Potato Leek Soup

I read cookbooks like novels. And Anna Thomas's Love Soup is like a favorite story I read over and over again. I've even been known to tuck it into my bag on icy mornings to read on the on the long dark commute to work. The Big Kahuna sees this as further proof that I'm nuts, but sometimes even the idea of a big steaming pot of soup at the end of the day is enough to warm me a bit.

I bought Love Soup last winter, but I cooked only a handful of recipes from it since pregnancy-food-aversions kept me far from the kitchen. So this year I've decided to cook my way through some of the pages I dog-eared in my repeated readings - one soup a week. When my CSA share yielded both leeks and russet potatoes, Potato Leek soup was a no brainer.

So on a chilly Sunday afternoon, I poured a glass of red wine, got out the veggies, and started chopping....

.....and 45 minutes later, I had soup! In only one respect, I was disappointed -- I had planned to spend a leisurely whole afternoon in the kitchen, and I was already done! But this is one great soup. Hearty, and flavorful thanks to generous helpings of fresh herbs. The recipe calls for a couple tablespoons of cream, but I subbed in about a third of a cup of soy milk, and it was delicious.

And since it's so quick to put together, I accidentally stumbled on a wonderful weeknight dinner soup. I can see myself making this soup again and again this winter..... now I'll have more than just the idea of soup to keep me warm on the train ride home. This soup is easily a whole meal with the addition of a crusty bread, like Ciabatta.

The Blink of an Eye

Last I posted it was the end of August, 2008. Summer was winding down, and I was looking forward to cooking up and writing about all the delicious foods fall brings with it. But fall brought big changes as well. I got a new job -- a real, actual, career job that ate up just about all of my time and energy. And then the changes just kept on coming.......

March 2009 found the Big Kahuna and I moving out of the tiny apartment in the big city. We bought our first house - a small home in a small town, with a glorious new kitchen.

And then this past May, we welcomed a Baby Kahuna into our family.

And so two whole years flew by with very little thought given to blogging, or even really to the foods I was cooking and eating. But now fall is upon us again and I feel that pull, stronger than ever amidst the daily chaos, back to the kitchen. To spend an hour in the zen state of chopping, simmering, stirring. To create something warm and nourishing for my family.

So I've decided to dive back in, and what better way to start then a month of intense cooking and blogging with Vegan MoFo? I'm looking forward to a month of inspiration both in my own kitchen, and from my fellow bloggers...... So here goes!

Summer Squash Cous Cous Pilaf

This recipe began with an abundance of summer squash, and took on a life of its own from there.  I ended up using several odds and ends from my CSA deliveries, and the result was really good - colorful, with an interesting mix of textures and flavors.  

I even managed to use up a giant white radish that looked like a potato!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups dry cous cous
• 2 cups of summer squash, diced into half inch chunks
• 1/2 cup white radish, diced
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 2 cups of diced tomatoes
• 4-5 large kale leaves, diced
• 1 1/2 cups chick peas
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint, tightly packed
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil, tightly packed

The Recipe:

• Prepare the cous cous according to the package directions.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet.
• Add the onion and radish and saute until just tender.
• Add the squash and saute for a minute or two.
• Add the tomatoes and kale leaves, saute until the kale leaves are wilted, and the squash is tender.

• Add the herbs and chickpeas, saute until the chickpeas are just heated.
• Take off the heat, and sir in the cous cous until everything is well-dispersed.

You can eat the cous cous just like this, with maybe a little lemon, and it will be delicious.  

But because I was starting with a large pattypan squash, I decided to stuff the shell.  I baked in a pan surrounded by vegetable broth for about 45 minutes. Then I took the leftover broth from the pan and squeezed lemon juice into it, then poured it all over the squash.  The result was a very light, very fancy looking meal.

The one thing I would do differently is next time I'll pre-bake the empty squash shell, because I didn't think it really got tender enough, and then just quickly bake the whole thing to meld the flavors.  

Peach Cobbler

It was good, but not great.  So no recipe, but a so-so photo:

Stuffed Eggplants

This is not your traditional stuffed eggplants.  It has a cream sauce, instead of the usual red sauce, and brown rice makes the filling a bit more substantial.  While this recipe is more time consuming than some of my others, it's well worth it.  

If you want to pack in some extra greens, add a cup or two of chopped spinach or swiss chard with the basil.  

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized eggplants 
• 1 large onion, diced
• 10 oz mushrooms (I used baby bellas), sliced
• 1 cup whole basil leaves
• 1/2 cup of uncooked brown rice
• 1 1/2 cups soy milk
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• salt to taste

The Recipe:

• Preheat the oven to 350.
• Cook the rice.
• While the rice is cooking prepare the sauce - heat the oil in a saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the flour, and cook for two to three minutes.  Add the soy milk, whisking constantly so that it doesn't scald.  Cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens.  Stir in the pepper and cinnamon, and remove from the heat.
• Slice the eggplants in half length-wise.  Cross half the flesh, and scoop it out, leaving about a quarter inch on al sides of the skin.  Dice the flesh into half inch cubes.
• Add to tablespoons of oil to a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute until transparent.  
• Add the mushrooms and eggplant, and cook until they are tender, and have released their juices.  
• Add the basil to the pan, and saute until the basil has wilted.  If the mixture is sticking to the pan add a little more oil, and up to a quarter cup of water.  



• When the vegetable mixture is ready, stir in the rice until it is well distributed, and then stir in the cream sauce.



• Fill the eggplant halves with the vegetable mixture and bake for 35-45 minutes.
• Enjoy!

Summer Means Guacamole

Sometimes I'm not in the mood for a real meal, and would rather just nibble. In the cold weather this might mean bruschetta or quesadillas, in the summer it means guacamole. Knowing how much I love it, my mom even got me this beautiful guacamole bowl.



There are a million guacamole recipes out there, and mine has evolved over time. The one constant is that I only use haas avocados, because they are much more flavorful. Florida avocados work just fine in a lot of recipes, but I think they just taste watery in guacamole.

Last week, the Big Kahuna whipped up a batch of this on a night when I just didn't feel like cooking. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures during the process.

This recipe makes a party-sized bowl of guacamole.

Ingredients:

5 haas avocados
3 plum tomatoes
1 onion
Juice of 1 lemon
salt to taste

The Recipe:

1. Dice the tomatoes and onion into the smallest pieces possible, and place in a large bowl
2. Cut the avocados in half and remove the pits and skins. Coarsely chop the avocado and add it to the bowl.
3. With a fork, begin to mash the avocado, and mix it with the tomato and onion.
   
4. Add the lemon juice and salt, and continue to mash with a fork until the guacamole reaches the desired consistency, tasting and adjusting the seasonings as you go.
5. That's it! You can also add cilantro or jalapeño peppers if you want an added kick.

Bonus:

I don't know much about wine, and usually buy whichever bottle looks most fun. This one caught my eye and I couldn't resist.

CSA Inspirations

This week's CSA share included two of my favorites from last year: white salad turnips and rainbow chard.

I spent the last few days trying to come up with a unique way to use them both together, and I finally settled on soup. This soup has a lot of things in it, but it comes together pretty quickly so it's good for a weeknight.

This soup is miso-based, which is one of my favorite types of soup. If you haven't used miso paste before, here are a few notes: The miso is added at the very end of cooking, which means you can't really taste and adjust the seasonings during the cooking process. Don't worry, it all comes together at the end. Some miso pastes are mellower or more flavorful than others, so add the miso one or two tablespoons at a time, making sure the paste is fully dissolved and then and then add more as needed.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of oil
2 cups of turnips (about 6) diced small
2 carrots, sliced
3 scallions, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
A thumb-sized piece of ginger, minced
1/4 package (about 3 ounces) tofu, cut into tiny cubes
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons miso paste
2 tablespoons soy sauce
8 cups of water
1 bunch of rainbow chard (about 10 stalks) -

• coarsely chop the leaves,
  
• finely mince 5 stems
  
• (reserve the remaining stems for stock, or discard.)

The Recipe

1. Heat the oil in a large pot.
2. Saute the turnips and carrots until just tender, about 8 minutes.
   
3. Add the scallions, chard stems, and cubed tofu. Saute until the scallions and stems are tender.
   
4. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant.
5. Add 8 cups of water and the chard leaves.
6. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 5-7 minutes, until the chard leaves have wilted.
   
7. Turn off the heat and stir in the miso and soy sauce, making sure the miso is fully dissolved.

I served this with toasted onion naan on the side for dipping. Yum.