Don’t change that dial! Â I know what’s happening here. Â You see the word “millet” and all of a sudden you need to go wash your hair instead of reading the rest of this post. Â You think it’s bird seed or that you’re family will think it’s bird seed. Â Ok, you’re not far off, but this is incredibly tasty birdseed, people! Â I know you established some hardcore resolutions last week and I am here to help. Â This millet mash is delicious, creamy, comforting, and incredibly nutritious AND alkalizing and gluten-free and dairy-free and vegan and everything else you want to be right now. Â Still with me?
Millet is such an under-appreciated seed.  It’s very easy and quick to prepare and has a very mild flavor.  I posted a millet recipe last year and discussed the myriad benefits of millet there.  Do check it out if you’re new here!  I also made a scrumptious millet porridge the other day with coconut milk, almond milk and no additional sweeteners.  I think I like it better than my brown rice pudding.
Last year I taught this Millet-Cauliflower Mash with hesitation. Â I always have a few risky recipes which make me worried people will think they’re too “out there.” Â But deep down I knew this dish was amazing and it ended up being a huge hit. Â Millet-Cauliflower Mash is my mashed potatoes without the potatoes and without the butter and cream. Â I actually considered serving this for Thanksgiving, but my husband thought I was getting carried away. Â Truthfully, I serve mashed potatoes once a year (on Thanksgiving) and Millet-Cauliflower Mash practically once a month the rest of the year. Â I won’t lie and tell you it tastes exactly like mashed potatoes. Â Millet is slightly nutty and corny tasting and this puree isn’t baby-food-smooth like mashed potatoes, but instead feels a little like polenta. Â The flavor is definitely very mild and neutral, though. Â I love it with anything saucy like Baked Chicken with Artichokes or Orange and Rosemary Glazed Chicken. Â You can even serve it with meatballs or a vegetable stew. Â If you have leftovers, the mash will firm up in the refrigerator and you’ll need to add a bit of water or broth to reheat it. Â Alternatively, you can treat it like leftover polenta and slice it up and then bake it or fry it. Â Still with me? Â Great! Â Now go get thee some millet!
Add the millet, water, cauliflower, garlic and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and the millet is cooked.
Remove from the heat. Transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth or mash with a potato masher until desired consistency is achieved. The food processor will make this much smoother.
Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with chives, if you like. You can also stir in a little unsalted butter for a creamy finish, but it’s delicious without.
Are we having fun yet?! Good, good. I have been running around the house yesterday and today like a busy bee, very excited that the big day is almost here. I’m taking a quick breather from the Thanksgiving marathon just to touch base and check-in with you all. Hope everything is going according to plan and that you’re enjoying the process. What I am not doing today, however, is sharing a Thanksgiving recipe on the day before Thanksgiving because I know you are all planners and that ship has sailed!
Instead, I thought I would give all you super organized and efficient people a great way to use up any leftover turkey you might have on Friday. I always make turkey stock and a simple turkey vegetable soup the day after. I have also given in to chicken pot pie or shepherd’s pie with turkey. But I also think it’s nice to make something on Friday that tastes NOTHING like the dinner you just spent a month thinking about! It’s actually one of my strategies for getting everyone excited to eat leftovers even the day after Thanksgiving.
This recipe is inspired by the fabulous chili at the Deer Valley ski resort in Utah. I first skied Deer Valley in 1994 when my husband and I were engaged. He and his family have been going to the resort since it first opened over 30 years ago. It is a really special place and we are fortunate to be able to go there a couple times each year with the kids. Although I enjoy skiing and Deer Valley is absolutely stunning, I’m not super gung-ho about getting out there early and making the most of my day on the slopes. I’m really in it for the food. My favorite part about skiing is building up a good appetite and rewarding myself with a nice hearty lunch. I actually start thinking about this turkey chili when I sit down on the chair lift for the first run of the day!
Turkey chili is one of the few items that the resort serves every single day. I happen to notice the the lunchrooms also serve a roast turkey plate every single day. Hmmm, could it be the kitchen needed to find a way to use up yesterday’s roast turkey? Hmmm…. Anyway, we all love this chili because it’s lighter than a beef chili and a totally different take on the typical red, tomato-based ones that are so common. This one is lighter and tastes fresher, perhaps because of all the delicious vegetables. Regardless, all the signature shops on the mountain and many of the local grocery stores sell the special seasoning packet and the dried black beans in addition to the recipe so you can make it at home. For $7 or $8 plus the cost of the turkey, vegetables and stock, you can make this pot of deliciousness at home. Hmmm….$8 for 1/2 pound of dried beans and a few dried spices. It wasn’t long before I decided I need to figure out what the heck was in that seasoning packet!
I can’t say this turkey chili is exactly like Deer Valley’s, but it’s close enough and I’m not sure my kids have noticed. For sure I use half the amount of butter than the recipe calls for and I omitted the leeks, which I think don’t make or break this chili. I also don’t use canned creamed corn, because ugh — canned and creamed and sugar don’t go with corn — so instead I just make a little corn puree. The only ingredient you may not have lying around is masa, which is ground dried corn that’s been treated with lime. It’s what corn tortillas and tamales are made from. I have to say, it does thicken up the chili and give it a fabulous Southwestern corn flavor. It’s also not an expensive ingredient, so I say definitely go for it.
Alrighty, dear readers, that’s all the time I have today. I am elbow-deep in sweet potatoes and butternut squash and my kids are starting to bicker about who gets to pick the music we listen to while we work. Ahhh, sounds like Thanksgiving! Hoping you all have a lovely holiday. xoxo
4Tablespoonsunsalted butteryou can use oil, but it won’t be as good -- vegans can use organic Earth Balance
2poundsbonelessskinless turkey breast, cut into 1-inch cubes or cooked turkey, cubed -- vegetarians and vegans can add 5 cups of additional vegetables and beans
1red onionchopped
1cupchopped celeryabout 3 stalks
1sweet red bell pepperchopped
1jalapenoseeded (or leave seeds for extra heat) and finely diced (optional)
2clovesgarlicfinely diced
¼cupmasa harinamore if you like a thick chili
2 ½Tablespoonsground cumin
2Tablespoonsground coriander
2teaspoonsdried oregano
1teaspooncayennecut back if you don't like spicy
2Tablespoonsmaple sugar or natural cane sugar
2teaspoonssea saltdouble if you’re using unsalted stock
freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 ½cupsof chicken or turkey stockdivided* -- vegans can use vegetable stock
2 ¼cupsfrozen sweet cornthawed (about 12 ounces)
5cupsor 3 15-ounce ounce cans cooked black beansdrained and rinsed
Add the masa harina, spices, sugar, salt and pepper to the pot and cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Return turkey and any accumulated juices back to the pot.
Add 4 cups stock, 1 cup corn and the beans to the pot. Take the remaining 1 ¼ cup of corn and puree with the remaining ½ cup stock in a food processor (a mini processor works too.) Add the pureed corn to the pot. Mix well and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered for 25 minutes. Serve with desired condiments (sour cream, cheese, minced onion, cilantro) or serve on top of a baked potato.
Notes
*If you only have stock in 32 oz. containers, no need to open a new one just for a 1/2 cup of stock. Puree corn in 1/2 cup water.
Something tells me that you organized cooks out there are in the midst of planning your Easter and Passover menus. Am I right? My mom had me on the phone the other day trying to get side dish suggestions for her traditional Easter leg of lamb. After I spoke with her, I took a call from my mother-in-law to go over her Passover menu. This year we’ll be staying in California for the holidays and I’m on dessert duty. I’ll be making lots of coconut macaroons, my traditional lemon ice torte and a raw cashew cheesecake that I’m obsessed with. But if I were hosting Easter or Passover at my home (not that there’s anything wrong with lamb and brisket), I would make this Baked Chicken with Artichokes and Capers.
Normally, I don’t post a recipe until after I have finished teaching it, but I am just so excited about this chicken I can’t wait another day. It might be my favorite chicken recipe to date, which says a lot since I prepare chicken quite often. This dish has it all — great flavor, ease of preparation, healthfulness and seasonality. But really chicken isn’t even the star of this show. I actually came up with this recipe to work around one of my favorite springtime vegetables, artichokes.
I am going to cheat a little here. There are times when DIY is the way to go, as in chicken stock. And there are times when there is not enough patience in the world that could get me through trimming the number of artichokes it would take to fill this saute pan. (Although I am the same person that trimmed 10 pounds of Brussels sprout leaves for Christmas Eve dinner.) What’s different about this situation is that Trader Joe’s has come to my rescue with frozen artichoke hearts, an absolute gift and an affordable one, too. Not only do I always have a bag in my freezer at all times, but the other ingredients here are pantry staples, too — capers, white wine, bay leaves, mustard, which are all delicious with artichokes.
You may have followed similar recipes for chicken and dredged the chicken in flour first before browning it. The flour does help to the thicken the sauce a bit, but we can avoid the dredging altogether by adding the mustard to the sauce, which gives great flavor, as well as some body. Be sure to read my latest post on the secret to great-tasting chicken and you can decide if you want to salt the pieces or soak them in a wet brine. Both ways are very easy and definitely worth doing. Please note in that post that kosher chicken should not be salted or brined since it has already gone through a salting process. To make this recipe with boneless, skinless pieces, check out my recipe for Lemon-Thyme Chicken and follow those steps.
For a winner spring holiday lunch or dinner, pair this chicken with this asparagus salad or minted sugar snap peas, and some roasted new potatoes. I have a seriously fabulous vegan and gluten-free coconut tart coming your way soon!
a big pinch of sea saltor more if using unsalted stock
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/3cupdry white wine
2bay leavesdon’t worry if you don’t have them
12ouncebag frozen artichoke hearts or packed in water
2Tablespoonscapers
2Tablespoonswhole grain or stone ground mustard
¾cupchicken stockpreferably homemade
Chopped fresh parsley for garnishoptional
Instructions
In a large bowl, dissolve salt in hot water. Add ice water and check to make sure brine is cool. Add chicken to brine and allow to soak for 45 minutes, and up to an hour and a half. OR sprinkle ½ Tablespoon of kosher salt on the chicken when you get home from the market. Rewrap it and refrigerate it until ready to cook. (Do not brine kosher chicken.)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels.
In an ovenproof skillet or braising pan, over medium heat, add the oil. Brown chicken on both sides. Transfer to a plate and reserve.
Add chicken, bay leaves, artichoke hearts, capers, mustard and stock to pan and bring to a boil. Place in oven for 30-35 minutes, until chicken is cooked through, basting after 15 minutes. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, if available.
Chicken pot pie is one of my family’s favorite meals and this recipe, adapted from The Loaves and Fishes Cookbook, is the best one I’ve ever tried. Pot pie falls in my “10%,” that is 90% of the time I try to eat as whole and clean as possible, and the other 10% is what it is. For the last 15 or so years, I have made pot pie once a year and when I do, my son always asks me, “is it a special occasion?” Many years ago, my younger daughter and I hosted a mother-daughter Valentine’s Day dinner at our home and we made a few of these pot pies with hearts cut out of the crust. Since then, we decided to make this our family’s Valentine’s Day tradition.
Chicken Pot Pie is really comfort food at it’s best. It’s a perfect winter dinner and I’ve never met a chicken-eating child (even Mr. Picky) or adult that didn’t think this particular recipe was just delicious. Most pot pies are a blend of chunks of chicken meat and vegetables in a savory, tasty mixture and topped with a crust of sorts. Usually I make a savory pastry crust, but in a pinch I have made a drop biscuit batter and topped the casserole with that. Even though this recipe is pretty perfect as is, I think you can have equal success with leftover turkey, adding in different vegetables such as parsnips or turnips, or using store-bought pastry crust or puff pastry.
Pot pie is definitely not something you can decide at 6:00 pm that you would like to make for dinner and expect to sit down at 6:30. But even if you are typically out of the house in the few hours before dinner, there is no reason to be discouraged from making this recipe on a weeknight. You just need to plan ahead and follow a few of these tips:
You can use pre-cooked chicken from a rostisserie or whole roasted chicken and shred the meat the day before.
You can chop your carrots and onions the day before or make the entire filling the day before and pour it into your casserole dish and refrigerate it, covered until you’re ready to bake.
You can make your pie crust a few days before. Allow it to sit out of the refrigerator for about 20 minutes before rolling it out. Or you can roll out the whole thing, lay it on parchment or plastic wrap and fold it in quarters to store it in the fridge.
Pot pie freezes very nicely, well wrapped. It is best to thaw it for 24 hours in the refrigerator before baking.
If you use store-bought crust, defrost the crust before laying it on the casserole.
Puff pastry is also an easy way to cover the casserole. Follow the directions on the box.
You can also use drop biscuits to cover instead of a crust.
I actually debated whether or not to post Chicken Pot Pie at all since it is not completely consistent with both the way I eat and the kind of food I teach in my classes. But what I do try to encourage is cooking from scratch and with love and eating together as much as possible. And I think we can agree that there’s as much to gain from those habits as there is from vitamins and antioxidants.
Chicken Pot Pie not your thing? Here are some other ideas for making everyone feel a little extra love on Valentine’s Day:
Check out the recipe for Salmon with Roasted Beets and Blood Oranges. You can make the recipe as is, or you can slice the cooked beets into 1/4-inch slices and cut out hearts with a heart-shaped cookie cutter. Heart-shaped beets are an adorable addition to any salad. See next idea for what to do with the leftover beet scraps.
For a shocking, hot pink vinaigrette, place 1/4 cup of chopped, cooked beet pieces in a blender with your favorite vinaigrette ingredients and process until completely blended. Pick up some cooked beets from the supermarket salad bar to save time. In this picture I used Everyday Salad Dressing #2, but stirred in the shallots after the vinaigrette was completely blended with the beets. My kids freaked for it!
Orange and Rosemary-Glazed Chicken — Easy, delicious and fool-proof. Serve with a rice pilaf with dried cranberries and a green vegetable like broccoli or spinach.
Fish in parchment — Season halibut with salt and pepper. Add a dollop of pesto or slivered basil leaves and some halved cherry tomatoes. Serve with Lemon and Cumin-Scented Quinoa or roasted potatoes and sauteed kale or roasted cauliflower.
Spice-Rubbed Wild Salmon served with baked sweet potato wedges and steamed asparagus with that fun pink vinaigrette.
Whole Roasted Chicken — comfort food at its simplest. Serve with roasted root vegetables and green salad.
Chicken Paillard — serve with roasted cherry tomatoes instead of fresh.
Chicken Noodle Soup with pasta hearts — cook lasagne noodles and cut out hearts with cookie cutter. Add to soup.
Raspberry Sauce — Make a simple syrup by combining 1/3 cup water and 1/4 cup sucanat, coconut palm sugar or natural cane sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir the mixture until sugar is dissolved. Place 5 ounces (about 1 cup) frozen raspberries and simple syrup in blender. Blend until smooth. Strain if you don’t like seeds. I like to serve the sauce with fresh raspberries on top of heart-shaped French toast, pancakes or ice cream. Heart-shaped pancakes are not realistic for more than two people. Heart-shaped French toast is great for a larger brood.
Cut a heart out of a piece of bread for sandwiches or toast. Toast the hearts and use as croutons.
Hot pink hummus with heart-shaped chips — check here for how to make baked tortilla chips, but use a heart-shaped cookie cutter instead of cutting the tortillas into wedges. Same basic steps to make pita chips.
Chocolate Fondue — Set a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add 12 ounces of chopped dark, bittersweet or semisweet chocolate and 3/4 cup heavy cream. Whisk until chocolate is melted. Serve with fresh strawberries, apple wedges, or chunks of banana. Always a hit for minimal effort!
Do you have any favorite Valentine foods? Please share!
"Special Occasion" Chicken Pot Pie
Pamela, adapted from The Loaves and Fishes Cookbook (the original recipe called for 1 1/2 sticks of butter and 3/4 cup flour in the filling, but I reduced it and the filling isn't quite as thick as the original, but still excellent)
12Tablespoons1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1Tablespoonfresh lemon juice
¼cupice water
FILLING
3poundsbonelessskinless chicken breasts (or equivalent amount of cooked chicken, shredded or chopped into bite-size pieces)
½cup1 stick unsalted butter
2medium onionspeeled and chopped
3carrotspeeled and diced
½cupunbleached all-purpose flour
1 ½teaspoonssea salt
1teaspoonpaprika
4cupschicken stock
1teaspoonWorcestershire sauce
1 10-ouncepackage frozen peasthawed
½cupchopped fresh parsley
1egg yolk
1Tablespoonsheavy cream or whole milk
Instructions
To make the pastry, place the flour, salt, pepper and butter in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse 5 times. Add the lemon juice and water and turn on the machine for 3 seconds. Using your hands, scrape the dough onto a floured surface and work it together into a smooth ball. Cover with parchment paper or plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
To cook chicken: bring a large pot of water to a boil and add chicken breasts. Simmer for 7-8 minutes. Drain. Save the pot for later use. When chicken is cool enough to handle, cut into bite-size pieces and add back to pot. It is fine if the chicken is not cooked all the way through. Set aside.
Add peas, parsley and onion-carrot mixture to chicken in the pot and combine well. Transfer to a 13 x 9–inch casserole dish.
Roll out the pastry dough 1-inch larger than the area of the casserole dish. Cut hearts from the dough with cookie cutter, if desired, otherwise make a few small slits in the dough for steam to escape. Place the dough on top of the filling and crimp the edges.
Beat the egg yolk with the cream and brush the top of the pastry with the mixture. Place dish on top of a baking sheet and bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes
You can cut this recipe in half and bake it in an 8 x 8-inch pan. You can also make individual pot pies in oven-proof bowls or large ramekins.
A few weeks ago, six other families and mine planned to get together for a pot luck at my friend Lana’s house. One of the families keeps kosher, so we decided to go with a fish and dairy meal. I thought these vegetable enchiladas verdes would be a great vegetarian option. At least it seemed like a good idea at the time, but that’s because I wasn’t remembering Mr. Picky’s haircut after school that day and his basketball practice from 4-5. I think I was just craving enchiladas on the day I volunteered and not thinking it was a bonehead move to offer to make them for 35 people.
Homemade enchiladas are one of my absolute favorite things to eat. But I’m not talking about the overly cheesy and soggy kind. I love a good (GMO-free) corn tortilla wrapped around either some poached chicken or vegetables and beans and then smothered in fresh tomatillo sauce. You can even hold the cheese. We ski a few times each year in Deer Valley, Utah, which is known not only for its great ski runs, but for pretty good lunch on the mountain. Once in a blue moon they serve the most divine roasted vegetable enchiladas, which is how this recipe was inspired. I actually prefer vegetable enchiladas over ones with chicken and my husband says he doesn’t miss the meat at all.
I also prefer the “green” version over the red and I love making tomatillo sauce from scratch. Have you ever seen one of these cuties? One of my students thought the supermarket prewraps each tomatillo in these paper husks, but in fact, they grow that way. Tomatillos are related to tomatoes, but they have a tangy, puckery, sourness that Mr. Picky doesn’t care for, so his enchiladas are made with no sauce for now. You know what I say? More for me! If you eat dairy, that tanginess does go particularly well with cheese or sour cream. Just saying. I tried several methods for making tomatillo sauce and broiling them on a sheet pan was not only easy, but that little bit of char on the tomatillos added tons of flavor to the sauce. You can also boil them, but boiling vegetables, especially ones high in Vitamin C, isn’t usually my first choice.
I’m sure you can see from my pictures that dicing up 3 sheet pans of vegetables was a bit of work. When I do this for my family, it’s no big deal. But besides the vegetable prep, there is also the task of rolling each tortilla around a small amount of filling and nestling them side by side in a baking dish. So the first pan started that way until I started cursing myself for not having volunteered a lasagne, the perfect potluck dish to feed a crowd. LIGHTBULB! Enchilada Lasagne! At the rate I was going, there was no way we would make it to dinner even fashionably late. So I took 6 corn tortillas and made one layer on the bottom of the baking dish, dumped half of the remaining filling on top plus a few sprinkles of cheese, put down another 6 tortillas in one layer and covered the whole thing with tomatillo sauce and a bit more cheese. 2 minutes. Done. Am I a genius or an idiot? Toss-up.
There are so many delicious vegetables you can use, or use up if you have a bunch of random odds and ends in the fridge. This time around I used butternut squash, sweet bell pepper, shiitake mushrooms, asparagus and red onions, but I have also added sweet potatoes, zucchini, and carrots. I’ve never used sauteed or blanched greens, such as spinach or Swiss chard, but I think I will the next time around. I was going to post this recipe next month, but it occurred to me that you all may be entertaining for the Super Bowl this weekend and my new discovery of the Enchilada Casserole would be the perfect thing to serve a crowd. Here are a few ways to make this even easier for you:
Use pre-made enchilada sauce — but only if you have access to a good one or if you can’t find fresh tomatillos.
Make your own sauce, but do it the day before.
Dice and roast your vegetables the day before or first thing in the morning. Keep them in a covered container in the fridge until you are ready to assemble your enchiladas.
Make the casserole version. It will take sooooo much less time, especially if you are making more than one pan of it.
Assemble it in the morning. That will give you time to clean up the family room and whip up some guacamole before your guests arrive.
Freeze it. Thaw it out and bake for a delicious dinner another busy night.
Are you planning on having people over for Super Bowl Sunday? Other great options can be Vegetable Chili served over brown rice, quinoa or millet; a Taco bar; a Fajita bar; a Baked Potato bar; and of course, Guacamole and Baked Tortilla Chips. As you can see, I am happy to cook before the opening kick-off, but then everybody needs to fend for themselves so I can concentrate on the game. Go Giants! By special request, my famous cornbread recipe coming up on Friday!
5-6cupsmixed vegetablessuch as butternut squash, zucchini, sweet bell pepper, red onion, mushrooms, apsaragus, cut into ½-inch cubes
Olive oil for drizzling
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ½cupscooked black beans or 1 15-ounce candrained and rinsed
Sauce:
20medium tomatillosabout 2 ¼ pounds, husked and washed
1jalapenostem removed (will make the sauce a 5 on a heat scale of 1 to 10)
½small onionpeeled
3garlic cloves
10sprigs cilantro
1Tablespoonsea salt
3Tablespoonsolive oil
12corn tortillas
grated cheese(such as Monterey Jack) if desired or crumbled queso fresco
Instructions
To roast vegetables: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the vegetables on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, but not over-cooked, about 25 minutes. Add the black beans to the vegetables and mix together or put everything into a bowl to combine.
Place all the tomatillos and the jalapeno on a baking sheet. No need to line with parchment paper. Change the oven to broil. Place under the broiler for about 10 minutes, turning over after 5 minutes until tomatillos are lighter in color and contain a few brown spots. Change oven to 350 degrees if baking the enchiladas right away.
Transfer the tomatillos to a blender or a food processor with the jalapeno, 3 garlic cloves, ½ onion, cilantro and sea salt. Process until smooth. You should have 4 cups of sauce.
Heat a skillet over medium heat and warm the olive oil. Add the tomatillo sauce and simmer 5 minutes.
In the meantime, warm the tortillas on a griddle or skillet on both sides until softened.
Pour 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish. Place about 1/3 cup of vegetables down the middle of a tortilla and roll tightly. Place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with each tortilla. Cover all the rolled tortillas with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with grated cheese, if desired. Bake until heated through and cheese is melted, about 10-12 minutes. Serve immediately.
Casserole version: Pour 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Place 6 corn tortillas in one layer on top of the sauce. Spread all of the vegetables and beans on top of the tortillas. Sprinkle with cheese, if desired. Arrange another 6 corn tortillas over the vegetable mixture in one layer. Pour enough sauce to cover well and sprinkle with more cheese, if desired. Bake until heated through and cheese is melted.
Notes
Leftovers? Chop up the enchiladas and add to a pot of chicken broth. Heat and serve. Enchilada Soup!
Who invented the idea of “Meatless Monday?”  The U.S. Food Administration did during World War I and urged families to conserve key staples to aid the war effort, but the idea was revived in 2003 by an ad exec-turned health advocate for dietary and environmental reasons.  Ironically, the Food Administration also tried to promote “Wheatless Wednesday” during WWI, which I would love to see make a comeback.  But I have a feeling you won’t see the US government advocating abstaining from any big political donors major food industries anymore.  However if you ask my sisters and me who invented “Meatless Monday,” we would tell you with conviction that it was our mother.  Vegetarian dinners on Mondays were a part of my life growing up.  I loved them since I was a vegetarian from about the age of 10 to 18.  But believe me, my mother was not trying to cater to me at all.  Her thought was that we tended to indulge over the weekend with heavy meals, usually centered on lots of pasta, meat and cheese and that we needed a break.  My sisters, who were most definitely NOT vegetarians called it “Low Budget Night,” since Monday’s dinners tended to be less expensive and less fancy.
Beans or lentils were almost always the star of the show on Mondays and they usually found their way into a soup. Â This potato and white bean soup is just a take on a traditional pasta and bean soup or “pasta e fagioli,” as you might see it on a menu. Â I love that potatoes, a whole food, take the place of pasta, which is a (processed) food I eat very occasionally. Â The recipe requires so few ingredients, many of which you probably have in your pantry. Â And if you make your beans from scratch, this soup will cost you practically nothing. Â The potatoes and beans both add a rich creaminess to the soup, as well as work together to form a complete protein. Â Even though beans are typically bland, this soup has a nice, almost smoky flavor and feels very satisfying despite the lack of fat. Â A typical Monday dinner would be a nice big bowl of this soup with a side of sauteed greens or a salad and some crusty bread. Â Sometimes my parents would also add a wedge of good cheese (that my father smuggled in his suitcase from Italy) to the table and that was that.
My husband grew up with neither Meatless Mondays nor Meatless Any Days, so getting him to buy into a dinner of potato and bean soup took some time. Â Now he loves it and especially how it makes him feel afterwards (“not gross”). Â Lest anyone feel cheated, I happily serve both a salad and some roasted vegetables on the side. Â All my kids, Mr. Picky included, love this soup. Â It’s white! Â What kids don’t like white food? Â Of course, Â I can’t help but stir in some escarole in at the end. Â You know me and my greens. Â They’re going to save your life, so I’ll find anyway to include them that I can. Â If your local market doesn’t carry escarole, feel free to add some spinach, arugula or chard. Â I always plan to have extra soup for thermoses in the next day’s lunch boxes, which works out perfectly for “Trash-free Tuesday” at our school!
Have you made any new year’s resolutions? Â I’ve been contemplating a few, but what tends to work better for me are measurable resolutions, such as “cook dinner five nights a week” or “do yoga every Sunday.” Â I’ve never had luck with “eat better” or “exercise more.” Â Most people tend to come up with resolutions about diet and health, but they’re usually about short term weight loss or feeling better after 6 weeks of holiday overindulgence. Â I think “Meatless Mondays” is an easy one to try and it doesn’t mean you’re becoming a vegetarian or a vegan, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Â It just means a commitment to eating more plant-based foods and acknowledging the heavy environmental footprint of raising animals in this country. Â Just a thought.
Talk to me here — am I the only one who grew up with Meatless Mondays? Â Does your family currently partake? Â I need some inspiration for my new year’s resolutions — feed me! Â Or just make this soup. Â Here’s to a happy and healthy 2012!
1poundYukon Gold potatoesor other boiling potato, cubed
1 6-inchsprig of fresh rosemaryoptional, I like it just as much without
3-4teaspoonssea saltdepending on saltiness of the stock
1head escaroleleaves coarsely chopped
Grated Pecorino-Romano or Parmesan cheese for servingif desired
Instructions
Wash beans well and pick over for stones and debris. Soak beans with kombu in plenty of fresh cold water overnight or at least 6 hours. This can be done in a covered container or in a pot (I use the same pot for soaking as for cooking the soup) on a countertop. Refrigerate if your kitchen is warm.
Just before you begin cooking, drain the beans into a colander. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large heavy-bottomed pot, and add the onion and garlic. Cook until softened, about 8-10 minutes.
Add the beans and stock to the pot and raise the heat to high. You can add the kombu to the pot, if you like for additional alkalinity. Bring soup to a boil, cover, then lower to a simmer. Cook for 1 hour.
Add the potato, sea salt and (optional) rosemary. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Test the beans for tenderness. If they’re not done, continue to simmer until they’re tender. Once beans are tender, you can puree the soup to your desired consistency or leave chunky. Remove the kombu and sprig of rosemary before pureeing.
Stir in the escarole and cook until wilted. Serve with grated cheese, if desired.
Notes
If you want to use canned beans, you will need 4 15-ounce cans, or about 6 cups. I like Eden Organic. Follow the directions below:Saute onions and garlic. Add potatoes, stock, salt and (optional) rosemary. Cook for 30 minutes or until tender. Add beans to pot and cook until heated through. Puree to desired consistency (or don’t). Stir in escarole.
One way that I have learned how to be a more confident cook is by identifying certain “formula” recipes and then just changing the ingredients around to come up with something that seems like a different recipe. One day last year after I was bored with making Mushroom and Barley Soup for the umpteenth time, I changed a few ingredients based on what I had in the fridge and voila!  A new soup was born.  After a weekend of over-indulging (I keep leaving the house just before 4:00 when I know the craving for pumpkin pie will hit), this is exactly the kind of thing I want to eat.  It is light, but filling and very satisfying.  A bonus is that it is awesome with turkey stock, which I have loads of right now.  The kids are also happy to have this soup in their thermoses at school for a nourishing lunch, especially if I toss in a little shredded leftover turkey.
You can use any vegetables or grains you want or even substitute white beans or chickpeas, but one of my rules for a good diet is variety.  The day I made up this soup, I poked around the pantry and found a lonely bag of wild rice that I hadn’t said hello to in a while.  Funny thing about wild rice is that it’s actually not a rice at all, but really a grass.  And most of the wild rice that we find in our local markets is not really “wild,” but cultivated.  I love it all the same.  (Not) wild (not) rice is an absolutely delicious and nutritious whole food that you probably never eat.  It is nutty and almost smoky-sweet with a great chewy texture.  Wild rice is extremely high in folic acid (an essential B-complex vitamin lacking in many people’s diets), potassium and fiber.  Plus, that dramatic black color provides some powerful phytonutrients that aren’t easy to come by in nature.
Although this recipe came about as a pleasant surprise (just like my third child!), it has since become a regular in my repertoire. Â Some things in life are just meant to be.
Rustic Butternut Squash Soup with Fennel and Wild Rice
Stir in the thyme, rice, stock, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, partially cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 25 minutes.
Stir in butternut squash, cover slightly and simmer for an additional 25-30 minutes or until squash is tender. Add chopped greens and stir until wilted.
Taste for seasoning and garnish with fennel fronds, if desired. If you like a little acidity, add a few drops of apple cider vinegar. (I think the soup is better with the vinegar.)
How do I know it’s soup season in my neck of the woods? Â Well, we had our annual freaky October heat wave last week and then the temperature plummeted about 20 degrees. Â Now every morning we wake up to fog and a chill in the air that doesn’t go away. Â Are you under the misconception as I was that living by the beach is all sunshine all the time? Â Ha! Â I keep telling my husband I want my money back. Â It’s chilly here! Â But no matter, I’m pulling out the sweaters and the stock pot and I am making SOUP!
From now until late April, my kitchen turns into a stock-making factory every Saturday. Â I make gallons of it every week for my classes and us. Â I’ll be honest though, the hubby is sooooo over it. Â You should see his eyes roll every time I ask him to help me strain the stock. Â Inevitably a chicken foot flops out and completely freaks him out. Â But he puts up with it because his favorite food group is soup and he knows homemade chicken stock is magic stuff. Â If you are getting more and more comfortable in the kitchen, it’s time to step it up and start making stock from scratch. Â You will not believe the difference in taste. Â Plus it’s a gajillion times better for you than boxed. Â Check out my post here on home made chicken stock. Â For all you veggies out there, here’s the link to learn how to make vegetable stock from scratch.
Enough about that. Â Let’s talk about the soup I actually made, Tortilla Soup. Â Y-um! Â This is a very different version of the tortilla soup you might be used it. Â It’s not thin and brothy, but thick and hearty and it takes about 15 minutes to make, provided you already have stock made. Â If I had to make up another name for this, I would call it “Mexican Tomato Soup” Â or “Pappa al Pomodoro goes to Mexico.” Â Cumin, which is one of my most favorite spices, adds the distinctive earthy flavor that you would recognize from chili or taco seasoning. Â But what is so unusual about this soup is that the corn tortillas are pureed with the tomatoes and broth, as opposed to adding fried tortilla chips on top. Â The softened corn tortillas add great flavor and thicken the soup at the same time. Â (It’s a great use of stale tortillas.) Â I wish I had thought of this bit of genius, but I didn’t. Â I tweaked a recipe I found in The Real Food Daily Cookbook, based on the vegan LA restaurant by the same name.
I love adding cubed avocado and chopped fresh cilantro on top, but I let everyone do their thing.  There’s always enough leftover for the next day’s thermoses to which I also like to add  a little cooked chicken.  (I’m big on protein at lunchtime so the kids don’t fall asleep in class.)  Fresh tomatoes are on their way out, so if you can use them go for it.  The other night I used Bionaturae organic crushed tomatoes and tomato paste in a glass jar (not a fan of canned tomatoes.)  I made this soup last year on Halloween, which is around the corner.  I always make sure everyone has eaten a proper meal before going out to trick or treat.  Full bellies can’t fit quite as much candy as empty ones.
Here are some of my other favorite soups to warm you up this season:
Stir in the stock, tomatoes with juice, and tomato paste. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered for 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes are tender.
Add the tortillas and simmer 10 minutes longer, or until the tortillas are super soft and falling apart.
Using a handheld immersion blender, blend the soup in the pot until smooth. Or carefully puree in batches in a blender.
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with cilantro and avocado.
Notes
*For a little more kick, add the ribs and seeds from the jalapeno to the soup.
