Vegetable Pot Pie with Biscuit Crust

We're in the midst of one of the coldest cold snaps in recent history, and that just made us want to hide out inside and drink tea and hot chocolate all day. But it isn't just hot beverages that such chilly weather creates yearnings for...such weather is also an excuse to make up a delicious veggie pot pie! (Actually, I was first craving vegetable pasties, but I was talked into trying something a bit different, since the ready-made pie crusts at the store are made with lard.) Anyway, we got a lot of veggies at the grocery store, so this recipe makes a 13 x 9 pan - if you'd like to scale back, just save some of the veggies and roast them up separately for another night, or cut out those that you aren't as fond of.

Vegetable Pot Pie with a Biscuit Crust (8-10 servings)
1 cup dry white wine
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
3 large carrots
1 large parsnip
1 medium turnip
1 medium rutabaga
seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, rosemary, sage, thyme, etc.)
1 10-12 oz. bag frozen peas
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can pre-made biscuit dough, or your favorite biscuit recipe

1. Chop onion and mince garlic. Cut carrots and parsnip into 1/4 inch thick pennies; cut larger rounds in half. Dice turnip and rutabaga to ~ 1/2 cubes.

2. Warm 1/2 c. wine over medium heat in a large pan. When it starts to steam, add onions and garlic and cook for two minutes, until onion begins to soften. Add carrots, parsnip, turnip, and rutabaga and 1/2 c. more wine. Stir together, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 400F.

4. Add desired seasonings to vegetables and stir. Stir in frozen peas. Continue to simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, until vegetables are just tender.

5. In the pan, or a separate bowl if the pan isn't large enough, stir together vegetables and cream of mushroom soup.

6. Spray a 13 x 9 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Turn vegetable mixture into dish. Cover with foil and bake at 400F for 30 minutes.

7. Remove casserole dish from oven and take off foil. Place biscuits on top of vegetable mixture (you may need to cut a few of the biscuits in half - also, don't worry if the biscuits don't cover the entire vegetable mixture).

8. Return casserole dish to oven and bake uncovered an additional 15 minutes, until biscuits puff up.

Pumpkin and Chickpea Curry

After an extended hiatus (only from the blog realm - I've still been in the kitchen), The EmT Plate is back with a recipe made just for cool fall evenings...pumpkin curry!

This recipe grew out of the need to use up some of the various gourds we've been getting in the CSA share this fall before another batch came in. It can be made with one or more varieties of pumpkin and/or winter squash - for the one I made, I used a pumpkin and a butternut squash, with some crookneck squash thrown in as well. If you are planning ahead, roast the squash the night before you make the curry - it will reduce cooking time for the curry overall.

Pumpkin and Chickpea Curry (~ 6 servings)
1-2 small to medium winter squashes (pumpkin, butternut, acorn, etc.)

Cut the squash(es) in half and roast on a large baking sheet, cut side up, at 400F for about 20 minutes. You should be able to pierce the flesh with a fork, but it will still be somewhat firm (and if it is really soft, just scoop it out and use it anyway!). Allow to cool, then peel and cut into ~ 1/2 - 1" chunks.

1 T. ghee or oil
1 T. Bengali five spices (panch-phoran)*
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 hot peppers (jalapeno, etc.), or to taste
1 T. ginger puree or minced fresh ginger
1 T. tumeric
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
salt and pepper, to taste
water, as needed
1 cup (~ 1/2 can) cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup almond milk

Heat ghee in a large pot over medium heat. When it melts, add Bengali five spices and allow to simmer for 30-60 seconds. Add diced onions, garlic, and hot peppers and cook about 2-3 minutes, until the onions just begin to turn clear. Add squash, ginger, tumeric, cumin, and coriander. Stir together and continue simmering, stirring regularly and adding water as needed, until squash is tender (and your kitchen smells like an Indian restaurant), about 20-30 minutes. Add the chickpeas and almond milk and continue simmering, about 5-10 minutes.

Serve over rice (for a Halloween-y look, over black rice, as shown below, or wild rice) - and top with mango chutney.

* If you can't find panch-phoran at your local supermarket or Indian grocery, you can make your own by mixing equal parts cumin, fennel, black mustard, kalonji, and fenugreek seeds.

Julia Child, baked cucumbers, and Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Over the Labor Day weekend I headed out to the movies to see Julie & Julia, which combines the stories from Julia Child's My Life in France with Julie Powell's blog (and later book) about her journey through Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (actually written by Child and Simone Beck, with some contributions from Louisette Bertholle). I'd picked up Powell's book and leafed through it at the bookstore when it first came out a few years ago, but didn't go any further. However, when the movie came out - well, who can resist Meryl Streep - especially Meryl Streep playing the very unique Julia Child? I'd seen some stories about the rapid rise in popularity of the hefty cooking tome generated by the movie - but before going into the theatre I thought "nah - I'm not soooo interested in French cooking that I'd plunk down big bucks for Child's cookbook." Then there was the scene in the movie in which Powell has a dinner party and serves baked cucumbers.

Baked cucumbers. Who'd have thought that cukes - so delicious when freshly sliced and served with a touch of salt, or blended into a chilled soup (cucumber green tea and gazpacho come to mind) - who'd have thought that these members of the melon family could be baked into anything that didn't resemble a dish of watery mush? Julia Child, that's who. And with that short bit of film I was suddenly hooked. Fast-forward through a few days of contemplation, an emailed coupon for 15% off any book, and a trip to my local Barnes & Noble, and I had my very own copy of Mastering. And on page 499, I found the introduction to a short section on how to bake cucumbers (concombres).

Child helpfully notes that the moisture in cucumbers must be reduced before baking - but blanching removes water as well as taste. Instead, the book suggests "a preliminary sojourn in salt draws out the water...yet leaves the flavor, which a little vinegar and a pinch of sugar accentuates." And indeed this does the trick precisely - combining the newly dewatered cucumbers with a bit of butter, dill, onion, and pepper, then baking for an hour yields a dish that tastes delicious, retains just a slight bit of crispness, and adds a bit of variety to the normal vegetable rotation (okay, technically cukes are a fruit - but like squashes, tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers, they are still "vegetables" to most people).


Stay tuned for more adventures with Mastering the Art of French Cooking - although I don't intend to cook my way through the entire collection of 500+ recipes (aspics, live lobsters, and deboning ducks just aren't my style) - I did spot some recipes in the film and in my perusal of the book since that I am looking forward to testing myself.

Chilled Beet Soup

With summer in full swing and a week full of 90+ degree forecasts staring at me, I want to make sure that I have lots of cool foods for lunch. So for starters, I made this creamy beet soup (adapted from a recipe in one of the Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks). It was easy to prepare and comes out a lovely shade of dark pink.

Chilled Beet Soup (4-6 servings)
4 cups cooked beets, coarsely chopped (4 or 5 fresh beets [~ 1 1/2 lbs] or 2 15 oz. cans, drained)
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
2 cups lowfat or fat-free buttermilk
1 T. fresh dill
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor (in batches, if necessary) and process until smooth. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Pesto & Pesto-Vegetable Lasagna

My birthday is coming up tomorrow, and for an early birthday present I got a 10 cup food processor and a pressure cooker. I've yet to break out the pressure cooker (although I can hear lentils, beans, and other foods calling), but I've already put the food processor to good use in making two kinds of hummous, white bean dip, gazpacho, and pesto.

This pesto recipe will make enough sauce for about a pound of pasta. If you'd like to use it in a vegetable lasagna (as I did tonight), make sure you have enough ingredients to make a double batch and follow the recipe further down in this post (modified from this vegetable lasagna recipe).

Pesto Sauce (enough for 1 lb. of pasta)
2 cups moderately-packed basil leaves
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 medium garlic cloves
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
up to 1/3 cup olive oil

Combine basil, pine nuts, garlic, and parmesan cheese in a food processor and pulse until all ingredients are evenly chopped and mixed. With processor running, pour olive oil in slowly until desired consistency is reached. Toss with 1 lb. of pasta.

Pesto - Vegetable Lasagna (12 servings)
2 cups diced zucchini (do not peel)
1 cup diced bell peppers
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes (do not drain)
4 cups sliced mushrooms
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. salt
1 lb. spinach
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 batches pesto sauce
1 9 oz. package no-boil lasagna noodles

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Combine zucchini, bell pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and salt in a deep frying pan or saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

3. Cook spinach (+ up to 1 tsp. water, if needed) in a large pot at high heat for 3 minutes, until just wilted (still bright green). Drain and chop coarsely, combine with cottage or ricotta cheese.

4. Assemble the following layers in a 9 x 13 x 3 in. baking dish (listed in order from bottom to top - thus start with the vegetable mixture and end with the cheese):
1/4 vegetable mixture
4 lasagna noodles (overlap slightly)
1/3 spinach - cheese mixture
1/4 vegetable mixture
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/3 pesto sauce
4 lasagna noodles (overlap slightly)
1/3 spinach - cheese mixture
1/4 vegetable mixture
4 lasagna noodles (overlap slightly)
1/3 spinach - cheese mixture
1/4 vegetable mixture
1/3 pesto sauce
4 lasagna noodles (overlap slightly)
1/3 pesto sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese

5. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350F until noodles are tender, 50-60 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted.

6. Remove from oven and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

Rhubarb is one of those foods that defies classification - although cooked in pies and made into sauces like a fruit, it is actually a vegetable (leaf stalks, or petioles, to be exact). It's also the kind of food that, according to Garrison Keillor, isn't grown anywhere else except for here (here being wherever you happen to be) and which, when baked into a pie, can really revive a guy. My mom always kept a patch of rhubarb in the backyard while I was growing up, and back then the flow of rhubarb seemed endless. Then I moved out into the real world, and my rhubarb supply dried up. Occasionally, I'd find frozen rhubarb at the grocery store, or a stand at the farmers' market might have some. Grocery stores occasionally have it in the fresh produce section, but usually at exorbitant prices ($3.50 - $4 / pound). Then yesterday I found some really nice stalks in the corner of the grocery store - and on sale, too! As it happened, I also had about a half carton of strawberries in my refrigerator that really needed to be used up - and voila! I had the makings for an early summer strawberry-rhubarb pie.

The nice thing about strawberry-rhubarb pie is that you can adjust the ratio of strawberries to rhubarb and the amount of sugar / sweetener you put in, depending on how much of each you have available and how sweet you like your pie. For the pie I made last night, I used 2 cups of strawberries to 4 cups of rhubarb. If you prefer your rhubarb unadulterated, you can cut the strawberries out entirely - although you might want to up the sugar content a bit to offset the rhubarb's sharp taste.

Strawberry - Rhubarb Pie (8 servings)
2 pie crusts (store-bought or homemade)
1/2 cup sugar (or 12 packets no-calorie sweetener + 1/4 cup sugar)
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
dash ground nutmeg
6 cups sliced strawberries + rhubarb (2 cups strawberries + 4 cups rhubarb is a good place to start)

1. Pre-heat oven to 375F.

2. Line a 9 inch pie plate with one of the crusts and trim to edge of pie plate.

3. Stir together sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Add strawberries and rhubarb and toss until well-coated.

4. Pour strawberry - rhubarb mixture into pie plate, place second crust, fold edges under bottom crust and seal edge of pie. Cut vents in top crust.

5. Bake 50 minutes. If desired, place foil around edge of pie to protect crust during the first 25 minutes of baking. Cool pie on a wire rack after removing from oven.

6. Slice and serve pie - top with vanilla ice cream if desired!

Spinach with Sliced Almonds (Badaam vaali Palak)

The feast of India continues in this post (catch up with the main dish here and here) with our vegetable dish. One of my favorite foods is spinach (which explains why one of my favorite Indian dishes of all-time is palak paneer [aka saag paneer], a creamy spinach dish with cubes of paneer cheese), so for my Indian dinner party, I wanted to make sure that I had a spinach dish included on the menu. For that role, I found this spinach, almond, and red bell pepper dish.

Spinach with Sliced Almonds (Badaam vaali Palak) (~4-6 servings)
2 T. sliced almonds
1 T. olive oil
1 T. Bengali 5 spices (panch-phoran)*
1 T. ginger paste
1 clove garlic, minced
1-3 fresh green chili peppers, minced
1/8 tsp. ground asafoetida
1 lb. fresh spinach, coasely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. garam masala

1. Dry roast the almonds in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 2 minutes, until golden. Set aside.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the panch-phoran, ginger, garlic, and green chili peppers and cook about 30 seconds.

3. Add asafoetida and spinach, stir and cook for about 2-3 minutes over high heat. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Uncover the pan, increase to high heat, and allow juices to boil off. Transfer to a serving dish and keep warm.

4. Using the same pan, roast red pepper for about 2 minutes, until crisp-tender. Scatter over spinach, along with almonds and garam masala. Serve!

* Mixture of cumin, fennel, mustard, fenugreek, and kalonji seeds - if you don't have all of these, substitute with what you do have on hand out of the five.

Potato - Kale Soup (including a sausage option)

With half a bag of potatoes to use up and a craving for green leafy vegetables (prompted by a delicious cup of wild nettle soup at the Mitsitam Cafe at the National Museum of the American Indian), this morning I decided to make potato-kale soup for this week's lunch rotation. Depending on your taste and status as vegetarian or not, you can make the the soup completely vegetarian, use a chicken stock base, or add sausage (about 1 lb., sauteed along with the onion - this will make a soup similar to the Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden).

Potato - Kale Soup (6-8 servings)
3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
8-10 cups liquid (I used 4 cups chicken broth, 1 cup vegetable juice, 1 cup white wine, and 2 cups water)
small piece of rind (~ 2 in. x 2 in.) from Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4-5 stalks celery
2-3 cloves garlic
1-2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 lb kale, stems removed and leaves cut or torn
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dried basil or Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. ground cumin

1. Combine potatoes, liquid, and cheese rind in a large stock pot. Cook over medium heat about 10-15 minutes (until potatoes begin to soften), stirring occasionally.

2. While potatoes cook, heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion, celery, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Saute until onions and celery begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

3. Add onion mixture, kale, pepper, basil, and cumin to stock pot (don't worry - the kale WILL boil down and shrink!). Reduce heat to medium-low (slow boil) and continue to cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If desired / necessary, add additional water to soup while cooking to achieve desired ratio of vegetables to broth.

4. Remove any remaining cheese rind and serve!

Dal

Ever since traveling to India last year, I've been working up the nerve to try my hand at Indian cooking. For my first foray into Indian main dish cooking (that is, without a pre-made simmer sauce), I decided to try dal, a lentil stew that can be made in many ways with many types of lentils. This recipe provides a dish that is fairly mild - if you like something hotter, just up the amount of spices in the recipe, substitute cayenne pepper for black pepper, or add a fresh chile pepper. Also, this recipe calls for a full pound of lentils - but can easily be halved if you don't want to have A LOT of dal on your hands.

Dal (8-12 servings)
1 lb. (~ 3 cups) lentils
8 cups hot water
1 stick (2 1/2 inches) cinnamon
1/2 tsp. black or cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground paprika
1 T. curry powder
1-2 T. olive oil or butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 T. fresh chopped ginger (or ginger paste)

1. Combine lentils, hot water, cinnamon, pepper, salt, cumin, paprika, and curry in a large stock pot. Cover and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to a low boil and continue cooking untils lentils are soft, about 30 minutes.

2. While lentils are cooking, heat oil in a frying pan and saute onion, garlic, and ginger until onion is clear.

3. When lentils are ready, stir in onion mixture.

4. Serve over rice, with naan, or along side other dishes.

Sweet & Spicy Carrot - Ginger Soup (with Orange and Curry!)

In the past few weeks, DC has swung from a crippling snowstorm to 70 degree temperatures to flurries. With that sort of range in weather, what's a girl to make for a week's worth of lunches? I settled on a carrot - ginger soup that is both spicy (curry) and sweet (orange). This is a very easy recipe to put together and can easily be altered to fit your own tastes - more or less ginger, curry, and orange juice, depending on how sweet and spicy you prefer. Be forewarned, though - carrots can take a while to soften, so leave plenty of time for this soup to simmer before you puree!

Sweet & Spicy Carrot - Ginger Soup (4-8 servings)
1 lb carrots, sliced thinly
2 T. fresh-chopped ginger or ginger paste
1 T. curry powder
6 cups liquid (I used 2 cups vegetable broth, 1 cup range juice concentrate, and 3 cups water)

1. Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot. Cover and cook on medium (easy boil), stirring often, until carrots are softened (at least 30 minutes).

2. Puree in batches in a food processor or blender. Return to heat and cook and additional 5-10 minutes, stirring often, to make sure that soup is well blended. Adjust sweetness and spiciness by adding additional water or spices as necessary.

3. Serve piping hot, perhaps with a sprig of parsley for garnish!

Cheesy Macaroni with Spinach and Artichoke

Macaroni and cheese is one of my favorite dishes, despite the fact that it is loaded with things that aren't very good for you. I also really like spinach-artichoke dip, but for many of the same reasons it isn't a great choice for regular meal rotation. However, I think that I've managed to come up with a dish that combines these two favorites AND is somewhat healthier than either of the traditional versions. This recipe uses whole wheat pasta, low fat dairy products, and veggies - to reduce sodium from the canned vegetables, rinse with clean water after draining.

Cheesy Macaroni with Spinach and Artichoke (~8 servings)
1 lb whole wheat pasta (macaroni, penne, etc.)
1 cup skim milk
2 cups lowfat (2%) shredded cheddar cheese
1 14 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 14 oz. can spinach, drained
1 tsp. ground black pepper (or to taste)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to pot.

2. While the pasta is cooking, combine milk, cheese, artichokes, spinach, and pepper in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until cheese is melted.

3. Stir together pasta and sauce. Serve!

Vegetable Pasties (PAH-steez)

One of the delicacies of Michigan - really, of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - is the pasty. Legend has it that the miners of Cornwall brought these meat and vegetable pastry pockets "across the pond" when they came to work in the copper and iron mines of Michigan. Since then, the pasty has gained popularity in both peninsulas and pasty aficionados can find a variety of pasties at any number of drive-through and take-home pasty shops.

For those brave enough to make their own pasties, or those unlucky enough to live far away from a pasty shop (like me), here's my recipe for vegetable pasties. My recipe uses store-bought pre-made pie crusts - but if you're interested in making your own crust, you'll find plenty of opinions on how to best make pasty crust by googling "pasty recipe." If you'd like a more "traditional" Cornish pasty, add 1-2 lbs. cubed steak or ground beef in place of the sweet potato and mushrooms.

Vegetable Pasties (~ 12-16 half-sized pasties or 6-8 full-sized pasties)
2-3 medium potatoes, peeled
1 rutabaga, peeled
1 turnip, peeled
1 parsnip, peeled
10-15 baby carrots
1 medium onion, peeled
4-5 celery ribs
6 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 sweet potato, peeled
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
6-8 refrigerated pie crusts (3-4 boxes)

1. Dice (~ 1/4 - 1/2" cubes) or thinly slice all vegetables and mix together in a large bowl.

2. Preheat oven to 350F and line baking sheet(s) with foil.

3. Unroll a prepared pie crust. (If making your own crust, roll out a 9" round, about 1/4" thick.) For full-size pasty, place about 1 - 1.5 cups of filling + 1/4 cup cheese on one half of crust. For half-sized pasties, cut crust in half and place about 2/3 - 3/4 cup filling + 2 T. cheese on one half of each piece.


4. Fold crust over filling and pinch edges together, then fold or roll edges to make a double-thick seam (see photo below). Cut a few small vents into top of pastry pocket. Place on foil-lined baking sheet.


5. Bake at 350F for 60 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and vegetables are soft.

6. Serve hot with plenty of ketchup on the side!


7. Leftover pasties can be refrigerated and reheated later. Heat at 350F for 15 minutes. If you freeze the pasties, reheat at 350F for 45 minutes or until heated through.

Vegetable Lasagna

I love lasagna, especially vegetable lasagna. This one is filled with veggies and lower-fat cheeses, so is actually fairly healthy!

Vegetable Lasagna (approx. 12 servings)
2 cups diced zucchini (do not peel)
1 cup diced bell peppers
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
4 cups sliced mushrooms (about 12 oz.)
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup dry red or white wine
3 T. chopped fresh basil
1 9 oz. bag baby spinach
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 24 oz. jar pasta sauce
1 9 oz. package no-boil lasagna noodles

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Combine zucchini, bell pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, garlic, salt, and wine in a deep frying pan or saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in basil and set aside.

3. Cook spinach (+ up to 1 tsp. water, if needed) in a large pot at high heat for 3 minutes, until just wilted (still bright green). Drain and chop coarsely, combine with cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese.

4. Assemble the following layers in a 9 x 13 x 3 in. baking dish (listed top to bottom):
1 cup pasta sauce
4 lasagna noodles (overlap slightly)
1/3 spinach - cheese mixture
1/3 vegetable mixture
4 lasagna noodles (overlap slightly)
1/3 spinach - cheese mixture
1/3 vegetable mixture
1 cup pasta sauce
4 lasagna noodles (overlap slightly)
1/3 spinach - cheese mixture
1/3 vegetable mixture
4 lasagna noodles (overlap slightly)
1 cup pasta sauce

5. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350F until noodles are tender, 50-60 minutes. Remove foil and top with remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, bake an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted.

6. Remove from oven and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Vegetarian Black Bean Soup

Black bean soup is one of my favorite meals - especially with some crusty bread on the side. If you use dried beans for this recipe, make sure that you leave plenty of time for soaking (at least 8 hours, or overnight) and simmering (about 2 hours) before you plan to serve the soup. Leftovers can be divided into single or multiple serving portions and refrigerated or frozen for later use (e.g., lunches or dinners for the week ahead).

Black Bean Soup (~ 10 - 12 servings)
1 lb. dried black beans [or 4 14 oz. cans black beans]
1 T. olive oil
4-5 carrots, diced (~ 2 cups)*
4-5 ribs celery, diced (~ 2 cups)*
2 medium onions, diced (~ 2 cups)*
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground thyme
1 tsp. dried oregano or Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. ground black pepper
8 cups liquid (I used 4 cups vegetable stock + 4 cups water)
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
2 T. lime juice
grated parmesan or cheddar cheese, scallions, sour cream, diced tomatoes, or other garnish
*If your grocery store carries prepared mirepoix (diced onion, celery, and carrot) in the produce section, you can use this to substitute for the individual vegetables [~ 5-6 cups is needed, approximately 24 oz.].

1. If using dried beans, sort and wash beans in cold water. Soak beans in 6 cups of water for 8-12 hours, or overnight. Drain and discard soaking liquid.

2. In a large stockpot, warm oil over medium-high heat. Saute carrots, celery, onion, and garlic for 1 minute, then cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.

3. Stir in cumin, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, and pepper and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add beans, liquid, and tomato paste. Increase heat and bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 2 hours, until beans are soft. (You may want to cover soup for the first hour or so, then remove the cover to allow soup to thicken while it simmers.)

5. Remove soup from heat and stir in lime juice. Serve with desired garnish(es).

Vegetarian Lentil Stew

With December here and temperatures barely topping 40, I've resigned myself to winter arriving in DC. However, winter is not all bad (Christmas, Inauguration Day, and hearty soups all come to mind as good things about winter...). Earlier this week I had a nice bowl of lentil soup and it inspired me to pick up the makings for some legume-based dishes for the coming week. Today I made vegetarian lentil stew, which is packed with veggies, fiber, and protein.


Vegetarian Lentil Stew (6-8 servings)
1 T. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium onions, diced (~ 2 cups)*
4 carrots, diced (~ 1 1/2 cups)*
4-5 ribs celery, diced (~ 2 cups)*
1 lb. lentils, washed and drained
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp. ground sage
1 tsp. ground thyme
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
9 oz. bag spinach, stems removed and leaves chopped
* If your grocery store carries prepared mirepoix (diced onion, celery, and carrot) in the produce section, you can use this to substitute for the individual vegetables [~ 5 cups is needed, approximately 24 oz.].

1. In a large stockpot, warm oil over medium-high heat; add garlic, onion, carrot, and celery and saute until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.

2. Add lentils, vegetable stock, sage, thyme, and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cover, allow to simmer until lentils just begin to soften, about 20 minutes; stir occasionally.

3. Stir in spinach [if needed, add up to 1 cup water to replace liquid soaked up by lentils] and continue simmering until lentils are tender, about 10 minutes; stir occasionally.

4. Serve!

Oven-Roasted Vegetables

With Thanksgiving coming up in less than two weeks, the race is on to choose and test dishes for the big feast. One of my favorite side dishes is vegetables roasted in walnut oil and balsamic vinegar. This dish can be prepared and baked ahead of time and warmed in the oven for a few minutes closer to the time when you are ready to eat.

Oven-Roasted Vegetables (6-8 servings)
1 large sweet potato / yam, peeled and cubed
1 large fennel bulb, leaves / stalks removed, sliced
2-3 medium red potatoes, cubed
8 oz. baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
4 large shallots or 1 medium onion, sliced
2 T. walnut oil
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 425F.

2. Toss all ingredients together in a large (13 x 9) baking dish until vegetables are well-coated with oil and vinegar.

3. Bake at 425F for 40 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir once or twice while baking.

Not-Quite-Vegetarfrikadeller (Root Vegetable Bake)

The Wikipedia article about frikadeller mentions that vegetarians can now enjoy a meatless version of frikadeller and links to a recipe for vegetarfrikadeller. The recipe is in Danish, although that wasn't too difficult to handle, given the wide variety of internet resources that can be called upon to aid in translating Danish to English and metric to units more familiar to folks in the US. However, when I started in on the recipe, I was quickly foiled by the amount of shredding necessary to create the fine-grained mixture needed to create vegetarfrikadeller. Perhaps if I had a full-sized food processor, grating beets, parsnips, and carrots would prove to be fairly easy, but in this case, I decided to use the ingredients I had to create a slightly simpler dish. So in this post, I present two recipes - first, the root vegetable bake I actually made, and second, a translation of the recipe for vegetarfrikadeller mentioned above, should anyone with better shredding or food processing abilities like to give it a whirl.

Root Vegetable Bake (10-12 servings)
3/4 lb. parsnips, cut into thin strips
3/4 lb. beet, cut into thin strips
3/4 lb. carrot, cut into thin strips
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

1. Preheat oven the 350F.

2. Mix all ingredients together in a large (9 x 13) baking dish and spread evenly in dish.

3. Bake at 350F for one hour, stirring twice. If vegetables are still too crisp, increase heat to 400F and bake until desired tenderness is reached.

Vegetarfrikadeller (translated from Danish recipe)
(note: some measurements have been slightly adjusted to account for differences in measurement systems and the desire to make units more simple)
1 lb. parsnips
1 lb. beets
1 lb. carrots
4 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1-2 bouillon cubes
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
salt
pepper
2-3 T. flour

1. Shred parsnip, beet, and carrot and mix with eggs.

2. Heat milk and dissolve bouillon cubes, add onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and flour.

3. Combine vegetable and milk mixtures, pour off excess liquid.

4. Shape into balls with a tablespoon and fry in butter or vegetable oil, 10 minutes per side.

Rødkål (Danish Red Cabbage)

When I think back to the many days spent at my grandparents' house, one of the strongest memories I have is of the various smells associated with my grandmother's cooking and baking. On entering their house on the day of a big meal, one of the scents sure to greet visitors was that of Danish red cabbage (rødkål), a sweet and sour cabbage preparation that serves as the perfect accompaniment to frikadeller (meatballs), medisterpølse (sausage), or other main dishes.

Rødkål takes a few hours to prepare and cook and can easily be reheated, so you may wish to prepare this a night in advance and then warming at low heat the next day while finishing up cooking whatever other dishes you are preparing.

Rødkål (Danish Red Cabbage) (enough for a crowd)
1 medium head of red cabbage (about 3 lbs.), shredded or cut finely
3 T. butter
1 T. sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 medium apples, peeled / cored / finely chopped
1/2 cup red currant jelly (I grabbed seedless raspberry from the store by mistake - it also works!)

1. Melt butter in a large pot / kettle over medium-low heat and add sugar, stir until it dissolves in butter. Add cabbage and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly so that cabbage is coated in butter / sugar mixture.

2. Add vinegar, water, salt, and pepper and simmer (covered) for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is very tender.

3. Add apples and red currant jelly (and if necessary, additional vinegar, water, or sugar to balance flavor). Simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

Curried Pumpkin Soup (spicy!!!)

I've already said in previous posts (also here and here) that squash is one of my favorite foods. Pumpkin is also a squash, and today I tried my hand at making pumpkin soup. I decided to try making a curried soup, and I definitely came out with something spicy! The soup goes great with crusty whole grain bread (see the photo). A few variations to try: for the liquid, try using vegetable broth, apple cider, or pumpkin ale (I used 3 cups vegetable broth + 1 cup apple cider); if you don't like your food too spicy, reduce the amount of curry and red pepper flakes in the recipe below.

Curried Pumpkin Soup (6-12 servings, depending on serving size)
1 29 oz. can pumpkin
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2-3 ribs celery, fined chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. curry powder
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
dash cinnamon
1 T. brown sugar
1 T. chopped fresh ginger (or ginger paste)
4 cups liquid (vegetable broth, apple cider, pumpkin ale, etc.)
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk (regular or nonfat)

1. Saute onion, garlic, and celery in olive oil until onions begin to turn clear and celery softens. Use a food processor to puree mixture.

2. Combine pumpkin, curry, black pepper, red pepper, cinnamon, brown sugar, ginger, liquid, and onion / garlic / celery mixture in a large pot and simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add evaporated milk and continue to simmer (do not boil) for 10 minutes.

4. Ladle soup into bowls and serve!

Squash Soup

Squash is one of my favorite foods, and squash soup is one of my favorite autumn dishes. For this soup, you can use any of the hard winter squashes (e.g., butternut, acorn, etc.) - many grocery stores sell peeled and sliced squash if you don't want to do it yourself, or you can get frozen cooked squash in the frozen foods section. If you are using fresh squash, boil it until tender (10-15 minutes, or until a fork can easily be inserted), drain, and mash with a potato masher. Depending on what liquid bases and add-ins you have on hand and whether you use a food processor or not, you can play around with this recipe to make it more savory or more sweet and smoother or chunkier.

Squash Soup (4-8 servings, depending on serving size)
2 lbs. winter squash (butternut, acorn, etc.), cooked and mashed
2 cups liquid (apple cider, vegetable broth, water, etc.)
1 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 large ribs celery, finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large apple, cut into chunks
1 can (~ 14 oz.) whole kernel or creamed corn (drain if using whole kernel corn)
1 rind parmesan cheese
1 T. chopped fresh dill (or dill paste)
1 tsp. cinnamon
ground black pepper to taste
1 cup milk (optional)

1. Combine squash and liquid in a large pot; simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally to combine squash and liquid.

2. Saute onion, celery, and garlic in olive oil until onions begin to turn clear and celery softens. Add apples and continue to saute for 5 minutes.

3. Add onion / celery / garlic / apple mixture, corn, parmesan cheese rind, dill, cinnamon, and pepper to squash mixture; simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. [If you'd like a slightly creamier soup, add 1 cup milk at this point and simmer - but do not boil - for an additional 10 minutes.]

4. Remove parmesan rind (if it has not completely melted). Use a potato masher or food processor to blend soup; ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh dill.