Category: Recipes

Ditalini-Veggie Sausage Soup

Definitely soup weather here, plus I’m still getting tons of veggies in my CSA share that need to be incorporated into various dishes. Soups are awfully forgiving and you can hide all kinds of vegetables in them! This recipe uses onion, bell pepper, radishes, carrot, garlic, and celery.

Ingredients:
1 T oil (EVOO or canola)
1 onion
1 green pepper
2 homemade or commercial veggie sausage links (I used this recipe, which is the best veggie sausage recipe I know of)
1 14 oz can diced tomato
1 28 oz can crushed tomato
2 28 oz cans of water
4 radishes
1 large carrot
1 stalk celery
8 cloves of garlic
1-2 t Italian seasoning
2 c dry ditalini pasta (small tube-shaped, about half a box/4 servings)
1 t mushroom base (or 1 un-chicken bouillon cube)
2 T nutritional yeast, optional

Method
Cook ditalini according to package directions in a separate pot or in your handy microwave pasta cooker. At the same time, add oil, chopped onion & green pepper and saute over medium heat. Add chopped sausage and saute until browned. Add tomatoes and water and bring to a boil. Chop carrot, radishes, and celery, then add them to the pot. Add cooked ditalini, lower heat. Add the rest of the ingredients , stir, cover, and simmer until carrots reach desired tenderness (about 20 minutes).

Soup x 2

I don’t know about you, but when the weather turns in September, all I want is soup! So here are two soup recipes I made this week.

Italian Mish-Mash Soup
Olive oil
1 onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1 squash/zucchini
1 bunch kale
1 bunch dragon beans
2 homemade seitan sausages or Field Roast Company Italian sausages
1 c cooked quinoa
Broth/water to cover (~8-12 c)
1 tsp tahini (optional)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 bunch fresh basil (optional)
1/3 c nutritional yeast (optional)

Directions: in a large stock pot, saute the onion and garlic in a little olive oil until softened and fragrant. Add chopped squash, kale, beans, faux sausage, and quinoa and stir. Add veggie broth/stock/water sufficient to cover the veggies. Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat and simmer until kale is done (~20-30 minutes). Depending on your taste and the flavorfulness of your stock, add the tahini, vinegar, basil, and yeast while simmering. Serve with a crusty bread and green salad.

Creamy Pesto Potato Soup
Olive oil
10 medium Yukon gold-style potatoes
2 medium fairy eggplant
2 medium leeks (white and light green parts)
2 homemade seitan sausages or Field Roast Company Italian sausages
1 bunch fresh basil
4 cloves garlic
Broth/water to cover (~8-12 c)
1 T Bragg liquid aminos (optional)
1/3 c nutritional yeast (optional)
1/3 c soy creamer (optional)

Dice the potatoes and eggplant and thinly slice the leeks. Add to a large stockpot with about 1-2 T olive oil. Put on low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add broth/water to cover and add remaining ingredients except creamer. Bring to a low boil then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are done. Remove from heat, stir in soy creamer (if using) and either blend half in a blender or use your immersion blender until soup is about half blended.

Curry


Curry

Tonight’s dinner was really fantastic: a Thai-style coconut milk curry with maifun (thin rice noodles), green beans and sugar snap peas from my garden, tomatoes from my garden and the CSA, broccoli, onion, garlic, basil, and cilantro from the CSA, and extra-firm tofu. Also included a little homemade peanut butter, red curry paste, Bragg’s liquid aminos, and rice vinegar. Forgot to add ginger and lime juice, but there was already so much going on with this dish that I doubt it would have made much difference. The coconut milk, garlic, curry paste, basil, cilantro, and Bragg’s were all blended in my food processor and added at the very end, along with the tofu. I actually had seconds, it was so good (I never have seconds!).

Soba with squash & green beans


Soba with squash

Tonight I made soba noodles with squash and green beans from my garden, adapting a recipe from Whole Foods. It turned out okay, but not great. Not sure what it lacked, but it seemed oddly flat. Pretty, though!

1 (8.8-ounce) package uncooked soba noodles
1 T canola oil
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 large onion, sliced
1 T ginger paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T Better Than Bouillon mushroom base
4 summer squash
3 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1 T rice vinegar
1 bunch green beans
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 bunch basil leaves, chopped
1 block baked tofu, diced
1 t rice flour (optional)

Method

Prepare soba noodles according to package instructions and drain well. Toss with a little sesame oil and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add carrots, onions, ginger, and garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add squash, mushroom base, soy sauce, water, and vinegar and cook for 3 minutes more. Stir in green beans, tofu, cilantro, and basil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until green beans are bright green. Add cooked noodles and toss gently to combine. Add rice flour if desired to thicken sauce.

Non-dairy ice creams

This afternoon, we went into town for a Boston Veg. Society event featuring Wheeler del Torro of Wheeler’s Frozen Desserts. He gave out samples of a couple of different kinds of vegan ice cream – a chocolate cherry and a mint chocolate chip – both were fantastic! We picked up a copy of his book, The Vegan Scoop, which he autographed for us. We’re making the Cherry Pie recipe right now, using our own sour cherries from the bushes in our front yard. Can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Hopefully, this will really help Mark keep on the vegan path – he has a total sweet tooth and is susceptible to the ice cream aisle in the supermarket.

Lentil stew with potatoes, greens, and mint

Made a very hearty and spicy lentil dish for dinner this evening. Used the CSA potatoes, beet greens, and garlic and my own mint.

Time: about 1/2 hour
Serves: 4

Ingredients

* 1 Tolive oil
* 2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1 onion, chopped
* 3 cups water or vegetable broth or no-chicken broth
* 1 cup lentils, rinsed, picked over
* 4-6 red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 1 T lemon juice
* 1 bunch fresh spinach, kale, or beet greens
* 3/4 t cumin
* 3/4 t dried or 1/8 c fresh thyme
* 1/4 t cayenne pepper (optional)
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and stir 30 seconds. Add water/broth and lentils; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add potatoes; cook, covered, until potatoes and lentils are tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

2. Add lemon juice, greens, cumin, thyme, and cayenne. Cover and simmer until greens are done. Mix in mint. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Indian food and sour cherries

We got a half bushel of potatoes in last week’s CSA delivery, so I’ve been looking up good potato recipes. On Friday, I made Aloo Mattar (potatoes and peas). Turned out delicious!

We have a few pounds of sour cherries to process this weekend – bounty from our cherry bushes. Thinking about making a batch of freezer jam and dehydrating a bunch to use in my oatmeal in place of the cranberries I usually use. I’ve also got some currants I need to use up. Should be a good time!

Seitan burritos

Tonight’s dinner was an effort to use up the last of my homemade chicken-style seitan (from this recipe – best chicken-style seitan ever!). I sliced up three seitan pieces into thin strips and sauteed them with 5 scallions (leftover from last week’s CSA share). Meanwhile, I topped two whole wheat tortillas with refried black beans, some red-veined Italian chicory leaves from my garden, some fresh cilantro (also from last week’s CSA share), and veggie cheese slices. Once the seitan was browned, I put half on each tortilla, folded them up into burrito-like bundles, placed into a small baking dish, and topped each with salsa. Popped the dish into the microwave for a couple of minutes and… done! Quite yummy.

I should note that I’m originally from Texas, so Tex-Mex is one of my favorite cuisines. I’m still getting used to eating it without a lot of cheese, though.