Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Root Vegetable Soup

Confessions...this recipe is actually called "winter vegetable soup," but it's not winter, is it. Technically it's spring, but let's be honest, a winter soup sounds great right about now. The sun is trying to come out in Seattle lately, but it's still a little chilly.


What drew me to this soup was the green cabbage and tamari soy sauce, in addition to the corn (obviously (for those of you just tuning in, I am kind of in love with corn)). It also reminded me of a pureed soup my mom made when I was growing up; she called it "root soup." All I know is that she would be chopping for what seemed like forever...all sorts of weird looking root vegetables. And then the strange, diced creatures would find themselves being pureed in batches. In the good ol' blender.

In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, saute diced leeks (white and light green parts only) in olive oil and tamari (and whatever other spices...a bit of curry or cayenne is what we like) until tender. Add diced potato, carrots, green cabbage, celery, salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Stir to combine and add enough vegetable stock to come 1/2-inch below top of vegetables. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Remove from heat and puree using a handheld blender. Add frozen corn, adjust with salt and pepper, and serve.


Oh, and we added a little sliced green onion for garnish. I mean, let's be honest. I didn't want to post something that looked like baby food on my blog. So now it's baby food with garnish. A little better? Well, it doesn't even matter, because this soup is amazing. Such good flavor and texture. And the corn adds to it. Of course. :)

Tomato-Feta Spaghetti

This is a great dish from Cooking Light's Way to Cook Vegetarian. Now I'll be honest in that I am far from vegetarian, but this cookbook that I checked out from the library had some good-looking recipes. Plus, in the case of this particular recipe, I'm a sucker for the classic tomato and basil combination.


The spaghetti recipe really is simple. Just roast halved grape tomatoes, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt. Bake for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, or until tomatoes collapse. Cook pasta as usual, reserving some of the pasta water when draining. Return pasta and some reserved liquid to a large pan. Stir in tomatoes, a little more olive oil, salt, fresh basil, ground black pepper, and crumbled feta cheese.

The recipe actually called for ricotta salata cheese, crumbled, but we just used feta because it was what we could find at the store. The feta was really great, but I'm sure ricotta would be also.


I really like roasting or sauteing tomatoes because of the way they collapse, releasing all their juices. When mixed in with pasta, they create a sauce of their own. And they are just so much sweeter when heated up.

Another quick weeknight meal posted. And a good one at that. Cheers.