Curried Tomato Soup

This recipe is slightly adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. As the first thing that I made in my kitchen after 6 weeks away, I may be giving it more credit than necessary. But, this is a really filling and tasty twist on tomato bisque...

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 tablespoons madras curry powder
2 cups chopped tomatoes (i used a large can of whole italian tomatoes)
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 medium boiling potatoes, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
salt
1/4 cup cream or coconut milk
handful of chopped cilantro and fried onion for garnish

- In a soup pot, heat the oil on medium high until HOT. Add the onions and cook until golden brown.
- Add the curry powder and stir with the onions for 10 seconds.
- Add tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, peas, and salt to taste. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
- Add 4 cups of water (I used water and the liquid from the tomato can to add up to 4 cups) and bring the soup to a boil.
Cover and reduce heat to very low. Let simmer for 45 minutes until vegetables begin to break down.
- Remove soup from the heat and puree until smooth. Jaffrey recommends straining the soup through a seive, but I didn't bother and liked the thick quality of the soup. Were I making this for a party, I'd strain it to make it all silky and fancy.
- Once the soup is pureed, add the cream or coconut milk and stir over low heat to combine. (I used coconut milk, but the recipe calls for 1 cup of cream, but 1/4 cup of coconut milk was perfect for my taste.)
- At this point, I felt that the soup needed a little something, so I added about 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar and a pinch of cayenne pepper. I think some whole, popped, mustard seed would have been nice too.
- Serve hot with a healthy garnish of cilantro and fried onion.

Barley Stew with Leeks, Mushrooms and Greens

I came across this recipe while cruising the December issue of Bon Appetit at Peter's parents' house over the long Thanksgiving weekend. It is perfect cold-weather eating.

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
2 cups chopped leeks (about 2 stalks; white and pale green parts only)
About a pound mushrooms--we used a mixture of shiitake, crimini and button
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
1 cup pearl barley
4 cups (or more) chicken or vegetable broth
1 bunch kale, trimmed, center stalks removed, leaves coarsely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add leeks; sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until leeks begin to soften, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, and rosemary; increase heat to medium-high and sauté until mushrooms soften and begin to brown, stirring often, about 7 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice; stir 1 minute. Add barley and 4 cups broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until barley is almost tender, about 20 minutes. Add kale; stir until wilted, about 1 minute. Cover and simmer until kale and barley are tender, adding more broth by 1/4 cupfuls as needed for desired stew consistency, about 10 minutes.

Foolproof Smoothies

I secretly worked at a smoothie place my first year of undergrad, and have been making smoothies at home ever since. The key ingredient is banana - without it the smoothie will be, well, not as smooth. I recently got a new blender, which is why smoothies are on the brain. They're great for hangovers too :)

The standard:

1/2 c. orange juice or other juice
1 banana
1 scoop protein powder (I prefer Spirutein but haven't found it in Chicago so I've been using Whole Foods' vanilla flavored protein powder with spirulina)
1/4 c. frozen or fresh fruit - blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, peaches, and/or mango all work well
4 ice cubes

The always-failproof combo is OJ, strawberries, and banana.

Optional add-ons: vitamin C tablet, dash of vanilla, freshly grated ginger, and/or honey, even booze

Toss in blender and blend till smooth. Voila!

Winter Salad with Cumin Vinaigrette

Last weekend in New York I had two fabulous salads. The first was a chopped salad incorporating crunchy hearts of romaine, green apples, corn, carrotts and other goodies with a cumin vinaigrette topped with a poached egg at the Home Restaurant. The second, a simple toss of fennel, cucumber root, and parsely in a lemony garlicky dressing reminiscent of my standard at home salad topper at Frankie's 17. When assigned the duty of making a salad for friendsgiving, I knew that crunchy veggies were the way to go. The resulting mélange was light, flavorful, and worthy of its own meal on other, less gluttonous, days of the year. Today I've made not one, but two meals out of its leftovers and Corrina's amazing cumin scented butternut squash latkes...And, as you might guess, I'm also embracing the hell out of stretchy pants. If you're seeking a light lunch over the next week of recovery, this might fit the bill...And, would probably turn into a satisfying dinner with the addition of some cooked garbanzo beans and a big slice of bread.

Ingredients (Salad)

1 celery root, peeled and cubed
1 fennel bulb, cubed
1 jicama root, peeled and cubed
4 large carrots, peeled and cubed
2 red bell peppers, cubed
1.5 large granny smith apples, cubed
1/2 red onion, cubed
1 large bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup cubed sharp cheese (I used Gruyere and Asagio)
1/2 cup cumin vinaigrette
ground cumin

Blanch the celery root, jicama, fennel, and carrots in boiling water for one minute. Plunge into an ice bath and drain when fully cooled.

Toss all ingredients in a large bowl. Sprinkle lightly with cumin, season with salt and pepper and toss with the dressing.

Cumin Vinaigrette

Combine the following ingredients in a small jar and shake vigorously to mix. Its best to let the dressing sit and marinate for an hour or two before using.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup unfiltered apple cider vinegar
1 lime juiced
1.5 teaspoons ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
1 large clove of garlic (or a shallot), minced
pinch of salt

Pumpkin soup- Thai Style

While New York was beautiful, relaxing, and full of love and art, today found me exhausted after yesterday's travel disaster...2 hours on public transit to LGA (check.); 3 hours sitting on a delay at LGA (check.); 2.5 hour flight with screaming baby (check.); 1 hour ride on the L to get home (check.); etc...So, when I set out to shop for FRIENDSGIVING, I was feeling a bit less ambitious than usual. So, I decided on soup. This soup. Delicious, spicy, healthy soup. Soup that I could make ahead and then try to focus on papers until the eating begins.



While this soup is magnificent, it is still not quite where I want it to be. I've been trying for years to reverse engineer the thai pumpkin soup we served at Restaurant L while I worked there, and nothing yet matches the simultaneous richness and lightness of that perfect soup. I'm getting so close though, so close... I look forward to hearing what you think!

Step one: Roast some squash (I used 2 small sugar pumpkins and one medium sized acorn squash) in a 425 degree oven. I like to brush with olive oil and dust with sea salt and a little aleppo pepper.

Let the squash cool and then peel and cut into chunks. Set aside.




Step two:

Ingredients
Roasted squash
1 large sweet apple chopped
4 cups vegetable stock
1 can of lite coconut milk
1/2 sweet onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 Fresno chile chopped
2 inches of fresh ginger peeled and diced
4 inches of lemongrass chopped
1/2 red bell pepper diced
6 T canola oil
2 T red curry paste (more or less to taste depending on your brand)
2 T Rice Vingegar
2-3 T brown sugar
1 lime juiced

Directions
Heat the canola oil in a large stainless steel stockpot over low/medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, bell pepper, onion, apple and chile to oil and cook until the onion is transparent.

Add curry paste. Stir to coat.

Add squash. Cook until warmed back through.

Add 4 cups of broth. Stir until squash begins to break down. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer on low for about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and purée with an immersion blender or in a food processor.

Taste and add salt, lime juice, brown sugar and rice vinegar.


Serve garnished with chopped thai basil, red bell pepper, toasted pumpkin seeds and fish sauce for non-vegan eaters. This makes about 3L of soup and it freezes well! Enjoy.




Variations:
Garnish with grilled shrimp/ scallops
Sub 1 cup of veg. broth for seafood broth
Include 1-2 fresh curry leaves and/or chopped thai basil while cooking. (Remove curry leaves before puréeing.)

Cider-Roasted Root Vegetables

Brian and I made these for my mom when she was in town. From my Fresh Every Day cookbook, recipes from a cafe I love in Chapel Hill, NC (I use this all the time). Perfect for cooking up mysterious or abundant root veggies. I used whatever I had on hand courtesy of my Fresh Picks box, which included scarlet turnips and rutabagas. To veganize, leave out the butter and double the EVOO. Roasted parsnips are incredible.

Serves 4-6

1/4 c. cider vinegar
1/4 c. unfiltered apple juice or apple cider
2 T. olive oil
3 T. unsalted butter, melted
1 T. Dijon mustard
2 T. chopped fresh rosemary or thyme or combo or both
2 small turnips, trimmed, peeled, and quartered lengthwise
4 small potatoes, halved
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2-in. wedges
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-in. pieces
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 2-in. pieces
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
2 T. chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Whisk the vinegar, apple juice, oil, butter, mustard, and rosemary/thyme together in a large bowl (I skipped this step and dumped everything into the glass baking dish I roasted everything in). Add veggies and toss/stir to coat. Season with salt & pepper and spread veggies into single layer - as best you can. Roast for 45-50 mins, stirring veggies occasionally, until they are tender and light golden brown around the edges (note: I ended up roasting almost an extra hour, as I like my veggies so roasted they start to caramelize). Toss with parsley and serve warm or at room temperature.

Pumpkin Risotto

Peter and I had a ton of pureed pumpkin leftover from a delicious pumpkin cheesecake he made last weekend for the season finale of Mad Men. I've been itching to make something savory with it all week and this is what I came up with. This recipe was inspired by a Jamie Oliver recipe for roasted squash risotto, but as you will see, I've doctored it up quite a bit.

Pumpkin Risotto

1/8 lb pancetta (optional)

1 large shallot, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 c. arborio rice

1/2 c. white wine

4 c. chicken broth (vegetable of course would work just as well)

2 T oregano, chopped

1-1 1/2 c. pureed pumpkin or other winter squash

2 t chile paste

1/2 a large bunch of chard, coarsely chopped

1 c. pecorino, grated

About 8 fried sage leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, fry the pancetta over medium-high heat in a bit of olive oil until crispy. Remove and drain on a paper towel--don't clean skillet. Put 4 cups of broth in a small saucepan and heat keep warm over low heat. Add about a tablespoon of butter and a bit more olive oil to pancetta skillet (depending on how much delicious pancetta grease you still have in the pan). Add shallot and garlic and saute over medium heat until just softened (about 3-4 minutes). Next add in the arborio and cook until the grains are translucent. Stir in wine, and keep stirring until wine is absorbed. Begin ladling in the warm broth, about 1/2 a cup at a time. I don't usually stir as much as traditional recipes call for, just once when I stir in the broth. Allow the rice to absorb the liquid, then stir in more broth. When the rice is about 75% done, stir in the oregano, and the pumpkin puree, with a bit of broth. The pumpkin will become more liquid as it warms up and the rice will soak it up like broth. Check the seasoning and salt to taste. With the next addition of broth, stir in about 2 teaspoons of chile paste. We had leftover paste from the enchiladas Peter made earlier this week and it added a delicious hint of smoky spiciness to the dish. When the rice has just a few minutes left, stir in the chard to cook in the risotto. Finally, stir in the cheese and serve and garnish with fried sage leaves.