A Good Dish

making food simpler

1- Invite Friends Over 2- Make a Pot of Soup 3- Plan How to Move Forward

Curried Lentil Soup Porcelain bowl by Andy Brayman
Curried Lentil Soup
Porcelain bowl by Andy Brayman

I meet more or less monthly with a group of women organized by one friend who knew the core group primarily, but not exclusively, from her children’s schools or activities. It is a varied group of teachers, artists, writers, attorneys, non-profit administrators, media producers and art historians – a not atypical cross-section of smart, engaged and progressive city dwellers. We usually meet in a neighborhood bar or restaurant but this week we were meeting at my apartment – coincidentally at a moment when the comfort of a home and of home cooked food meant more than usual.

In the wake of the electoral earthquake to which we woke up last week, we all need soothing of one sort or another. I thought about making a typical comfort food like pasta or grilled cheese. But because so many people are watching their carb and gluten intake, I opted for a vegan soup and salad.

The recipe for the soup I chose is an expansion of a curried lentil recipe from Julia Turshen’s new book, Small Victories: Recipes, Advice and Hundreds of Ideas for Home-Cooking Triumphs. I added some ingredients, changed the amounts of others and morphed a lentil dish into a soup. You can add additional vegetables to the leftover soup or it can be cooked down to serve over rice. The vegetables in the recipe are optional but add a lot of texture and nutrients. This fragrant soup tastes even better if you make it the day before you want to serve it. Just be careful to rewarm it over low heat as it will easily scorch (yes, I know this from experience!) Feel free to fiddle with the amounts, spices and ingredients yourself until you come up with a taste that pleases you. The additional vegetables are optional but add a lot of texture and nutrients. I find this soup quite soothing and fortifying, feelings we can all use a little more of stumbling into the social and political unthinkable that lies ahead.

Curried Lentil Soup with Cilantro Bowl by Andy Brayman
Curried Lentil Soup with Cilantro
Bowl by Andy Brayman

Curried Red Lentil Soup

  • 3 TBs olive, avocado or grape seed oil
  • 3 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 3″ knob of ginger, minced (about 1/4 cup)
  • 1 red onion, minced (about 1 cup)
  • 2 tsps cumin seeds
  • 2 tsps ground turmeric (or grate fresh if you have it)
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • 2 cups split red lentils, washed
  • 1 can(4oz) of chopped green chilies
  • A big handful of cilantro, stems and leaves chopped separately
  • 2 cans(13.5oz) coconut milk (I used one full fat and one reduced fat)
  • 3 cans of water (use the empty coconut milk can)
  • 3 carrots, diced (optional)
  • 3 stalks celery, sliced thinly or diced (optional)
  • 1-2 cup small pieces of cauliflower (optional)
  • 1 cup frozen peas (optional)

 In a medium stockpot, heat the oil and add the garlic, onion, ginger and spices.

Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking, until soft, about 5-6 minutes.

Add the chilies, lentils, coconut milt, water, cilantro stems and 1 tsp of salt.

Bring to a bowl and then lower to a simmer, cooking for about 10 minutes.

Add vegetables (except peas) and cook about 10 minutes more. If you want to throw in a handful of a green like arugula or spinach with the frozen peas at the end, do it just a minute before turning off heat.

Serve with chopped cilantro, lime wedges and crumbled sweet potato chips.

Serves 4-6 as a main course and 6-8 as a starter.

Sunlight contains all colors
Sunlight contains all colors

Transition Soup: When A Salad Isn’t Warming Enough, Make Flavorful Green Minestrone

Green Minestrone Earthenware cups by Karon Doherty
Green Minestrone
Earthenware cups by Karon Doherty

When the temperatures start to drop at the end of the day, I want something warming but not heavy to eat. Earlier in the week, I rooted around in the refrigerator and came up with some spinach, celery, parsley and green beans from last week’s market. With the help of some frozen peas, a can of white beans, a box of stock and a handful of grated Parmesan, green minestrone was on the table in less than an hour. A warm, nutritious dinner couldn’t be much easier.

Minestrone is usually a red, tomato-based soup with beans and pasta, traditionally a small pasta like baby shells or ditalini, tiny pasta tubes. Because I try to avoid white flour when I can, I substituted potatoes for pasta in my version. And because I had no tomatoes but did have some lovely arrowhead spinach and parsley from our farm share, green minestrone seemed the logical choice. I tested substituting a bag of frozen spinach for the fresh and it worked fine but made the soup thicker. If you use frozen, consider using less spinach or add more stock. If you still have a zucchini in your crisper, cut it into bite-sized pieces and add with the green beans. If you don’t have white beans, use garbanzo or pinto beans, or fresh shell beans. If you aren’t being a purist about the green of the soup, add some carrots with the beans – the color contrast of green and orange is beautiful and seasonal.

Spinach, celery and Parmesan are all fairly salty so they seasoned the soup well enough. I only added a ½ teaspoon of salt but taste and judge for yourself. If you want more zing, add some scallions, jalapeño or cayenne. A little fresh dill added at the end could be tasty. If you don’t have an immersion blender, purée in a standard blender a few cups at a time. (Use a ladle to transfer soup to the blender and watch out because it will be very hot.) Please be careful not to overcook the vegetables – you don’t want them to turn to mush. If you need to reheat your soup, take care just to warm not cook it again.

Because it was National Clay Week, I served the minestrone in cups by Karon Doherty, one of the most passionate, generous and whimsical ceramic artists I have known. These colorful earthenware cups illustrate her playful approach to creating clay art, which was often boldly autobiographical. Karon was an enthusiastic maker, teacher, mentor, friend and artist who we lost much too soon (d.1999) but her spirit lives on in her delightful artwork.

Karon and Louie Earthenware cups by Karon Doherty
Karon and Louie
Earthenware cups by Karon Doherty

GREEN MINESTRONE

  • 2 TBs olive oil
  • 1 large (Spanish sized) onion, peeled and chopped
  • 2 large or 3 regular cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 1 lb. bag or 5 cups roughly chopped fresh spinach, washed with thick stems removed
  • 2 cups frozen peas
  • 2 cups potato, chopped (about 4 small)
  • 1-2 cups fresh green beans, cut in bite-sized pieces
  • 1 cup (about 2 stalks) celery, thinly sliced
  • 1 – 2 cups cooked white beans, like Cannellini, Great Northern, or Navy Pea or a 15.5 oz. can
  • 4 cups (1 32 oz. box) of vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more to garnish
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley (optional)
  • 1 cup carrot, chopped (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a medium stockpot.

Add the onions and garlic and cook until translucent and starting to turn golden, about 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the spinach and 1 cup of peas and stir until the spinach wilts.

Add stock, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook about 4-5 minutes.

Turn off the heat and use an immersion (stick) blender to purée until smooth.

Turn on the heat and add the potatoes, celery and carrots, if using and cook 5 minutes.

Add the other cup of peas, green beans, white beans and parsley, if using.

Cook 3-4 minutes until beans are just tender then turn off the heat.

Stir in the grated cheese and taste for seasoning. (I added 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper)

Serve garnished with a little bit of grated cheese or a sprinkle of parsley.

Serves 4-6, depending on portion size

Cool Down with a Refreshing Summer Gazpacho

Summer Gazpacho with chopped cucumber, green pepper and jalapeño Soda-fired mug by Gertrude Graham Smith
Summer Gazpacho with chopped cucumber, green pepper and jalapeño
Soda-fired mug by Gertrude Graham Smith

August is upon us and that means my kitchen counter is laden with a rainbow of tomatoes, waiting to be blended into gazpacho. Tomatoes and cucumbers are finally local and plentiful – so plentiful, in fact, that sometimes a salsa, sauce or a soup is the fastest way to use up a load of them. When it is too hot to cook, however, gazpacho is not only a good solution for too many quickly ripening tomatoes but a light and cool meal, prepared without heating your kitchen. I’ll save the sauce and hot soup making for September.

Cherry tomatoes at the farmer's market
Cherry tomatoes at the farmer’s market

Gazpacho is essentially a liquid salad and the variations are many. The basics are tomato, cucumber, onion and garlic but some people add bread, others zucchini, and still others lots of olive oil. Traditional Spanish gazpacho includes both bread and quite a bit of oil and is almost orange, not the vibrant tomato juice red we see in this country most of the time. Even people who don’t like tomatoes often like gazpacho, perhaps because all the other flavors change the taste and texture.

When making gazpacho, I prefer no bread and plenty of vegetables. The version I make adds green pepper and watermelon, some oil, vinegar and a green herb, either cilantro or basil or both. If you don’t like or don’t have one ingredient, use another. As long as you have the basics, the optional items are quite flexible. Sometimes I toss in leftover salsa or incorporate the remainder of a caprese salad, minus any cheese, since the components are essentially the same. My family doesn’t like zucchini but a little in a gazpacho gets by unnoticed – shh! If you like your gazpacho with more liquid, add some tomato or vegetable juice. If you like it spicier, add hot sauce, jalapeño or cayenne. If you like it chunkier, blend it less or add some finely chopped hard boiled egg or vegetables  before serving. If you like it richer, add a dollop of guacamole, creme fraiche or drizzle it with an herbal olive oil. You can vary the color by the variety of tomatoes you use. When traveling last week, I had a strikingly beautiful gazpacho made with only yellow and orange tomatoes and topped with fresh basil – very refreshing and visually appealing!

Chopped vegetables add texture to summer gazpacho
Chopped vegetables add texture to summer gazpacho
Guacamole and chopped cilantro enrich a cup of gazpacho
Guacamole and chopped cilantro enrich a cup of gazpacho

Apart from the traditional tomato gazpacho, there are scores of fruity versions using melons, peaches and berries, often using mint as the herbal component. I saw a mouth-watering version recently that would also make the base of a delicious cocktail. I am more of a gazpacho traditionalist, preferring mine with tomatoes and cucumbers, especially when the tomato season is as bountiful as it is this year.

 

Summer gazpacho with guacamole Porcelain cup by Sam Chung
Summer gazpacho with guacamole
Porcelain cup by Sam Chung

SUMMER GAZPACHO

Blend together:

  • 2 large ripe tomatoes, cut up – about 2 heaping cups
  • 1-1 1/2 cup cut up watermelon

Add and blend well:

  • 1/2 large green pepper, cut up – about 1 cup
  • 1/2 large red pepper (optional)
  • 1/2 large cucumber, cut up – about 1 cup (skin on or off as you please – if seeds are large, remove them)
  • 1/2 medium onion, cut up – about 1 cup
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved (if you don’t like garlic, omit it and use some scallions or shallots)
  • 5-6 fresh basil leaves
  • Generous handful of fresh cilantro
  • 2 TBs vinegar – red wine or balsamic or a blend
  • 1-2 TBs olive oil
  • 2 large pinches of sea salt
  • 1 pinch black pepper

If you want your gazpacho spicy, add some chopped jalapeño.

Chill well and taste before serving to see if seasoning needs adjusting.

Serve in cups, glasses or mugs so it is easy to drink.

Garnish with chopped cucumber, green and/or red pepper and scallions or a dollop of guacamole and a sprig of cilantro.

Serves 4. Keep in a glass jar in the refrigerator up to 2 days.

Cold Blueberry Soup for a Hot Summer Day

Cold Blueberry Soup with mint leaves Cup by Naomi Dalglish and Michael Hunt, Bandana Pottery
Cold Blueberry Soup with mint leaves
Cup by Naomi Dalglish and Michael Hunt, Bandana Pottery

It’s July and it’s hot so it must be blueberry season. Picking blueberries is one of my favorite summertime activities and we often get home with more than we can eat. It is so easy to freeze berries – you just lay them out in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, freeze until firm and transfer them to a freezer bag or container to stay in the freezer for when you need them. (Frozen blueberries, by themselves, make a cooling and healthy snack on a hot afternoon or evening).

Blueberries ready to pick in Connecticut
Blueberries ready to pick in Connecticut

Blueberries are good to eat plain, with sour cream, whipped cream or yogurt, in baked goods like muffins or blueberries (frozen works fine here, too), pies, cakes, crumbles and crisps, on cold or hot cereal, in smoothies and cocktails and with ice cream. I love them in salads, too. Other than eating the frozen berries, I think the most refreshing way to consume blueberries is in a simple soup. There are only a few ingredients so it is a snap to make, vegan and delicious. Berries you freeze yourself or commercially frozen berries work equally well. You could bolster it with chia or hemp seeds, chopped nuts and a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream to make a meal. Serve in teacups, small bowls or mugs and garnish with mint, chopped Marcona almonds or a couple of whole blueberries.

The original of this recipe comes from the spa kitchen at Canyon Ranch but I have tweaked it to suit my preferences. Do your own tweaking. If you like cardamom, use some. If not, try ginger or leave out the spice altogether. The mint is not essential but is a really good complement to the berries. If you don’t have limes, use a lemon or an orange. Some blueberry soup recipes call for cream or sugar. This one is simpler and lighter – a very refreshing summer lunch or first course for dinner. Just make sure it is cold!

CHILLED BLUEBERRY SOUP

  • 3 cups frozen blueberries
  • 1 cup cut up fresh pineapple, peeled and cored – about 1/4 of a small pineapple (if you don’t have the fruit, you can add more juice but it’s nice to have the whole fruit to include the fiber-just note that the fruit makes the soup thicker, so add more liquid)
  • 6 oz or ¾ cup pineapple juice (one of those small cans)
  • ¾ cup water (start with 1/2 and see if you prefer more)
  • 2 TBs freshly squeezed lime juice and the zest of one lime
  • ¼ tsp vanilla (optional)
  • 8-10 fresh mint leaves (optional)

Puree in a blender until smooth and add more juice or water, until it is the consistency you like.

Serves 4 in teacups or small bowls

Cold Blueberry Soup with chopped Marcona Almonds Tumbler by Meredith Host
Cold Blueberry Soup with chopped Marcona Almonds
Tumbler by Meredith Host