Health in a Bowl

As I mentioned last month (cannot believe it has been that long - ugh!), I've spent a couple of weeks feeling rather under the weather recently. Being sick for a few days sucks. Being sick for two weeks is really a whole other story that I hope to never experience again. At some point in week two of this malaise I decided what I really needed was a bunch of vegetables. I'm sure if I owned a juicer I would have been going crazy with that thing.

I don't own a juicer.

I actually am kind of anti-juice. I don't understand why or how juice could possibly be better for you that eating the whole fruit or vegetable itself. But I'm funny like that. Juice is just not my thing.

On the other hand, I can really get behind a good, brothy veggie soup. This was another "let's be thrifty and environmentally responsible and everything and use what's already in the fridge" move. Also an "I feel like crap and don't want to walk a block to the grocery store" move. And with a few supplements, I had a pretty tasty vegetable soup that I will happily make again, only in probably half the quantity as I've discovered that three consecutive days of a vegetable soup meal represent my absolute limit.

If you want to feel healthy, or if you have a lot of veggies in the drawer that are about to go, this is your recipe.

Doesn't this gorgeous kale just scream "I AM SO GOOD FOR YOU!"?

Kate's Vegetable Soup
Makes four big servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 small red or white potato (thin-skinned, not Russett), peeled and diced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cups chicken broth (I'm a fan of Swanson Natural Goodness)
1 can diced tomatoes with their juice
parmesan rinds (optional)
1 zucchini, diced
1/2 roasted red pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 bunch of kale, chopped coarsely
kosher or sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions

(Before you start, I highly recommend pre-chopping all the veggies.)

1. Roast your red pepper if you haven't already. I only had half a red pepper but I still just stuck it on the burner. (God, I love having a gas stove.)

2. Once the pepper is good and blackened, put it in a bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the pepper steam for about 10 minutes. Then use paper towels to rub off the blackened skin. Chop the peeled pepper.

3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium-high and saute the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery until the onion turns translucent, about 10 minutes. You don't really want to brown it here. 

4. Add the potato, spices, chicken broth, and tomatoes. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes. Toss in one or two parmesan rinds, if you have them. 

5. Simmer for another 15 minutes or so, until the broth looks a little cloudy and starts to smell delicious. 

6. Add the zucchini, red pepper, and kale.

7. Simmer for another 5 minutes or so, until the zucchini is tender but not mushy. 

I love all the gorgeous colors. It's like rainbow soup.

8. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with some whole grain crackers. And a big spoon.

I finally kicked that crazy flu a couple of days after I made this soup for myself.
So clearly, this works. Sample size of one. I'm a believer.

Sleep-ful in Seattle

I'm sitting here at Sea-Tac, waiting for my flight and thinking about what a lovely weekend I had with the Roberts clan and their pal Nick.

I learned a lot about myself this weekend, not least that I am totally capable of going to sleep at 9pm and waking up at 7am. Yeah, that's right. I can easily sleep TEN hours a night if you let me sleep in a cool cave surrounded by the BEST pajamas ever (just like these except mine are orange stripes with blue trim and yes, they are a child size, and yes, I am reminded of The Cat in the Hat everytime I wear them) and some very heavy blankets.

I think this is why there's coffee EVERYWHERE here.

Even Nalu was a good sleeper.

Visiting Chrissy and Will is one of my favorite things because they feed me. Also because I love them and their adorable kids, but if we're being honest... the feeding me is no small thing. Chrissy even makes tons of wheat-free treats. Including bread! And focaccia!! And cookies!!!

Focaccia. Tastes just like the wheat kind. Amazing.

Not to be outdone, Will is a true foodie. One after my own heart, really -- he does things like make his own ricotta.

Whole milk, citric acid, cheese salt. That's it.

Draining the curds.

Yeah. Like that.

Chrissy also makes an awesome wheat-free pizza crust.
And then dinner looks like this. Pancetta, spinach, ricotta. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

The kids' pizza was pretty good, too. I may have stolen a bite.

They're also really delightful, really wonderful friends. And they're about to move to Norway. Like I needed that kind of excuse to visit.

Sunday night was everyone's last night at home - Chrissy and the kids are sticking around but Will was off to Norway for a couple of weeks, lucky Nick was off to Utah for some skiing, and I, well, I was back to home and work. Let's be honest, I haven't spent much time in either place lately between focus groups, the holidays, jury duty, and this vacation.

Sigh.

It was time.

It was cold and wintry all weekend in Seattle. It actually snowed, and all four adults elected to abandon the plan to go out "in the city" in exchange for some lazy nights at home. This mostly involved drinking a bunch of wine (and beer, for the boys), eating really well and in far too great a quantity, and falling asleep around nine or nine-thirty after a couple of episodes of Eastbound and Down (which is really hilarious, although Chrissy would disagree).

For serious, though. How can you not love a show with this kind of exchange?


Terrence Cutler: There's something you need to know, Kenny. You're not the only athlete here at Jeff Davis. I happen to be training for a Triathlon right now. Doin' a lot of running, and cycling, swimming. Well, you know all about that. 

Kenny Powers: No. Actually, I don't. I do SPORTS, not try to be the best at exercising. 


To be fair to us adults, the kids get up at like 5:30am. Not like 5:30. Actually 5:30. In the am. That makes 9pm seem like a pretty reasonable bedtime. But still. No one was sleepless in Seattle, that is for sure.

Sunday night was another really cold winter day. We were going to take a ferry ride but all we could manage to do was walk a bit on the beach before considering how soon hypothermia might set in. Nick was super nice and got us all coffees (and the kids chocolate milk) which helped a lot although I was so cold I debated pouring the coffee over my head as a staying-warm maneuver. In the end, this seemed like a very short term solution to the problem so I abandoned that plan.

The cold weather and the wonderful local seafood inspired me to suggest cioppino for dinner. I adapted mine from this recipe.

Do not be daunted by the list of ingredients! This is really very easy to make.

Kate's North Beach Cioppino
Serves 6
 
Ingredients

The Broth
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/4-1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
about half a bottle dry white wine (I used a relatively cheap Pinot Grigio)
1 (28- to 32-ounces) can diced plum tomatoes including juices
1 cup bottled clam juice
1 cup chicken broth


The Seafood
Use any combination of the following but aim for about 4-5 lbs total and no more than 4 different types. For this rendition, I used clams, mussels, mahi mahi, and shrimp. Without the crab, purists will claim this is technically not a "cioppino" but we had crab as an appetizer so it seemed a bit much to have it in the entree, too.


1 (1-pound) king crab leg, thawed if frozen, and hacked into 2 to 3 inch pieces
1 1/2 lb small (2-inch) hard-shelled clams such as littlenecks, scrubbed
1 lb mussels, scubbed and debearded
1 pound mahi mahi, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces (you can also use other firm white fish - cod, halibut, etc.)
1 pound large shrimp (16 to 20), shelled (tails and bottom segment of shells left intact) and deveined
3/4 pound sea scallops, tough muscle removed from side of each if necessary


The Finishing Touch
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil


Accompaniment: focaccia or baguettes


Directions

Cook garlic, onions, shallots, fennel, bay leaf, oregano, and red pepper flakes with salt and pepper in oil in an 8-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. 

Stir in bell pepper and tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and boil until reduced by about half, 5 to 6 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice, clam juice, and broth and simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 

Add crab pieces and clams to stew and simmer, covered, until clams just open, 5 to 10 minutes, checking every minute after 5 minutes and transferring opened clams to a bowl with tongs or a slotted spoon. (Discard any unopened clams after 10 minutes.) Lightly season fish fillets, shrimp, and scallops with salt and add to stew, then simmer, covered, until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf, then return clams to pot and gently stir in parsley and basil. 

Serve cioppino immediately in large soup bowls. (We served ours over rice, too.)

If you can chop vegetables, you can make this. And you'll be glad you did. I wanted to drink the broth.

A few more notes from the weekend:

• The same night I cooked up the cioppino, we made the kids shrimp and rice, (plus some refried beans for Josie, who's a beans and rice kind of girl. Love it.) The shrimp for them was super simple: some Old Bay cooked in a little butter on the stove, then I threw in the shrimp for a couple of minutes and sauteed them until cooked. 

This is a delicious method for cooking shrimp in a flash. Worth a try.

• I saw this light fixture at Molbak's. It's super cute. Just what my dining room needs. And it was affordable. But why buy it when you can make it!? Chicken wire drum over a smaller burlap drum. Oh, how I love a textured, natural fabric. I am going to have to undertake this as a 2012 craft...

Tastes Remarkably Not Like Dirt

6 am conference call tomorrow notwithstanding, things are looking up. I discovered that I "misplanned" (sort of my fault, sort of our benefits provider's fault) my FSA which means Santa's bringing me new sunglasses. And new glasses. Maybe even two pairs of glasses. There's a lot of money left in that FSA and not many weeks left in the year. 

I picked out these sunglasses which look ridiculous and awesome. I love them. They are so glam and absurd. I think I partly love them because I am 100% sure that every boyfriend I've ever had would absolutely hate them. I mean, I am totally channeling my inner horsefly here, or maybe Harry Caray. Somehow, knowing that makes wearing these all the more delightful.

Leave it to me to pick out the most expensive frames in the store. The description on the website says these glasses "are for style makers with discerning taste and an appreciation for exquisite details and unmistakable beauty." All I can say is vision insurance is totally worth that $5 a month or whatever I pay.

I tried on some Warby Parkers as well and think I'm going to throw my bets in on these and these. 

And then I channeled my inner Polish peasant and made turnip soup.

Seems logical to me. 

As you might have surmised, the farm box presented me with about a pound and a half of white turnips, greens attached. The last time this happened, I tried to make turnip gratin. It was fine but retained way too much of that "fresh like dirt" taste turnips sometimes have. I thought it was worth trying something new.

What I learned in my recipe searching is that there are really not very many promising-sounding turnip recipes. The poor, unloved turnip.

It's really cold here in San Francisco. It's hat-gloves-scarf weather. It got down to at least 45 degrees today. I might have to turn on the radiators.

I love this climate. 

Tonight was perfect soup weather so I crossed my fingers and got to it. In the interest of full disclosure, I feel I must tell you that I hedged my bets by eating the remainder of the other night's Gruyere before I got started. You can't be too careful with your stomach and as I've been balancing on the precipice of cranky all day (see previous post), this seemed like no time to play chicken with my blood sugar. Plus, after all the glasses shopping was complete, it was quite late in the evening. 

Turnip Soup with Turnip Greens 

by Deborah Madison with Edward Espé Brown
The Greens Cookbooks

Yield: Serves Four to Six Ingredients THE STOCK None is needed for this soup (Why does the recipe list things you don't need? So odd.) THE SOUP 1 1/2 pounds small turnips (about 1 to 2 inches across), weighed without their greens Salt 5 tablespoons butter, in all 2 to 3 leeks, white parts only (about 8 ounces), sliced 6 branches thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (If you use fresh thyme, take it off the stalk first. Trust me.) 4 cups milk White or black pepper About 2 to 3 cups turnip greens Fresh chopped thyme for garnish (optional) Preparation Peel the turnips (thickly, if they are large and mature) and slice them into rounds about 1/4 inch thick.  Peeling these suckers is tough. They are quite slippery. More than once, the turnip flew out of my hand while peeling. It reminded me of that escargot scene from Pretty Woman. Except I was wearing sweats instead of a fancy dress and no semi-handsome millionaire was in the vicinity. Let's discuss once again how much I love my mandoline. 1/4 slices. Perfect. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil; then add 2 teaspoons salt and the turnips. Cover the pot and cook for 1 minute; then drain. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a soup pot with 1/2 cup water. Add the leeks, the blanched turnips, the thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt. Stew them, covered, over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, and then add the milk.  See how I didn't remove the thyme from the branches? Don't do that! Otherwise you will be picking milky thyme stalks from your soup and trying to get the partly cooked leaves off. I should know.   Slowly heat it without bringing it to a boil, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the turnips are completely tender. (I think this took about 10 minutes.) Beginning slow heating. This failed rapidly. It boiled. It boiled over, actually. Oops. You can see the skin on the soup because I boiled it. More than once. It all went in the blender anyway, and I don't think the boiling made a big difference, just in case you try this and let the soup boil, too. Cool the soup briefly; then purée it in a blender. If necessary, thin it with additional milk or water. Season to taste with salt, if needed, and freshly ground pepper. Hot soup means taking that plug out of the blender lid and putting a dishtowel over the top, so steam can escape. Unless you want soup splattered all over your kitchen. I mean, if you're into that kind of thing... Sort through the turnip greens and remove any that are bruised or especially tough looking, and wash them.  Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter (I only used one) in a pan, add the turnip greens, and cook them over medium heat until they are tender, about 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.  I deviated a bit from the recipe here. I chiffonnaded my greens before sauteeing, kind of like how I usually treat collard greens. It was a good call. Even though I only used one tablespoon of butter instead of the two called for, the greens were pretty greasy. I let them drain for a bit on a paper towel while I seasoned the blended soup. Remove the cooked greens to a cutting board and chop them, roughly or fine, as you prefer (or, chop them in advance like I did); then add them to the soup and serve. Or garnish with fresh chopped thyme.

 

This soup was surprisingly delicious which is good because I obviously have a lot of it in my fridge right now. Definitely very milky. If you do not like milk, you will not like this soup. I might consider replacing a cup of the milk with broth next time just for a little more depth of flavor. The turnips were not bitter at all, and the greens were so delicious I ate them all (even the ones I didn't need for garnish on this bowl), with my fingers, right off the paper towel. If you are ever presented with turnip greens, you should saute them. You will not be disappointed. 

The Third Wheel

The thing about being a single 30-something (as Bridget Jones will tell you) is that sometimes you find yourself in the third wheel position. Hopefully you are lucky, like me, and you find yourself in the company of marrieds who are neither smug nor under the delusion that under your clothing, your entire body is covered in scales.

But I digress.

Being a third wheel is really not so bad. After all, the third wheel on a Big Wheel is the namesake wheel itself. Without that, it's just a plain old low-riding tricycle. Lame!

Here is a real chat conversation - unedited - that happened in the lead up to this dinner I'm about to share with you:

4:29 PM Kevin: hey, its christine

  we are thinking about making white chicken chili tonight

4:30 PM me: interesting

  it's so cold out!

  OOH

4:31 PM Kevin: i know, its not fun

 me: when you say white chicken chili

  are you talking about the ATK recipe??

 Kevin: yep

 me: YES

  I have had that one saved in my tivo for a year

 Kevin: we just watched it this am

 me: have always wanted to make it!

4:32 PM Kevin: now is your/our chance!

 me: this is so perfect.

Yup, that's right. I've had the White Chicken Chili episode of America's Test Kitchen saved in my Tivo since April 12, 2010. (Yeah, I Tivo PBS and Martha Stewart. What of it?) I cannot emphasize to you enough how excited I was about this plan to cook it.

A little bit of thinking later, I realized I also had the copy of the Cook's Illustrated issue with the recipe in it - from January 2007. That was two apartments and three time zones ago. See, sometimes saving things is smart! Actually, I can't claim credit for this behavior. My mom used to save every Gourmet magazine - we had cabinets full of them when I was a kid. Luckily, the internet was invented (thanks, Al!) and now all those Gourmet recipes are free online at Epicurious. But the Cook's Illustrated recipes are not free online, which is why you should save them. And why I did.

Chris Kimball and his minions probably could have done a better job writing the title of this article.

This is a funny blog entry for me because I didn't actually do any cooking. I did a lot of wine drinking and some cheese eating, but mostly my job was "recipe reader" and "recipe re-reader" and "commentator" and "opinion-giver." I fairly well excel at all of these things, luckily.

Kevin tackled the chili, with assistance from Christine in the sous chef role. It came out great. Spicy but not too spicy. Somehow incredibly healthy.

Christine had the wise idea to steam some rice to serve the chili over and to use a little yogurt for a cooling topping, both of which were an excellent additions to the proceedings. I'm not typing out the recipe because ATK doesn't offer it up for free, but a little birdie told me you can find it here.

Action shot!

Here's the final product. My contribution was the wine, which was pretty tasty. I've been dipping into the "good" wine stash lately because...well, why not?

Looks amazing, right? Food styling credits to Christine. Poor photography/lighting credits to me.

Major thanks to Kevin and Christine for keeping me a well-fed and entertained third wheel. Sometimes I'm not sure why you guys put up with me, but I'm glad you do!

xoxo

Please note the new barstools and table, and wildly apropos succulents.

Oh, p.s. - and this was a big bonus for me - this meal is totally gluten-free. Yeah, looks like I'm back on that wagon. For now, anyway. Sigh.

      

'Tis the Season

It always starts like this.

One day, you find yourself sneezing. You never sneeze. "Funny," you think. "I never sneeze."

The next day, the scratchy throat starts. It sneaks up on you out of nowhere. But it's there. You clear your throat hoping maybe it'll go away.

It doesn't.

Before you know it, you sound like Cybil Shepard. You wonder if you should re-record your outgoing voicemail message. You find yourself compelled to nap, and you switch from wine and coffee to orange juice and tea. You decide 6pm isn't too early to change into pajamas.

You've definitely caught it. Whatever "it" is.

I don't know if chicken soup really makes you get over a cold faster or not. I've heard that there are some enzymes in the broth that are supposed to help your immune system. I've also heard that the soup works simply because it's hydrating. The one thing I am sure of is that it's just about the only thing I have an appetite for when I get sick.

I seem to be fighting (valiantly, if I do say so myself) some kind of cold that has shades of laryngitis. I'm hoping I don't completely lose my voice this week, although I'm sure my friends, family, and coworkers would probably be excited about this development. Ok, not probably. Definitely.

This soup is incredibly easy to make. Which is good, because when you're making your sick self some soup, it's not really the time for complicated recipes. This takes very little time to make and keeps well for a few days in the fridge. In fact, I'd say it keeps for almost the exact amount of time it takes to get over the worst of a cold.

Kate's Chicken Soup
4 servings

Ingredients
1 boneless skinless chicken breast, poached and shredded (see below)
1 quart of low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch(ish)  coins
2 ribs of celery, trimmed and diced
1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped finely
salt and pepper
egg noodles or rice, precooked


Directions
1. To poach the chicken, put the chicken breast in a saute or sauce pan and cover with cold water. Cover the pan and cook over high heat until the water boils. Turn down to medium heat (simmer) and cook until chicken is done, about 10 minutes. Shred using a fork and knife (or cut into cubes).

I like my soup chicken shredded into medium-sized chunks that will fit on a spoon.

2. While the chicken is cooking, put the stock, water, carrots, and celery into a soup pot and turn to high. Boil for about 8 minutes, or until the veggies are a bit tender. 

If you have a mandoline, it's ideal for slicing carrots into perfect quarter-inch coins.

The dill makes this soup. Please, don't make it without fresh dill. The fresh green-ness of the dill really makes the soup feel healthy and will make you feel better, I swear.

3. Add the shredded chicken and half the dill, and season with salt and pepper. Continue the boil for another 5 minutes or so. Taste the broth and adjust seasonings as necessary. If the broth tastes bland, add a little more salt. Add the rest of the dill and stir to combine. Turn off the heat. 

Sometimes a little soup scum forms on the top of the soup when it's cooking. You can skim this off with a spoon. No big deal.

4. Put a scoop of egg noodles or rice in a bowl and ladle the soup over the top. Eat while swaddled in a blanket on the sofa, watching your favorite movie. 

Ideally this is the movie you know all the lines to that you can't watch with other people because you can't not recite the lines aloud. Mine is Soapdish, the best ensemble comedy ever. It includes such awesome lines as "I have feelings ABOUT you, not FOR you, there's a VERY BIG difference!"

Here's hoping I kick this sucker soon. Go away, Cold!

Summer has Arrived

Sometimes Summer takes a little time to come to San Francisco. It finally decided to show up this year in mid-June. (Yes, I am waaaay behind on blog posts. Trying to play catch up here!)

Dahlias are in season. I love flowers that look like they grew in someone's garden rather than in a greenhouse.

It's time for summer fabrics. I love being able to break out cotton and linen and great summer prints.

And it's time for tomatoes. Gorgeous red heirloom tomatoes. The kind that actually taste like tomatoes. Not like paste. Or what I imagine paste to taste like. I was never a paste-eater, myself. Epicurean from birth, I tell you. 

With the warm summer weather, a chilled tomato soup was in order. I set off in search of a new gazpacho recipe but found this one from Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein that sounded divine, like the chic uptown version of that Spanish summer favorite.

Heirloom Tomato Soup with Arbequina Olives and Shaved Fennel  (courtesy of Epicurious)

by Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein, excerpted from Raw

Yield: Makes 4 servings INGREDIENTS Soup 2 large, red heirloom tomatoes, peeled and seeded 1/2 jalapeño chile, seeded and chopped 1/2 cup chopped, peeled cucumber 2 teaspoons sherry wine vinegar Celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper Garnish 1 3-inch-long baby fennel, thinly shaved on a mandoline (If you don't have a mandoline, maybe try a sharp veggie peeler?) 12 arbequina olives, pitted and quartered (Ok, seriously Charlie? These do not exist in several well-stocked SF grocery stores. I subbed kalamata because it was what I had at home although I might use green olives next time) 1/4 cup peeled, seeded, and diced red tomato (Totally forgot this ingredient. Don't think it affected my end product.) 2 teaspoons brine from olives 2 teaspoons sherry wine vinegar 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 12 micro fennel sprouts or fennel fronds (Micro fennel sprouts, really??) DIRECTIONS Method— To make the soup: In a high-speed blender, combine the tomatoes, chile, cucumber, and vinegar and process until smooth. Ready for blending! You can't tell, but this is an action shot. Pass the purée through a fine-mesh sieve and season to taste with salt and pepper.   Straining the soup (because I didn't peel the tomatoes before blending, and I would suggest you leave your peels on as well) was the only time consuming part of this recipe. And by "time consuming" I mean five minutes, tops. Assembly— Ladle one-fourth of the soup into each bowl. Garnish with the fennel, olives, and tomato. Drizzle the olive brine, vinegar, and olive oil around the soup. Sprinkle with the fennel sprouts.

I put the mandoline to work on the fennel for perfectly thin shavings. The next day, when I ate the leftovers, I set the mandoline one click too thick and ended up with giant awkward pieces of fennel in my soup. Evidently 1/16" matters more than you might think but I guess that's why Six Sigma exists.

For a bunch of stuff just blended together, this soup is surprisingly tomato-y and really fresh and delicious. Plus, it's no-cook. Love!

Happy Summer!