Green Tomato Vegetable Soup

Tomatoes went in late this year so we ended up with a lot of green fruit left on the vines as the days got shorter and colder this fall. Oh, green tomatoes. I’ve dutifully tried frying them and have tasted pie made with them, but just haven't developed a taste for them. At least not until I played with some recipes and came up with this last weekend. It’s on the light side but more flavorful than I expected from a simple and quick soup. Because of the cumin it smells like chili on the stove, but ends up tasting like - well, like delicious vegetable soup. The cumin does lovely things for the slightly-acidic green tomatoes.  

Green Tomato Vegetable Soup 

2-3 Tblsp. olive oil

1 onion chopped
1 ¼ cups chopped carrots
1 ¼ cups chopped green beans
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 tsp. ground cumin
¾ tsp. oregano
¼ tsp marjoram
Pepper to taste
4-5 green (unripe red) tomatoes, chopped into small dice (I left skins on)
1 - 15 oz can diced tomatoes (or equivalent fresh red chopped tomatoes)
1 - 15 oz. can corn, drained
1 - 15 oz. can black beans, well-rinsed
8 cups vegetable broth
Salt (to taste if needed)

In a medium sized stockpot heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion  and carrots and sauté about 3 minutes. Add the green beans and garlic and sauté about 2 more minutes. Add the spices, tomatoes, black beans and corn. Cook over medium heat about 5 minutes. Stir in the vegetable broth and bring just to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook about 20 minutes until all vegetables are cooked and flavors have blended. Taste and add salt if needed. Serve with sourdough bread or garlic crostini or tortilla chips. 

The kids were meh on this dish but didn't hate it. Recipe above made enough for dinner for 4 with generous leftovers for the next day's lunch.

Fun with Legumes

My husband enjoys cooking for adventure. He’s an explorer of flavor, ascending new culinary terrain "because it's there." Or just to say “I did that once.” (ahem, haggis). 

I don't cook for adventure, but there is definitely an emotional satisfaction in being the kitchen. As I stewed and stirred last week during our blizzard snow days, I felt a connection with people in other times and places who have cozied up in a steamy, fragrant kitchen on a cold winter day.  I like the feeling that I'm just another link in generations of cooks creating comfort food across continents and centuries: a legume, a grain, some root vegetables, dried fruit or canned tomatoes, local seasonings and time over the fire.

Here are three of the dishes our family enjoyed during the recent blizzard season. Most of the ingredients are things that can be kept on-hand in the pantry, and these are cheap, hearty foods. I don't think any of these cost more than $5 to make.

Lentil Soup
You knew there would be a lentil soup during Cheap Eats month, right? I am still looking for the perfect lentil soup recipe, but this is pretty good, and pretty easy. At this point this soup is a “whatever I have and what I’m in the mood to throw in” recipe, but I have to give credit to the Daily Soup Cookbook which (as it often does) provided the original recipe that I've tweaked over time.

1 head roasted garlic, cooled, skinned and pureed.

wrap whole head of garlic in foil. Roast in oven for 20 minutes until tender. Allow to cool. Peel and puree in food processor (or with immersion blender – doesn’t work as well, but I hate washing the food processor.)

Butter or oil, about 2 Tblsp. (note: you need the richness of some kind of oil or butter for the lentils – don’t skimp)

1 onion chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 tsp. rosemary

1 tsp. thyme

2 bay leaves
1 bag (1 lb) lentils, rinsed and inspected. (I use regular brown lentils as found in the grocery store)

Salt and pepper

8 cups vegetable stock, or water + stock, or water and Penzey’s vegetable soup base, or just plain water

1 large (28 oz.) can whole tomatoes that you have drained and diced.

½ -1 small can tomato paste

1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or fresh lemon juice

(optional) fresh parsley for garnish

In a stock pot or big sauce pan, saute the onion, celery and carrots for about 5 minutes until starting to get tender. 

Add the spices and stir.

Add the bay leaves, lentils, stock or water, tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover (leave lid slightly ajar or use a vented lid.)

Simmer for 1 hour. Check and add liquid if needed during the last half of cooking time.

At the end of cooking, add the roasted garlic and cook for a few minutes to blend flavor. 

Right before serving, add the vinegar or lemon and taste. Add more vinegar or lemon if needed. Garnish bowls with parsley if you like.

I like the heartiness of lentils a lot, and my kids like them too, but I find them to be kind of a one-note flavor, which is what the vinegar or lemon is for - to punch it up a little. Because the garlic and vegetables add sweetness, you will probably want to add salt at the table, and you should also put out vinegar and hot sauce for serving.

Serves 8

Curried Yellow Split Peas

I am going to be experimenting with yellow split peas in dahl more often – the flavor is rich, different from lentils. 

When the kids are underfoot and asking when dinner is, it's hard to get a decent photo!
It was delicious - much better than it looks here.

I followed this recipe from Viet World Kitchen http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2011/01/basic-yellow-split-pea-dal-recipe.html pretty closely, except that I left out the cayenne for the kids. We ate the dal with naan that I had in the freezer.

Arroz con Gandules (Pigeon Peas and Rice)

Halfway around the world again, back to the Americas and Puerto Rico. My friend David encouraged me to look for a pigeon peas and rice recipe when I was first exploring the world of legumes. It was the comfort food of his childhood, and I can see why – pigeon peas are a really yummy and easy ingredient to work with. 

Traditionally, this dish has ham or another smoky meat and I haven’t really tried to sub that. I feel like it has quite a bit of flavor without it.

1 tablespoon olive oil

¾ cup sofrito. You can buy sofrito (which looks to me like what I call “fresh salsa”) but I just make it by mixing:

Roma tomato, diced small

White onion, diced small

Bell pepper (green and/or red)

Fresh cilantro

(optional) fresh chile pepper (such as jalapeno, Serrano), chopped very fine

Salt and pepper

2 cups white rice (I haven’t tried brown, but you could use it – increase the water and cooking time.)

4 cups water

1 packet Sazón Goya, Sazón with Coriander and Annatto* (or, substitute seasoning of your choice – salt, pepper, garlic powder, and mild paprika is what I've used.)

1 15-ounce can Pigeon Peas (drained and rinsed)

               

*I confess: I used the MSG-containing Sazon this time. We had it in the house, and wow, it really does add that umami fullness to the flavor. If your kids, like mine, want the orange color, it is just annatto, which is a natural food coloring made from achiote seeds and you can buy it as a spice.

Heat olive oil in roomy skillet (I used a 10” cast iron frying pan).

Saute the sofrito briefly.

Add the rice, water, sazon and pigeon peas

Bring to a boil. Cover tightly and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 35-45 minutes, checking and adding water if needed, until rice is cooked and peas are soft. Serves 4.

Ten Thumbs Up Minestrone

That’s right – when I asked the kids to rate this meal by thumbs, they put all their digits in the air. Reluctant amateur cook mom WIN. 

(OK, so part of that might be the way I refused to let them into the kitchen and have a snack, and dinner wasn’t served until 6:30. Hunger = best sauce. But still.)

Another nod to the Daily Soup Cookbook. They have three fine-sounding recipes for minestrone. I’ve never actually made the recipes, given that I can’t plan ahead and never have all the ingredients,  but they give me a starting point and proportions, and whatever’s in the house pretty much dictates the direction from there. This recipe makes a lot of soup – half will serve 4 generously.

Ten Thumbs Up Minestrone

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 leeks, rinsed well and chopped fine

2 cloves garlic, peeled, minced

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

8-10 cups of veggie broth

2  15-oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1  28-oz can whole tomatoes, drained and diced (I don’t know why, but it seems to taste more tomato-y than canned diced tomatoes)

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

½ cup savoy cabbage, chopped

½ cup small pasta for soup (I used small ditali, ditalini)

1/3 to ½ cup basil pesto

(optional) fresh-grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, leeks, and garlic and cook until tender (about 5 min.)

Add the seasonings and stir.

Add the beans, broth, and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about an hour.

Note – at this point the soup can be put away in the refrigerator or freezer if you aren’t serving immediately. The next few steps are for right before serving.

To simmering soup, add the carrots and cabbage and cook about 10 minutes, partially covered, until carrots are mostly soft. Add the ditalini pasta and cook partially covered about 5-7 minutes (or package directions) until pasta is al dente.   

Turn off the heat and stir in the pesto. 

Serve with grated Parmesan and garlic bread.

Makes lots of soup – 10-12 cups.

Greek Tomato Soup

A few years ago, our friend Joe gave us the Daily Soup Cookbook. Everything we've made from it is fantastic, but I wouldn't go looking for inspiration there on a weekday normally because - well, it's soup, and often that means an all-day wait. I knew I had to share this recipe when Tom made it on a Tuesday and mentioned that it was fast and easy. It's also vegetarian, and the kids loved it. (Milo cheered when he heard there were leftovers. I swear.)

The recipe calls for trahana pasta, but Tom used orzo. The feta snuggles in with the tomato, somehow cutting the acid but accentuating the piquant and adding richness of flavor. It took me a few minutes to figure out what that flavor was. 

Another thing about this dish. Cheap. We had garden tomatoes. If you make your own stock, I think you can serve this for about a dime a bowl. Maybe a quarter if you buy the fancy feta - but then you'll have leftover feta for the salad and extra dollars for the french baguette. Mmm.

Greek Tomato with Trahana Pasta [soup]

(from The Daily Soup Cookbook)

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 medium white onions, chopped 

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes, diced

8 cups Basic Vegetable Stock [make your own or canned - more on vegetable stock in an upcoming post]

2 ripe beefsteak tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 cup uncooked trahana pasta or couscous [we used orzo]

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese [2 tablespoons for the soup; the rest for garnish]

1/2 cup scallions [garnish]

1. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and sugar and sweat for 4 minutes, until tender

2. Add the cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, and cinnamon and stir to coat.

3. Add the canned tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Add the stock, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat, partially cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Stir in the fresh tomatoes, pasta, and 2 tablespoons of the feta cheese; simmer for 2 minutes.

6. Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes.

7. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with the remaining feta cheese and chopped scallions. [cook's note - we skipped the extra feta cheese - it did not really need it.]

Makes 12 cups