Cooking

Recipe: Creamy Vegetable Soup

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This recipe takes a little explanation.  I cook mostly vegetarian/vegan for many reasons, but also work to diversify my protein sources because it’s too easy to rely on beans (and legumes), tofu, tempeh, and seitan.  So I try to work with higher-protein vegetable sources too.  That’s one reason I keep parboiled spinach in my freezer – heat that sucker up, add a little lemon juice and pepper, and wham, 5 grams of tasty protein.

This dish is a kitbash of several dishes, centered around a recipe that used creamed vegetables for a soup.  My goal was to get a decent-tasting cream of vegetable soup to use as a main dish with one or two other vegetables.

 

  • 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
  • 1 medium chopped onion
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 3 cups broccoli florets
  • 2 medium potatoes, sliced
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 tsp sage leaves, dried
  • 1 tsp marjoram leaves, dried
  • 1 tsp ground thyme
  • 1 tsp basil leaves, dried
  • 1 tsp oregano leaves, dried
  • 1 tsp dill, ground
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  1. Saute onions in 1 tbsp olive oil until transparent.
  2. Add mushrooms, broccoli, potatoes, water, sage, marjoram, thyme, basil, oregano, dill, pepper, salt
  3. Bring to boil, then simmer until everything is soft – about 30 minutes.  Stir occasionally and break vegetables apart – when they do break up easy you’re done.
  4. Puree in blender or in immersion blender.
  5. Add lemon juice, paprika, remaining olive oil.
  6. Reheat until hot.  Note this doesn’t take long, and that it will make really “gloopy” bubbles if you heat to quickly and splatter like crazy.

The results?

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Recipe: Quick Leftover Cassoulet

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This is my quick version of the classic french meat-and-bean dish.  It’s a great way to extend leftover meats (read, after Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and the 4th of July) into a filling but surprisingly light dish.  I just made it with leftover turkey with some sausage tossed in.

Cassoulet itself is a traditional French dish whose history and taste is hard to do justice too; there’s a lot of pride in it that is akin to the pride taken in chili or barbecue in the United States.  It also seems to have been an influence on the American Baked Bean.  You can learn some more here: http://www.dartagnan.com/60201/a3519/Eat-Like-a-Local/page-1.html

Ingredients.

  • 2 14 oz cans white beans, drained
  • About 1 1/2 lbs assorted meats pre-cooked and/or preserved, diced.  Roughly, match meat to the beans.  It’s best with at least two kinds of meats, and if you don’t have enough meat, add precooked sausage or ham.
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tbsp crushed garlic
  • 2 tbsp Herbs De Province.
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 cup beef or vegetable broth.
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • Up to 1 cup water
  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Dice your meats and set aside.
  3. Mix pepper, garlic, herbs de province, tomato paste, broth, olive oil.
  4. Pour beans and meat into casserole dish, mix thoroughly
  5. Pour mixture over beans and meat.  Mix thouroughly.
  6.  Add enough water to just cover beans and meat.  Stir to mix.
  7. Cover with foil.  Bake for 30 minutes.
  8. Remove foil.  Bake for 30 minutes

I made this for a get-together and went over pretty well.  Not overly remarkable, but also filling and it had a certain something to it – I have leftovers I’ll definitely be enjoying.  It’s a basic recipe, one you can easily tweak.

A few suggestions:

    • The Herbs De Province have a sharp edge not everyone may like.  Replacing them with a different spice mixture might be a good idea – though I’m fond of Herbs De Province as a quick way to get a “French Flavor,” though it’s important to remember they’re basically an approximation of herbal mixtures from Provence.
    • Adding a dash of ground cloves might be good.
    • I think baking it uncovered for the entirety of the hour might be a good idea to really bring out the flavors.
    • I served it with baked potatoes, which wer delightful in the sauce.  It would probably go well with bread, or on smashed potatoes

The mix of meats was really delightful, so the more kinds the better!

Rosemary Bean Stew: Final Version

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Remember my Rosemary Bean Stew awhile back?  I think I got it figured out!

  • 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 medium-large sweet yellow onion, diced
  • 1 Tbsp crushed garlic (about two cloves)
  • 1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes or equivalent (A bit over 1 1/2 cups), drained.
  • 1 can (14 oz), about 1 1/2 cups, low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 1 can (14 oz) low-sodium white beans, drained and rinsed.
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp crushed, dried rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp ground thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

 

  1. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion begin to soften and become transparent.
  2. Add tomatoes.  Saute until onions are soft and transparent.
  3. Add broth, beans, black pepper, rosemary, thyme,bay leaf. stir.
  4. Bring to boil, then simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  5. Remove bay leaf.
  6. Add balsamic vinegar, stir in.  Cook another minute

What I added was thyme and the bay leaf, which seemed to push it over the edge.  The two together add an interesting “sweet plant/wood” flavor to the whole affair.  Depending on your taste you may want to add a dash of salt.

This makes about 3 main course servings or about 4-6 small side dishes.  I’m pairing it with a spinach salad with my homemade Italian dressing (well, it’s kind of Italian – I use rice wine vinegar).

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.