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Recipes

Any Veggies Will Do (Soup)

I’ve previously called this soup “Clean Out the Fridge Vegetable Soup” which is a little more accurate to the situation at hand when I made this. The process of choosing what to put in this soup mostly consisted of grabbing all the veggies from the fridge that needed to be cooked immediately and layering them into a deliciously tasty (and warming soup). I also bulked it up with some barley (you can use rice if you’re gluten free) and chickpeas. This is a soup with all the comfort of a winter meal that is healthy to boot. The best part is, it really can be made with whatever you have on hand. Feel free to substitute potatoes for the sweet potato, or squash if that’s what you have. Add spinach instead of the cabbage, and maybe some bell pepper instead of the tomato. Really, it’s up to you!

Topped with some techina and cilantro

Recently, I haven’t been using premade broth in my soups, rather, I’ve just been adding water and seasoning well with herbs, spices and salt. This way, the flavors of the vegetables you use really come through, and you have even more control over the amount of sodium in your food.

Bubbling away

Any Veggie Minestrone

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 c carrot, finely chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1/2 c mushrooms, sliced
4 small to medium tomatoes, finely diced
1 stalk of celery, quartered (for easy removal. Chop if you actually like celery)
1/2 of a cabbage, shredded
3/4 c chickpeas, soaked and drained
3/4 c barley
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 5-7 minutes, until translucent. Add the carrot and the sweet potato and sauté another 5-7 minutes. Add the mushrooms, sautee until slightly reduced, then add the tomatoes and do the same. Season each layer with a little salt as you go. Add the rest of the ingredients and the cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about an hour, or until the chickpeas are tender and the barley is cooked. Adjust seasonings and serve.

February 2, 2014 By Ashley

Recipes

Warming Winter Soups

As New York is hit with another blizzard, it seems like a good time to share the soup recipes I’ve been saving since Israel was hit with a five day snow/hail/rain storm. These soups were designed for the days when I knew I wanted a meal chock full of veggies, but it was just to cold to fathom eating a salad. While most of the winter here has been absolutely lovely (~60F on average, high of 66F/19C today), the week of the storm was quite a nightmare. Given my Northeastern upbringing, I’ve definitely experienced much colder weather, but the big difference is that it’s expected that winter will be cold in the Northeast, not so much in Israel (I mean some still think it’s cold…) Here, apartments are built without insulation or even central heat. I spent the first few days of the storm huddled under my thick duvet (thus justifying the investment) or cooking, since the kitchen was a little warmer than the rest of the apartment with both the oven and stove going. Towards the end of the week, my roommate figured out how to get heat through our AC units, which at least made our rooms more bearable. Although having hot, dry air blown at you out of a machine is not exactly ideal, it was a much better option in my eyes than braving the storm to buy a small radiator (which would actually use about the same amount of energy). Additionally, the warmest shoes I had were either ripped up converses, or the rubber ballet flats that had served as my work shoes, and I had to go out and buy a jacket just to attempt to keep warm outside.

Hail storm in Central Israel, December 2013

Thankfully, that weather has passed now, a friend gave me a pair of boots to borrow for the season, and my new jacket is a perfect medium weight jacket to keep me warm when it cools off at night. I’m also left with a bunch of warming, hearty, but still healthy soups! Since the first bit of chill was felt in the air here, my roommates and I have consistently kept the fridge stocked with at least one soup per week, ranging from what I like to call “Clean Out the Fridge Soup” to chili, French Onion soup, and even a curry lentil soup (or two).

Two weeks after the storm there was still some lingering snow on the Judean hills. December 2013

The first soup I made this season was a broccoli potato garlic soup, inspired by the Cinnamon Snail. We don’t have any kind of blender or anything here, so we ate it chunky, but if you do own such technology, I say blend away! It may even be good with a touch of soy or coconut cream added! (I for whatever stupid reason, did not take any pictures of this soup).

Broccoli Potato Garlic Soup

2 tbsp olive oil
~10 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 head of broccoli, chopped (stalk included)
1 large potato, peeled and diced
1 tbsp rosemary
1 tbsp thyme
salt
coarse ground black pepper
water to cover

In a large saucepan over medium heat, sauté the garlic in the olive oil for about a minute. Add the onions and sauté about 5 minutes more until translucent. Add the potatoes and broccoli, saute for another 2 to 3 minutes, add the herbs, salt and pepper to taste and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat. Simmer about 30 to 45 minutes, until all the veggies are nice and soft. Adjust seasonings, and puree if desired.

“Soup”-er easy! Check back soon for “Clean Out the Fridge Vegetable Soup”(I know, really appetizing name).

January 28, 2014 By Ashley

Uncategorized

Snapshot of a Meal

I know I usually post recipes, but today I just wanted to share my lunch from the other day. No, no, I promise I’m not that person who takes a picture of every meal I eat, just ones I make that I feel I’ve put a good amount of thought or effort into.

One of those days when plating just wasn’t my friend

This was inspired partially just by my mood, but partially because I wanted something that felt like it would help me kick this little cold I have. So I put together a super colorful meal, packed with veggies, and flavored with lots of garlic, onions, and ginger. It comprised of mashed sweet potatoes with garlic sauteed mangold and caramelized onions, plus a little hint of musky white pepper.

Close up on mashed sweet potatoes

The second part of the meal was based around this tomato “jam” I made (because I somehow got it in my head that I had to eat a gingery tomatoey jam with my lunch). It was actually very simple with a base of garlic and red onion, then two chopped tomatoes, a few teaspoons of grated ginger, two bay leaves and some rosemary. I sauteed the onion and garlic first, then added the rest of the ingredients, which I let cook until the tomato had become smooth, save for their skins. I realized that tomato jam on top of mashed sweet potatoes maybe wouldn’t be the best texturally speaking, but I didn’t have any bread, and quite frankly, I didn’t really want to add bread to this meal. In a stroke of genius, I remembered we had a bunch of tofu in the fridge, which I quickly dipped in a few tablespoons of tamari mixed with a touch of liquid smoke, and then pan seared to perfection. All in all, quite a delicious late afternoon lunch.

Close up on smokey seared tofu with ginger tomato jam

One final note on this meal, since I finished the leftovers last night, is that I completely transformed the last of the tomato jam into an asian fusion pasta sauce. I added some cubed, roasted butternut squash, a splash of Cava, a touch of coconut milk, and a touch of red curry paste. It was completely delicious, and completely different. Which I guess is to say that one of these days I’ll do a post on transforming leftovers, but in the meantime, don’t throw them away!

January 3, 2014 By Ashley