Beans and Greens

I have a confession to make and some of you may be a little surprised.  This soup recipe is old school Rachael Ray.  Back before she had a talk show and a hundred million cookbooks, before orange cookware became synonymous with her name.  Before even the suggested serving sizes of her recipes downright frightened me (unless I misread the recipe source and this soup was actually intended for 2?).  She has some hidden gems, recipes that I've definitely made more than once, so I guess what I'm saying is: don't judge a book by it's cover.

This is just a simple beans and greens kind of soup.  It could have been anyone's recipe really, but it just happens to come from Rachael Ray.  This is he kind of soup you crave on drizzly grey days, or when you're looking for comfort without tons of effort.  It's not the most handsome of soups, but with darkness falling earlier and earlier its muted tones are much more appropriate to autumn's palate.

Escarole is a fun green.  A little less bitter than other members of the endive family, it's wild and tangled leaves giving it the look of green leaf's less demure sibling.  I like it best with a little heat put to.  It tames the bitter and makes it more approachable.  In this soup, the wilted and stewed escarole becomes silky and its bright green color fades to something more homely.  The beans add body and thicken the savory chicken stock as they simmer away.  Pancetta is in there too, playing the much important salty role.  A tiny mountain of Parmigiano Reggiano to top it all off  and I've got my dinner all planned out for the next few days.

Minestra

recipe from Rachael Ray, 30 Minute Meals


This soup is dead simple and simply perfect.  It should go without saying that when a recipe is as simple as this, seek out the best ingredients.  Homemade chicken stock and super fresh escarole from the market will make all the difference here.  I suspect cooking up your own beans instead of using canned would be even more wonderful, but it's an extra step I haven't yet taken.  I like a generous dusting of  the real-deal fresh parmesan cheese on mine and bread is a must to swipe up the last bits from the bowl.


4-6 servings

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 oz. pancetta, diced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 large bunch escarole, chopped

2 (14-ounce) cans, cannellini beans, drained

4 cups chicken stock

A couple pinches ground nutmeg

kosher salt

Shaved Parmigiano Reggiano, for topping

In a deep, large, heavy pot over moderate heat, saute garlic and pancetta in extra-virgin olive oil for 3 minutes. Add onions and cook a few minutes longer until the pancetta begins to brown.

Add the greens and wilt slightly, just so that can fit in the pot.  Add drained beans, broth, and nutmeg. Cook over moderate to medium-high heat for 12 minutes, or until greens are no longer bitter.  Season with salt and don't be shy here, salt until the flavors pop.  Serve with shaved cheese and perhaps some crusty bread.

Solace in a Soup

Start.  Stop.  Start.  Stop.

I've started writing here 3 times now, and each time I've had to abandon the draft.  I'm drowning in school, work and a weekend trip up to Tahoe, and let me tell you this gray winter weather isn't helping whatsoever.  If it's not braving the rain on a Saturday morning open air market then it's rain turning into hail turning into white out snow conditions preventing the last leg of a trip to a Tahoe cabin.  Of course it's all worth it in the end - to come home with handfuls of the freshest farm produce or to finally arrive to a snow covered winter wonderland after a 6 hour drive - it's just that I can't help longing for a break.

And for that, there's this lentil soup.  Thick with red lentils and yellow split peas, rich with (light) coconut milk, toasted curry powder and tomato paste and just a hint of surprise with the addition of sauteed golden raisins.  It takes under an hour to make, almost all of which your kitchen will be filled with the sultry smells of toasting spices and and an amazing buttery sizzling combination of ginger, green onions and golden raisins.  And that wary look you have on your face about the raisins, abandon it, their sweet juicy bits in the soup are entirely perfect.  It's great the first night, even better the next and it freezes like a dream.


Coconut Curry Lentil Soup
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks 

Aside from adding in a little extra diced carrot, I didn't really change a thing, it was perfect as is.  If you don't intend to eat it right away, or imagine that you'll have leftovers for the next day or to freeze, I would suggest cutting each raisin in half.  They tend to soak up a lot of liquid and become surprisingly large after a while.  Plus, when you cut them up, you'll get more spoonfuls with raisins in them, and they're the best ones. 

6 servings

1 cup yellow split peas
1 cup red lentils
7 cups water
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons butter or ghee
8 green onions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 14-ounce can light coconut milk
2 teaspoons sea salt
one small handful cilantro, chopped

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 1/4 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.  Serve topped with a generous amount of the remaining sliced green onions and some chopped cilantro leaves.

Closing the Door

We are almost done.

The year is nearly at a close and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is breathing its last breath as we get ready to ring in the new year.

It's not that 2010 has been a particularly bad year, it's just that I'm ready for a new start.  It's this way every December, as January creeps closer, I realize how ready I am for something new and fresh.  A new year with new promises and a clean slate, 2011, I have big plans for you.  I know the resolutions we make and swear by in the first new days of the year get left by the wayside as life takes over, but this year, let's be practical.  Let's resolve for happiness and health and to being better people.

This December brought flooded roads, malls, parking lots, stadiums, houses.  Mudslides.  Super saturated soil and downed trees.  I kid you not when I say it took me 3 hours to get out of a small parking lot the other day in the middle of my traditional last minute shopping.  But there was also family and friends and the reminder of how truly blessed I really am to have what I do and the people who surround me every day.  It's been swell, 2010 but it's time to move on.

I know this soup doesn't look like much - muddy shades of green and chock full of vegetables - but it's the perfect bowl for chilly evenings and recovering from plates full of rich, celebratory food.  The paste of parsley, basil, garlic and onions that you saute at the very beginning will fill your house with such delicious aromas it'll be tempting to climb right into the pot.  Luckily it's a quick soup to make and you'll be eating in no time.  Toast a hunk of crusty bread, swipe it through the soup, clean the bowl and I'm pretty sure you won't be missing those piles of cookies any more.

Cheers, everyone and see you in the new year!


Umbrian Vegetable Soup
Adapted from Saveur, Issue #130

Just a small tweak here and there.  I didn't have the called for frisee so I used escarole in it's place, this mildly bitter green was a good substitute even if it did contribute to the dull green hue.  I also tossed in a small rind of parmesan with the water for a little extra flavor boost.  This soup freezes and thaws beautifully, which is nice if you're just a few people and you don't want the same dinner several nights in a row.

4 servings

1⁄2 cup packed basil leaves

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley 

4 cloves garlic

1⁄2 medium onion, cut into chunks

8 oz. red new potatoes, cut into 1⁄2" cubes

3 stalks celery, minced

2 medium carrots, minced

2 plum tomatoes, cored and minced
4 cups water

Kosher salt, to taste
1 small rind of Parmesan or Romano

1 14oz can cannellini beans, rinsed

1 cup fresh or frozen green peas

1⁄2 head escarole, leaves cut into bite-size pieces (about 4 cups)

salt and pepper

Freshly grated parmesan for serving

Place half the basil, 2 tablespoons olive oil, parsley, garlic, and onions in the bowl of a food processor and process until slightly chunky. Heat remaining oil in an 3-qt. pot over medium-high heat and add herb–garlic mixture. Cook, stirring often, until no liquid remains, about 5 minutes.

Add potatoes, celery, carrots, and tomatoes. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables are golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add salt and 4 cups water and cheese rind and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Stir in beans, peas, and escarole and cook until greens are wilted and just tender, about 10 minutes; season with salt and pepper and stir in remaining basil. To serve, ladle soup into bowls, sprinkle with parmesan.

Chicken Soup for the (adaptive) Soul

It's beginning to look a lot like soup weather.  That time of year where I'm guaranteed to make soup so frequently I'll begin to wonder when the last time I didn't eat my meal out of a bowl full of liquid was.

Oh soup, you take so many forms!  Pureed and smooth, chunky with vegetables, thick with cream.  They can be swimming with broth or they could be a rich and hearty stew topped with dumplings.  First course, only course or lunch.  Three cheers for soup!  Every bite is soul-warming and satisfying; the steam warming your face as you lean in, the bowl your personal hand warmer.  I think the chilled evenings are getting to me.

If you took a peek at my rapidly expanding - and let's be honest, completely out of control - list of bookmarked recipes, I'm sure you'd find that almost 1/4 of them are a soup of some form, rivaled only by the list of desserts and sweets.  Obviously, I have my priorities in order.

For no particular reason, other than striking my fancy at just the right time (that right time being when I sat down to make the week's meal plan and corresponding shopping list), I plucked this recipe out of list-oblivion.  A rotisserie cooked chicken and leftover rice soup, studded with bright red Thai chile slices and punched up with cilantro basil and lime.  So simple, so quick, if only a wrench weren't thrown into to the works; the store had sold through their rotisserie birds for the day.  Being stubborn and not wanting to try another store or wait another day, I instead poached some chicken breast I had at home and then used the poaching liquid in place of the chicken stock, supplementing just slightly to make up the volume.  You're no match for me, wrench!  And if I hadn't forgotten to toss in the handful of shrimp, I bet it would have been even better.  But I'm not beating myself up over it.  There's plenty more soup weather ahead, an entire winter's worth of soup making opportunities, to be precise.


Cambodian Chicken and Rice Soup
 Adapted from Food & Wine, March 2008

The original recipe has you use a 3 lb. store-bought rotisserie chicken and already made (or purchased) chicken stock.  However I had frozen chicken breast on hand so I decided to poach that instead and use the poaching liquid, now a light chicken broth, in the place of pre-made stock.  But if you're looking for a quicker weeknight meal, I encourage you to use all premade broth and the rotisserie chicken as was originally intended.  Also there were some shrimp that were supposed to be tossed in towards the end which I left out by accident.  Next time little shrimp, next time.

4 servings

1 pound chicken breast
4 cups water
1 carrot, quartered
1 celery stalk, quartered
1/4 of a small onion
salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup (or one 14oz can) chicken stock
3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1 cup cooked jasmine rice
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 pound shelled and deveined shrimp (optional)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped basil
1 Thai chile, thinly sliced
Lime wedges, for serving

Trim chicken breast of fat and place in a saucepan with 4 cups water, chopped carrot, celery and onion and a good pinch of salt.  The chicken should be completely covered by the water.  Bring to just a simmer and cover, leaving the lid just slightly ajar and cook for 20 minutes.  Turn off heat and let the chicken cool in the liquid.  Once cool enough to handle (maybe an hour) remove the chicken to a cutting board and with a slotted spoon remove and discard the vegetables, reserve the liquid.  Cut or shred chicken into large pieces.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Add the ginger and garlic and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the reserved poaching liquid plus extra broth, fish sauce, honey and rice and bring to a boil. Add the chicken pieces and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the shrimp (if using) and cook just until opaque, about 1 minute. Stir in the lime juice, cilantro, basil and chile and serve right away, passing lime wedges at the table.

State of Flux

Oh, hello Fall.

It's nice of you to start out real hot.  Like 100+ degrees hot. Then quickly transition into rainy, wet, gray weather, and back again to warm.  Really, I like my seasons unpredictable like that. 

About as unpredictable as my blog posts as of late.  It's been what?  12 days?  Sheesh.  I need to get on top of things!  I blame it on vacation brain.  I'm still seeing the sweeping vistas of Yosemite when I close my eyes, the towering rocky cliffs of the valley, trees so large you'd swear it was the inspiration for the background in Avatar and an expanse of blue sky.  A place so beautiful that I'm even willing to forget the vague threat of running into bears and the rain that was ever present for the last half of the trip.

So, as an ode to this crazy weather, straddling two seasons, here is a soup that does the same.  It's a chowder, warm and comforting, but made with late season corn and no cream, making it perfect for the cooler - but not cold - evenings.

Of course I couldn't help myself and made some changes.  I added a red bell pepper to the mix, chopped two full stalks of celery and didn't bother measuring it, increased the amount of thyme and substituted creamer potatoes for the summer squash.  It's kind of genius what Cooking Light did with the rest of the recipe, blending up a majority of the corn with the low fat milk to add body and keeping the rich calorie dense add ins (bacon, cheddar cheese) as a modest topping.  It's a chowder that's a little bit of autumn, a little bit of summer and just the ticket for dinner.  And as typical for soups, it was even better the next day.


Fresh Corn Chowder
Adapted from Cooking Light, August 2010

Originally, there were no potatoes in this chowder, it was supposed to be summer squash, but I swapped the two because I had a craving, and a vision.  Here's what I learned.  It might be best to par boil the potatoes before adding them to the soup; the longer time you spend simmering the soup to get the potatoes fully cooked the more it wanted to stick to the bottom of the pan.  It wasn't a deal breaker, but keep it in mind for yourself if slightly uncooperative soup isn't your thing.  Or switch it back to a pound of diced summer squash which will cook much quicker and avoid the issue all together.

4 servings

2 slices, thick cut bacon
3/4 cup sliced green onions, divided
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 pound red potatoes, diced into 1/2" cubes
1 pound corn kernels, either frozen of from 4-5 ears of corn
2 1/4 cups low-fat milk, divided
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese

Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings in pan. Crumble bacon, and set aside. Add 1/2 cup green onions, celery, bell pepper and potatoes to drippings in pan; saute 8-10 minutes.

Reserve 1 cup corn; set aside. Place the remaining corn and 1 cup milk in a blender; process until smooth. Add remaining 1 1/4 cups milk, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to blender; process just until combined. Add pureed mixture and reserved 1 cup corn to pan. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 15-20 minutes more or until thoroughly heated and the potatoes are tender, stirring frequently . Ladle into bowls and top each serving with about 1 tablespoon bacon, 1 tablespoon remaining onions, and 1 tablespoon cheese.

Chill Out

I had visions of serving this as a first course or in a shot glass as an hors d'oeuvre at a themed dinner party, dressed up with panko bread crumbs that have been tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper and toasted until a deep golden brown. The crispy topping contrasting with the smooth, cooling avocado/buttermilk and the spicy kick from chili flakes sounded like a perfect entertaining dish.

Alas, I ended up making this soup under far less glamorous conditions: after a solid 8 hours of school, brain fried and energy levels barely registering. It's a soup that takes about 5 minutes of active prep to get on the table, mostly owing to the fact that it's a cold soup.  Just wave a knife at a few ingredients, throw it into the blender and then chill it in the fridge for a bit and dinner is ready.  There are no words to describe how thankful I am for recipes like this on days like that.  And the time it spends chilling?  I can just take a quick nap and wake refreshed no longer searching for the energy to lift my spoon to my mouth.

It's creamy but not in a heavy way, it's more of a mouth feel thing and brightened up with lime and chili flakes, no one flavor dominating.  It felt nourishing after a long day, swiping the last drops clean from the bowl with some bread.  So, as we squeeze out the last days of summer, or whatever this season is we're experiencing, you may also be thankful to have one last chilled soup recipe.  For those days you'd rather spend outside, or for easy entertaining, or when your brain has been in hyper-drive and you'd rather not fuss about a meal.


Avocado Soup
Adapted from Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, Sophie Dahl 

Orginally, the recipe called for 1 cup plain full-fat yogurt but I didn't have any around.  Instead what I had was a small carton of buttermilk that I needed to use up.  It may have lacked the body the yogurt would have given it, but a good substitute none the less.  Heck, now that I think about it, you could even make this using some silken tofu in place of the dairy.  When choosing a chicken (or vegetable) broth, use one that is on the lighter side, you don't want the flavor overwhelming the avocado.  It's best to eat this within hours of making otherwise the avocado starts to oxidize and turn brown and the chili flakes take over flavor-wise.

Makes 4 cups

2 ripe avocados
1 green apple, cored, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon of dried red chile flake
juice from ½ a lime
2 cups of chicken stock (or vegetable broth)
pinch of salt
Fresh chopped cilantro, to garnish

Slip the avocados out of their skin and discard the pit.  Toss the avocado, apple slices, buttermilk, chile flakes and lime juice into a blender.  Blend until the mixture is creamy and smooth.  Warm the broth just slightly in a pan and then add to the pureed mixture with a pinch of salt.  Blend again until everything in combined.  Check for seasoning and adjust as necessary.  Chill in the refrigerator for up to 2 hours.  Enjoy.

Market Fresh

I am an avid supporter of farmer's markets, and even more so now that I've begun volunteering at one.  Saturday mornings I head down to the Little Italy Mercato where I get to talk with the purveyors, the farmers and the market-goers and everyone is so excited to be a part of this movement towards the responsibility to our food.  The weekend markets here are so very social; dogs in tow, cups of coffee in hand, pictures being snapped.  Each week brings new finds and must-haves.  There were juicy deep orange Santa Rosa (?) peaches, bunches of rainbow chard, sweet Bing and Rainer cherries, handfuls of herbs, giant Reed avocados and so much more.  Last week it was Padron peppers and Burrata cheese that I couldn't resist.  So I tucked my goods away in a makeshift cooler while I finished my shift, day dreaming of a dinner to construct.  As luck would have it, there was a pile of tomatoes on the counter at home that the warm weather was begging me to turn into gazpacho.  Mish/mash tapas night it was!

Usually when I make a gazpacho, it's more like a vegetable salsa, all chunky with coarsely blended tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers, but this time I tried something more...traditional?  A la "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown"?  Something like that, smooth and unencumbered by the flavors and textures of other vegetables.  It was purely tomatoes, warm like summer evenings and alive with the salt and vinegar.  It's hard to beat.  Except there was the Padron peppers I pan fried in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. (I could go on and on here about the peppers.  They're thin skinned and when you fry them up the skin gets all blistered and then they deflate.  Mostly they're mild, smokey from the pan, but every few will be surprisingly hot and still you keep on eating - skins, seeds and all.) And then there was the Burrata.  A super fresh little pouch of mozzarella, filled with cream and curds, torn and put on a toasted baguette rubbed with garlic.  Oh!  Going around the plates, each bite was better than the last.  The creamy cheese softening the heat from the peppers, the gazpacho brightening bites in between.  It has since been declared as one of the best meals ever eaten in this house.

And the only thing in this dinner that wasn't from the Mercato?  The cucumber, a smidgen of olive oil (though as of a few weeks ago, that's available to buy locally as well) and red wine vinegar.


Gazpacho Andaluz

The tomatoes are the real star here, so get the freshest, tastiest ones you can get your hands on.  You could strain this after a good whirl in the blender, but I don't mind the little pieces of skin and seeds in mine.  Garnish it with diced cucumber and avocado, even a dollop of sour cream if you're so inclined. 

makes 6 cups

3 ounces crusty bread, preferably day-old
2 pounds ripe, deep red tomatoes
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeds removed and chopped
3-4 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cup water

Tear the bread into pieces and soak in enough water to cover for 15 minutes. Squeeze out excess water and put the bread in a blender.

Chop the tomato into chunks and add to the blender with the cucumber, garlic, salt and cumin. Process until pureed and mostly smooth. With the motor running, add the oil in a slow stream, then add the vinegar. The mixture will thicken and change color as the oil emulsifies. Add the water to reach the desired consistency. Chill until serving time.

Apropos of the Weather

Please excuse this most unseasonal post.

I know this is an awfully wintry, hearty sounding soup to be presented to you here in the middle of May, but our weather is being a little uncooperative and finicky.  In defense of this soup, however, the kale was newly harvested from D's mom's garden.  Sweet, meaty lacinato kale, that nutrient packed darling of the cabbage family; I could eat it every day.  Did you see I threw some in my miso soup as well?  When I brought the bag of kale home (a grocery bag at least half way full) I had grand plans.  First I'd make this soup, as it was recommended by the grower herself, and with the leftovers I'd make a batch of kale chips.  Pipe dreams.  I though surely, staring at this pile of greens, there was well over a pound to distribute between the two recipes, but I would be wrong.  Pulling out my digital kitchen scale I leaned my haul was merely 3/4 of a pound.  Next time kale chips, next time.

Determined not to be defeated, or let the kale go to waste, I moved on and decided to prepare the soup.  Making modifications as needed - not using a full pound of kale - and switching things up because I just plain felt like it - using just 2 precooked chicken andouille sausages from Trader Joe's instead of a full pound of turkey sausage (what the heck kind of turkey sausage, it doesn't say?!?) turned out a pretty tasty soup.  It had a nice amount of spice from both the sausage and the added red pepper flakes and was thick with greens and potatoes.  And you know, I can most always get behind a bowl of soup, even when it's warmer out.  Especially if said soup has a bit of peppery heat to it.


**Oh, hey there!  If you look closely, I accidentally sneaked into the picture!

Potato Kale Soup with Chicken Andouille Sausage
Adapted from Food and Wine, January 1997

4 - 6 servings

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 chicken andouille sausages
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 quart water
2 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Pinch dried red-pepper flakes
3/4 pound kale, stems removed, leaves shredded


In a large pot, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the sausage and cook, turning, until browned, about 10 minutes. Remove the sausage from the pot and, when it is cool enough to handle, cut it into slices and cut each slice into quarters. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from the pan.

Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, for 1 minute longer.

Add the water, broth, and salt and bring the soup to a boil. Add the sausage, potatoes, and red-pepper flakes and bring back to a simmer. Cook, partially covered, for 5 minutes. Add the kale and bring the soup back to a simmer. Cook, partially covered, until the potatoes and kale are tender, about 6 minutes longer.

To Your Health (or Mine)

I've been trying to kick this cold for a week now, but it's really dug its heels in and won't budge.  And this blustery crisp weather outside seems to be my cold's co-conspirator, perpetuating the sniffles and sneezes.  If it weren't for all the flowering plants and insane amounts of pollen floating around outside I'd be confused and say it's actually autumn.  But no, it's spring, and I'm sick.  Well this is me putting my foot down, telling this cold to hit the road, I'm giving you the old heave ho, beat it!  We've had our time curled up under blankets with movies and naps and books, it's time to move on.

And that steaming bowl of soup up there?  That is how I'm moving on.  It isn't a traditional miso soup since I didn't start with dashi (a Japanese broth flavored with kombu and bonito flakes) instead I used some nori that I crumbled up to form a flavor base, and I think it worked quite well. For an extra healthy punch - and because I planned to make a meal of the soup - I threw in some kale and mushrooms too.  15 minutes and minimal effort later, I had my get-better-soon-soup.

Here's to the road of recovery!


Miso Soup 
Adapted from various sources around the web

4 servings

4 cups water
1 tablespoon crumbled nori
1/2 bunch of kale, chopped
handful of mushrooms, chopped
7 oz silken tofu, cut into small cubes
3 tablespoons shiro miso paste
1-2 green onions, thinly sliced



In a medium size pan bring water and crumbled nori to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Add kale and mushrooms and cook 5-7 minutes more. Add tofu and turn off the heat.

Put the miso paste into a separate bowl and ladle in some of the hot broth. With a fork or small whisk, dissolve the paste into the broth and pour back into soup. If necessary, reheat over a low flame to just under boiling. Serve topped with sliced green onion.

Spring Fever

Hello world.

It's springtime! The days are getting long and I'm getting antsy for warmer sunshine days. The flowers are blooming. Cute little baby animals are getting born. And you can taste it all in this here bowl of soup.


Fresh Pea and Mint Soup
Adapted from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa at Home

6 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts
1 cup chopped yellow onion
4 cups chicken stock
20 ounces frozen peas
2/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup freshly chopped chives
garlic croutons, for serving

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the leeks and onion, and cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the onion is tender. Add the chicken stock, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Add the peas and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the peas are tender. Off the heat, add the mint, salt, and pepper.
Puree the soup in batches in a blender. Whisk in the sour cream and taste for seasoning.
Serve topped with the chives and garlic croutons.