Year of the Soup: Week 20

I had a roommate in college who used to make the same meal for dinner about three times a week.  Basically she’d boil orzo in chicken broth and throw Parmesan cheese in it.  My second roommate and I always made faces when she made that dish, because of how it made the house smell.  It seemed so unappealing that neither of us could imagine why she made it or where she came up with it.

Fast forward to yesterday, about halfway through making this week’s soup.  It was just after pouring the orzo into the broth when I started measuring the Parmesan cheese that I realized I was essentially making her strange meal.  She had Italian roots, and she must have been making her own variation of this soup (just without the nutritional parts of spinach and egg.)  Reminded of the smell of that dish, I was hesitant to taste this soup just because of the bad memories.  But it turns out the spinach and egg really make a big difference, and this soup is excellent.  It has both brothy and creamy aspects, because of the egg, and the fresh spinach is delicious.  (A good way to use spinach from the farmer’s market that’s starting to get a little old in the fridge, fyi.)

So my apologies to that old roommate for judging her “weird” dish.  I suppose it all makes sense now.  :)  But I do highly recommend adding the egg and the spinach.  If nothing else, it’s far more appetizing than without.

Stracciatella (Italian Egg Drop Soup)

Ingredients

3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1/4 cup orzo
3 packed cups fresh spinach
2 large eggs
2 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese Continue reading »

Year of the Soup: Week 19

Rhubarb is weird.  Pink on the outside, green on the inside, it looks like celery and tastes kinda like a Sour Patch Kid.  It’s weird.  John brought home an armful of this weirdness to make his Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.   (Yes, he makes pie.  And it’s amazing.  You should be jealous.)  But what do you do with the leftover stalks?  If you’re me, you make soup, of course.

Coincidentally enough, rhubarb is also weird as a soup.  Sweet and fruity, I’d bet this chilled soup could be very refreshing on a hot August day.  But when its still freezing overnight in May, chilled soup doesn’t exactly hit the spot.  Regardless, this was my first chilled soup, my first fruit soup, and easily the fastest soup I’ve made yet.  So it’s got that going for it.  Not terrible by any stretch, but I think rhubarb should really stick to pie.  Soup just isn’t it’s strong suit.

Chilled Orange Rhubarb Soup

Ingredients

1 medium orange
2 pounds rhubarb
1 cup sugar
4 cups water

Directions

Year of the Soup: Week 18

Hallelujah, the farmer’s market is back!  I was so excited for the first one of the season last Saturday that I showed up 15 minutes early.  Yes, I am a produce nerd.  It was freezing cold (what the what, May), and only one guy had anything local to offer ’cause it’s still early in the growing season here.  But what he did have to offer was asparagus that he’d picked Friday afternoon.  Score!  Fresh, local asparagus is heavenly.  I almost didn’t want to use any of my stash up in soup, but this recipe lets the natural flavor shine.  Yummilicious.  So excited for more fresh produce soups!

In case you’re wondering if my skills with the blender have progressed since the Borscht and black bean incidents, it has not.  Bright green puree made its way all over the counter and onto the front of three cabinets in our new kitchen.  I’m a mess.  I hope my landlord doesn’t read this.

Cream of Fresh Asparagus Soup

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
  
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pinch ground black pepper
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice Continue reading »

Year of the Soup: Week 17

Nothing makes a new apartment feel like home quite like the smell of fresh boiling soup.  In this case, it was our new apartment in Uptown (which we moved into this past Wednesday), and a boiling pot of Wonton Soup.  Fragrant ginger, soy and chili sauces finally overpowered the less pleasant aromas of still drying floor varnish and fresh paint.  I feel more settled now knowing that I’ve cooked something delicious in our new kitchen.

The wonton filling for this recipe seemed a bit odd, and in fact I thought it tasted odd by itself.  Something about the texture of seitan mixed with dijon mustard conjured up thoughts of baloney sandwiches for me, which didn’t seem promising for an Asian soup.  But don’t be fooled.  Once the filling mixes with the lovely light broth, it’s a truly delicious combination.  Not the flavors you might expect from a classic wonton soup, but delicious nonetheless.

Now if only I could figure out how to get the sofa through the living room door, I’d really feel at home…

Wonton Soup

Ingredients

Wontons

• 16 Wonton Skins
• 1 Tbs Oil
• 1-2 tsp Fresh Ginger, minced
• 1 Cup Chinese Broccoli, thinly sliced
• 3/4 Cup Seitan, chopped fine
• 1/2 tsp Hot Chili Sauce, more if desired (like Sriracha)
• 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 tsp Tamari or Soy Sauce

Ginger-Soy Broth

• 4 Cups Water
• 5-6 Fresh Ginger Slices
• 2 Tbs Tamari (or soy sauce)
• 1 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 2 tsp Rice Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 Cup Chinese Broccoli Leaves, packed (sub: spinach or collards) Continue reading »

Year of the Soup: Week 16

Many people have asked if my soup project stems from a desire to be the next Julie & Julia.  Many people.  (Not just the person who left a blog comment – I am not picking on you!)  The answer is no.  Yes, I’ve seen the movie, and I liked it.  It made me want to eat lots of butter, but it didn’t inspire me to invent a cooking project to blog about.  I just like to cook.  The inspiration truly was as simple as explained here, and Meryl Streep wasn’t involved :) (Although she was fantastic in that movie – you should see it if you haven’t!)

So now that we’ve got that cleared up, here’s this week’s recipe.  This soup is hearty and filling – it definitely “eats like a meal.”  Excellent for this crazy cold spring weather we’re having.  Enjoy!

Pasta e Fagioli

Ingredient

• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 medium-size fennel bulb, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 medium-size onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2/3 cup chopped celery
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 15-oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable     broth
• 1 tsp. salt
• 8 oz. whole-wheat ditalini or orzo pasta
• 3 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add fennel, onion and celery, and sauté 7 minutes, or until vegetables are softened. Add garlic, oregano and pepper flakes, and cook 1 minute more. Stir in tomatoes and beans, and simmer 10 minutes over medium-low heat.
2. Add broth, salt and 2 1/2 cups water, and cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in pasta, and cook 10 minutes more, or until pasta is tender.
3. Sprinkle with parsley, and season with salt and pepper.