asparagus soup
April 17, 2010
Okay, I might be jumping the gun here a bit but I can’t help it. Spring is in the air even though it’s still only mid-April, and things are popping up in the garden. Rhubarb, chives, leafy greens. Asparagus is soon to follow. This recipe is from a really un-vegan cookbook called Roast Chicken and Other Stories. Great cookbook but getting a little dusty on my shelf these days. I’ve modified the recipe several ways and, alas, it’s still awesome. Oil instead of butter. No cream. The author, Simon Hopkinson, peels his asparagus and purees it into a very refined “elixir” as he calls it. I don’t. I love the “country” version with its more robust texture. And “just to know” (my 8 year-olds expression that makes me smile each time he says it), last year I bought pounds of fresh asparagus to make this soup. I made soup until I was sick of it. But it still wasn’t enough. We piled through it in no time, asparagus season ended, and I went into withdrawal. Moral of the story? Make way more than you think you need!
Oh, and one more thing. This is true for any cooking, but with really exposed recipes like this, the better the ingredients, the better the finished product. Don’t cut corners. Use good olive oil. Buy really nice, organic leeks. Make some home-made vegetable stock. You’ll thank yourself.
1/2 cup really good olive oil
4 small leeks, trimmed and chopped
3 cups veggie stock
1 potato, peeled and chopped
salt and pepper
1 lb fresh asparagus, trimmed and peeled
Heat the oil and stew the leeks until soft. Add the stock and potato, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 15 minutes. Quickly chop the asparagus, add to the soup. Boil rapidly for 5 minutes. Blend thoroughly. Check the seasoning. This soup is equally good hot or cold.
Photo credit: Kristina, Lovely Morning
bok choi tofu stir fry
April 17, 2010
This is perhaps one of the quickest and easiest mid-week dinners for moms and dads on the run. We make this all the time because it’s so simple and so fast. I usually stick to the stated ingredients but I suppose you could substitute type of greens or type of mushrooms. You could also get fancy and other complimentary additions like red pepper or celery but, again, we make this when we’re on the run so tend to keep it simple.
2 tbps olive oil
9 oz. tofu, cubed
10 – 12 shitake mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
2 tbsps soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 or 3 heads of bok choi, chopped
4 spring onions, chopped
bunch of cilantro, chopped
Heat olive oil in a heavy frying pan on medium-high heat. Add tofu and sauté until nicely browned. Add mushrooms and sauté until they begin to sweat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant but don’t let it brown too much. Add ginger, soy sauce, and sugar stirring until mixed and bubbling away. Add bok choi, turn down the heat, and cook until it’s nicely wilted but still bright green. If, while cooking, the dish dries out too much, add some water or a little more soy sauce. A hit of lemon juice is also nice. At the very end, add spring onions. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve over rice.
garlic smashed potatoes
April 17, 2010
Lucy Waverman, God love her, did a piece in the Globe and Mail right before the winter holidays on how to cook a vegan Christmas feast! One component of that feast was garlic mashed potatoes which, in our house, we call smashed potatoes. They’re good. Love ’em. And don’t miss the cream or milk at all. I made one addition, the rosemary, which I really like if the rest of the meal calls for that earthy, pungent compliment.
3 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 heads of garlic, skinned, root end trimmed
spring or two of rosemary in cheesecloth (bouquet garni style)
1/3 cup olive oil
3/4 to 1 cup potato cooking water
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Separate garlic cloves and place in a pot of cold salted water along with potatoes and rosemary bouquet garni. Bring to a boil and boil until potatoes and garlic cloves are tender when pierced with a fork. Remove rosemary. Drain and reserve potato cooking water separately.
Mash together potatoes and garlic. Add olive oil and beat until combined. Add enough potato cooking water to reach a soft creamy consistency. Season well with sea salt and pepper to taste.
cornbread
April 3, 2010
My dear friend Pamela gave me a gift the other day wrapped in a beautiful pink ribbon. And for no other reason than because it was Friday and we were having lunch. How wonderful is that! The present? A cookbook to add to my growing collection. But not just any cookbook – vegan, (mostly) gluten-free, and (mostly) sugar-free recipes from New York’s BabyCakes Bakery! I’m not gluten or sugar adverse but who cares? The recipes look awesome!! And one thing I particularly appreciate is that they don’t just use substitutions like fake eggs and vegan margarine. They approach baking in a whole new way.
I haven’t yet experimented with vegan baking, being so into discovering all the savory dishes for lunches and dinners and snacks. But now armed with some new inspiration I’m on it. My first project? Corn bread to accompany Easter dinner tonight. I tried it out this afternoon just to be sure and it’s fantastic! Moist, flavourful, and nice to look at. Thanks Pamela!!!
2/3 cup rice milk
1 tbsps apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose baking flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup corn flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, plus more for the pan (remember to melt the oil before measuring and for ease of mixing)
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup homemade applesauce or store-bought unsweetened applesauce
2 tsps pure vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 325. Lightly grease a 7 x 4 x 3-inch loaf pan with oil.
Pour the rice milk and apple cider vinegar into a small bowl, but do not stir; set aside to develop into “buttermilk.” In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, corn flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt. Add the oil, agave nectar, applesauce, and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Stir the batter until well combined. Pour in the “buttermilk.” Mix gently until the ingredients are fully incorporated and a slightly grainy batter is formed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the corn bread on the centre rack for 32 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees after 20 minutes. The finished corn bread will bounce back slightly when pressed, and a toothpick inserted in the centre will come out clean.
Let the corn bread stand in the pan for 20 minutes, then gently run a knife around the edge of the bread. Cover the top of the pan with a cutting board, and invert the loaf onto the board. Carefully lift the pan away and re-invert the corn bread onto another cutting board. Either cut and serve warm, or wait until completely cool before storing. Cover the uncut corn bread with plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.
onion confit
April 3, 2010
This is from Alice Waters Chez Panisse Vegetables. I have it stewing on the stove as I write this and the smell is good enough reason to make it! She suggests that it’s a particularly nice compliment to wilted greens or in pasta, or as an hors d’oeuvre on a crouton. I’m going to serve it for Easter dinner with the grilled portobello mushrooms for the vegans in the house, and the lamb for the non-vegans.
4 large onions
4 tbsps olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tbsp sugar
3 or 4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups red wine
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
cassis (optional)
Peel and slice the onions very thin. Brown the onions in olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or so. Stir in the sugar and cook, covered a few more minutes, to allow the sugar to caramelize slightly. Add the thyme, the red wine, the vinegars, and cassis, if you wish. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the liquid is cooked down to a syrup.
Makes about 2 cups.
rhubarb strawberry compote
April 2, 2010
We came to the farm for Easter and, low and behold, the rhubarb is coming out of the ground! Not surprising since it’s such an early bloomer, but it still amazes me each time I see its red and green leaves pushing out of the earth so early in the season. Doesn’t it know it could turn quite cold again? Alas, it’s a very hearty plant.
In honour of rhubarb’s robustness, initiative, and tenacity, I am going to give you an incredible compote recipe. It’s from The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lutkins. I made it last spring, canned it, and enjoyed it until Christmas when my family wolfed it down one breakfast with rhubarb coffee cake (recipe to follow if I can figure out how to truly vegan-ize it). I wish I had made more. It would be particularly scrumptious if you wait until the strawberries come into season. But perhaps you have some frozen from last season? Whatever the case, beware. This recipe is awesome and addictive.
10 large stalks rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths
4 cups hulled, halved strawberries
1 cup organic cane sugar
1 cup fresh orange juice
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tsps ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1. Combine all the ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Stir well and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring once and skimming off any foam that forms on top, until the rhubarb is just tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
2. Remove the vanilla bean and let the mixture cool to room temperature. Then cover and refrigerate. It will keep for two days.
coconut red lentil soup
March 28, 2010
I guess technically this is a soup but we served it last night in wide bowls over a pile of quinoa and it’s as soupy as some of our stews. Or is it as stewy as some of our soups? Whatever its label it’s really good. Complex flavours. Gorgeous colour. The raisins (I used currants) give you a hit of sweetness. This soup, while heavy and warm, gets “uplifted” by the light, refreshing addition of green onions. It’s from a blog I like, 101 cookbooks. This soup will help brighten any cold night with its colour – “the color I see when I close my eyes and turn my face toward the sun” as Heidi notes – and pungent warming taste. Yum.
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
2 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
1/3 cup / 1.5 oz / 45g golden raisins (I used currants)
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, farro, or quinoa 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 1/4 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 olive oil 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.
Sprinkle each bowl generously with cilantro and the remaining green onions.
simple cauliflower
March 27, 2010
In my musing “But what exactly?” I talk about eating meat and dairy which I don’t do on a regular basis, but there are exceptions. As I walk further down this vegan road, I’m noticing that there are two categories of exceptions. One is the 6-month exception. At Christmas I had lamb – this was the big diversion that seems to happen every 6 months or so. What about the monthly or weekly exceptions? Week to week, I pretty much stick to a vegan routine. Monthly? It’s come down to two things: feta and parmigiano. Becoming vegan has brought into vivid view the things that I truly appreciate and, surprisingly, feta and parmigiano are at the top of the list. (I’ve always loved them but didn’t realize how much more I love them than other types of cheese and dairy.) I don’t eat them often but once in awhile they are a nice treat.
The recipe below calls for parmigiano. You can, of course, leave it out if you want to do a vegan version but it was a really nice addition. The kids loved this recipe – said it was way better than any other cauliflower dish I’ve made. It’s from 101 cookbooks. Serve it with rice, another veggie dish, and some BBQ meat for the non-vegans in the house and everyone’s happy.
2 – 3 heads of small cauliflower (or 1/2 head large)
2 tbsps olive oil
a couple pinches of sea salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small bunch of chives, chopped
zest of one lemon
freshly grated parmigiano
pinch or two sea salt
To prep the cauliflower, remove any leaves at the base and trim the stem. Now cut it into tiny trees – and by tiny, I mean most florets aren’t much larger than a table grape. Make sure the pieces are relatively equal in size, so they cook in the same amount of time. Rinse under running water, and set aside.
Heat the olive oil and fine grain salt in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the cauliflower and stir until the florets are coated. Wait until it gets a bit brown on the bottom, then toss the cauliflower with a spatula. Brown a bit more and continue to saute until the pieces are deeply golden – all told about six minutes. In the last 30 seconds stir in the garlic.
Remove from heat and stir in the chives, lemon zest, and dust with a bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a pinch of flaky sea salt (if you have it on hand). Serve immediately.
Photo credit: 101 cookbooks
vegetables in thai red curry
March 27, 2010
This recipe is from the Tassajara cookbook. I made it last night – Friday night, after a long week, it was getting late, didn’t have a tonne of motivation, wondered about pulling some shriveled left-overs out of the fridge, but instead I dug in, bucked up, and pulled out the necessary ingredients for this veggie Thai red curry. I’m so glad I did. It was quick. It was easy. It was yummy. Andrew’s reaction? “It’s kind of hard bothering to eat meat when you’ve got food like this. And kind of hard to justify going out for Thai food. That was ridiculously good.” I made one batch since I hadn’t made it before and, post-dinner, we concluded that I should have doubled or tripled it.
Since it was the end of the week and I hadn’t refreshed the supplies for a couple of days, I didn’t have exactly the “right” ingredients so I made some substitutions – tomatoes for red pepper, sugar snap peas for beans, shitake mushrooms for crimini. It worked beautifully so my guess is that you could probably throw in any veggies and it would be awesome. This one’s a keeper for sure.
1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 cup green beans, stems removed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup crimini mushrooms, ends trimmed
1 14-oz can coconut milk
1 – 2 tbsps Thai red curry paste
2 tbsps brown sugar
2 tbsps tamari
1 small sweet red pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into slivers
20 – 30 fresh Thai basil leaves, whole
In a pot of boiling salted water, blanch the cauliflower to al dente, about 4 minutes. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. In the same pot of water, repeat with the green beans; set aside. In a saute pan, add the oil and cook the mushrooms until they’re browned and have released some juices; set aside.
In a wide saucepan, add the coconut milk, sugar, and tamari. Add the curry paste – start with a small amount of curry paste and then taste for spiciness. Add more as desired. Add the cauliflower, green beans, mushrooms, red pepper, and half the basil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with remaining basil and serve with rice.
minestrone
March 20, 2010
This is Alice Waters‘ Minestrone Soup from The Art of Simple Cooking which is, indeed, so simple and yet so good. Definitely make a double or triple batch as it keeps well, just gets better with age, and totally hits the spot throughout the week for a quick lunch or totally comforting dinner (with some toasted baguette and tapenade!) The trick is to cook the soffrito until it is really golden and then the soup sings.
Before I get into the recipe itself, let me just say that there are some incredible dried beans on the market these days. I have found the most incredible varieties, some even locally grown. They are so beautiful it almost seems a shame to cook them. See if you can find them since a) we need to keep heirloom varieties alive, and b) they make cooking that much more pleasurable. As Anne Michaels said in one of her brilliant books, “make beauty a necessity and make necessity beautiful,” or something close to that. You catch the drift. So here’s to the beauty and necessity of a really good bowl of soup. It can heal the world.
Prepare:
1 cup of dry cannellini or other beans, like the calypso beans above, soaked overnight
This will yield 2 1/2 to 3 cups of cooked beans. Reserve the cooking liquid.
Heat in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat:
1/4 cup olive oil
Add:
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
Cook for 15 minutes, or until tender. Add:
4 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
5 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons salt
Cook for 5 minutes longer. Add, and bring to a boil:
3 cups water or vegetable stock
When boiling add:
1 leek, diced
1/2 pound green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths
Cook for 5 minutes, then add:
2 medium zucchini, cut into small dice
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
Cook for 15 minutes. Taste for salt and adjust as necessary. Add the cooked beans, along with:
1 cup bean cooking liquid
2 cups of kale or chard, coarsely chopped
Cook for 5 minutes. If the soup is too thick, add more bean cooking liquid. Remove the bay leaf.
Serve in bowls, each one garnished with:
2 tsps extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp grated parmigiano (which I don’t add but the kids like it!)
photo credit: Rebekah Richardson-Duffy
v:gourmet 
