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
butternut squash and pear puree
March 20, 2010
This recipe is from the refresh cookbook by Ruth Tal. The other day I posted 2 sauces from refresh that I love – Tamari and Tahini – and mentioned that I wanted to try the Butternut Squash and Pear soup. Well I tried it. Kind of. We had friends over for dinner last night and I needed a yummy side dish. So instead of making a soup, I turned the recipe into a puree. It was so good.
Not only was it totally delicious last night, but today for lunch I took the left-over puree, added a little veggie stock, turned it into a soup, and then sprinkled it with picada. Totally satisfying except now it’s gone which is sad. I wish I had made more. Try it out. And one day I will make the soup the way Ruth Tal suggests and let you know how it goes. In the meantime, this is a great improv version.
1 inch ginger root, peeled and minced
1 cinnamon stick
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
6 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped (I used shallots which I adore)
1/3 cup white wine
2 pears, cored and chopped (to enhance the wonderful pear flavour in the soup, leave the pear peel on.)
sea salt and pepper to taste
1. Put the ginger, cinnamon stick , squash, and sweet potato in a large pot. Cover with the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
2. While the vegetables are simmering in the pot, heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add onion and cook until caramelized, about 5 minutes.
3. Add white wine and chopped pear to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes until wine is reduced; then add to the squash and sweet potato mixture.
4. When everything is cooked through, about 30 minutes, pour off most of the stock and reserve for another use (or for your reconstituted soup the next day!). Remove the cinnamon stick. Puree in a food processor until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
photo credit: Kristina, Lovely Morning
red pepper pear parsnip soup
March 7, 2010
It’s a good day. Andrew and I saw 3 Eastern Bluebirds which are quite rare in these parts. I have been hankering to see bluebirds up close since we bought our farm in the county 7 years ago. And today, 3!!! Right on our front terrace. What that has to do with this soup I’m not too sure but this has to be my all-time fav. Bekah’s too. I’ve been waiting for a special day to share it with you and, I guess because of the bluebirds, today is that special day. So here it is. One of the best soups ever.
6 tbsps olive oil
5 sweet peppers, seeded and diced (the original recipe calls for roasted peppers, skinned and diced, but I never do that)
3 shallots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 ripe pears, skinned, seeded, and diced
2 pounds parsnips, peeled and chopped
6 cups veggie stock
sea salt and pepper
1. Heat olive oil in large saucepan. Saute peppers, shallots, garlic and pears over medium-high heat.
2. Add parsnips and stock.
3. Bring to a boil and let simmer until parsnips are tender.
4. Let cool slightly. Puree until smooth.
5. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.
6. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve immediately.
From the Martha Stewart empire.
miso soup
March 2, 2010
This is from my dear friend Emily McInnes who just started Eye Buy Art – a new online art gallery representing young photographers from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Check it out. It’s fabulous!! (Not only do you learn about food here but have a platform to buy awesome art. Make beauty necessary. Make necessity beautiful.) Anyhow, she loves miso soup and, having experienced it myself, it’s great. Here’s what she has to say about making miso soup de jour:
– boil water (add crushed ginger if you feel like it – oftentimes I’m too lazy)
– add cubed tofu, dark fresh greens, Asian greens, carrot, corn niblets, mushrooms (dried or otherwise) – whatever your heart desires
– OPTIONAL: add vermicelli (thin rice noodles) or any kind of noodle if you want (i.e. dried ramen)
– once the above has been steamed slightly – add in a good dollop of miso, a good 2 hearty scoops for a soup that serves 2
(if your soup is lacking in flavour then it could be that you just didn’t add enough, or the miso you bought is a boring variety?)
– fix this by adding a sweep of tamari or soy-like sauce (I like Bragg’s)
– if you’re feeling experimental you can add a little dash of rice wine vinegar
– cook until miso is dissolved (NB: I read that you shouldn’t let your soup, with miso added, come to a boil. Keep it just under a boil.)
And then:
– add fresh chopped onion on top
– fresh cilantro or parsley is nice
– sprouts (the ones in the photo are from Kind Organics who were at the Brickworks Farmers’ Market on Saturday)
– shredded seaweed (yum!)
– shake some gomashio (sesame seeds – I like black ones) on top
– drizzle a tiny TINY amount of sesame oil on top (optional – it’s strong)
VOILA!
Make up your own soup. I think I’ve never made the same one twice!
potato leek soup
January 16, 2010
I just made this soup on Sunday – a merger between two beautiful potato leek soup recipes. The kids love it and it’s fantastic on a cold winter’s night. Great with a little crostini floating on an ocean of flavour. And the non-vegan boys in the house love it sprinkled with a little crispy crumbled bacon. As with any good soup recipe, you might as well make a huge batch and keep some in the freezer for a rainy day.
10 medium leeks
olive oil
sea salt
8 cups veggie stock
1 stalk celery
a few sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
1 small bunch rosemary
2 cloves garlic
1 pd yellow potatoes
white wine vinegar
sea salt and pepper to taste
a few sprigs parsley
Clean leeks. Cut in half lengthwise and slice thinly. Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Add leeks and cook until just tender – they should still be slightly crunchy and bright green. Salt to taste. Add veggie stock along with minced garlic and a bouquet garni made of thyme, celery, bay leaf, rosemary, salt and pepper. Add potatoes, cut into small cubes.
Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Cook until veggies are tender but not falling apart. Puree in a food processor or blender. Season to taste with about 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar and more salt if necessary. Serve hot garnished with a little chopped parsley and a few grinds of the peppermill, and if you wish, with grilled or toasted slices of bread.
v:gourmet 
