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White Bean, Escarole, and Meatball Soup

As the weather continues to cool down, I am more and more in the mood for soup.  I love eating it and making it – it’s a great platform for creativity, too.

Last week, I had some beautiful escarole from my CSA share, so I wanted to do something with it.  White bean and escarole soup – which I have enjoyed many times over the years – immediately came to mind.  Easy to make, light yet filling, plus I had everything I needed on hand.  However, I wanted to up the nutrition in it since I was going to have to make it with water instead of stock (I had no stock on hand and prefer not to use the boxed/canned stuff).  Adding meatballs came to mind!  I enjoy them in Italian Wedding soup, so why not add them to my white bean and escarole soup?  The flavors seemed compatible.

We get this sweet Italian turkey sausage from the CSA that we just love, and I had some on hand and thought it would make for some tasty meatballs.  I actually hadn’t made meatballs before, but thought they couldn’t be too difficult – meat, eggs, some kind of binder.  However, I decided to check in with The Art of Simple Food, Alice Water’s book on cooking basics, just to see if there was more to meatballs than what I imagined.  Good thing I did, because there were a few other ingredients involved . Fortunately, they were easy to find, and they made my meatballs truly amazing!

The meatballs held up in the soup and added a lot of flavor to things.  And like I said, they kept their shape and didn’t fall apart, a scenario that had crossed my mind. And the flavors indeed did go with the escarole and white beans. Total win.

I chose to sprinkle my soup with grated parmesan, which I got some from the Italian deli near my apartment, for some extra flavor, and that was an excellent decision. It’s delicious – savory and nutty without being overly salty.

This soup takes about a half hour to put together once the beans are cooked and the meatballs are done.

White Bean, Escarole, and Meatball Soup

The meatballs could be your own favorite recipe, or this wonderful meatball recipe from The Art of Simple Food. I made a half recipe and ended up with about two dozen leftover meatballs, and used them for the following few days in pasta and just as a snack.

3/4 cup dry white beans, soaked with a little base (I use baking soda), yielding 1 1/2 cups cooked. Alternatively, you could use one 15 oz. can of white beans, rinsed.
1/4 cup diced onion
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 head escarole, washed, cored, and chopped into 1 inch strips
4 c. water or chicken stock
two dozen small meatballs (about the size of a rounded teaspoon)
salt and pepper
grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Rinse the beans, and cook in water until done. Add salt to taste, then drain.

In a large pan, saute the onion in olive oil and a little salt until transluscent. Add the beans and cook in the onion/oil mixture for 5 minutes. Add the escarole and cook until it wilts.

Add water or stock and cook 5 more minutes.

Add the meatballs, and simmer for 15 more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon into bowls and top with parmesan. Enjoy.

Makes 4 main course servings.

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Farro, Cranberry Bean, and Winter Squash Soup

soup

This recipe started out with the idea of simply combining farro – my current favorite grain – and cranberry beans, as a way to eat up one of my CSA veggies this week.  So I soaked the farro in the morning, with the hope that the dish would simply come to me.  I’m happy to say that it did, and it is a winner!

I often contemplate dinner while I’m commuting home on the train.  I thought about what would go well with farro and cranberry beans, as well as considered what I had on hand at the house.  It occurred to me that these two ingredients would taste good with tomatoes and winter squash, along with thyme, onions, garlic, and white wine.  Something green also would be good, so I opted for watercress, in part because of its health benefits, and because it looked fresh at the produce stand.

I only had to buy the thyme, onion, and watercress, as well as the white wine. At the same time I took the opportunity to replenish our “house wine”, which is Cloudline pinot noir.  Love that stuff!  The wine I used for this soup is a Smoking Loon sauvignon blanc.  Honestly, I wasn’t sure what this $10 bottle would provide, but I have to say, it is very tasty.  I would definitely buy it again.

This soup is quite thick, almost more of a stew; I tend to like my soups thick, though.  The roasted squash breaks down and thickens the soup, and the starch from the farro also contributes to that thickening.  I enjoyed this soup topped with a fried egg and a bit of grated parmesan, but it is delicious on its own.  It’s a great soup for this time of year – cranberry beans are in the markets, and winter squash is starting to be seen.  Thick soups like this are excellent on cold autumn nights, too.

Farro, Cranberry Bean, and Winter Squash Soup

1/2 c. farro, soaked with water and a big splash of (raw) vinegar

1 small acorn squash, or small winter squash
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/8 tsp cumin

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 white onion, diced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
2 cloves garlic minced

1/2 c. white wine
1 pound fresh cranberry beans (1/2 pound shelled)

2 c. stock, water, or a mixture (I used 1 cup stock and 1 cup water)
1 pint crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped watercress
1/4 c. white wine
1/8 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Soak the farro in water and acid (vinegar, in this case) for 8-10 hours.  As you start to prepare this dish, drain and rinse the farro.  Set aside.

Cut the squash in half and remove all seeds and obvious strings. Cut the squash into a total of 6-8 pieces. Brush the flesh with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and cumin. Roast in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes. When it is done cooking, simply let sit and cool on the pan.

Meanwhile, saute the onion in olive oil and salt in a large pan over medium-high heat until translucent. Add the thyme and garlic and cook for another minute. By this time the onion should start to caramelize.

Add the drained farro and cook about 5 minutes. Add the white wine and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Add the beans and combine with the onion-farro mixture. Add the stock/water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

As the mixture is simmering, peel and chop the squash into 1 inch pieces. Add it to the soup. Add the chopped tomatoes and the watercress.  Let cook for another 5 minutes.

Finish off with a 1/4 c. white wine, 1/8 tsp of smoked paprika, and 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4-6.

This post is participating in the Simple Lives Thursday blog hop, hosted by Wardeh at GNOWFGLINS.

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Perfect Zucchini Pickles

zucchini pickles

Zucchini is still coming from my CSA; last week, I got another pound of it!  I guess our hot hot hot summer helped to produce a lot of it.  I’ll be curious to see if we get it again this week.

It goes without saying, then, that I’ve eaten a lot of zucchini this summer; I wanted to find a new way to prepare it.   Fortunately, a recipe for pickled zucchini was recently posted on the 101 Cookbooks site, and it just sounded so good! The resulting pickles are better than I ever expected, too – perfectly balanced flavors of tang and sweet (and a little spicy) and zucchini that is still crunchy.  I am in love with these pickles!

Basically, the pickles start as thin sliced zucchini, onions, and shallots that are salted to pull out excess moisture, then flavored with two kinds of vinegar, a little sugar, with dill, hot peppers, and mustard seeds added to the mix.  I made a few adjustments to the original recipe and I’m ecstatic with the results!

These pickles are delicious by themselves, with eggs, on toast with goat cheese, and even on hot dogs.  I ordered some dogs via my CSA – beef franks made with pastured beef without nitrites – and these pickles were fantastic on them!  They elevated what is an excellent hot dog to something even more special.

hot dog

The hardest part of this recipe, I must admit, is waiting for the zucchini to drain.  I chose to let it drain for 24 hours, so get as much moisture out as possible.  The original recipe indicates a few hours, but I love the result I got from draining them for longer.  When it’s time to put them together with the vinegars and seasonings, it takes less than 10 minutes to combine everything.

My guess is that if you like (vinegared) pickles, you’ll love these.

Zucchini Pickles
Adapted from the recipe at 101 Cookbooks.

1 pound of zucchini, thinly sliced (about 1/8 inch)
1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons fine grain sea salt
1/4 cup fresh dill sprigs
1 small fresh chile pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds

3/4 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup evaporated cane juice

Toss the zucchini, onion, shallots, and salt together in a colander and place over a bowl to catch the liquids. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 24 hours. Toss once or twice along the way.  The point of this is to leech out as much liquid from the vegetables as you can.

When the zucchini has drained, shake off any water to make it as dry as possible. Place in a 1 quart jar along with the dill, chile pepper, and mustard seeds.

Combine the vinegars and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves, and continue to boil for a few minutes. Pour the liquid over the zucchini and seal the jar. Let cool, then refrigerate. The pickles are good for a week or so.

Makes one large jar.

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Eggplant With Tahini

whole eggplant

I’m a big eggplant fan… that is, when it’s cooked properly.  There is nothing worse than undercooked, “green” tasting eggplant.  It tastes awful (usually bitter) and has a kind of chewy styrofoam texture. I think the texture gets to me more than the taste.  But the thing is, it’s really easy to undercook it, as the opposite is mushy eggplant that’s been cooked within an inch of its life, which is also unappealing, and desirable to avoid.

There is an Italian restaurant around the corner from me that cooks their eggplant perfectly.  It truly a delight to eat – the texture is perfect, almost creamy, with a little bit of a smoky taste.  I expect they grill it to get the taste and texture like that.

roasted eggplant

I get around all of this by cooking eggplant for purposes of a dip, which means the vegetable is very forgiving for this.  I roast it with olive oil for about 45 minutes, and that usually does the trick – the flesh turns nice and soft, and the cut side caramelizes, which adds a little sweetness to the mix.

Usually “dip” means baba ganoush, aka eggplant with tahini.  I love the combination of flavors – the roasted eggplant with buttery tahini, some garlic, lemon juice, and an unusual ingredient I’ve been experimenting with.

before grinding

I received one medium sized eggplant in my CSA share this week, so this recipe was created around that.  You can adjust amount as you like – I mean really, baba ganoush (as well as hummus) has always seemed to me as one without strongly defined amounts of flavoring.  It should be to your liking.  For instance, I like my baba ganoush to have a pronounced lemony-tart flavor, and a little spicy.  Others prefer a stronger tahini flavor. Recipes like this make it easy to adjust seasonings to one’s own taste.

eggplant with tahini

Baba Ganoush (Eggplant with Tahini)

1 medium eggplant
olive oil
salt
2-3 tbs tahini
1 tbs olive oil
1/4 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp aleppo pepper (red pepper flakes will work, too, but reduce to 1/4 tsp)
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the eggplant in half, coat cut sides with olive oil and a sprinkling of kosher salt, and cook, cut side down on a baking pan, for 45 minutes.  Take out the pan and let eggplant cool for 15-20 minutes. Remove cooked flesh from the skins and place in a bowl.  Discard eggplant skins.

To the eggplant, add the tahini, olive oil, sumac, aleppo pepper,  garlic, and lemon juice.  Grind everything in either a food processor or with a stick blender, until it achieves the texture you prefer (I like something fairly smooth).

Serve topped with olive oil and sumac, with bread of your choice.  Feta cheese is a very nice accompaniment to this, along with some fresh raw vegetables like carrots, celery, and bell pepper.

This is particularly delicious the day after, when all the flavors have had a chance to meld.

Makes 2 cups.

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Spiced Okra, Easy and Delicious

cooked okra

For the longest time, I wouldn’t even consider eating okra.

Mainly, it was because of its famous sliminess (or, “mucilaginous juice”, eh), which is a total textural turnoff for me.  I’d heard there were ways to avoid the slime – don’t cut off the stem tip, or pickle it in vinegar.  Still, I wasn’t convinced.

raw okra

However, this past week we got okra in our CSA share, and so I found myself in a position where I had an opportunity to find a way to eat it.  Additionally, the weekend prior I picked up the September issue of Food & Wine, which had a very simple recipe for okra in it, that assured a lack of sliminess.  I figured it was vegetable kismet, and worth a try.

To my delight, I found the recipe extremely easy to make, and even better – the cooking technique indeed did eliminate the slime!  I’m also a sucker for charred or caramelized vegetables, yum.  Plus the spice mixture contained some of my favorite flavors.  This is one delicious dish.

spice mixture

I made some adjustments, and will include them here.  If you are curious about okra, but are scared of the slime, this is an excellent way to try out this curious vegetable.

in the pan

Skillet-Roasted Spiced Okra
Adapted from a recipe from Food & Wine.

1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
Pinch of cinnamon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound small okra, halved lengthwise
Salt
juice of one lemon

In a small bowl, blend the cayenne, chili powder, cumin, coriander, fennel, turmeric, an cinnamon.

In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the okra, cut side down, and cook over high heat for 2 minutes.

Reduce the heat to moderate and cook until browned on the bottom, 4 minutes longer.

Turn the okra and cook over low heat until tender, 2 minutes. Season with salt and sprinkle with the spice mixture. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds.

Drizzle the lemon juice over the okra and serve.

The okra is good with a little plain yogurt or a dollop of fresh chevre.

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Farro and Summer Vegetable Salad

farro summer vegetable salad

I did not plan this salad.  It just sort of came to be through improvisation; I like to cook in this way.  Recipes are great, don’t get me wrong, and I enjoy using them, but it’s also nice to take what you have and come up with something delicious, which this most certainly is. Or, was – I ate it all within a 24 hour period.  It was that good.

First, though – what is farro?  Farro is an ancient whole wheat grain also known as Emmer; it’s also related to spelt.  It looks like large barley or even a bit like freekeh, and is medium brown in color.  It has a toothsome texture and mild, nutty flavor.  It has slightly less protein than quinoa, but has almost twice the fiber. You cook it like most grains – soak then simmer in a pot til the water (or stock) absorbs.  My farro comes from Cayuga Organics via my CSA.

So, Tuesday morning I decided I wanted to cook some grains.  I looked in the pantry and the first grain I spied was the farro.  So, I brought it down, put it in my soaking bowl, added water and raw vinegar and let it soak while I was at work.

That night I picked up my CSA shares – the veggie share was full of summer vegetables, and I knew their robust flavors would go well with the farro.

I took what I had – red peppers, leeks, zucchini, tomatoes – and mixed it with the cooked farro, along with some feta and lemon juice.  The salad was so delicious!  It was hearty and satisfying without weighing me down.  The flavors were sharp and clear and they all mixed together to make an excellent dish.  It was wonderfully savory.

I would make this again… in fact, I probably will make it again next week!  It was fantastic the next day, too – the flavors had married and tasted a bit deeper.  Definitely a good dish to bring as leftovers to work.

Farro and Summer Vegetable Salad

1 cup dry farro
soaking water and an acid (I used raw apple cider vinegar; lemon juice would work, too)
juice and zest of 1 lemon
kosher salt
1 leek, finely chopped
1 small red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 small zucchini, julienned, then the matchsticks cut in half to the length of an inch or so
1/4 cup feta cheese (Bulgarian feta is my favorite), crumbled
2 tablespoons pine nuts (raw or toasted)
1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, each cut in half

Put the cup of dry farro in a bowl, cover with water and a splash of acid, and let soak for 8-10 hours.  When the soaking time is up, drain the farro and put in a saucepan with 1 cup of water.  Bring it to a boil, then let it simmer until almost all the water has been absorbed, about 20-25 minutes.  Rinse and drain and set aside.

While the farro is cooking, cut up the leeks.  The way I do this is that I cut off the top fibrous green leaves, leaving the tender white parts.  Then cut off the root end.  Slice the leek in half from root to tip, and rinse the leeks in a way to be sure there is no dirt stuck between the layers.  Put the cut side down and slice thin half moons.  You’ll have a pile of cute skinny half moon leeks – then chop them until they meet your standard for finely chopped.

Add the bell pepper and zucchini.  Add the lemon zest and squeeze the lemon onto the mixture of leeks, pepper, and zucchini, sprinkle with salt (I used about 1/4 tsp) and let that macerate until the farro is ready to be added.

Add the farro and mix with the vegetable lemon combination.  Crumble your feta and add the pine nuts. Pour the olive oil over it all. Last, add the sliced-in-half tomatoes. Mix it all together.  Adjust seasonings as you like.

Serves 4-6, or two servings for some very hungry people.

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Lacto-Fermented Salsa

lf salsa

This week I expanded my fermentation repertoire into lacto-fermented salsa.  I’d not fermented anything involving fruit (tomatoes are really a fruit) before, so this was a new experience.  I learned that fruit-based ferments progress quicker than vegetable-based ones, so I expected to see some results early on.  Additionally, it’s pretty warm right now, and that ambient heat also encourages a quicker fermentation.  I love salsa, and thought I’d enjoy a lacto-fermented one, but had no idea just how delicious it would be!

This is a timely dish because tomatoes are in season.  Summer tomatoes are one of the true joys of the season.  They taste so amazing right now. Canned tomatoes can be used, but they are nothing like fresh tomatoes.

peeled tomatoes

So why make fermented salsa?  Well, the lactobacilli helps to increase the digestibility of the salsa, plus the increased levels of vitamins and enzymes go way up.  The lactic acid helps it to not spoil, and helps promote a healthy gut with the natural probiotics that develop.

chopped tomatoes

This is a pretty easy recipe to prepare without a food processor, but if you have one (or a stick blender even), preparing this salsa will come together in a jiffy.  I like chopping things by hand, so I was fine with doing it manually, but if I ever get myself a food processor, I’ll try it that way, too.

ingredients pre mixing

This salsa tastes like summer and has a delicious tang to it from the fermentation.  I actually took it with me as an example item for my talk on traditional foods for Queens Holistic Moms, and it was very well received!  People loved it, and went back for second and third tastes.  I was really happy about that!

The whey works really well with it, too.

salsa in a jar

Lacto-fermented Salsa
Adapted from a recipe by Cheeseslave.  Directions for the salsa using a food processor can be found here.

1-2 serranos or 1/2-1 jalapenos (I used about 1/4 tsp dried Aleppo pepper flakes)
4 medium fresh tomatoes, or 2 pounds canned tomatoes, organic if possible
1 medium white onion, organic if possible
1 garlic cloves
2 limes, organic if possible
1 tablespoon sea salt
4 tablespoons whey (or, if you don’t have any whey, use an additional 1 tablespoon salt)
1 bunch fresh cilantro

If you are using fresh chiles, consider wearing gloves, especially if you are sensitive to the capsaicin, the stuff in peppers that makes them hot.   Cut open the chiles and discard the stems and seeds. Set aside.

If using fresh tomatoes, peel and de-seed them:  Fill a large saucepan halfway with water, set on high heat and bring to a boil. Cut an X in the bottom (blossom end) of the tomato, and carefully set them in the saucepan for 5-10 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon or tongs and place in an ice bath. Cool and peel.

Cut tomatoes in half and gently squeeze out the seeds, or scoop out with a spoon, and discard.  Chop finely.

Peel and cut the onion into small dice.  Peel and mince or crush the garlic.

Rinse, dry and chop the cilantro, discarding the stems.

Squeeze the limes and add the juice.

Add the sea salt and whey.

Mix everything together.

Transfer to quart-sized mason jar. Add a little filtered water if necessary (if you like it more liquid and it’s too chunky). If you add water, put the lid on and shake it up so it’s incorporated. Make sure to leave at least an inch of space from the top of the jar.

Cover and keep at room temperature for 2-3 days before transferring to the fridge. Salsa will keep for weeks or months in fridge.

This post is participating in Fight Back Friday, hosted by Food Renegade.