A Happy Dump-and-Throw Accident: Spicy Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup

This is truly a happy dump and throw accident. I had these sweet potatoes, you see. And a handful of CSA carrots, a few baby red potatoes (too few for a serving) and some ginger root that needed to be used up. Hmm.

What I didn't have was any vegetable soup stock. But I did have some frozen butternut squash soup from last season. So…here we go…

Spicy Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
5 large carrots, peeled and chopped
5 baby red potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 red onion, chopped
ginger root, about two thumbs worth, pealed and chopped
1/2 stick butter
2-4 cups vegetable stock
Spices…all to taste:
Ground cardamom
Cayenne powder
Turmeric
Cinnamon
Ground black pepper
Sea salt

• Melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the onions.
• Saute until onions soften
• Add spices…start with small amounts and add more 
• Saute in the butter…they will start to be very aromatic
• Add vegetable stock, or in my case. butternut squash soup and stir until onion and spice mixture is mixed thoroughly into the stock.
• Raise heat until liquid begins to boil
• Add chopped vegetables and cook for 5-7 minutes in the boiling stock
• Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until vegetables are cooked all the way through. 

Now, here is where I made a happy mistake. I didn't taste. I got out the immersion blender, blended the cooked vegetables until the mixture was nice and creamy and removed it from the heat.

THEN I tasted. And practically choked because, clearly, I was pretty heavy handed with the cayenne. Like, wow.

So, back to the pantry cupboard where I fortunately found the secret mystery ingredient…a can of coconut milk. THANK GOODNESS.

I added the full can to the soup, and creamed it with the immersion blender again.

THIS, ladies and gentleman, is an excellent soup. Still spicy, but now tempered with the creaminess of the coconut milk and the inherent sweetness of the sweet potato, carrot and butternut squash.

Which all goes to show you…measuring is highly overrated.

Bon appétit.

Blue Frog Pasta

As you may remember, I spent 16 weeks in Shanghai, China in 2012. I had the good fortune to stay in a very nice hotel while there, but honestly, hotel living leaves much to be desired in comparison to home. That said, there are three things I miss about my life in Shanghai.

• The expansive and luxurious bathroom in my hotel room. The hotel site describes the bathroom as “A marble-clad bathroom with glass-enclosed bath and separate shower.” This does not begin to do justice to the glory that is the Kerry Hotel showers.
• Arriving back in my hotel room at night and having my laundry clean, beautifully folded in a wicker basket with lavender sachets tucked in among the unmentionables. Everything you’ve heard about chinese laundry is true. The quality is unparalleled. I’ve yet to have pants ironed so well anywhere else in the world.
• Roasted Pumpkin Pasta at the Blue Frog.

Blue Frog is a chain of restaurants in China that hosts a varied east-west menu, and more importantly, stays open past 10 pm. The entire city of Shanghai turns off the lights, quite literally, at 10. Restaurants and bars put the chairs ontop the tables and turn off the lights. This was an issue for our team because most nights we worked until at least 10, maybe later. 

The Blue Frog, though, not only stayed open late but more importantly: delivered. Jokes about chinese take-out aside, finding a restaurant that delivered and would take credit cards and had a menu varied enough to suit our team was a coup. And so, without further ado, here is my interpretation of Blue Frog Roasted Pumpkin Pasta, made with no pumpkin whatsoever.

Ingredients:

4 cups cubed, butternut squash

2 tbsp olive oil

4 cups cooked, drained whole wheat pasta (rotini or penne)

½ cup pine nuts

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp pesto

sea salt

ground black pepper

grated parmesan cheese to taste

Directions: 

• Heat oven to 375.
• Toss the butternut squash with the olive oil, sea salt and ground black pepper
• Spread on a cookie sheet and roast in heated oven for 45 – 60 minutes till done and slightly brown at edges.
• While squash is roasting, boil large pot of water and cook pasta as per directions on package.
• When finished, drain well and transfer to large mixing bowl.
• While pasta is warm, toss with lemon juice, pesto and pine nuts. Let stand.
• When squash is finished roasting, remove from oven and let cool slightly.
• Then, add to pasta and toss well.
• Serve immediately, garnishing with parmesan cheese to taste. 

Roasted Butternut Squash

Pasta tossed with Pesto, Lemon Juice and Pine Nuts

The finished pasta! 

A Ravioli Fiesta

I was away last week, and had a particularly wonderful dinner one night of butternut squash and sweet potato ravioli. I have never made ravioli before, but did some experimenting today and made several dozen raviolis in two flavors.

Making the Pasta Dough:

4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons egg beaters
water

Mix the flour, salt, egg and small amounts of water.
Knead dough, adding water as needed to mix in all the flour.
Form fully kneaded dough into a ball and set it aside.

Making the Ravioli Fillings:

Spinach and Ricotta
8 oz Ricotta cheese
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
1 teaspoon pesto
salt

Mix all ingredients together. Set aside.

Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato
1 sweet potato - baked and mashed
1.5 cups butternut squash - baked and mashed
cinnamon
cardamom
cayenne
salt

Mix all ingredients together. Set aside.

Shaping the Ravioli:
Roll out the dough.
Place a teaspoon of filling about 2 inches apart on one half of the roll.

Fold the dough in half.
With a sharp knife, cut through both layers of the folded pasta, and then trim to squares.
Seal the edges by pressing with a fork.

To cook, boil water. Add a small amount of olive oil.
When the water is boiling, add the ravioli.
Cook until the ravioli rises to the top of the water (about 5 minutes).

We had the spinach/ricotta/pesto ravioli tonight with homemade tomato sauce. 

I've frozen the butternut squash and sweet potato ravioli for another day.

Ribbolita

Several days ago, I made this French Onion Soup. It was delicious. It was so yummy I decided to use some of the leftovers as a basis for a hearty Ribbolita. Ribbolita is a thick, hearty Tuscan vegetable soup, rife with vegetables. Perfect with rustic, thick bread. 

There are tons of Ribbolita recipes on the web. Here's a good one to start with: Bon Appetit Ribollita. I barely followed this recipe, since I had slightly different vegetables (celery, kale, carrots, potatoes, butternut squash, tomatoes, canellini beans). I went heavy on the spices (thyme, basil, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano). And I added liberal amounts of red wine. And of course, all that is in addition to the French Onion soup base. 

The verdict? YUM. 

Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London's Ottolenghi

I picked up two new cookbooks at Williams-Sonoma last night. This is one of them: "Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London's Ottolenghi". Yotam Ottolenghi is both the author, and the owner of several restaurants in London. I had never heard of him before, but I liked the cover, browsed the recipes in the store, and made the purchase.

Today, I picked up vegetables at the CSA and was faced with the need to do something with eggplant, peppers and several types of squash. Rather than return to my standby ratatouille, I instead found this recipe: "Very Full Tart: A fantastic Mediterranean feast, full to the brim with roasted vegetables."

I had to substitute several of the ingredients from the original recipe, based on what I had available. Butternut squash instead of sweet potato, delicata squash instead of zucchini, and baby mozzerella instead of ricotta.

First, to roast the vegetables. Two kinds of peppers on the top shelf. Eggplant, butternut and delicata sqhash on second shelf. Tossed with olive oil and sea salt.

Onions sauted in olive oil with bay leaves till they get soft and brown.

Heirloom tomatos

I made this with no crust because we're watching our carbohydrates. This is really more of a crustless quiche than a true tart.

All assembled and ready for the oven. Onions on the bottom, then roasted vegetables, tomatos and mozzerella. Finally, thyme to taste, two eggs (I used egg beaters) and some heavy cream (for which I substituted fat free half and half).

35 minutes in the oven and look what we have here: A Very Full Crust-less Quiche-like Mediterranean Feast!

Butternut Squash Quiche

This flavorful quiche makes a light entrée and a great Thanksgiving side dish. We like lots of curry, so we use these amounts as a starting point. Your tastes may vary.

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped sweet onion

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups chopped spinach leaves or kale

4 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss cheese, room temperature

16 oz butternut squash, roasted and mashed

2 large sweet potatos, baked and mashed

1 1/4 cups fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)

1/2 tsp. each salt and black pepper

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp curry powder

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9" pie pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
• Bring a large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove.
• Add onion and garlic and, stirring occasionally, cook until softened and slightly browned, about 6 minutes.
• Add spinach and cook until wilted and excess moisture has evaporated, about 2 more minutes.
• Transfer onion-spinach mixture to the large bowl.
• Add cheese wedges, breaking them into pieces as you add them.
• Mix thoroughly, until cheese has melted and is evenly distributed.
• Add all remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix well.
• Evenly transfer mixture to the pie pan.
• Bake in the oven until firm and lightly browned on top, about 1 hour.
• Allow to slightly cool. Cut into 6 slices and enjoy!

Spicy Chick Peas and Cauliflower

This is a flexible dish that can be made with a wide variety of vegetables, depending on what you have in your refrigerator.

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower, chopped
2 cans chick peas, NOT drained
1 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large hunk of ginger root, minced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 pound butternut squash, chopped
1 large sweet potato, baked and mashed
1/4 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 tablespoon cardamom pods
Sea salt
2 tablespoons Olive oil

Directions

• Bake the sweet potato in the microwave. When done, remove skin and mash potato with a fork. Set aside. 
• Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan, add the onions and sauté until onions begin to be translucent. 
• Add the garlic and ginger. 
• Add the salt, cumin, garam masala, coriander and mustard seeds. Cook till the mustard seeds pop. 
• Add the chick peas, cardamom pods, butternut squash, sweet potato and cauliflower. 
• Mix well. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are cooked. 
• Add cilantro and stir. Taste and adjust spices as needed.
• We like our spices strong. Your tastes may differ.

Alternative Preparations

• You can slow cook this dish, transferring all ingredients from the pan to the crockpot at the same step when you add the chick peas. 
• You can add or subtract vegetables in accordance to what is in your fridge. I’ve experimented with: 
• Chopped or shredded carrots 
• Chopped kale 
• Chopped spinach 
• Baby potatos 
• Chopped eggplant 
• Red peppers 

Serve with warm whole wheat naan.