Roasted Eggplant Soup with Garbanzo Beans and Couscous

Oh, did this summer pass me by. And I am not just talking about here on the blog, which I have been absent from for 2 months. I always feel like summer will go on and on. Maybe because, growing up, it is the one season you really get to appreciate while you’re out of school, the others sort of blur. No matter, as each of my favorite stone fruit fell in and out of season – first cherries, then peaches and now plums – I am accepting the end. It is officially fall and not much of the summer bounty is left. Eggplant, however, seems to still be going strong – at least where I am. Baskets of eggplants sit right next to the winter squash, and from what I hear they will be here for a few more weeks.

Along with plums and grapes, eggplants help us transition into the flavors of fall without any shock or denial. And whether this soup should be considered late summer or early fall, when I tasted it, I knew it needed to be recorded here so that I would be able to have it again next year. No lazily taking a few pictures with the best intentions and then forgetting about the blog until it is too late. This recipe needs to be made again. It is very well seasoned with a bit of a North African feel, enhanced by the use of couscous which works as a thickener and fills out the meal. Feta and cilantro might not be the most appropriate toppings, but they go quite nice with the late-season, crazy flavorful eggplant.

Grab some eggplant while you still can – if you still can. And let’s not let autumn pass us by.

1 year ago, today: Baked Yams with Spicy Tomato Sauced Pinto Beans and Caramelized Red Onions

Roasted Eggplant Soup with Garbanzo Beans and Couscous:

– 1 cup (7.5 oz) garbanzo beans, soaked and cooked
– 2 3/4 lb eggplant (2 very large end of season eggplants)
– 1/4 cup olive oil
– 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
– 1 onion, minced
– 2 cloves garlic, minced
– 1/2 tsp ground coriander
– 1 tbsp + 1 tsp ground cumin
– 1 tsp dried oregano
– 2 tsp ground ginger
– 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
– 1 tbsp smoked paprika
– 4-6 cups stock
– salt & pepper
– 1 cup (6.5 oz) couscous
– feta and cilantro for garnish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cut eggplants in half from stem to tip, or in quarters if they are very large. Place on a greased/paper-lined baked sheet and drizzle with half of the oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30-45 minutes, or until pieces are quite brown and crisped on top but very soft inside. Once cool enough to handle, pull off the stem and leaves and puree the eggplant with the crushed tomatoes – do this in two batches (half the eggplant and half the tomatoes in each batch) if using a standard 8 quart blender. Alternatively, you could add both the eggplant and tomatoes without pureeing and use an immersion blender for a coarser texture.

Heat the remaining oil in a heavy-bottomed pot and cook the onions over a medium-low heat fairly slowly, stirring occasionally. This should take about 10 minutes, the onion should soften without browning. Add garlic, coriander, cumin, oregano, ginger, cardamom and paprika. Turn up the heat and cook until aromatic, 30 seconds to 1 minute longer. Add eggplant/tomato mixture and allow to cook down for 10 minutes. Add 4 cups of stock with the cooked garbanzo beans and couscous. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer and cook covered for 10 minutes longer. Taste for seasoning and add salt & pepper to taste. Add more stock for desired consistency if needed. Ladle into bowl and serve with feta and cilantro

Herbed Lentil and Early Carrot Soup

So, it’s July and the local produce is getting bonkers, but here I am presenting soup. Let me explain. The weather in the Northwest is nothing like the weather in the rest of the country right now. All I am hearing about is heatwaves, droughts and wildfires. Up here, though, we have had just a handful of 80+ degree days, none of which have been in July. Many days are cloudy and rainy, and more often it is pleasantly breezy, in the upper fifties. Sweater weather. The weather you look forward to at the end of August. Soup weather.

So while this might be a cooler weather recipe, I am taking advantage of the produce of the moment. Early carrots, also known as real baby carrots, are beautiful. Crisp tender. Sweet and full of flavor. And we use these a little bit differently than the storage carrots we find in the winter, cooking lightly at the end rather than sweating with the onion at the beginning. The carrots used here happen to be an heirloom variety which are purple, yellow, golden and orange. While I am also loving green beans, raspberries, new potatoes, zucchini, radishes and other items that are truly only available around this time, these particular carrots will not be the same in a few months and must (also) be enjoyed now.

I also used some of the herbs thriving in my garden to flavor this soup and they led to something magical happening. The aroma triggered sensory memories of my great-grandmother’s pasta and bean soup. She passed away over five years ago and her recipes went with her, but occasionally particular combinations of flavors bring me back to the food she shared with me. This is particularly overwhelming when I have prepared the food which leads to the trigger. A personal connection to this soup is not necessary for enjoyment though; Matt, a lentil and tarragon skeptic, has enjoyed it as much as I have. The aroma is put together in such a way that you cannot quite discern any particular flavor, but the combined effort is just incredible. I have showered leftovers with parmesan on one occasion and pecorino on another, but I enjoy and appreciate the soup more when it is left vegan.

Two notes: If you cannot find savory try substituting a combination of thyme and oregano or marjoram. The amount of oil used may seem like a lot but once it has emulsified through the simmering process, it creates an amazing mouth-feel. It is important that you don’t cook the aromatics at too high of a heat before adding the liquid and lentils due to the lower smoke point of good-quality olive oil.

1 year ago, today: Summer Squash and Fenugreek Curry

Herbed Lentil and Early Carrot Soup:
adapted from The First Mess
serves 8

– 1/4 cup olive oil
– 1 onion, diced
– 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
– 1 tsp smoked paprika
– 1 tsp dried thyme
– pinch red pepper flakes
– 2 cups prepared tomato sauce, recipe below
– 2 cups french green lentils
– 6 cups stock
– 1 lb (without greens) early carrots, thinly sliced
– 4-5 sprigs savory (substitute with thyme, oregano or marjoram or ideally a combination of these if you cannot find savory)
– 4-5 sprigs tarragon
– salt & pepper

Heat oil over a medium-low heat in a large pot and slowly cook the onion until soft. Raise the heat to medium-high and add garlic, paprika, thyme and red pepper flakes, saute a minute or so longer or until aromatic. Add tomato sauce and lentils and stir to incorporate. Add stock and bring to a boil and then simmer covered for about 15 minutes. Add carrots and fresh herbs and simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes longer or until lentils are tender but still firm.

Tomato Sauce:
this makes a larger batch than needed for the recipe, but I always keep tomato sauce in the refrigerator for pizzas and recipes that call for a prepared tomato sauce. This simple sauce can be substituted with your own preferred prepared tomato sauce

– 1 onion, diced
– 4 cloves garlic, minced
– pinch red pepper flakes
– 1 tbsp dried oregano
– 2 tbsp tomato paste
– 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
– 14 oz can diced tomatoes
– salt and pepper

Saute onion over a medium heat in a bit of oil until softened. Add garlic, red pepper flakes and dried oregano and saute until aromatic. Add tomato paste, stirring to incorporate. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, down to a simmer. Stir occasionally, simmering for as long as time permits up to two hours. Transfer to a blender in batches to puree and season to taste.

Asparagus Risotto with Caramelized Leeks and Ricotta Salada

Disclaimer: This risotto was made for Marx Foods’ Integrale Gauntlet. I was tasked with making one savory risotto dish (and two more dishes if I move on to the next challenges) with a box of Integrale Rice, courtesy of Marx Foods. This challenge will include a public poll which I will notify my readers of when it is up (5/29). Opinions here are my own.

I only have a couple of recipes on here involving rice because I just didn’t eat much of it until recently. I have always loved fluffy white rice, sticky sushi rice, aromatic basmati rice, but I avoid these processed varieties. And I simply wasn’t interested in brown rice. I enjoy so many other whole grains, so I didn’t worry about this aversion until earlier this year.

When our pantry gets too cluttered, we try to avoid buying any more bulk items until we have cleared a bit of space. When this needed to be done a couple of months ago, I started making a meatless gumbo that was packed with a variety of beans (my Louisana-born-and-raised mother did not approve but it was tasty). I needed to serve it over something so I steamed some long-grain brown rice that somehow made its way into our pantry – I may have received it for free at work. After pulling the lid off of the perfectly steamed rice and taking in the nutty aroma, I fluffed it and enjoyed a bowl of rice that was simply dressed with a bit of the gumbo gravy. It was so perfect that I was suddenly a convert. Since then I have been stocking my pantry with a variety of rices, serving them with black bean soup, beside curried lentils and under roasted vegetables and poached eggs.

I mentioned this transition briefly in this post where I used sweet brown rice for the first time. That rice was a brown variety of sushi rice, so it made excellent rice balls because of their starch release. While sushi rice and risotto rice are not quite the same thing, they both need that quality. I haven’t ever seen a brown arborio rice – one of the more popular varieties of risotto rice – so I was really excited when I saw a brown risotto rice available from Marx Foods called Integrale Rice. It behaves just like any other risotto rice, but it is still whole. It also has the nutty flavor common in other whole grains. As someone who didn’t think risotto was possible without white rice, this is an awesome find. I honestly think this rice makes a tastier risotto than others because of the added complexity of flavor.

For this risotto, I knew I wanted to simply showcase the availability of the season. I had some brightly flavored leeks that I decided to caramelize for a sweet, mellowed flavor. Asparagus was an obvious choice because it is simply everywhere right now. I prefer the crazy thin spears of asparagus for their delicate texture and bold flavor. It seems that these can only be found at the farmer’s market because grocery stores prefer the perfectly uniform, pinky-sized spears that you can find all year (but obviously not locally). The raw asparagus was pureed and stirred into the hot risotto. I decided to substitute the traditional parmesan with a ricotta salada as parmesan typically contributes a nutty flavor, but the already nutty brown rice needed a firm cheese that could stand up to the rice – something that could be grated – but with a creamy contrast.

The strongest flavor coming through is the distinct, grassy asparagus. The deeply sweet caramelized leeks melt away and come through in the background, alongside the squeaky, tangy ricotta salada. This is a completely satisfying risotto that doesn’t sacrifice anything in flavor. Serve it with a light protein and a green salad.

Asparagus Risotto with Caramelized Leeks and Ricotta Salada:
serves 8

– 3/4 lb leeks, ends and tough dark portions discarded
– 2-3 tbsp butter
– 2 cups Integrale Rice or other Risotto Rice
– 1/2 cup white wine
– 4-5 cups hot stock (I used beef stock)
– 1 small bunch asparagus – 8 oz, roughly chopped and pureed in a food processor (alternatively, slice it very thinly)
– 1/4-1/2 lb ricotta salada, grated (or crumbled)

Slice leeks in half lenthwise and thinly slice each half. Place 1-2 tbsp butter in a heavy bottomed pot over low heat. Add leek, stir well and cover. Continue stirring every 5-10 minutes, more often as it continues to cook, for 30-45 minutes. Remove lid, raise heat to medium-high and add remaining butter. Add rice and stir well to coat every piece of rice in fat and deglaze the pot with white wine. Add stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and adding more liquid as the rice dries out. Begin tasting once you have used almost 4 cups of the stock and continues stirring, cooking, adding liquid and tasting until the rice is cooked through. Remove the pot from heat and stir in the pureed asparagus and ricotta salada. Serve immediately, garnish with extra cheese.

Tomato and Garbanzo Bean Soup with Marjoram and Wheat Berries

After posting a couple of recipes that celebrate the season, I thought it might be nice to share something that takes advantage of a well-stocked pantry. A soup like this is delicious in early May, but it would also be appropriate at the end of summer when your pantry might be stocked with newly canned tomatoes. It could also be perfect in the dead-middle-of-winter by swapping the fresh marjoram for an herb that survives the frost, or even using dried herbs that are tossed into the pot with the garlic and red pepper flakes.

Rather than letting the garbanzo beans give the soup texture, I decided to puree them into the tomatoes and add chewy wheat berries for contrast. There is a little bit of sweet, a little bit of heat and a generous amount of floral flavor in this wonderfully creamy (but cream-less) soup.

Tomato and Garbanzo Bean Soup with Marjoram and Wheat Berries:
adapted from Once Upon a Tart via Orangette
serves 6-8

– 10 oz dried garbanzo beans, soaked and cooked
– 6 oz wheat berries (soaked for 30 minutes or longer if time permits)
– 2 cloves garlic, minced
– 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
– 1/4 tsp raw sugar
– 2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
– 4 cups stock
– 1/2-1 oz fresh marjoram, removed from stems and roughly chopped
– salt & pepper
– parmesan to garnish

Place wheat berries in a small saucepan and cover with water by a few inches. Add a bit of salt and bring to a boil, down to a simmer. Cook until tender but still chewy, 15-30 minutes depending on whether they are soaked. In a larger pot, heat a bit of oil over a medium-high heat and add garlic, red pepper flakes and sugar. Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes, then add diced tomatoes. Lightly cook the tomatoes until most of the moisture has been cooked out, 4-5 minutes. Add stock and cooked garbanzo beans and bring to a boil, down to a simmer while wheat berries continue cooking. Drain cooked wheat berries and transfer the tomato/garbanzo bean mixture to a blender to puree in batches (remove the cap and cover the hole with a paper towel). Return to the pot and add most of the wheat berries (reserving 1 tbsp per serving to garnish) and most of the marjoram (reserving 1 scant tsp per serving to garnish) and cook for 5-10 minutes longer. Serve in soup with a sprinkle of cooked wheat berries, a dusting of freshly grated parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of marjoram.

White Bean and Tomato Baked Rigatoni

There are a few recipes in my archives that I took my sweet time to post. I must have made these cookies five times before I remembered to take pictures. I worked on this pizza dough all summer before I felt confident hitting publish. It took me months to remember I should make this gnocchi during the day so that I could actually take pictures. And now this, a baked pasta that has become an almost bi-weekly dinner since September. Well-tested to say the least.

Matt tasked me with making a ricotta-less lasagna sometime this past summer because it is one of his favorite foods, but ricotta is a dairy product that his body can’t tolerate. I put a simple bechamel (as most of these recipes may suggest, he deals with butter okay) between layers of tomato sauce, sheets of pasta and grilled summer squash. We enjoyed this version, but I decided to come up with something a bit more healthful because after years of not having lasagna, I knew Matt would be wanting to eat this pretty frequently. In place of a ricotta OR bechamel layer, I came up with a white bean sauce which is basically a Tuscan-style white bean dip (canellinni beans pureed with garlic oil and fresh herbs) which is thinned with stock. It is rich, creamy and flavorful, the perfect stand-in for saturated fat.

While most baked pasta dishes are full of ricotta and mozzarella, this one is completely vegan until you garnish it with cheese and full of the fiber and protein of canellinni beans. So, yeah this is a healthy alternative to a traditional baked ziti or lasagna since it lacks the saturated fat you find in dairy AND it is a cheaper alternative since beans are dirt cheap compared to cheese. However, this rigatoni is rich with flavor and I hate to think of it as an alternative or in terms of a traditional baked ziti. It is perfectly wholesome and delicious so it is needless to make comparisons. If you want some cheese, add some cheese. Instead of broccoli, you could try some lightly sauteed greens. Fresh tomatoes, bell peppers and eggplants would also be great when seasonally appropriate. I almost always par-cook the broccoli by blanching it when the pasta is almost done just for the sake of ease, but roasting the broccoli is also a terrific option.

What makes this pasta dish so delicious is the aromatics. The fresh herbs are important, but the rosemary and oregano can certainly be substituted with other herbs depending on the season or your preferences. The garlic oil really makes the dish. To make garlic oil, cover some garlic with olive oil and place in a 400 degree F. oven for 20-30 minutes, or until golden. Both the garlic and the oil reach new heights and become crazy rich and flavorful. The garlic is like candy and I tend to eat about a bulb’s worth straight out of the oven, but you can use it in any number of applications. I have made this dish without the garlic oil and just pureed one or two cloves of garlic into the sauce, but it is definitely much better with the garlic-infused oil.

1 year ago, today: Espresso Brownies

White Bean and Tomato Baked Rigatoni:
serves 8

This dish has the creamy richness of a baked ziti, but it doesn’t have the same chewy, stickiness that you would expect. This particular quality doesn’t bother me in the least, but you should be aware of this because if you keep it in the oven too long, hoping for that thick, stringy quality, the beans will dry out. The finished product is best baked for just 15 minutes, slightly browned on top, but still very saucy within.

– 1 lb dried rigatoni
– 1 1/2 lb broccoli, chopped into florets
– 4″x4″ piece of day-old bread
– 3 cups cooked canellinni beans
– 3/4 cup garlic-infused olive oil*
– approx. 1/2 cup stock
– pinch crushed red pepper flakes
– salt & pepper
– 1 sprig rosemary, minced
– 1 sprig oregano, minced
– 18 fl oz prepared tomato sauce (homemade, or your favorite brand)
– asiago cheese for serving
– parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for one minute less than directed, adding the broccoli to the pot in the last two minute of the cooking time. Strain and rinse with cold water and allow to cool. Run the bread through a food processor to create bread crumbs and place on a greased baking sheet, bake for 5-10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until well toasted. Pour canellinni beans into the bowl of a food processor and begin blending. Slowly add olive oil while blending. Add broth very slowly while blending to thin until the proper consistency; it should be spreadable and pourable more like a bechamel than ricotta. Season with crushed red pepper, salt and pepper and blend. Mix in the minced herbs and combine with the tomato sauce, pasta and broccoli in a mixing bowl. Taste for seasoning and pour into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Cover with toasted bread crumbs. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes. Garnish servings with grated asiago and parsley.

* to infuse garlic with oil, cover a few bulbs of peeled garlic cloves with olive and roast in a 400 degree F. oven until golden. Use garlic however you like; I like to throw it on pizza when it is coming out of the oven or use it in this barley.

Leek and Pinto Bean Soup

As I get deeper into the Dark Days challenge, I am getting better at preparing myself and knowing what kinds of ingredients I have available nearby to stay local. What is happening is that I am beginning to use a lot of the same ingredients (from the same places) again and again. This might not be any more true now that it would be otherwise, but when I am writing out these ingredients and where they are sourced from each week, I can’t ignore this fact. I don’t really feel like I am in a rut, though, because I think each meal I make is unique relative to those I made previous to it and I am really enjoying what I am eating. It just seems strange that this is the second of five posts in which I use local potatoes. Matt loves potatoes and I like them too, but I would really like to mix things up here with the occasional whole grain to fulfill the starch component of my plates. The only other options I have found are soft red wheat berries and cornmeal. So that is something I am working on.

This week’s post is kind of cheated because I made this meal earlier this week, the day after my last Dark Days meal, so that I could use the same farmer’s market bounty. Week 6’s meal hasn’t been made yet, but will also use produce from last week’s market.

In terms of flavor, this soup reminds me of a Baked Potato Soup, particularly with the added garnishes. I think Matt had the same idea because he wanted to top it with bacon (I totally would have if we had found local bacon). The soup is great because it tastes so rich and creamy, as if it is full of butter, cheese and cream. In reality, most of that creaminess comes from the rich and flavorful, but totally healthy, pinto beans. There is just a tablespoon of butter and a half cup of milk in the entire recipe (serving 8-10), plus however much cheddar is grated over each bowl. I hate to sell something as tasting like something it isn’t, but for a lot of people (including myself) beans are comfort food (just like butter, cheese and cream), so I think they are an awesome way to make meals more wholesome without sacrificing food that you actually crave and makes you feel good. This is my favorite meal so far from the challenge.

1 year ago, today: Florentine Bars

Leek and Pinto Bean Soup:
serves 8-10
– 2 cups dried pinto beans, soaked and cooked
– 1 tbsp butter
– 1 3/4 lb leeks, thinly sliced
– 3 cloves garlic, minced
– 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
– 1 tsp dried thyme
– 1/2 lb yukon gold potatoes, large dice
– 5 cups stock
– 1/2 cup milk
– salt & pepper
– cheddar, chives and generous pepper to garnish

Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed pot. Slowly cook leeks until soft and slightly caramelized, 15-20 minutes. Add garlic, red pepper flakes and thyme and saute until aromatic. Add potatoes and stock and bring to a boil, down to a simmer until potatoes are tender. Puree in a blender, add milk to thin and season with salt and pepper. Serve with cheddar cheese.

Kale and Potato Soup with Chorizo (Caldo Verde)

1 year ago, today: Double Chocolate, Double Peppermint Cookies

Kale and Potato Soup with Chorizo (Caldo Verde):
serves 4-6
– 1 tbsp butter
– 2 shallots
– 1 clove garlic
– 1 lb yukon gold potatoes, sliced thin
– 5 cups stock
– 1/4 lb chorizo, sliced thin
– 2 bunches kale, chiffonde
– salt & pepper

Melt butter in a heavy bottomed pot. Saute shallots and garlic until soft and aromatic. Add potatoes and stock, bring to a boil and down to a simmer until the potatoes are completely tender. Use a potato masher to coarsely mash the potatoes (alternatively, run it through a food mill or blend it briefly). Add the chorizo and stir in the kale to wilt. Cook 3-5 minutes longer, or until the kale is tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste).

Tamarind-Aji Beef Stew with Potatoes, Quinoa and Carrots

My sister is currently finishing a semester in Ecuador. While I have only left the US to visit Toronto and Montreal, this is my (little) sister’s second time staying in the country. She is a budding world traveler. She is pretty cool.

When Gina was younger, she was the pickiest eater in the family. And by a lot, because my brothers and I were barely picky at all. I think she became a better eater when she started college and had to cook for herself. Now that she is staying in another country with very foreign cuisine, I am very impressed with her ability to adapt and enjoy what is placed in front of her by her host family. She has taken to telling me all about her favorite dishes with, probably because she isn’t cooking for herself right now, the expectation that I will recreate them and blog about them. She has also taken to sending me ingredients from the open-air markets that she visits to make those recreations a bit easier.

The quinoa I use here is one of those items. Some say the quinoa coming out of Ecuador is more nutritious than quinoa from elsewhere (Peru and Bolivia); higher in fiber and protein. I don’t have any specific nutritional information about the quinoa I used, but I do know that it has a deep earthy flavor without the metallic taste quinoa can have. I also used ground red aji from Ecuador, which is a deep and mildly smoky chili. There are several varieties of aji available in the US, such as black and yellow in addition the red. I have found yellow aji to be the easiest to find and the chilies are more often sold whole.

While I used traditional stewing principles to create a thick and flavorful stew featuring fork-tender beef, I took advice from my sister on the spices and aromatics. With carrots and potatoes, the main ingredients of the stew are exactly what is expected from an American beef stew. The small bites of quinoa that coat the beef, potatoes and carrots add really interesting texture to these tender components. The use of cumin, turmeric, aji and cayenne add a different kind of spice than what is expected, but the tamarind is what really shakes things up. It creates the prominent sweet and sour flavor which works perfectly with the other ingredients. If you prefer a less noticeable sour profile, you could substitute half of the tamarind paste with tomato paste and use it in the same way. Matt preferred it made this way when I first made it a couple of months ago (the two trials were spaced so far apart because I was waiting for good stewing cut of meat to go on sale), but I prefer the bold, citrusy tamarind.

What may stick out most, though, is the garnish. I toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish, another ingredient sent to me from my sister. It is always best to toast nuts and seeds, but I find that pumpkin seeds especially need to be toasted for the best texture (they can have an unpleasant stale, woody taste when left completely raw). The more interesting garnish, however, is the popcorn. Apparently freshly popped, un-buttered popcorn is a traditional garnish in Ecuador, so I decided to buy kernels and actually pop the corn myself. I just heated a couple of tablespoons of oil in a medium-sized saucepan and covered the bottom in popcorn kernels, covered the saucepan and lightly shook over the stovetop while the kernels popped. I honestly thought you needed a special apparatus to make popcorn, but it could not be easier. And, as a lover of all things butter(ed), I am surprised to say that I absolutely flavor of the popcorn without any butter, oil or seasonings, freshly popped.

Tamarind-Aji Beef Stew with Potatoes, Quinoa and Carrots:

I used basic stewing principles for this recipe, but my sister directed me on what seasonings to use, how to garnish, etc. In addition to the popcorn and pumpkin seed, cilantro makes a great garnish if it is available.


– 1/3 cup flour
– 1 lb beef chuck roast, cut into 2″ pieces
– 1 onion, diced
– 4 tbsp tamarind paste (substitute half or all with tomato paste if desired)
– 2 tsp ground cumin
– 2 tsp ground turmeric
– 1 tsp ground aji rojo
– 1/4 tsp ground cayenne
– 6 cups stock
– 1 lb yukon gold potatoes, med. dice
– 1/2 lb carrots, med. dice
– 1 cup quinoa, rinsed thoroughly
– popcorn for garnish
– pumpkin seeds, toasted, for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed, oven-safe pot (ie, dutch oven). Dredge beef chuck in flour, reserve remaining flour and sear beef on all sides. Remove beef from pot and set aside. Saute onion in oil/residual fat. Add reserved flour and stir to incorporate, then add tamarind paste (and/or tomato paste, if desired). Stir in cumin, turmeric, aji and cayenne until fragrant. Add stock and return beef to the pot. Bring to a boil and place uncovered in the oven, checking occasionally to add more liquid if necessary. The beef should become fork tender. Remove the pot from the oven and return to the stove after one hour to add the potatoes and cook at a heavy simmer until potatoes are tender. Continuing at a heavy simmer, add carrots and quinoa and cook until both are tender. Garnish with popcorn and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Pinto Bean and Farro Stew with Roasted Kuri Squash and Carrots

Pinto Bean and Farro Stew with Roasted Kuri Squash and Carrots:

– 2 cups of pinto beans, soaked and cooked
– 2 tbsp + 2 tbsp butter, separated
– 1 kuri squash, approximately 4 pounds, cubed
– 1/2 lb carrots, thick slice
– 2 leeks, sliced thin or minced
– 3 cloves garlic, minced
– 1 tbsp dried oregano
– 1 tsp red pepper flakes
– 2 quart stock
– 1 cup farro
– 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves of 1 minced, the other left for garnish
– sour cream for garnish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Melt 2 tbsp of butter and toss with squash and carrots, season with salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until tender and browned on the outside. Remove and set aside. In a heavy bottomed pot, melt the remaining 2 tbsp of butter. Saute the leeks slowly until soft and add garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes. Saute until aromatic, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add cooked beans, roasted vegetables and stock, bring to a boil and down to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 1 hour or longer, stirring occasionally (you can uncover if you would like to reduce the liquid a bit). Return to a boil and add farro and minced rosemary and let simmer for 15 minutes or until farro is tender. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and remaining rosemary leaves.

[Revisiting] Spiced French Green Lentil, Parsnip and Carrot Soup with Bacon

I recently went through some of my posts from last winter to get some cold weather inspiration and came across a lentil soup I made in the new year. Despite the lacking photographs, I instantly remembered the soup’s flavor and how much I loved it. It was immediately worked into this week’s meal plan. I made some positive changes to the soup to make this version my new go-to.  I added parsnips to the mix; any sweet, mild root vegetable would work nicely here, celariac perhaps. I swapped smoked paprika for sweet paprika (pimenton) just because. Either do well but each bring something a little bit different. The overall flavor is still smokey and spicy from the cayenne. I wouldn’t suggest omitting the bacon for a vegetarian version because it creates very meaty flavor and is completely satisfying. This is a perfect soup to make in a large batch to freeze for future filling lunches.

The change really made the difference was swapping regular green lentils for french green lentils. Let me tell you right now, all lentils are not created equal! I have only used regular red and green lentils in the past, but I decided to get french green lentils when they were on sale. I have heard people rave about these, but I always stuck with the cheaper option. It isn’t as though french green lentils are expensive; they might be $1.00/lb more than other varieties. I just never felt the need to try them when I enjoyed the cheaper lentils. These beautiful forest green legumes stand up to long cooking processes and retain a tender bite rather than becoming mush. They also don’t have the starchy taste that other lentils have (especially when overcooked). These characteristics would let the lentils shine in a salad, but they are also incredibly appetizing and satisfying in a soup.

1 year ago, today: Roasted Potatoes Pont Neuf with Apple Barbecue Sauce


Spiced French Green Lentil, Parsnip and Carrot Soup with Bacon:
originally adapted from Three Many Cooks
– 4 oz bacon, small dice
– 1 onion, small dice
– 2 carrots, small dice
– 2 parsnips, small dice
– 3 cloves garlic, minced
– 2 tsp sweet paprika (pimenton)
– 2 tsp cumin
– 1 tsp turmeric
– 1/4 tsp cayenne
– 1 pound french green lentils
– 2 quarts + 1 cup stock
– salt and pepper
– sour cream, asiago cheese for serving

Heat a heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook bacon, stirring often, until crisp. Add onion and cook until softened. Add carrots, parsnips and garlic and cook until softened. Add garlic, paprika, cumin, turmeric and cayenne and stir until fragrant, 30 second to 1 minute. Add lentils and stock and bring to a boil, down to a heavy simmer. Continue to cook uncovered until lentils are tender and the liquid has reduced. Puree 8 cups of the soup and return to pot to incorporate. Season to taste and serve with freshly grated asiago cheese.