Black Bean and Cucumber Salad

Black Bean and Cucumber Salad

I don't know how this summer's been for you but, here in New York, it's been hot, hot, hot! Last week there were several days over 100F and, while I know that's mild for some it certainly isn't for us. I'm not terribly heat sensitive but, while our air conditioners made a valiant effort, it was still far too hot in the apartment to cook.

Cucumbers, Peeled, Seeded and Diced

During this heat wave, I found that I was craving different foods than usual. For example, I usually prefer cooked vegetables to raw but cucumbers (a vegetable I usually dislike) actually sounded quite appealing. See, when I'm really warm, I crave foods with a high water content in a constant effort to keep myself hydrated. I also crave spicy foods, probably because they make me drink more. So I started looking for cucumber recipes. I first stumbled upon a Shrimp and Cucumber Salad but that certainly wouldn't feed the vegetarian. And just leaving the out the shrimps would turn it into a side dish.


So then I found a Black Bean Cucumber Salad. That convinced me to use black beans so I went back to my original shrimp idea and was delighted to find Kalyn's Spicy Shrimp and Cucumber Salad with Mint, Lemon, and Cumin. With some substitutions and a little imagination, we were all set. Enjoy!


Black Bean and Cucumber Salad
inspired by SparkRecipes and Kalyn's Kitchen

• 1 16-oz. can black beans, drained
• 1 teaspoon fish spice blend
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 2 Mediterranean cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced
• 1-2 teaspoons Sriracha
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned fleur de sel
• 2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin, ground
• 2 dashes hot pepper sauce (I use Frank's)
• 1/8 teaspoon Himalayan salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 3 tablespoons lemon garlic olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.


Make it a Meal: To celebrate summer and keep the meal light, rather than making a traditional grain, go for

Cucumbers, Corn and Wine

some corn, simmered for 10 minutes (if you can bear to keep the stove on for that long). A great wine we recently discovered is Beach House. Mostly Sauvignon Blanc, it's very easy to drink and perfect for a hot summer's night (and, I'm sure, even nicer if you're lucky enough to be by the beach!). For dessert, chocolate (or vanilla or almond) milk! Bon appetit!


Links to other cucumber salad noshes:

• Sesame Cucumber Salad from Simply Recipes
• Julia Child's Cucumber Salad from A Veggie Venture
• Spicy Chinese Cucumber Salad from Use Real Butter
• Sichuan Cucumber Salad from Appetite for China
• Cool as a Cucumber Salad from Gluten-Free Goddess

Falafel and Baba Ghanoush

Pita with Falafel and Baba Ghanoush

How often do you cook dinner? Lately I've been finding cooking an entire meal more and more daunting. It's summer and far too nice out to spend unnecessary amounts of time in the kitchen. I also don't have the time to put extra energy into meal planning these days. And never mind trying to make more than one meal if I want non-vegetarian fare. However, much as I'd often like to, we can't have pasta every night!


So I've started, slowly, moving out of my comfort zone and explore foods from other cultures -- cultures that are naturally more bent towards vegetarian-friendly foods than Jewish and French cuisines (where the majority of my cooking experience lies). My first stop on this voyage is Middle Eastern, a cuisine the vegetarian and I frequently indulge in when eating out but, other than a few examples, one I never cook at home. But no more!

Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Onions 

First up was falafel, a ball or patty traditionally made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. We opted for chickpeas and, rather than relying on various hot sauces for flavoring, we added lots of spices right in with the beans. The flavor was delicious. The texture, unfortunately, left something to be desired. The falafel patties never quite stayed together so we ended up with fried crumbles more than we did patties. Inside a pita, all was soon forgiven. But any suggestions to improve the texture are much appreciated!


Falafel is traditionally served with tahini, a paste of ground sesame seeds, but, always looking for an excuse to sneak extra vegetables into our diet, I took that a step further and served it with baba ghanoush, a spread made of roasted eggplant with tahini. Enjoy! 


Falafel

Falafel

adapted from How to Cook Everything and One Perfect Bite

• 1 3/4 cups dried chickpeas
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 yellow onion, quartered
• 1 teaspoon coriander, ground
• 1 tablespoon cumin, ground
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• safflower oil, for deep-frying
• 6 pita breads
• 1 head romaine lettuce, shredded
• 2 slicing tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 2 kirby cucumbers, sliced
• baba ghanoush (recipe follows)

Put chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with water. Let soak for 24 hours. They will double/triple in volume. Drain the beans well and transfer to a food processor along with all other ingredients through the lemon juice. Pulse until very finely minced but not pureed. Heat a large skillet over a medium-high flame and pour in safflower oil until it coats the pan by at least 2 inches. Heat oil until it flows like water in the pan and a pinch of batter sizzles immediately. Take heaping tablespoons of batter and shape into small patties, using a spoon to shape them as tightly as possible to give them the greatest chance of staying together. Fry in oil, until nicely browned, about 2 minutes on each side. Stuff pita with lettuce, falafel, tomatoes, onion and cucumbers. Drizzle with baba ghanoush. Serve immediately.

Baba Ghanoush

Baba Ghanoush

adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and One Perfect Bite

• 1 large American eggplant
• 3 cloves rocambole, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup sesame paste
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Himalayan salt
• lemon garlic olive oil
• Italian parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 425F. Slash eggplant in several places so it won't explode in the
oven. Place on a baking pan and bake 40 minutes. Let rest until cool enough to handle. Peel off eggplant skin and discard. Squeeze flesh a bit if very watery. Transfer to food processor and puree with rocambole, sesame paste and water. With motor running, drizzle in lemon juice. Add salt. Transfer puree to a bowl. Drizzle olive oil on top and garnish with parsley.

The Whole Spread

Make It a Meal: This is really a meal in itself. I'd recommend it with a rose or sauvignon blanc. Perhaps some yogurt for dessert. Bon appetit!

Leftovers: Make some big couscous and mix in the baba ghanoush and falafel. Yum!

Links to other falafel noshes:

• An Easy Falafel from The Hummus Blog
• Baked Sweet Potato Falafel from 101 Cookbooks
• Baked Falafel Patties with Yogurt-Tahini Sauce from Kalyn's Kitchen
• CrockPot Falafel from A Year of Slow Cooking
• Chickpea Falafel from The Perfect Pantry

Broiled Edamame with Fennel and Lemon

Edamame with Fennel and Lemon

Last night, the vegetarian and I were able to enjoy a rare mutual night off. Rather than going out, we decided to stay in and cook together! And yesterday was one of those days where you can sense spring trying so very hard to push winter away and fly free. While spring hasn't quite settle down, my cravings for spring produce and lighter, pale green foods certainly have!

Edamame, ready for the oven

This meant, that, after having eaten lots of pastas, composed salads and tea this past (exceptionally busy) week, what I wanted last night was vegetable-based, fresh and easy to make. What I wanted was fava beans. I first encountered fava beans two summers ago when I belonged to a CSA. Never having made them before, I cooked them very simply the first time -- with garlic and oil, if I remember correctly -- and waited patiently, collecting recipes all the while, until I could have them again.


I rediscovered the recipe treasure trove last week and was most 
inspired by two recipes: Grilled Fava Bean Pods on Food & Wine and Potato Salad with Fava Beans and Fennel on Kitchen Konfidence. Of course, I live in an apartment without a grill (although we do have some outside space...) so I devised a way to "grill" using a preheated iron pan and a broiler instead.

But, you're thinking, isn't today's recipe for edamame, Lady A? So why on earth are you going on and on

Fennel et al., awaiting the Edamame

about fava beans? Because, darlings, The best laid schemes of mice and men/go oft awry. Which is to say that, spring having begun only astronomically and not meteorologically, fava beans are certainly not in season. So I defrosted the frozen edamame we received this month from Winter Sun Farms and made them instead.


Broiled Edamame with Fennel and Lemon
adapted from Food and Wine's Grilled Fava Bean Pods with Chile and Lemon

• 1 pound edamame pods, defrosted if frozen and spun dry in a salad spinner
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 bulb fennel, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges (optional)

Ozzy, looking longingly up at our dinner

Raise oven rack as high as possible, place an iron pan on rack and preheat oven (with pan inside) to 550F. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss edamame with olive oil. When oven is heated. remove pan and turn on broiler. Add edamame to hot pan and place under broiler. Broil 5 minutes, shaking pan occasionally.

Meanwhile, in the same bowl, mix together fennel, green onion, red pepper flakes and kosher salt. when edamame is cooked, add to bowl and toss well to combine. Serve with lemon wedges. Enjoy!

Make it a Meal: As an alternative to your standard grain, try this with some savory oatmeal, prepared like

Edamame, Fennel, Oatmeal and Wine

rice by cooking it in water with olive oil, red pepper flakes and 
kosher salt. Stir in some Bulgarian feta as well, or just have the feta later for dessert. And to drink? I recommend a clean Sauvignon Blanc (ours was from Channing Daughters, of whose Wine CSA we're proud members). Bon appetit!

Links to fennel noshes:

• Roasted Fennel from Simply Recipes
• Carrot and Fennel Soup from 101 Cookbooks
• Braised Fennel from Simply Recipes

Tarragon Pistachio Butter and Beer Making, Part I

Tarragon Pistachio Butter

One of our Chanukah presents this year was a beer maker which, until now, has sat patiently above our kitchen cabinets, waiting to be used. Sunday night, after spring teased us with a 60F-day on Friday (only to shoot back down to a wintry 20F over the weekend), we decided it was time. Since neither the vegetarian nor I know very much about beer or beer-making, we invited one of his best friends from college, E, over to join in the merriment. We made West Coast Pale Ale, set everything in a (mostly) empty cabinet and began the more-immediate task of making dinner.


I've been on a sweet potato kick lately and, while looking for yummy sweet potato recipes in the folder in which I keep all the recipes I've stumbled upon and plan to make, I excitedly lighted on the word "sweet". It was followed, however, not by the word "potato" but instead by "pistachio".  Ah, yes! The Sweet Pistachio Butter from 101 Cookbooks--a vegetarian "healthy recipe journal" that I cannot recommend highly enough--that I had saved as a way to use up the pistachios from my Cornish Hens (and Tofu) with 

An (almost-set) Table

Cranberry Paste. (On a side note, one of my former college roommates, Miss Julie, a San Franciscan, cooks from there incessantly and was actually the one who first turned me on to the site.) Heidi made her Pistachio Butter for crepes but I, with my waning sweet tooth, wanted something more savory, to serve atop a protein. I stared for a while at the picture of Heidi's brilliantly green butter and decided to replace the sweetener with an herb. What herb? Something light, with a sweet taste and a loud flavor--tarragon! I often think of tarragon with chicken, but instead I paired it with Salmon Roasted with Herbs (from How to Cook Everything) for E and me and Tofu Roasted with Herbs for the vegetarian. The tarragon created just the right amount of sweetness to balance out the flavor of the pistachios and paired beautifully with the richness of the salmon. It also matched quite nicely with the delicate flavor of the tofu, I was told. And, to satisfy this sweet potato obsession, we had Roasted Yam Puree with Brown Butter--decadent and delightful. There was also a Cherry Tomato-Caper Salad and Hummus with Capers. And, while I would 
recommend a Viognier as a wine-pairing, we stayed on our beer theme and instead 
had Long Haul Session Ale with the Hummus and Morimoto Soba Ale with the Salmon, Tofu and Tarragon 
Pistachio Butter. I highly recommend both, especially the Morimoto. Enjoy!


Tarragon Pistachio Butter

• 

  Salmon and Tofu

  1 cup almonds
• 1 cup pistachios, shelled and crushed
• 1 bunch fresh tarragon leaves
• 1/2 cup water, hot (from the tap is fine)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 pinches Hawaiian salt

First peel almonds: pour boiling water into a small bowl and add almonds. Allow to sit at least 1 minute, then remove them one at a time (go for those whose peels are the most shriveled first) and peel, rub, whatever to remove.

Place peeled almonds into food processor along with pistachios, tarragon, hot water and garlic. Pulse until all one consistency (add more water if you'd like it to be wetter), then add salt and pulse once or twice more to incorporate. Serve, atop salmon, tofu or whatever you'd like. Makes more than enough for 3 people's dinner. Enjoy!

Links to other tarragon pistachio butter noshes:

• Baked Peas with Tarragon, Yogurt, and Pistachios from 101 Cookbooks
• Tarragon Chicken Thighs with Buttered Leeks from Winter Skies, Kitchen Aglow

MLLA 32: French-Style Lentil Soup

French-Style Lentil Soup

Lentilles Verte du Puy

One of the goodies I brought back from Paris for the Vegetarian and me to enjoy was a box of French green lentils, an AOC-protected variety that many consider to be the best lentils in the world. Blue-green when uncooked, they are quite beautiful and certainly not "peasant food." I often think of lentils as a winter food and, with all the snow we've been having in New York, a lentil soup was exactly what we've been craving.


As I slowly adapt myself to a (mostly) vegetarian diet, I have a new-found appreciation for legumes. High in protein, they're an excellent main dish and alternative to tofu. Lentils are probably my favorite variety. One such reason is simply time commitment--unlike most legumes, lentils don't need to be soaked. They can just be rinsed, sorted (to make sure no small stones sneaked in) and cooked. They also only need about 45 minutes to cook, unlike many beans which require several hours. This all means that I can still get dinner on the table, even when I come home late and don't plan ahead.


Because I used French lentils, I decided to make the flavorings of this soup reflect French cuisine as well. Wanting a meal that really stuck to our ribs (and knowing the Vegetarian craves starches as much as I do protein), we had this over Mashed Celery Potatoes. Not traditional, I know, but delicious all the same.


And, because this is a legume dish, it's my first entry into the 32nd installment of My Legume Love Affair. Enjoy!


French-Style Lentil Soup
adapted from a recipe for French Lentil Soup from Epicurious and one for Egyptian-Style Lentil Soup from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen.

• 1 red onion, sliced into very thin rings
• 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, coarsely chopped
• 6 baby carrots, coarsely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin, ground
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 4 cups vegetable broth (I recommend Imagine Organic Vegetable Broth)
• 4 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups French green lentils
• 1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon + 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, ground
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon French sea salt
• 1 lemon, quartered

Preheat oven to 425 F. Place red onion in a pie plate and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cover tightly with tin foil and roast for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest until ready to serve.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy stockpot over medium heat. Add yellow 

Simmering Lentil Soup

onions, carrots, celery, garlic, cumin and fennel seeds, reduce heat to medium-low and saute until vegetables begin to brown, about 15 minutes. Add vegetable broth, water, lentils, tomatoes, kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Bring to a boil then lower heat immediately, cover partially, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and simmer for an additional 15 minutes, until lentils are very tender and the broth has thickened.

Remove from heat, stir in reserved red onion and its olive oil, as well as balsamic vinegar. Season with French sea salt and additional 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Serve, over mashed celery potatoes if desired, with lemon wedges. Enjoy!


Update: check out Sandhya's beautiful round-up and congratulations to all the winners!

Links to other French Lentil Soup noshes:

• French Green Lentil Soup from Kiss My Spatula
• Kabocha French Lentil Soup from 101 Cookbooks
• French Green Lentil and Spinach Soup from Former Chef
• Lively Up Yourself Lentil Soup from 101 Cookbooks
• Barefoot Contessa's French Lentil Soup from Tales from a Veggie Kitchen
• French-Style Lentil Soup with Spinach from Cheap Healthy Good

Happy New Year! and Tofu Nicoise Salad of Roasted Red Onion, Potatoes, Green Beans, and Olives

Happy New Year and welcome to 2011! We had a quiet celebration with a visit from Jess, a friend from college, with whom we went to see Harry Potter, ordered in Mexican food, read aloud and watched Sherlock, a splendiferous new series from BBC. All in all, a quiet, restful beginning to what I sincerely hope will be a wonderfully delicious year.

In response to all the rich foods we've all been eating this month (and with an eye towards healthy New Year's resolutions), today's recipe is for a delicious main course salad we enjoyed a few weeks ago. It's my take on a Salad Nicoise, made vegetarian by substituting tofu for the tuna, with a few other tweaks as well. Great with a sparkling wine. Enjoy!

Tofu Nicoise Salad of Roasted Red Onion, Potatoes, Green Beans, and Olives

adapted from the Vegetarian Times

• 1 red onion, peeled
• 1/2 teaspoon + 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 purple potato
• 1 red-skinned potato
• 4 Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered
• 10 ounces green beans, trimmed (I used frozen ones which worked great)
• 1/4 cup Italian dressing
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed (in a garlic press)
• 1/8 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, ground
• 5 ounces spring salad mix
• 4 sun-dried tomatoes, quartered
• 2 8-ounce packages baked tofu, cut into 1-inch slices
• 4 white mushrooms, sliced thinly
• 1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
• 1/4 cup Manzanilla olives, pitted and halved
• 1/8 teaspoon Fleur de Sel

Preheat oven to 400F. Rub onion with olive oil, place on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet and roast 40 minutes. When lightly charred, remove and let cool. Peel off outermost layer and cut into 1-inch chunks. Set aside.

Meanwhile, place potatoes in large saucepan with cold salted water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to medium-high and cook about 20 minutes. Drain and, when cool, cut into 1-inch chunks. Set aside.

Boil green beans in a small pot of salted water for 5 minutes. If whole, cut into 2-inch pieces and set aside.

Whisk together Italian dressing, lemon juice, garlic and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Let stand 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together salad mix, tomatoes, tofu, green beans, mushrooms, olives, onion, potatoes, 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and dressing. Toss thoroughly to combine. Serve at room temperature.

Links to other salad Nicoise noshes:

• Nicoise Salad from Simply Recipes
• Nicoise Salad from No Recipes
• Salade Nicoise from YumSugar
• Nicoise Salad from Guilty Kitchen
• Quick and Easy Nicoise-Style Salad from The Kitchn
• Salad Nicoise, American Style from Tea & Cookies
• Seared Swordfish Nicoise Salad from Stephencooks
• Nicoise Pasta Salad from Treat a Week Recipes
• Nicoise Salad from Macheesmo
• Classic Salade Nicoise from David Lebovitz
• Nicoise Salad from Je Mange la Ville
• Comme Ci Comme Ca Salade Nicoise from KarmaFree Cooking

Hummus with Roasted Red Pepper, Capers and Cilantro

Last night, we finally had our first dinner party in the new apartment. Because of the blizzard, however, we had only one guest--Davey--my best friend and pseudo-brother. In his honor, I made roast beef (and broiled tofu for the Vegetarian), Spicy Broiled Eggplant and Hummus with Roasted Red Pepper, Capers and Cilantro. We also enjoyed a delicious box(!) of Merlot. Everything was delicious and, as usual, there was far too much food--even for three hearty eaters. However, the one thing there could have been more of was the hummus (which we first served with pita chips but then spread onto bread, tofu, eggplant--even the roast beef--until we were practically licking the bowls! (It was so good, and disappeared so thoroughly that we didn't even get to take a picture.) The Vegetarian kept declaring it "amazing" and we've already begun dreaming up new hummus combinations. This one was inspired by one in the The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen to which I added (among other things) capers since The Flavor Bible informed me they are good "esp. with roasted peppers". They were. Enjoy!

Hummus with Roasted Red Pepper, Capers and Cilantro

• 2 red bell peppers, quartered
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 (15-oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 2 teaspoons cumin, ground
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel
• 5 green onions, chopped (white and green parts)
• 1 leek, finely chopped (white part only)
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 1-2 bags pita chips

Preheat oven to 400F. Arrange peppers on foil-lined baking sheet, skin sides up, and bake 20 minutes, until skins char. Meanwhile, place sesame seeds on a small saucepan over medium heat and toast, shaking every minute or so, for about 5 minutes, or until they become fragrant. When sesame seeds are toasted, remove from pan and set aside to cool. When peppers are roasted, place in brown paper bag, roll it securely closed and set it aside 20 minutes to cool and steam so pepper skins are easy to remove. After 20 minutes, peel skins off pepper quarters with your hands.

In a food processor, combine chickpeas and vegetable broth until smooth. Continue the food processor and add peppers, cumin, lemon juice, capers, sesame seeds, garlic, hot pepper sauce and salt. Transfer to a serving bowl and stir in green onions, leeks and cilantro. Serve with pita chips.

Links to other hummus noshes:

• Hummus from Simply Recipes
• Real Hummus from The Hummus Blog
• Roasted Red Pepper Hummus from Pinch My Salt

Tomato-Fennel Soup

News! News and revelations! In July, the Vegetarian, Ozzy and I moved in together to a spacious one-bedroom in the Lincoln Center area of Manhattan. Moving in during the summer certainly made me more eager to cook (that and discovering the adorable Tucker Square Greenmarket only a few blocks away) but focusing on creating healthy vegetarian meals made me far less adventurous. So I invested in a few new vegetarian cookbooks, revisited ones I already owned and decided to let my kitchen creativity come out in other ways--meal planning, substitutions, etc. and let writing and creating my own recipes disappear.

Then I got busy. From October through December I've been working on no fewer than 3 projects at a time, which left very little time for cooking and even less energy. We began ordering in frequently, buying prepared foods, etc. Getting frustrated with our complacency, we joined a wine CSA. And when the wines began arriving, I started recipe planning again. Each new wine created a new list of delightful-sounding recipes culled from cookbooks and the internet. Of course, there are many more recipes than we can realistically have with one bottle of wine! But that was enough to get me back into the kitchen, tasting, experimenting and playing. Now, when we have free time, cooking together has become one of the Vegetarian and my favorite activities!

So, without further ado, here is the most recent creation: Tomato-Fennel Soup. With the recent cold spell, we needed something warming but, wanting to remain healthy, trim and energetic, I've been craving lighter, more summery flavors. Obviously fresh tomatoes are no good this time of year. But canned tomatoes can be cooked down into a delicious soup. And, with the addition of some fresh fennel and a bit of cumin, this turned into a lovely dish. Served alongside a Fresh Tofu Salad and a bottle of Sardinian Vermentino, it became a complete meal.

Tomato-Fennel Soup

Adapted from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped
• 4 shallots, chopped finely
• 2 baby carrots, chopped finely
• 1 28-ounce can whole sauce tomatoes
• 1/2 cup mushroom broth
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 2 tablespoons fennel leaves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Heat oil in a medium stockpot over medium-low heat. Add fennel bulb, shallots and carrots and cook, stirring, 15 minutes.

Add tomatoes, broth, salt, cumin and pepper. Raise heat to high, cover and bring to a boil. Still covered, return heat to medium-low and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up tomatoes with your spoon. Remove from heat and blend, using an immersion blender. You can leave the soup as chunky or as smooth as you desire. Ours was somewhere in between. Serve hot, sprinkled with fennel leaves and cilantro. Enjoy!

Links to other tomato fennel soup noshes:

• Tomato Fennel Soup from Kitchenography
• Tomato & Fennel Soup from Just Cook It
• Tomato-Fennel Soup from Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef
• Roasted Cauliflower, Roma's and Fennel Soup from Cucina Panzano
• Spicy Tomato and Fennel Soup from Fairy Cake Heaven
• Tomato and Fennel Soup from Clivia's Cuisine
• Fennel & Tomato Soup with Basil & Haloumi Croutons from Sophies Foodiefiles
• Golden Tomato Soup with Fennel from The Wednesday Chef

CSA Week 5: Caramelized Beets with Garlic

Another week and another batch of produce. This week, we had quite a large assortment of vegetables--so much so that, I admit, I'm a little stumped as to what to do with it all! So, if you have any suggestions, please feel free to share them. And, with no further ado, the vegetable goodies were: spring onions, fresh garlic, carrots, fava bean pods, beets, field greens and swiss chard. The fruit was very similar to last week, with one minor addition: pink currants, black currants and cherries. All in all, a varied haul. Thus far, I've made a Garden Harvest Cake, using twice as many carrots and ignoring the zucchini; a Carrot, Turnip and Mint Salad with Raisins, finally finishing the turnips from so long ago; and these Caramelized Beets with Garlic, the idea for which I took from this wonderful ode to beets on Farmgirl Fare.

Although beets have gained a bad reputation, we needed no convincing of their deliciousness. However, I'm always looking for new ways to enjoy vegetables and these caramelized beets were so easy that I knew I had to try them. I only wish I had more beets! We enjoyed them with deviled eggs with anchovies and white beer. This was also the first time I made beets forgoing the messy task of peeling them. Enjoy!

Caramelized Beets with Garlic

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 beets, scrubbed well, greens reserved and bottoms trimmed, diced
• 3 cloves garlic
• pinch kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cardamom, ground

Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add beets and cook, stirring frequently, for 45 minutes. When beets are soft, add garlic, salt and cardamom and cook undisturbed 1 minute. Mix everything together and cook 1 more minute so flavors meld. Serve.
Links to other beets noshes:

• Pickled Beets from Simply Recipes
• Beet Chocolate Brownies from La Tartine Gourmande
• Swedish Pickled Beetroot Salad from A Veggie Venture