Archive for the ‘soups’ Category

Soup, It’s What’s For Lunch

June 5th, 2010

I really love Gatlin’s interpretation of my lunch today. He called it a plate of sunshine.  I made River and Gatlin veggie soup (cooked) and myself another one of Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen recipes called Tomato Basil Bisque. I had actually made the soup the evening before and was having the leftovers.

Raw foods are interesting in that as time goes by, the flavors of dishes change and meld together. I have had some dishes that I didn’t care for after making them but a day or even two later they are smashing. The same seems to hold true for Ani’s Bisque. I liked it better day two. The kids didn’t really care for it day one but Gatlin said, “Not bad” this next day at lunch. Neither of them still ate a bowl.

Instead, Gatlin devoured my rays of sunshine! I sliced red pepper and stuffed it with a simple homemade guacomole. He loves these as do I. River is my simple kind of man. He likes just straight up red pepper and lots of it. He does like guacomole but not tampering with his red pepper.

Tomato Basil Bisque

bisque base

  • 3 tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 1/2 c. olive oil
  • 2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 c. water

bisque toppings

  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 1 c. basil chiffonade
  1. blend bisque base ingredients until smooth
  2. pour into four bowls and top with tomatoes and basil

Did your eyes pop when you read 1 1/2 c. oil? Mine did, but I followed the recipe. Whoooo, too much oil. I would at least half the oil next time. It had mellowed by the next day but still way too heavy for me. I also didn’t have another tomato to dice for the top so I made and ate only the base. It would be really good with the basil and diced tomatoes on top but would lend itself well to other toppings as well.

A new cut: chiffonade, for those that are unfamiliar, is a way of cutting the basil. It will create long, thin strips. I like to take a few basil leaves and lay them on top of one another. Roll them up together and then cut thinly from the short end to the longer end. This looks decorative as all the strips will be of equal width. Basil is a tender herb so cutting it chiffonade also helps not to bruise the basil.

Enjoy!

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WOW: nettles

May 23rd, 2010

Grab those garden gloves — it’s time for a new feature on crunchybits! Welcome to our first Weed of the Week — Nettles!

We’ve already talked about the health benefits of nettle infusions. This humble herb helps with respiratory troubles, allergic reactions, arthritis, skin problems, kidney stones and bladder infections. but the uses of nettles don’t stop there. You can steep nettle stalks in a bucket of water for a few weeks until fermentation stops (once there are no more bubbles when you stir) and use a dilution of this pungent “tea” as a foliar feed or soil fertilizer for your plants.

In addition to the feeding and healing people and their vegetable patches, nettles have been used for more than 2000 years to make things like rope, paper or cloth. And they can dye the fabric too!  The leaves will give a green color, while the roots boiled with salt or alum yield a lovely yellow.

Nettles attract a number of butterflies, who lay their eggs on the plant so their caterpillars have a tasty, nutritious start on life.  Once the plants go to seed, the birds will visit your patch to dine. So it has a place in your wildlife garden too!

Here in CT, nettles been out for a few months, and the patches we’ve expanded in the garden are producing nicely.  Although today Dante asked me not to do that again because getting around the garden in shorts and with bare feet isn’t as pleasant as before where the nettles were primarily outside the fence and just inside at one corner.

We’ve been using them primarily in our smoothies, but last week I found a nettle soup recipe in a library cookbook Love Soup by Anna Thomas. I adapted it a bit, and am posting the resulting recipe below. It was delicious, and Dante and Luke ate a couple of bowls. Lucia didn’t care for it, but said she will try it again next time.Something about it reminds me of homemade chicken and rice soup from my childhood.

Nettle Soup

  • 2 large onions, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 4 carrots, diced
  • 4 stalks celery, diced
  • 4 yukon gold potatoes, diced
  • 1 cup lentils
  • 1 cup millet
  • 6-8 leaves kale, chopped
  • 4 cups chopped nettles
  • water or broth
  • salt to taste
  1. Saute onions on medium low heat until they start to brown.
  2. Meanwhile chop and measure out everything but the greens.
  3. Once the onions turn translucent, add the carrots, celery and potato and stir occasionally for about 5 minutes.
  4. Add the garlic and stir, cooking for one minute.
  5. Add water and/or broth to cover and bring to a boil.
  6. Add lentils and millet, stir and reduce to a simmer.
  7. After about 20 minutes, add chopped greens and remove from heat.

I didn’t want to add any spices so I could taste the subtle flavor of the nettles, but I think next time round I would add some fresh herbs. And possibly more nettles.

Happy harvesting — don’t forget to wear thick gloves or proceed with caution!

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festive fajitas

May 12th, 2010

fajitasFor this weekend’s raw potluck, I decided to try something I’ve been wanting to attempt for a while now but thought would be too much work. Boy was I wrong! Especially when you have an adorable, clever helper!

Lucia and I worked in the kitchen together — I read the recipe, and she carried out all the tasks to make the corn chowder from The Raw Transformation. We added a few personal touches — after blending the soup and adding the corn, we also put in some chopped red pepper, chunks of the other half of the avocado, and chives she picked in the garden. We used frozen corn, and the next time around I would probably add more raw garlic (surprise surprise) and maybe some more spices, but I really can’t wait to try making corn chowder with fresh corn. I liked the soup, but something was missing, and since there’s no comparison between fresh and frozen corn, I’m hoping that using corn just cut from the cob will do the trick.

Then we made the fajitas, based on a recipe posted by Joz on Raw Freedom Community. I changed it up a little bit, and have posted my recipe below. While she was waiting for me to rinse out the blender carafe and tidy the counter, Lucia grabbed the washed veggies and made Fajita man. Poor Fajita man. She snacked on some of the skin off his mushroom face. Maybe he’s sad due to his lack of arms. Who knows? Without a mouth, he’ll never be able to tell us.

fajita manFestive Fajitas

  • 4 portobello mushrooms
  • 2 red peppers
  • 1 sweet onion
  • 2 zucchini

Marinade

  • juice of 2 lemons
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1/4 cup tamari
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 4 Tbs chili powder
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup onion
  • Tbsp umeboshi plum vinegar
  1. Thinly slice vegetables, place in bowl, set aside.
  2. Blend all marinade ingredients together until smooth. Pour over veggies and toss to coat evenly.
  3. Let sit at least 4 hours. Serve with collard, romaine, kale or cabbage leaves as a wrapper. Top with fresh salsa, cashew cream sauce, guacamole, etc.

The limes were a bit dry this week, otherwise I probably would have used more. But I have to say, this came out to be really tasty. Oh, and I would also add fresh cilantro in heavy doses if you have it. I used the leftovers on top of mesclun mix, and used the marinade to dress the salad. Delish! I served it cold, but would also try dehydrating it a bit for the warmth and to see the effect on the texture. This is a lovely party dish since it can be made ahead of time, as much  as a day or two, leaving you free for more important day of party tasks that always seem to rear their ugly heads at the last minute.

Sorry for the soft focus on the pics — I touched the lens with an oily finger and need to get some lens cleaner paper but haven’t had the chance.

Happy dining!

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cinco de mayo spanish rice

May 10th, 2010

At this weekend’s raw potluck, the theme was Cinco de Mayo and delicious dishes were everywhere, including (at the time I took the picture — a salad with sprouts and some desserts appeared later, but I was too busy eating and forgot to snap a picture):

* gazpacho — a creamy, blended version, with chopped tomato, cuke and cilantro for garnish

* corn chowder

* Ani Phy’s walnut cranberry butternut squash rice

* Spanish rice with mockamole

* chunky chili

* almond pulp cheese with crackers

* fajitas

* green salad with sprouts, pecans and mesclun mix

* mango pie

* chocolate coconut macaroons

One of the guests, who has a severe allergy to avocados, found a delicious alternative — peas! She recommends fresh if you can get them, but says you can use frozen. Measure the frozen peas out and let them sit in cold water until they’ve begun to thaw but are still slightly frozen. Drain and “blend the heck out of them” until they have a smooth, even consistency. She used about 1 cup of peas to replace 1 avocado in the Spanish rice recipe, and said that her avocado-loving husband was devouring the avocado mixture, surprised that it wasn’t made with avocados.

spanish rice and mango pieSpanish Rice

  • 1 head shredded cauliflower
  • 1 red peppers, chopped
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped finely
  • 5 green onions, sliced thinly
  • 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 recipe of Spanish Avo Mix

Spanish Avo Mix

  • 1 avocado, mashed
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1 Tbs basil
  • 1 Tbs paprika
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 Tbs sweetener
  • crushed red pepper, finely chopped, to taste
  • sea salt, to taste
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin

Mix Avo mixture in a separate bowl, the add it to bowl with veggies and stir to coat.

This was tasty and light, and I will definitely give the avo mix recipe a try with the peas as a dip, or try replacing avocados in a recipe when I don’t have a ripe one on hand. Thanks for the recipe and the idea for an avocado replacement!

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lemon fennel soup

March 20th, 2010

Spring has sprung! It’s been gloriously sunny and about 75 degrees here for the past few days, allowing us to celebrate the first day of spring by spending all our time outside! I was thinking about how we humans have our own circadian rhythms and noticing that the cozy down energy I feel during the post-holiday rush is now gone, replaced by an almost anxiety to get my hands in the dirt outside. The cathartic feeling I get wielding the rake gleefully on leaves and dead plant matter blanketing our garden beds is so fitting now when it would have felt incongruous just 2 months ago.

I also find that I’m looking for different food these days. And while I’m putting a serious dent in the box of dates I brought home from my food coop pickup (I can’t resist them dipped in almond butter!) most of the time I’m looking for something light  and fresh. So with that in mind:

One of my all-time favorite raw recipes is based on the lemon fennel soup in Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes. Simple ingredients, no fancy equipment required, and ingredients I adore in all one place. This is a cold or room temperature soup, so it’s great for the summer, and yet with my modifications (the addition of oodles of garlic and a pinch of cayenne) it’s incredibly warming. I could gobble this up every day, and often do when I’m feeling sickness lurking around the corner.

Lemon Fennel Soup

  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 3 cups water
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 bulb fennel, sliced
  • scallions, chopped

Whisk together lemon juice, water, olive oil and salt. When ready to serve, pour into bowls and garnish with chopped fennel and scallions.

lemon fennel soupFor me, this is not lemony enough, and has waaaay too much olive oil. I put the water, more lemon juice (at least double — the 8 lemons pictured was what I started with for a class of 20 people — I usually use around 4-5 to make dinner for my family of 4), olive oil (2-3 Tbs or so), and salt into a blender with lots of garlic (4+ cloves) and a dollop of honey. I blend this to emulsify (any old blender will do for this, and I used to make it in my food processor too, tho the max liquid issue caused some trouble once I realized how yummy this was), and once it’s a lovely creamy opaque liquid, I pour into a bowl. I like to add chopped greens (usually kale, this time spinach) as well as sliced red onion and fennel before serving. I also add minced garlic to the bowl with the greens, onion and fennel — can you tell I loves me some garlic? If there are leftovers (infrequently) the greens wilt even more and the flavors meld nicely to make a subtler, less fiery soup. I also add cayenne if I”m feeling the need for some extra heat, but I often am adding enough raw garlic that sometimes that warms it up enough for me. Oh, and once we start having fresh herbs outside again, I must say that I love this soup with some basil chiffonade. Parsley, dill, cilantro, thyme, many herbs would work. In fact, I’m waiting for my mint to rear it’s head in the garden so I can try it with that.

Between the greens, garlic, onion and lemon, this soup packs a powerful immune-boosting punch loaded with vitamins and minerals. We like to eat it even when we’re not feeling wretched, and the kids cheer for this one. We like to bring this with the dolmas and a green salad for a cool summer picnic — easy to prepare ahead, and light for a hot day. Can’t wait for more hot days like the 75 degree March days we’ve been having this week! Happy Spring!

What’s your favorite light meal recipe or idea?

<a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1600940005?ie=UTF8&tag=crunchybits-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1600940005″>Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes</a><img src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=crunchybits-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1600940005″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”" style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />

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Lunchtime!

March 19th, 2010

We had so much fun in our raw class this week and were able to whip up four great lunches! These included two from Ani Phyo — mediterranean dolmas and lemon fennel soup — as well as the very filling celery soup. The fourth light meal we shared is from one of our favorite books called Raw Foods for Busy People: Simple and Machine-Free Recipes for Every Day. Author Jordan Maerin really hit the mark with this little gem of a book. The recipes are just as she says, easy, quick and oh, so yummy!

The other recipe is Jordans Nori Filling that we used in a nori wrap. I love that this recipe requires only a couple minutes, is versatile and requires no equipment other than a whisk.

EZ Nori Filling

  • 1/3 cup raw tahini or almond butter, at room temp
  • 3 TBS unpasteurized miso of your choice
  • 1TBS raw honey
  • 1 clove garlic, minced or 1/8 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
  • 1/4 cup scallions, minced
  • 1 TBS Nama Shoyu, or more to taste

Mix all ingredients. Yup, that’s all folks!

For our class I used almond butter and red miso. Again, this is an adaptable recipe and I usually use tahini and white miso. If you do not have scallion on hand you can use onion or onion powder. I always use wheat free Tamari instead of Nama Shoyu and 1 TBS is plenty. I do not recommend adding more.

To make a yummy wrap, take a quartered sheet of untoasted nori and put a smear of nor filling on it, some avocado and tomato slice, fold and eat!

Add water to the filling and you have a fantastic dip for veggie crudites or a little thinner and a fine dressing to wow your taste buds atop fresh salad greens.

Enjoy!

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Celery Soup

January 30th, 2010

Sabrina already issued our official greetings, but since this is my first post, I’ll reiterate how excited we are to share our passions with you all. Feel free to comment often and let us know what you think, or tip us off about something! Now, let’s make some soup!

I was hungry today and there weren’t many options for ingredients in my fridge. Jinjee had sent this around as part of her Daily Raw newsletter, and since I did have celery, avocado and lemon, I thought I’d give it a try.

becoming celery soupCelery Soup

Blend up:
1 bunch of celery
1 avocado

Stir in:
juice of 1 to 2 lemons
dash of olive oil or flaxseed oil
salt to taste (1/4 tspn)
season to taste (dash of rosemary, tarragon, sage)

Optionally, warm in saucepan on lowest heat for two minutes, til it is just warm, not hot…

My changes: I used 1 Meyer lemon (definitely a different flavor, but all I had), added a couple cloves of garlic, I didn’t have any herbs, and I just put it all in the blender, instead of dividing it. The texture was light and fluffy — almost like a frosting. Got me thinking about a shredded veggie/nut or seed sort of cake with this as frosting…  I’m not sure the soup would come out like that if I hadn’t added the oil, lemon etc to the blender.

celery soup with red peppers and onionI also chopped some red pepper and a little onion into the bowl once I’d blended and poured because I like to chew my soups and even when cooked I shy away from pureed soups, or only puree half. But that’s my idiosyncrasy. You might enjoy it without the peppers. I would also consider adding some crushed red pepper to spice it up a little and make it more warming, though the garlic did add some of that effect itself.

I left the ingredients out on the counter for a while before I got around to making soup, but I also blended it long enough to give it a little warmth. I could see it being lovely in the summer if served cold too, but I did like it warm in the winter, and the avocado makes it feel very rich and filling.

all mixed upUpdate 2/28: I have really been enjoying this soup lately, dumping in loads of garlic — kiss me kiss me kiss me! — and cayenne to make it really warming. I also added some dried parsley and tarragon, but didn’t notice a huge change in flavor. But I love it as it is. One day I added it to the blender that already had some olive oil, cayenne, honey and salt and the honey added a nice dimension as well. But since I already get enough honey in my diet and I like the soup without it, I don’t add it regularly. I have mixed in nutritional yeast as well and like it blended in the soup or sprinkled on top. The buckwheat crunchies or crumbled up flax crackers would make a nice topping as well.

I think fresh cilantro would take this soup to a whole new level, and you could add a touch of cumin, chili powder and lime instead of the lemon, or a fresh jalapeno for some heat.  Good for your next taco night! It would also lend itself to being a flavorful sauce or veggie dip as well. And I’m still working on the concept of a veggie cake with this as frosting… cake for dinner! Yee haw!

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