Recipe: Potato and Leek Soup

Recently we had some potatoes lyin' around our kitchen that needed to be used up, quick! I thought the perfect solution would be a nice potato-leek soup, because I love the savory deliciousness of leeks balanced by a nice hearty potato base.
My favorite way to make vegetable soups is to let the veggies speak for themselves and not dilute their flavor with a lot of cream or cheese, and this recipe is no different. It's aaaall about the natural flavor of the yummy veggies! And it's really simple and quick, to boot.

What you need:
*olive oil
*1 large onion, diced
*1 garlic clove, minced fine
*1 lb potatoes, diced
*3-4 large leeks, sliced
*couple cups vegetable or chicken broth
*salt and pepper to taste
optional:
*couple pinches cayenne pepper
*finely chopped parsley
*couple drops of your favorite hot sauce

What you do:
Heat the oil in a pot. Add the onions and sautee. Add the garlic and sautee until fragrant. Add the leeks and cook for a couple minutes, stirring intermittently. Add the potatoes and cook with the occasional stir. When the potatoes begin to brown, add broth to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for at least 30 mins or until soup is at desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy. I prefer not to puree, I like my soups chunky :)
If you, like I, like a little kick in your soup, add cayenne pepper liberally to taste. It's also nice with some chopped fresh parsley stirred in, and I always add some hot sauce to my bowl to get some real heat going.
Bon Apppetit!

Recipe: Quick Lentil Stew

Hey friends!
We're back from California, but we don't know yet when the next supper will be. In the meantime, I have a new recipe for you all! Now that the weather's warmer again, I've started going to the Turkish Market more frequently than I did in the cold winter months, and today I knew I had to finish off some cherry tomatoes I picked up last week. I wanted to use them in a stew of some kind because I was sick of eating them raw. So I figured a lentil stew would be yummy. I picked up some fresh carrots and parsley and voila.

What you need:
couple onions, diced
little bit of olive oil
4-5 carrots, chopped
few handfuls of cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cups dried green lentils
2 cups water
couple handfuls fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

What you do:
Heat the oil in a pot. Add the carrots and onions and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes, stir a bit, then add the lentils, water, salt and pepper. Turn down the heat and simmer until the lentils get soft (15-20min). Toss in the parsley, salt and pepper, stir a few times, remove from the heat and enjoy :)
Serves 4ish

The sweet fresh carrots really made this an unexpectedly delicious dish, and surprisingly light, despite the fact that I described it as a stew. It's a nice 'n easy recipe for early spring!

Recipe: Hearty Fish Stew

This was our main dish at the last supper club, and turned out great! Courtesy of Closet Cooking.
Makes 4 servings.

What you need:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion (diced)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
chili flakes to taste (optional) [I added Mexican chili powder]
1 bulb fennel (sliced)
1 red pepper (cut into bite sized pieces)
1 cup white wine
1 (28 ounce) can diced plum tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound white fish (such as haddock, halibut, etc., or any seafood) [or substitute tofu]
1/2 cup fresh herbs such as parsley and basil (chopped)

What you do:
1. Heat the oil in the pan.
2. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 6-10 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and chili pepper flakes and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the fennel and red peppers and saute for a few minutes.
5. Add the white wine and simmer for a few minutes.
6. Add the tomatoes, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
7. Add the fish [or tofu] and simmer until cooked, about 5 minutes.
8. Remove and mix in the fresh herbs.

Serve with some crusty bread & feta, if desired.

Recipe: Mary's Pumpkin-Fig Soup

What you need:
1 medium/large hokkaido pumpkin, peeled & diced
1 lg onion, diced
2 Tbsp sesame oil
3 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp diced fresh ginger
2 fresh or 3 dried figs
1 can coconut milk
1 scant Tbsp lemon juice
3 c. vegetable broth
salt to taste
blender or blender wand

What you do:
Saute onion & curry powder in oil until transparent. Add pumpkin, fig, ginger, broth, lemon juice. Boil until pumpkin is soft. Puree with blender wand. Salt to taste.