FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Summer Soup

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When people say that summertime is too hot for eating soup, I think what they really mean is summertime is too hot for eating soup in public.  I’m perfectly fine with wearing PJs, eating soup, and sweating it out in the comfort of my own home.  Twice.

I’ve been on a central market kick lately because I’m crushing hardcore on their produce department.  It lures you in with sheer beauty and then, once you realize how cheap everything is, you’re a total sucker, totally willing to sit in rush hour traffic to get your produce fix.  Two dollar-ish shitake mushrooms.  Dollar-ish bok choy, green onions, and cilantro.  Four cent serrano pepper.  Umm yeah, this gigantic boat of soup hovered around the ten dollar mark.

FoodFash Summer Soup (yields 4 servings)

12 cups of water

4 Not-Chick’n Bouillon Cubes

2 heads of baby bok choy, chopped

1/2 cup of fresh cilantro, stems removed

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1/4 lb of shitake mushrooms, sliced

1 serrano pepper, sliced (remove seeds if you’re sensitive to spice)

juice of 4 limes

8 oz of udon noodles

Bring water to a boil and add everything but the udon noodles.  Let boil for 5 minutes and then add the noodles.  Let boil for an additional 10 minutes and then remove from heat.  Let cool for a couple minutes and then serve.

I LOVED this soup.  Spicy cilantro lime should be the basis of every soup that even thinks about getting in my belly.  It’s tangy and spicy and, even though it’s temperature hot, still maintains that freshness vibe.  The moral of this story – embrace a good summer soup and sweat it out.  It’s totally worth it.

Mexican Polenta Casserole

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Weekends are for baking, Mondays are for veggies.  I had to remind myself of this constantly tonight to resist the urge to reclaim the pie I left with the boys on Saturday.

I distracted myself by heading to the market and loading up on lots of produce to vegify an already vegiful dish.

FoodFash Mexican Polenta Casserole (yields 8 servings)

Adapted from this Eating Well recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 poblano peppers, chopped

1 zucchini, shredded

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups of frozen chopped spinach

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound ready made polenta

1-1/2  cups enchilada sauce

top with Greek yogurt, sour cream, or non-dairy sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions and poblano peppers and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add shredded zucchini, tomatoes, beans, spinach, cumin, and salt.  Let cook over medium heat for another 5 minutes.  Slice polenta into 1/4″ thick slices (you’ll need about 24 slices).  Layer the bottom of 8×11-ish pan with 1/3 of the polenta slices.  Top with half of the veggies and 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce and repeat.  Top the casserole with the last 1/2 of the polenta slices and 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

I’d be lying if I said it didn’t take me a second to adjust my palate to eating a mostly dairy free meal again.  But by the time I was a few bites in (and I forgot about this weekend’s peanut butter pie and cheesy Mexican feasts) I began to appreciate my meal.  It reminded me of a hearty, polenta topped, stew – a perfect dinner for a thunderstormy eve!

Savory Cakes

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Savory waffles have been on my mind a lot lately.  Not enough to actually buy a waffle maker, but enough to gab about them, dream about them, and make pancakes that resemble them.  And since I woke up this morning with no desire to go to the market and a huge desire for savory something, I dug around in my spice cabinet until something clicked.

FoodFash Rosemary, Garlic, and Onion Pancakes (yields 7, two tablespoon pancakes)

3/4 cup sprouted wheat pancake mix (I suppose any mix would do)

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon crushed rosemary

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl until spices are evenly distributed.  Heat a pan over medium heat and then spray with olive oil cooking spray.  Use two tablespoons of batter for each pancake.  Prepare as you would an ordinary pancake.  When pancakes are finished, top with a fried egg and enjoy!

Savory pancake topped with an egg??  Completely.  Magical.

I’m off to drop the extras off to the boys and get my paddle board on.  Happy Saturday!!

Smashed Squash

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I can’t tell you enough about my thoughts on white potatoes and how they, unless completely masked by butter, garlic, and milk, are a total waste of time.  Years ago, mashed cauliflower came into the picture as a low-cal alternative.  It dawned on people that an otherwise tasteless veggie can be whipped into oblivion with creamy goodness and will taste good.  Genius, right?

My question is…  Why hasn’t the obsession been with flavorful root veggies that need minimal “fats” to get them to a tasty place?  Tonight I used severely out of season butternut squash.  But why not beets, rutabaga, or one of the gazillion other varieties of squash out there?  Maybe I’m getting crazy here.  Or… maybe I’m not.

FoodFash Smashed Squash (yields 4 servings)

1 butternut squash, cubed

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

2 tablespoons Earth Balance (or butter)

garlic salt & pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place squash cubes on a greased cookie sheet, lightly spray with olive oil cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake for 30 minutes.  In a mixing bowl, add squash, coconut oil, and Earth Balance.  Use a stand or electric mixer and mix on medium until all of the ingredients are blended.  Mix on high for a couple minutes until the squash looks whipped.   Add garlic salt to taste and then stir in the fresh basil.

After sampling my first bite, I had one of those this-dish-could-totally-be-served-at-my-favorite-restaurant smiles.  I dug everything about it.  Dairy free, slightly sweet, savory but light, and fresh.  Scooch on over white potatoes, smashed squash is where it’s at!