Veggie chili for Meatless Monday

Recently, I have been a crock pot queen. Perhaps because it's been so cold in North Dakota in March (hey, it's in the 30's now, what am I complaining about!) and perhaps because it is so easy. One of my favorite recipes is this vegetarian chili, since I tend to make meat-less meals. For all of you carnivores out there - I'm sure this would be as delicious if you added some meat to it. But since the swim suit season is coming, I recommend you skip those calories and save this delicious meal for your Meatless Monday.

Vegetarian crock pot chili

1 onion - diced 

2 cloves garlic - minced

2 red or yellow bell peppers - chopped 

1 zucchini - diced

2 grated carrots

2 cans of beans - I like to mix up kidney and black beans

2 x 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes 

1/2 cup water 

1.5 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

Combine all ingredients and cook on low for 8-6 hours. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the results... Perhaps it disappeared too quickly...

Cool it

Last days of summer. There, I said it. I am dreading fall and winter and hanging on to the nice weather as long as I can. If you see a girl in a coat and scarf drinking her morning coffee on the porch in October just because it is sunny - yes, that would be me.
But I am getting ahead of myself. After all, we still have over a month of a calendar summer left. So here's a recipe for either a great appetizer or a dessert soup. Inspired by my lunch at the Dakota Harvest, I just had to know how to make this wonderful cold concoction and here is the result of gathering and tweaking a few recipes. Now, this is one of those recipes where you're the boss and you decide how you want it done!

In a food processor chop up about half a watermelon. Use the other half to munch on during your hard work of cooking or mixing ingredients, rather. Pour into a container, in which you will store it. Warm up about half a cup of water and add couple of tablespoons of honey, just so it dissolves. Don't heat the water too hot as it will kill the important nutrients in the honey (a gross fun fact about honey to follow below, those with a weak stomach - please don't read). Chop up several leafs of fresh mint and add into the pot/container. Add juice of half a lime. You may add some fresh ginger if you'd like, really, sky's the limit! Enjoy on the porch or, as a friend rightfully suggested, you may use it as an alcoholic beverage mix!
PS. Gross fun fact - if you love honey you basically enjoy eating bees' puke, as nectar is turned into honey by the process of regurgitation. Good news is that some cultures consider it an elixir of immortality, so eat up!

Full of surprises...

... this stew is. I promise.
I love recipes that come from the Sunset Magazine; they're always surprising but simple. And tasty. Since it is a magazine for those who "live in the West", I find that the recipes are often for a palate requiring a bit more than just "meat and potatoes" and perhaps this is what attracts me to them - a nice change of scenery!
This stew contains ingredients that may not necessarily go together, or you may just think that initially. The combined flavors work together really well. I chose to make a vegan version, excluding the chicken and substituting it with tofu and using vegetable broth instead of the chicken one. However, if you would like to stay true to the recipe, you can find it here. Otherwise, you can follow my directions below!

• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 container extra hard tofu
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large white onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoonchile powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 can fire-roasted diced canned tomatoes 
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas (garbanzos), rinsed if canned
• 1 cup pimiento-stuffed small green olives

I don't enjoy soft tofu that falls apart as you try to stab it with your fork, so I broiled it to harden the edges, you may also saute it. I marinated it with olive oil and just a bit of the spices listed in the recipe, so the flavor of the whole dish stays true. While the tofu was broiling in the oven for several minutes (don't forget to supervise it, it may burn easily!), I sauteed the onion in some olive oil till soft and added all the spices, including garlic. I added the rest of ingredients, besides olives and beans, let it boil and then simmered for about 10 minutes, so the quinoa can cook. At the end I added the chickpeas and olives and of course the tofu. I chose to chop the olives coarsely, as I thought that adding them whole would make the meal look as if I went to the fridge and asked myself "what else can I add to this dish? Perhaps some olives could do"! ;)
Overall, the dish is very satisfying and light at the same time. I couldn't stop eating it!

Tomato tomahto

Next to an Italian wedding soup, tomato soup is my super favorite. Sweet, savory, appropriate for all seasons. And when you grow your own tomato plants you may know how much fruit you end up with! It's either a delicious insalata caprese (which I, incorrectly, make on a bed of lettuce), or...
Tyler Florence's Roasted Tomato Soup available here. Now, I have made some changes to the recipe that I thought would fit my taste buds better. When roasting the tomatoes, I certainly did not use the 1/2 c olive oil, not even close to it. Just a couple of tablespoons were enough! Roasting of the tomatoes and garlic certainly added a deep flavor. I also added some pasta for texture and basil for taste AND looks!

The miso soup for a rainy day

First day of summer coincides with Jeffrey's birthday and although he did not let me throw a party to celebrate his "advanced" age, I could not let him get away without celebrating and remembering this day. So, for the first time ever I went out of my European cuisine comfort zone and cooked my hubby a batch of delicious shiitake mushroom miso soup. How appropriate on this cool, rainy day... Did I mention it was the first day of summer today???
After searching for the perfect recipe I decided to use Tyler Florence's one - I know, I know, he's not of Asian descent, but the recipe sounded pretty yummy and uncomplicated to me.
The soup turned out pretty awesome, especially for a Polish girl who first heard of miso only a couple of years ago. I modified the recipe a bit; since I could not find pieces of dried kelp I used ground kelp (thank you Amazing Grains grocery store!) and since nobody seems to carry bonito flakes I added a little bit more miso paste. I had fun working with baby bok choy, not knowing what to do with it and lacking detailed instructions in the recipe prompted me to research it online, after which I just... chopped it up and added it to the soup. It worked out quite well!
Also, fresh shiitake mushrooms were on sale and I used a small batch in addition to dried shiitake.

Not quite Tuscany

Winter is refusing to leave us and after long walks with my dog Jackson I am always looking for a good warm-me-up meal. Perhaps the desire to be somewhere warmer inspired me to make a Tuscan white bean soup, and it certainly hit the spot! Since I couldn't find a recipe online that I really liked I decided to use my talents and make up my own. This is what I ended up with!

Winter Warm-up Tuscan White Bean Soup

You will need: 2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 onion, 2 celery stalks, 2 leeks (thinly slice only the white parts), 3 sliced carrots, chopped or sliced 4 garlic cloves, bunch of fresh spinach, 2 15oz cans of white beans, 4 c chicken stock, thyme, salt, pepper.
Sautee onion, carrots, celery and leeks in butter until soft. Add garlic and spices to your liking, sautee couple more minutes, add spinach and after it wilts pour in the chicken stock and drained beans, boil and cook on low heat for few minutes.

Very easy to make and super tasty! If you think you may not be able to handle the garlic, make sure to decrease the amount - this soup would definitely not be enjoyed by vampires, that's for sure!

Rice noodles

My mom makes a great tomato soup from scratch, but since my parents eat it so often, sometimes it is fun to put a spin on something so familiar. She adds long rice noodles; they need to be cooked prior to adding them to the soup. Although challenging while dishing the soup, the noodles add a little surprise to the dish.

My very own Panera

Lunches at Panera Bread Co are one of my favorite things to do when visiting friends in the Twin Cities, although I do realize that Panera Bread is a chain... But I love their soups so much! Who knew they have recipes posted on their website, so close within my laptop's reach!
Here is Jeffrey enjoying his share of the tasty Tomato, Cheese and Bread soup. Yums!

Best medicine for blizzard conditions

Although the weather conditions in ND and closed roads in ID warned us against taking a road trip to Jackson Hole for Thanksgiving, we thought we would beat the odds and get there safely. After a long and miserable drive we found ourselves only in Bismarck, ND and decided to turn around. Seeing my pouty face Jeffrey did the only thing he could to turn my frown upside down - he invited me to lunch at The Bistro, a restaurant recommended by our friend Boyd, a fellow foodie.

Lobster bisque warmed us up pretty quickly! The best soup hands down I have ever had. Creamy goodness with pieces of lobster floating around the bacon bits.
When my salad arrived, I was mesmerized. Scallops, shrimp and tuna on a bed of spring greens, zucchini and green beans with a balsamic-anchovies dressing. But it gets better, because...

The tuna was prepared perfectly. Oh yes. If the above description didn't do it for you, you must be drooling now.
PS This fabulous salad was only $12.50!

The Leek Technique

My mom cooks with leeks (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum, Latin) quite often, and I think that it is an under-appreciated vegetable. So when leeks are in season I try to make not only my mom's leek and apple salad, but also a delicious Julia Child's Potage Parmentier, or leek potato soup.

The Leek Salad

• 3 leeks - thinly sliced only the white and the white-greenish part
• 1 apple - grate on the thick part of the grater
• Dressing - 1 teaspoon lemon + 1 tablespoon mayo + 1 tablespoon plain or Greek yogurt + salt and sugar to taste.

Combine the simple ingredients and enjoy! Since leek comes from the onion and garlic vegetable family you may notice that the flavor is quite sharp, but I am sure you can handle it! A wonderful variation would also be adding blue cheese for a salad with real character or Camembert for a milder version.

Potage Parmentier

• 1 lb potatoes - peeled and dices. I don't always peel them; it adds nice coloring.
• 3 cups leeks - thinly sliced the white and white-greenish part
• 2 quarts water - I used some or all chicken stock instead. It adds more flavor.

Simmer vegetables about an hour. What you do next is up to you - mashing it, blending with cream or yogurt, adding chives or parsley. Can't go wrong either way!

Barszcz, not Borscht!

Any respectable Polish person will tell you there is no "t" in the name of this soup ;)
The other weekend Lacey, Megan and I went to a wonderful little bakery downtown that also makes soups for lunch. They are all homemade and as far as I know organic! Also, their ingredients are locally grown. I decided to have this beet wonder for lunch, and although it was not the "real borszcz", as the one you may see in the picture, I was pleasantly surprised! The soup was full of vegetables and even had beef in it, something new for me when it comes to borszcz.
I do have to mention, that the borszcz featured on the picture was one of the best I have ever had, in a Lithuanian restaurant in Poland called "Krasowianka". The color of the soup is deep red and either "uszka", or tiny dumplings filled with meat or mushrooms may find their way into the bowl. Usually found on the Christmas Eve dinner table, this wonderful soup also warms my heart during long winters here, in the north! Another favorite is Flaki, or intestine soup (yes I said intestine), but that's a story for another day!