Meemaw's Potato Soup

It's a rainy night tonight. My Meemaw is in hospice care and is likely to pass away very soon. I can't really think of anything more appropriate to make for dinner tonight than Meemaw's potato soup.

It's the simplest recipe ever, but also the most comforting. I remember eating this soup when I was sick, and when I had my wisdom teeth removed. You'd think those wouldn't be fond memories... But the soup made everything better!

Potato Soup
Peel and cube 4-6 medium potatoes. Place in heavy pan with lid and cover (just barely) with water. Add one stick of margarine (non-hydrogenated, my addition) and 1 tsp salt and cook until tender and mushy. Mash lightly until broth is thick. Add about 3/4 cup milk (I use almond milk) and heat just to boiling point. Black pepper may be added.

I know, I know. Peel the potatoes? What about the missing fiber? A stick of margarine? What about all that fat? Just do it, people. This is comfort food from my Meemaw.

Spinach and Cashew Cheese Bisque

I rarely follow a recipe exactly, but I actually got out my measuring spoons for this soup.  It just looked and sounded so perfect that I didn't want to change anything!

The recipe comes from the Sept/Oct 2011 issue of Eating Well magazine- Spinach and Goat Cheese Bisque.  Now, obviously, I didn't follow the recipe exactly since I used cashew cheese instead off goat cheese.  But I'm pretty sure it's just as good.  If pureeing cashews with a little salt and lemon juice makes cashew cheese good enough to smear on crackers, it must be good enough for this soup!

It seems like every recipe I read in Eating Well looks phenomenal.  I love the focus on fresh vegetables and avoidance of processed convenience foods.  And the articles are intelligently written and based on real research!  There's no celebrity chef crap or fluffy little articles.

The recipe says it makes about 8 cups, but I got closer to twelve.  Not sure how that happened... But I'm happy to have lots of this soup for my lunches this week!

The base of the soup is caramelized onions, potato, broth and over a pound of spinach.  In case you didn't know, a pound of spinach looks like a ton.

 Just look at all this spinach!

This looks a little bit weird, but when I poured the pureed cashews & soaking liquid into the soup, I knew  this soup was going to be amazing.  Once pureed, it's velvety creamy & smooth, with a bright spinach-y flavor.  The only down-side to this soup is that it's not very filling.  I'm going to pack some crackers and fruit along with it...and maybe something else I've been baking up.  

Curry in a Hurry

A few weeks ago my friend Morgen came over for some dinner and I saved a little time by using leftover roasted potatoes to make a curry- Success!  This dinner was super fast!  

I used the pressure cooker to cook the red lentil rasam, so that took all of about 5 minutes to make.  

The curry also included okra from the garden and plenty of coriander, cumin, turmeric and ginger.  I topped it with a mixture of shredded coconut, peanuts and jalapenos that I whizzed around in the mini-food processor for a minute.  I have lots of this leftover and need to think of more uses for this concoction.  Any ideas?

Second Only to Salsa

This time of year, I love salsa like it's a member of my family.  As soon as we start harvesting tomatoes, I start a routine of keeping a quart jar of salsa in the fridge at all times.  I just finished my daily bowl of chips and salsa a few minutes ago, in fact.

But my second favorite use for an abundance of fresh tomatoes is tomato soup.  I don't really care much for the stuff in the red and white can- never have.  It was okay to dip a grilled cheese in when I was a kid, I'm not interested in any canned tomato soup now.  I'm too snobby for that.

I much prefer a hot bowl of tomato soup made from my own garden tomatoes of all shapes, sizes and colors, pureed into the most flavorful tomato soup imaginable.  It's not flavorful because of exotic spices or anything- just pure tomato flavor!  I'm fairly certain that all I put in this soup is olive oil, a little onion, a little garlic, lots of skinned tomatoes, a pinch of allspice, sea salt and fresh basil on top.  It only needs to simmer until the tomatoes have given up their juices and the onions are tender.  Then you just buzz it in the blender until it's smooth.  If you have super fancy blender, like a Vitamix (hint, hint, family.  Christmas isn't that far away), you wouldn't even have to peel the tomatoes.

I still served it with some grilled cheese sandwiches, but we all agreed that the soup stole the show.

It's That Time!

It's that time of year again, folks.  It's the time of year that I forgo bananas and avocados.  The time I think twice about each piece of chocolate and don't down a glass of almond milk each night.  It's the Eat Local Challenge!

I'm not mourning the bananas and almond milk yet, though.  It's just day 3 of the challenge and I've been eating really well.  I've enjoyed yogurt and homemade granola for breakfast, cucumber and tomato salads from the garden, grilled corn & zucchini salads and tonight's kidney bean chili for lunch and dinner.  Oh, and lots of black bean tacos and Whole Grain Milling Company chips.  All local.  It's crazy how good we can eat here in Minnesota.

I'm sure I'll be whining about missing mangos in a few weeks, but for now I'm satisfied.  Here's the basic recipe for the chili I made tonight:

Local Kidney Bean Chili
Not a "meaty" chili- but darn good.  It would also be good with zucchini in it, now that I think about it.  That's a little non-traditional for chili, but it sounds good to me.

About 1.5 cups of dried kidney beans (local bulk beans from the co-op)
Water
2 cups tomato sauce (I used homemade canned stuff, but Buon Giorno Minnesota tomato sauce would work)
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (from the garden)
2 fat cloves fiery garlic (from the Madison farmers market last weekend)
Kernels from 1 ear of sweet corn (from Wheatfield Hill Organics in Wisconsin)
1-2 Tablespoons chili powder (from Frontier Co-op in Iowa)
Salt to taste

Soak the kidney beans overnight or bring to a boil, then turn off heat and let soak for 1 hour.  Drain and add fresh water to cover.  Cook for ages and ages in a regular pan or use a pressure cooker and cook for 3 minutes.  Make sure there's not too much water/bean broth in the pot after the beans are cooked.  It should just be barely covering the beans.  Then add tomato sauce, jalapeno, garlic, corn and chili powder.  Bring to a simmer and cook for about 5-10 minutes.  Season with salt to taste.  Serve with corn chips or cornbread or other delightful local accompaniment.

Midnight Minestrone

At about 10pm my friend Sarah and I were watching finance and budgeting shows like we do every Saturday night (Shout out to Suze O!).  During the show they briefly showed a big pot of minestrone soup when talking about a soup kitchen at a shelter.  The point was to illustrate how terrible it would be to not have savings and end up in a shelter in an emergency.  But Sarah and  I looked at each other, thinking the same thing: Let's go to there.  That soup looks crazy good.

Having already eaten dinner, I tried to brush off the craving.  But at 11pm I was in my pajamas and still thinking about that tomato-ey broth and creamy beans.  I had to make it.

I was out of both home-canned and store bought tomatoes, so I pulled out some of my home-canned tomato sauce for the soup.  This stuff is precious, but I love the idea of a really rich, garlicky, wine-drenched tomato sauce made forming the base of a soup.  Be sure you use a tomato sauce that is so good you want to drink it.

Also, I used some pickled green beans and pickled roasted red peppers in this soup for extra vegetables.  I just rinsed them first to cut down on the vinegar-y taste.  You could definitely use frozen, fresh or canned green beans here.

Midnight Minestrone

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 carrot, halved and sliced
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup pickled green beans, rinsed
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, sliced
3-4 cups of really good tomato sauce
Water
1-2 handfuls of pasta (I used bowties)
1 bouillon cube

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan.  Add onions, celery and carrot and saute until onions are beginning to lightly brown.  Add the beans, red peppers and tomato sauce, then add water until you have a soup slightly thinner than you'd like (the pasta will thicken it up).  Throw in the pasta and the bouillon cube and simmer about 8 minutes, until pasta and carrots are tender and the bouillon is dissolved.

Enjoy late at night, snuggled on the couch.  Then eat more for breakfast!

Bean and Sausage Stew

It's March and I'm not really excited that it was -2 this morning and that we're getting snow tomorrow.  Basically the only exciting part about cold weather right now is soup.  Yes, soup is exciting.  Don't laugh.

I'm especially excited about this soup because it's pretty different from my staples: Indian-style rasams and brothy Asian noodle soups.  This soup deserves to be called a stew and it's a "meat and potatoes" type meal!

I used the Tofurky kielbasa in this recipe, but if I had to do it over, I'd use the Field Roast sausages because I generally just like those better.  And they just went on sale at the co-op today!!!

Bean and Sausage Stew

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 medium gold potatoes, peeled and diced
2 vegan sausages (I used Tofurky Kielbasa), sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. fennel seed, ground
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. celery seed, ground
1 16 oz. can cannellini beans, drained
1 Tbsp. mustard
Salt and pepper to taste



In a heavy soup pot, heat olive oil.  Add the onion, celery and carrot and saute until onions begin to become transparent.  Add the potato and sausages.  Stir and cook just a couple minutes, lightly browning the sausages.  Add the garlic and all the spices and beans. (I ground the fennel and celery seeds in a mortar).  Stir and immediately add enough water just to cover.  Bring to a boil and then lower heat to maintain a steady simmer. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are tender and broth has thickened.  Add mustard and salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with a big hunk of bread and a bright, fresh green salad!

Seitan Noodle Soup

There's really only one thing I want to eat when I have a cold.  Seitan Noodle Soup.

Well, okay, I also wanted popcorn and Purely Decadent ice cream.  And a gazillion glasses of lemon ginger Prometheus Springs drink and lemon ginger Yogi Tea.  But I really love noodle soup the best when I'm sick.

And it's pretty awesome that this soup is easy to make, since I usually want it when I have zero energy.  But my cold that was steadily getting worse yesterday is steadily getting better today.  So here's the recipe.

Seitan Noodle Soup

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1 package seitan (Upton's original is good)
6 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2-3 inch hunk of ginger, finely grated
2 quarts water
2 Rapunzel bouillon cubes- herbed variety
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Handful fresh parsley, minced
Couple handfuls of pasta (I like fusilli)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot.  Add onion, carrot and celery and saute a couple minutes, until onions are beginning to get translucent.  Add seitan and continue cooking until it begins to brown.  Add garlic, ginger, water, bouillon, yeast and parsley.  Bring to a simmer and cook until carrots are tender.

Add pasta and continue to cook until it's tender (don't overcook- the pasta will cook more when you go back for leftovers all day).  Add salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Enjoy while watching a gazillion episodes of 30 Rock on Netflix.

Simple Dinner

I'm pretty sure this is the perfect dinner.  At least for today.

Super-gingery squash and lentil soup with lots of cilantro and toast with Earth Balance and miso.

Inspired to eat even more vegetables after the Healthy Foods Summit conference today!

Copy Cat Stew

It's going to take me a long time to write this because I can't put down my peanut stew to type.  Tonight my besty Sarah casually mentioned that she was making peanut stew for dinner.  Immediately my taste buds started screaming, "We want that!  We want that!"  But I already invited myself to dinner last week and really wanted to enjoy a stew on my own couch in my jammies, watching the season premiere of The Office.  

So I set out to make a copycat stew.  My requirements were that I couldn't shop for any ingredients (already spent the grocery budget for this week!) and it had to be ready super quick.  

Mission accomplished!  Here's how I did it:

Super Quick Peanut Stew
One secret to always having coconut milk on hand is to freeze any leftovers in an ice cube tray.  I used 2 cubes of frozen milk in this stew.  It's also great for tossing into smoothies!

1 Tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1 yam/sweet potato, cut in bite-sized chunks
4 large kale leaves, stem removed and chopped
1 quart water
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup coconut milk
a healthy squirt of Bragg's Aminos or tamari
a big pinch of crushed red chiles

Heat oil in a small soup pot.  Add the garlic, potatoes and kale.  Sauté for just a bit, until the garlic is starting to smell good.  Then add the water, peanut butter and coconut milk.  Simmer until the yams are tender and the peanut butter is melted- about 15 minutes.  Then add the Bragg's and chiles to taste.  Enjoy while watching season premieres.

Super Quick Black Bean Soup

Here's a make-ahead meal that I love once the weather starts cooling off.  It's just a bit cooler this week, so I couldn't resist a creamy black bean soup.  

All I had to do to make this possible on a weeknight was just pressure cook some black beans this weekend. That took all of about 5 minutes.

Then last night I sautéed some onions and garlic in olive oil, added the black beans, water and a bouillon cube and brought it up to a simmer.  Then I sprinkled in some yummy spices: cumin, coriander and a little cayenne pepper.  Once heated though, I used my immersion blender to puree it all.  My favorite toppings include pico de gallo, tortilla chips, avocado and pickled jalapeños.

My favorite part about this soup?  It's crazy rich in protein because it's basically all beans!  Plus, there's some serious fiber going on here.  I'm bringing it to work tomorrow to eat for second breakfast!

Greens Under Pressure

I jumped into the canning season in kind of an odd way.  I pressure canned soup.  Not usually what one might be inspired to do in May when the local herbs, radishes and asparagus are just starting to roll in.  But it's cold!  And the mustard greens at the co-op looked AMAZING.

This is just my Mustard Green Soup with red lentils and lots of ginger added.  I simmered the heck out of the soup until the lentils were falling apart and then added the mustard greens and turned off the heat.  When pressure canning soup, you usually have to can quart jars for 75 minutes or so.  That means it gets quite a bit of extra cooking in the canner, so I only the cook the greens minimally beforehand.

In case you've never canned soup before, please know that the ONLY safe way to do this is with a pressure canner (not a pressure cooker).  Because soups are not usually acidic enough to prevent the growth of clostridium botulinum, the only way to kill any stray spores (that might kill you once they grow) is to zap them with 240 degree temperatures.  And since water (and soup) normally boil at about 180 degrees, you have to put them under high pressure to get the temperature up to 240.  And you should follow a recipe from a trusted source or at least find one similar in ingredients and texture to the soup you want to can.  Got it?

I'm a huge fan of home-canned soups, despite the pain in the ass that they can be to can.  Because when I'm sick or tired or sick and tired, all I want is homemade soup.  I save these jars for a day when I really can't make soup for myself and then I'm so thankful I spent a hour and 15 minutes watching the pressure canner to make sure it never dropped below 10 pounds of pressure.

Plus, I have a stash of this soup in the fridge for lunch- Hooray!

Springtime Meals

There aren't too many locally grown vegetables in Minnesota right now, and I can't help but enjoy a few springy treats, especially when they're looking so good!

I try not to be size-ist, but I must admit that I don't like fat asparagus.  I like asparagus that's tall and slender and uniform in size.  So when I saw this bunch at the co-op, I had no choice but to buy it.  Just look at how perfect they are all lined up on my griddle!  

Just a few minutes on the griddle and these were bright green and tender.

The asparagus was plenty flavorful, but I added lemongrass oil, fresh dill and oil cured olives.  Yum!

Fresh peas are far from being harvested here, but frozen peas are second best.  I used Jae Steele's recipe for pea soup and it felt so fresh and healthy!  I didn't have pumpkin seed butter, so I just used tahini instead.  The soup was creamy and simple and very bright spring green!

Cold grain salads aren't usually something I even consider eating until it's sunny outside and summer is in sight.  Wild rice salads are perfect for cool spring weather, though, because they're hearty and light at the same time.  I snipped some chives from the garden (basically the only thing usable so far!) and chopped some walnuts, green onions and crasins for this salad.  The dressing is just a bit of lemongrass oil and umeboshi plum vinegar- But any vinaigrette would be nice.

This one is great packed in a lunch because the flavors get better the next day.

These spring-y meals have been really delicious, but I really can't wait for the local produce to start coming into the co-op and for my garden to get going.  Next time I'll show you what's starting to grow out there.  Soon it'll be planting time!

Creamy Cashew Mushroom Soup

A few days ago I tweeted about homemade cream of mushroom soup and a few folks asked for the recipe.  So here it is!

Creamy Cashew Mushroom Soup
1 cup raw cashew pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Hot water
1 Tbsp. Earth Balance margarine
15 button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 small yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced and diced
1 quart water or unsweetened almond milk
1 bouillon cube
1 tsp. salt (or to taste)
Lots of coarsely ground black pepper

Put cashew pieces, garlic and lemon juice in a small cup (if you have an immersion blender) or blender.  Pour hot water over the cashews- just enough to cover.  Set aside for about 20 minutes or until water has cooled.

Heat Earth Balance in a large saucepan.  Add sliced mushrooms and saute until they are softened and release their juices.  Then add the potatoes and either broth or almond milk or a bit of both.  Drop in the bouillon cube.  Bring to a light simmer and simmer until potatoes are tender and bouillon is dissolved.

Retrieve your soaked cashews and puree the cashew/garlic/lemon mixture until very smooth.  This works best with a fancy-schmancy blender, but even my cheap one works okay with these quick-soaked cashews.
Then stir the pureed cashews into the mushroom soup and heat through.  It's best if you don't boil it after this point.  Add salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste.  I recommend serving with toast or some crackers.

Day 4- Pantry Challenge...And Oyster Crackers

I'm pretty much out of "convenience" foods now.  No more tofu or tempeh.  No more pasta.  Tonight I made use of a can of chickpeas (now it's on to dry beans), some garden tomatoes and some dried garden cherry tomatoes in a stew.  Yep- That's right.  Garden tomatoes in December in Minnesota.  These green 'maters were late bloomers on the kitchen table but are now red and tasty.

Sauteed onions, jalapeno, cumin seed, fennel seed, coriander and mustard seed simmered with dried cherry tomatoes, fresh tomatoes and chickpeas.  

I found a box of oyster crackers that I had forgotten about in my pantry.  I got them as a sample from the co-op and never ate them.  Every year my mom makes some amazing seasoned oyster crackers...but they use powdered ranch dressing mix and most oyster crackers have hydrogenated oils- yuck!  These crackers have clean ingredients (They're Olde Cape Cod brand) and I used a mix of spices that tastes like ranch dressing mix to duplicate my mom's recipe. I think this would be good with pretzels or other crackers, too.

I need to have a disclaimer before this recipe to say that it is not low fat.  Or even medium fat.  I don't recommend making a habit of pouring oil over your crackers, but once a year it's freaking awesome.

Almost Like Mom's Seasoned Oyster Crackers

1 8 oz. package of oyster crackers (I think a 12 oz. package could still be well seasoned by this recipe)
1/4 cup olive oil or canola oil
2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
2 tsp. dried dillweed
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Pour the oil into a large plastic resealable bag.  With a mortar and pestle, grind together all the spices/herbs, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper.  Dump into the baggie with the oil.  Add the crackers and seal the bag. Gently toss the crackers around in the oil and spices until they are all coated.  Remove any air from the bag and reseal.  Let sit overnight and then eat so many of these that you feel sick.  Then lick the bag.

Curry Mushroom Soup

I was talking to my work buddy Nick (as I do pretty frequently most days) when he told me about a creamy mushroom soup he made last night. My ears misheard him, though, and the idea for my dinner was born. I heard "Curry Mushroom Soup".

This soup is extremely flavorful with ginger, curry paste, and cilantro. The texture is slightly creamy and, wow, is it filling. If you're gluten free, you could definitely sub some baked or fried tofu for the seitan- or just leave it out for a less filling soup. And you could serve this over rice to extend it further.

I know this is a lot of ingredients- But you really just throw it all in a pot and simmer a few minutes- it's not too complicated!

Curried Mushroom Soup

Serves 4

1 Tbsp. sesame oil

1 small onion, sliced

1 8 oz. package seitan (or homemade), in bite-sized pieces

2 inches ginger root, finely grated

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 medium carrots, sliced on the bias

2 medium potatoes, diced

About 10 large button mushrooms, sliced

4 green onions, sliced

1 tsp. cumin seed

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. sea salt

1-2 Tbsp. Patak's mild curry paste

Water

Unsweetened almond milk

1 cup coconut milk

Cilantro, for garnish

Heat a large soup pot over med-high heat. Add the onions and seitan and saute until both are beginning to brown. Then add the ginger, garlic, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, green onions, cumin, coriander, salt, and curry paste. Stir to combine. Add enough water and almond milk to cover the vegetables and seitan- Equal parts almond milk and water is what I used, but you could use all almond milk for a creamier soup. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are tender. Then stir in the coconut milk and garnish with cilantro. Adjust to taste with salt and curry paste. Enjoy!

Fitting Nepal into the Local Challenge

Eating local doesn't have to mean eating boring, bland food. But it does take a little creativity when you're in early summer in Minnesota and craving Tibetan/Nepalese food. Actually, not that much creativity. You could just copy someone else.My favorite soup at Everest on Grand Ave. in St. Paul is their mustard green soup. It's usually on the buffet on Thursdays, in case you're wondering. It has a richly spiced, but not spicy, broth and is filled with big pieces of mustard greens and cowpeas. Here's my rendition that highlights the gorgeous locally grown mustard greens at the Co-op.

I suggest using local green garlic or ramps instead of the onions and garlic (unless those are available locally). I just didn't have any in my kitchen today. My tomatoes are from Living Waters hydroponic operation because my garden tomatoes are still little green babies.

Mustard Green Soup

1 Tbsp. canola oil

1/2 onion, sliced thinly

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. ground turmeric (Frontier Co-op in IA)

1 tsp. ground coriander (Frontier Co-op in IA)

1 tsp. cumin seed (Frontier Co-op in IA)

1 tsp. salt

dried red chiles to taste (Last year's garden)

1 tomato, diced (Living Waters in MN)

1 bunch mustard greens, roughly chopped (Riverbend Farm, MN)

1 quart water

1-2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Heat oil in your soup pot. Add onions and saute until beginning to be translucent and lightly browned. Add garlic and spices, including dried chiles. Stir to combine and cook just a minute, being careful not to burn the garlic or spices. Then add the tomato, greens and water and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the greens are tender and your kitchen smells like a kitchen in Nepal (or what I imagine it would smell like). Finish with a little splash of lemon juice.

Feel free to add some beans to make this more of a main course. Or keep it light and eat it for breakfast like I'm doing!

My Weekend in Food

I kept meaning to post some of this yesterday, but here we are at the end of the weekend and I have a ton of pictures to share.

Yesterday I chilled out all day, knitting, reading, and snuggling with the dog and cats.  I left the house to give Mike and the kids a ride and grocery shop and that was it!

Lunch was awesome- the last of the leftover black beans and broth, pureed into a simple black bean soup.  The really exciting part was the toppings, though.  Avocado, green onions, cilantro, and crushed chips!

Today I was really excited to try making Karina's gluten free foccacia bread.  Her pictures look amazing and I haven't made Mike any bread in a while.  I made a few substitutions because I don't keep sorghum flour on hand, but other than that I stuck to the recipe.  Here's the dough going in the oven to rise.

I'd show you a finished product, too, except that the dog ate the whole damn thing before I could take a picture or taste it.  She is an evil beast sometimes.  Now she has a stomach ache and it serves her right.  How could she even reach this bread?  I had it WAY far back on the counter.  I think the cats helped her.

My lunch was a simple, but tasty butterbean soup with crackers.  I love butterbeans like you wouldn't believe.  Here they are cooked up with about 8 cloves of garlic, onion, carrots, celery, and lots of rosemary, thyme, and lemon.  It would have gone great with foccacia...

For dinner Mike and I went to Cat Man Do, a ew-ish Nepalese/Tibetan restaurant on Grand Ave.  I feel a bit like a traitor going there because we usually go to Everest, another Nepalese/Tibetan restaurant on Grand Ave.  I now know that I prefer Everest, but I had to try the new place!

We started with Pyaji, jalapeno and onion strips battered with chickpea flour and deep fried.  There is no way I could not love this dish.  Served with mango chutney and another sour/sweet red sauce.  Yes, we were playing Boggle in the restaurant.

Next I had a simple vegetable soup, which sounded pretty average on the menu and was really delicious.  It had asparagus, mushrooms, onions, other little veggies and herbs...and something.  I couldn't place any of the spices because no one really stood out.  But this was very flavorful!

Last, but not least were the momos, steamed dumplings filled with spinach, onions, and I think cabbage.  The momos were not as good as at Everest (these were a bit dry and not as tender), but were still tasty because dumplings totally rock.  I was just reading about the history and making of dumplings across Asia this morning, so I HAD to order these!

All in all, this weekend contained some pretty delicious food.  Maybe I'll get a chance to re-make the foccacia bread soon.

Mmmm. Coconut Milk!

I'm back in business.

I know I'm on the mend when I have the energy to practice yoga, make a huge batch of pho, and bake cookies.  Ah, normalcy.

The pho was rockin'!  Lemongrass, onion, garlic, mushrooms and jalapenos simmered with some Edward & Sons "Not-Beef" bouillon.  Thai Kitchen wide rice noodles, cilantro, mung bean sprouts, mint, green onions, and lime juice.  Yum!

After eating a ridiculous amount of soup, I needed a sweet treat.  The past week I've been nibbling on peanut butter with chocolate chips sprinkled on top.  Tonight I felt up to some baking, so I whipped up some of the gluten free chocolate chip cookies from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan.  I enjoyed them with a little glass of So Delicious Coconut Milk.


I sampled some of this milk about a month ago and fell in love.  Alas, I had to wait until the Co-op could actually order the product before I could take some home.  But now it's here and it's on sale!

Now, don't get scared that this is like drinking coconut millk from a can.  This is a whole different story.  This milk isn't thick and doesn't have something like 56 grams of fat per cup.  It has 5 grams.  And it doesn't taste strongly coconut-y either.  It's very mild, but still rich and delicious.  

Dipping cookies in it is heavenly!

The kitten likes it, too.

Not Quite Avgolemono

In this post I'll assume that yesterday you 

1.  Read my blog

2.  Jumped right up and cooked my Stand Alone Rice

3.  Didn't actually consume all 6 cups of the rice in one day

So here's what you should make with the leftover rice!

Now, I'll preface this with a disclaimer that I've never actually had Avgolemono soup.  I've seen it made and imagined it, but when you become vegetarian at age 11 you miss out on trying some things (Not that I'd take it back for anything, though.  I can live without knowing what lobsters taste like).  

Avgolemono soup is a really simple traditional Greek soup made with just chicken broth, lemon juice, rice, eggs, and pepper.  I know... eggs in soup sounds really weird, right?  They give the soup a creamy texture, though.  It's not like an egg sunny side up or scrambled in the soup [shudder].  

Anyways, the creamy rice part of this soup remindes me of a congee, an Asian rice porridge that can be sweet or savory.  It is made by cooking rice for a long time in LOTS of water.  So I figure that if I cook the rice longer it can be the egg replacement and thicken the soup.  The amazing Earth Balance will replace the fat from the egg and then you're all set.

So here's my vegan version that may very well taste NOTHING like the original.  But it's super good!

Not Quite Avgolemono

Serves 2

1 1/2 cups Stand Alone Rice *

3 cups water or broth

1 no salt added bouillon cube if using water(I like Rapunzel brand)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp Earth Balance

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine rice, water (+ bouillon) or broth, lemon juice, and Earth Balance in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to medium-low.  Simmer for 20-25 minutes.  You may need to add additional water or broth to the soup as it thickens.  When done, the rice should be so tender it nearly falls apart and the broth should be thick and creamy.  Just a touch of salt and lots of pepper on top is how I like mine.

*I'm sure you could make this with regular cooked rice, it would just be a little less flavorful.  The subtle flavor of the garlic and veggies is really nice in this.