Spinach Soup?

The recent NYT post about puréed broccoli and celery soup reminds me to think more about green soups. She mentions adding spinach at the end of cooking, to restore the green color that is lost when broccoli is cooked for a long time. I think replacing all of the broccoli with spinach might be the better choice. Since it can be really hard to find good, tasty, colorful celery at this time of year, I'm quite tempted to replace it and some of the potato with celery root.

Certainly, we should start by sautéeing onions, garlic, and maybe some celery in a little olive oil and salt (apparently adding salt at this stage prevents browning by drawing water out of the vegetables!).

Next, we should add the stock, and any slow-cooking vegetables like kale stems, celeriac, and potatoes. If I use rice, I would use already cooked leftover brown rice, rather than uncooked white rice, so that could go in now or later. She also recommends adding a bouquet garni made with a bay leaf, a Parmesan rind, and a couple of sprigs each thyme and parsley at this stage.

After adding spinach, and allowing it to wilt, I would add a can of cannelini beans just before processing with the immersion blender, both for added protein and for texture.

Vegan Creamed Kale

I just saw this recipe blog post for Creamed Kale, from a now-defunct cooking blog. Now that we have a shockingly kale-based diet, I think it would be nice to try it out. Alternatively, we could expand on the earlier spinach theme, and try making it with spinach instead.


INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 bunch of kale, stems removed, chopped (around 4 cups)
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1 1/4 cups cashew cream (more if needed)
• salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

1. Heat oil in a large pot over med heat.  Saute onion and garlic for a few mins, until translucent, being careful not to burn.
2. Add kale and a bit of salt and sauté for a few mins, until vibrant green and slightly wilted.
3. Add wine and cook, uncovered, for about 5-7 mins, until liquid is reduced and kale is tender.
4. Add cashew cream and mix well.  Cook for 2-3 mins until cream is thickened.Add more if you want creamier kale.  
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Carrot Soup

Smitten Kitchen has an intriguing carrot soup recipe today. The coriander, cumin, and tahini flavors all seem like a good idea, and they have inspired my desire to make a blended carrot soup soon. However, especially after our recent experience eating awful crisped chickpeas, her carrot soup recipe from last year looks even more appealing to me, flavored by miso, scallions, and ginger.

She lists the following ingredients, to which I would probably add a can of cannelini beans, for texture and protein:

Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 regular or 6 small garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 tablespoon finely chopped or grated ginger, or more to taste (it could easily be doubled)
4 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup white miso paste, or more to taste


To finish
Drizzle of toasted sesame oil
2 scallions, very thinly sliced

Multigrain Cranberry Muffins

Apparently I missed the end of cranberry season. Now we have to resort to frozen cranberries. Thankfully, the muffins don't seem to mind much. Here is today's recipe:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup teff flour
• 1/2 cup ground almond meal/flour (packed)
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 Tbs grated orange peel or all the grated orange peel from one organic orange
• 1 10 oz bag of frozen cranberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F. 
2. Oil a standard 12-place muffin tin.
3. Thoroughly mix together flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and pecans. 
4. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, orange juice, orange peel, and cranberries. 
5. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture, and distribute into the muffin tin. 
6. Bake 20 minutes at 400F, rotating the pan 180 degrees halfway through.