie broth or water
  • Juice of 4-5 limes

Really sophisticated directions here folks:

1.  In a dutch oven, cook onion on medium high until translucent or browned whatever you like.

2.  Dump into onion the base as described above with first 3 ingredients.

3.  Next toss in whole black beans, whole northern beans, whole kernel corn, spices, veg broth, lime juice and chipotle en adobo.

4.  Bring to boil, turn down to simmer, add salt and pepper to taste.

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Serve over baked tortilla chips or rice, sprinkle with cheese, top with avocado, sour cream, squeeze of lime, and chopped red onion.  Freezes like a champ.

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Fresh bread, 45 minutes, no yeast. Really. It’s yummy too!

Posted on November 8, 2010 | 122 comments

Turns out you can make bread that tastes good, without much time, yeast or overloading your very busy napping, I mean working, schedule on a Sunday afternoon.  I forget that I own this cookbook until I see that someone else has dug out a keeper of a recipe from it.  I made more potato soup this afternoon in the crock pot from basically what we had in the fridge, 6 baking potatoes, 2 small yellow onions, a handful of baby carrots, 4 dried chiles, fresh thyme, a little half and half, and some skim milk while we were busy with grading, laundry, cleaning, etc and this quick savory bread was the perfect compliment to that delish dish.

Olive Oil and Salt Quick Bread
Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything Vegetarian

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 cups all purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt, preferably sea salt
  • 1 cup of warm water

To Do:

  1. Heat the oven to 375 and grease an oven proof dish or skillet – 8-9″ is probably best.
  2. Put the flour, baking powder, and salt in a food processor. Turn on the machine and slowly add the olive oil and most of the water.
  3. Process for 30 seconds. The dough should roll into a ball and barely sticky.  If it hasn’t come together yet, add remaining water a tablespoon at a time, processing for 5 seconds each time.  If you want to add herbs, cheese, whatever, to the dough, do it now.
  4. Put the dough into the pan and flatten it until the dough fits to the edges.  Flip and press again. Cover tightly with foil and bake.
  5. After 20 minutes, remove the foil and sprinkle the top with coarse seat salt and herbs (if you like). Bake for another 20 minutes. The top will be golden and it will spring back when touched.

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One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Vegan MoFo!

Posted on November 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

Confession:  I ate out tonight.  Worse yet, tomorrow I begin noshing at Restaurant Week GR, which means, the next 10 days will have more dining out than I care to admit to…however, in honor of November 2, Election Day FINALLY being behind us, I give you a recipe I will be making at some point in the next few days, as I have already baked off the potatoes in prep for it:  Baked Potato Soup. What’s the correlation to Election Day?  Well, I came across this YouTube clip of the humble potato and its rise to fame in 1992 when then VP Dan Quayle was schooled by a 6th-grader in how to spell the singular of potatoe, er, I mean potato.  Soup’s on!

Baked Potato Soup

2 T EVOO
1/4 of a large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 baking potatoes (about 2-1/2 lbs.)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 oz.)
6 cups milk (reduced fat if you prefer, or plain soy if vegan)
1 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided (use reduced fat if you prefer or soy if vegan)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream (for garnish, omit if you prefer)
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
6 faux-bacon slices, cooked and crumbled or other meat sub that has a smoky bite to it.  I used Morningstar Ground Sausage Crumbles in a pinch tonight.
Cracked black pepper (optional)

*adapted from Cooking Light, Rachael Ray and anon on the Interwebs

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Adzuki!!

Posted on November 3, 2010 | 2 comments

Sometimes I look at recipes on veg websites, scan the list of ingredients and then set off to stump my local health food grocer.  West Michigan lacks a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe’s which typically has all of these little bulk dried treasure bins and so, after I looked for a way to get rid of a butternut squash that was going to go bad this week, I found a recipe by Heidi Swanson adapted from a vegan cookbook that uses adzuki beans as a source of protein.

Adzuki beans?  Yeah, until last year I hadn’t heard of them either.  In popular Japanese and Chinese culture, they typically sweeten them and turn them into delicious desserts.  Turns out they are a substantial little bean that hold up well in chili, soups, and stews. They take little time to cook from a dry state and store beautifully in your freezer in Ziploc bags, so you can make a bunch at a time.  Additionally, they make a great non-refridge salad to pass at potlucks or picnics in the summer in this zesty Adzuki Bean Salad recipe from Whole Foods.

Adzuki & Butternut Squash Soup

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon (dried) coriander
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped chipotle pepper (from can, or rehydrated from dried chile)
  • 2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
  • 2 medium-large onions
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 5 – 6 cups water
  • 5 whole canned tomatoes, chopped
  • 4 cups cooked or canned adzuki beans
  • cilantro drizzle (optional)*

To make adzuki beans from a dry state.  Rinse, rinse, rinse.  Pick through for any duds, toss those.  For 4 cups of cooked beans, try for 2-3 cups of dry beans.  I had 4 1/2 cups of dried beans on the shelf, so I decided, if I’m gonna cook 4 cups I may as well cook what’s in my jar; thus, came out with 13 cups of cooked beans, of which I froze the extras not needed in the recipe.  Put beans in a large pot with cold water covering over the beans about 2 inches, bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for about 30 minutes.  They don’t take too long.  The bean is perfect when it takes a little pressure to smash it against the roof of your mouth when you are testing and burning yourself 🙂  This is obviously a VERY scientific method here.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the cinnamon, coriander, chipotle, cumin and salt and saute for a minute or two – until aromatic. Add the onions and saute another 5 minutes or so, until they start to go translucent. Add the garlic and butternut squash, stir well, and then add 5-6 cups of water. Increase the heat to bring to a boil, and once boiling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for a few minutes, until the squash begins to soften – 5 – 10 minutes.

Once the squash has softened, use a potato masher and break up the squash pieces a bit. Add the tomatoes, and cook a couple more minutes before adding the beans. Serve drizzled with the cilantro.

Serves about 8.

* I made a cilantro drizzle by putting one bunch of cilantro leaves into my mini-chop food processor with about a tablespoon of EVOO and a pinch of salt and a pinch of red pepper flakes for good measure.

Adapted from 101cookbooks.com

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Beans and Cornbread

Posted on September 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

The theme song to Dinner and A Movie with Paul and Annabell on USA Network was THIS.  It would be stuck in my mind for DAYS!!!  I regressed and began singing it while making chili and promptly wanted to leap off a cliff.  Hope you suffer as much as I did.  🙂  For your misery, a cornbread recipe.  BEANS AND CORNBREAD!

Mexican Cornbread

  • 1 C yellow cornmeal
  • 1 C sifted all-purp flour
  • 2 T sugar
  • 4 t baking powder
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 C skim milk
  • 1/3 C reduced fat sour cream
  • 1/4 C veg oil
  • 2 T chopped jalapenos

Preheat oven to 425, place cast iron skillet inside while warming up, buttered.

In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  To this mixture, add egg, milk, sour cream, oil and jalapenos, mix until smooth.  Pour into prepared hot pan.  Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

Recipe is a combo of many from Ina Garten, Paula Deen and Gourmet Magazine.

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Soup Season!

Posted on September 20, 2010 | Leave a comment

Fall is my favorite food season.  Tailgating and soup making are really the highlights in my humble opinion.  Mr. Wonderful did all the grocery shopping for the week after we picked out our recipes for the week over a blueberry pancake breakfast (yes, some of THOSE blueberries).  So this evening, all I had to do was pull together this easy, soul warming soup.

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Black Bean Corn Chowder

  • 1 T EVOO
  • 1 medium sweet onion, diced
  • 1 medium carrot, diced
  • 1 baking potato, peeled and diced
  • 1 package frozen corn kernels
  • 2 C black beans, cooked
  • 4 C veggie broth
  • 2 C skim milk
  • 1/4 C sweet red pepper, diced
  • 1 poblano pepper, diced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, diced
  • 1/2 T onion powder
  • 1/2 T garlic powder
  • 1 T chili powder
  • 1 T cumin
  • 1 T fresh oregano
  • 1 tsp salt, to taste

Saute’ veggies (not corn) in EVOO, cook until soft.  Add spices, cook 1-2 more minutes, stirring.  Add liquids bring to boil.  Drop in frozen corn and beans.  Bring back to boil.  Serve hot with toppings of your choice.  We like sour cream, avocado and a squeeze of lime.

My black beans generally do not come from a can, except for when I am in a super duper hurry and haven’t done a good job of planning ahead.  Tonight I made a two pound bag of black beans before putting together the soup so that I had a few bags in the freezer ready to go for the next few weeks.  To quickly cook black beans, in a large pot, dump rinsed and picked over beans, cover with water plus 2 inches up the side of the pan and boil until al dente.  They will cook the rest of the way in whatever you cook them in, soup, tacos, etc.  Yeah, that’s it.  You don’t have to do all that soaking if you have about 45 minutes to boil the crap out of them.  This way, you save money, they taste WAAAYYYY better and the sodium content is much lower.  I then take the beans and freeze them in plastic bags.  They don’t last long, so I’m not sure how long they keep.  Hispanic food stores have the BEST deals on dried black beans.  I once bought a 10 pound bag for $4.00.  Seriously.  I just finished that bag a few weeks ago, it lasted about 6 months.

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Posted in Fall Food, Make Ahead, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Soup

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My Friends Cook Too! Anne P., Guest Post

Posted on September 9, 2010 | 1 comment

I get really excited when my friends make veg friendly food.  Fall is a great time for soup, and what is cheaper right now than winter squash?  Not much, so stock up and keep it in a cool dry place, it will last through the winter.  Or, as Anne mentions below, cut it open, place face down on a cookie sheet, pop into the oven at about 350 degrees until soft, scoop out the flesh (sans seeds-save those to plant in the summer next year), drop it into a freezer bag and you have most of the work done and in your freezer for pies, soups, muffins, breads etc all winter.  Great idea Anne.

Squash Soup a la Anne

Anne Porter-I got the original recipe off the Food Network website. It’s an Alton Brown recipe, but I have altered it quite a bit.

It called for butternut squash, but I used a blend of acorn and carnival squash in the batch, I have used butternut in the past.

  • 6 cups of prepared squash
  • 2 cans of fat free vegetarian vegetable broth
  • 2 T. Splenda brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. minced ginger
  • 1 can lite coconut milk (used Thai Kitchen brand)

Directions:  In a large stock pot combine squash, broth, brown sugar and ginger. Simmer and then puree with immersion blender (or in your blender, food processor, food mill). Stir in coconut milk and return to a low simmer. Season to taste w/salt, pepper and/or nutmeg.

Approximately 8 – 1 cup servings at 115 calories per serving.

My squash was in the freezer from what I had frozen last fall, so it took me less than 20 minutes to make this, so it’s super easy and so tasty!

*I just made this soup tonight-with butternut from my garden!!!  To her base recipe I added:

  • 1/2 frozen banana (out with the brown sugar)
  • 1 medium onion, saute’ with garlic
  • 4 cloves of garlic, saute’ with onion
  • 1 can garbanzo beans
  • 1 & 1/2 tsp hot curry
  • 1 tsp sweet curry
  • 1 T Frank’s Red Hot
  • 1/2 C fat free half and half

Instead of blending the whole thing, I blended 1/2 and left the other half chunky. I like texture in my soup.  It was delish served with Nantucket Baking Company Sourdough Bread.

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Posted in Fall Food, Michigan, Recipes, Seasonal Ingredients, Soup

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