A Split-Pea Soup to End All Split-Pea Soups

One of my New Year's projects was to (is still to) get rid of old stuff. I had a whole stack of old foodie magazines hogging precious cookbook shelf space, and decided once and for all to peruse them for the good recipes to cut out and save, and chuck the rest. My eyes fell (and feasted) on an otherwise inconspicuous recipe for split-pea soup. Split-peas in any form aren't something I grew up with, in fact I can't recall my mom ever making them. Scandinavia on the other hand, has a thing for split-pea soup. Yellow split-pea soup. They call it simply, pea soup (ærtesuppe). I first got real close and personal with it in Finland, when I lived there for that dark, cold semester. Hernekeitto is the national dish every Thursday. Thursday is simply pea soup day, and every Finnish restaurant and cafeteria with any self-respect serves just that on that day. I admit, I liked it, but it's also a notorious dish that people love to hate, indluding my mother-in-law! And I can understand why. The soup is normally heavy on the peas, making it really thick, almost pasty, and this is especially how it turns when people by the packages of "just add water" pea soup. Paste is not, and will never be soup, so folks who like that kind of thing can keep it for themselves. Yuck!

But this recipe will change that. I'm convinced that this soup can make a split-pea soup lover out of anyone. I think the winning aspects of this soup are the "hiddenness" of the peas, and the mighty fine chunks of yummy veg (and bacon, if you add that). I tried it on my husband and kids yesterday. Kids ate everything (under pressure, admittedly), husband loved it. Will serve it to my MIL and get back to you on that one :)

Ingredients:

250 g. split-peas, preferably yellow
2 bay leaves
3 carrots, in small cubes
2 parsnip, or parsley root, in small cubes
3 large potatoes, in small cubes
3 medium onions, diced or sliced as you like
3 sprigs of thyme, or 2 tsp dried
apple cider vinegar to taste
salt and pepper ditto

First off, boil your peas and bay leaves in ample water to cover them, roughly 45 min. Drain afterward, discard the bay leaves, and set aside for the time being.
Now, sauter you onions in some butter and oil, when they're soft, add all your cubed veggies, and 1 liter of water on top of that. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes. When you've done that, drain the veggie water on top of you peas, and blitz away until it's all smooth and soupy, mine was pretty watery too, which is fine, because you won't get that characteristic pea-pastyness. Add your veggies to your peas, and put your thyme in as well. Let bubble for a bit, and when you're about ready to eat, season with apple cider vinegar, and salt and pepper. Note that you might need quite a bit of salt, I did in any case.

Notes: this recipe serves 4.
Also, I added about 4-5 slices of thick, diced bacon. I sautered it with the onions, until the onions were soft, and the bacon was glistening. So, leave out the bacon, you have a very tasty vegan dinner.
The original recipe called for a fennel bulb, diced, which I didn't have, so had to make do without. I can only imagine it will be tastier with, if you're into that sort of thing.

Enjoy with fresh bread like we did!

Zesty Borscht with Sour Cream and Veggie "Bacon"

Looking back at my last post - this one is right on time. :)

This is a recipe I used to make about twice a month. For some reason, it fell out of rotation - time to make amends!

This traditionally Russian red beet soup is made for this very season. Not so much the holiday season, more like the season where long lasting root vegetables abound. The selleriac, carrots, and beets all lend such a welcome sweet flavour that's balanced out by the tartness of the vinegar and the subtle smokiness of the veggie "bacon" - that is, dehydrated kale with a sprinkling of salt and smoked paprika (or chipotle powder, whatevs). I made it a day ahead for some strange reason (I'm usually never that prepared), and the flavors were even better for it. We had an unexpected dinner guest yesterday, who love-love-loved this soup, so you don't just have my word for it.

Borscht with Sour Cream and Veggie "Bacon"

2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1/4 selleriac, peeled and grated
5 medium-large carrots, grated
1 lb. beets, peeled and grated
3 bay leaves
1 tsp whole caraway ground
2 tsp fennel seeds, ground
pinch cayenne
2 tbsp veggie boullion powder
1+ liter water
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp wine vinegar
salt, pepper to taste

Sauter the onion and garlic until soft, add the grated veggies until they start to go soft. Add your spices, boullion, water, and sugar. Let bubble gently on the stove for about 45 minutes. Add the vinegar, and season more to taste (this is the part where I admit that it was a bit on the bland side, so I added a bit of say sauce, worcestershire sauce, miso, and a darker, thicker balsamico before I was ready to serve this puppy).

Veggie "Bacon"  

Wash and thoroughly dry a bunch of kale. Separate the thick stalks from the leaves and discard. Roughly chop the leaves, and massage them with a few tbsp of olive oil. Spread out on a baking tray, and sprinkle liberally with smoked paprika (or chipotle powder), and salt. Dry/bake anywhere from 15-30 minutes in a low-medium heat oven. The higher the temp, the more vigilant you must be. The kale is done when it's bright green, crisp, and crunchy. The sooner it's eaten the better, it gets a little tough after  a while.

Serve your delicious beet soup piping hot with a dollop of sour cream (to make this vegan, use a dollop of soy yogurt instead) and a liberal sprinkling of you smoky veggie bacon.

* This version of red beet soup is inspired by the Borsjtj in Geniale Gryderetter, with a few amends, not in the least my veggie "bacon".

Red Beans and Yum

This just in!

I've been clearing my cupboards for those half used bags of what not, and decided to put these year old kidney beans to good use in a little something inspired by the red beans and rice I've had on trips to N'awlins in years past. Not much in the mood for meat these days, as bad climate change news is keeping me on the straight and narrow as far as habits go. Cutting meat out of your diet is one of the big ones as far as carbon emissions go, and I was afraid the flavor would take a hit, but with a little help from my friends, and some yummy chipotle powder I got from a friend, it was just perfect! I also substituted rice with bulgur, as it was also laying around in the cupboard, as well as it being healthier.

You'll need:
2 cups of kidney beans, soaked overnight
bulgur
1 can/box of crushed tomatoes
1 bell pepper, your choice of color, diced
1 yellow onion, sliced or diced how you want 'em
2 bay leaves
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and sliced or diced
1 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper
flour for thickening

Start by sauteing the onion, garlic and bell pepper in some olive oil in a pot. When they're soft and glassy, throw in the spices for a good mix around. Add the beans, bay leaves, tomatos and a little salt. Fill your pot with water until the ingredients are covered, and let simmer for 20-30 min. I used my pressure cooker since the beans were old-ish, and probably needed a little help. When it's about done, get your bulgur going, as much as you need for as many people as you are, it's usually half bulgur/half water. Taste the beans and add salt and pepper as needed. If it's a little runny, mix som flour with a little water in a bowl and add the mixture slowly over heat until it thickens.

That's it. Serve it up, pick out the bay leaves if you've got kids, and enjoy!

ps - I happened to add some pimentos that I had in a jar, and I added that along with the pimento water. I like the pimento flavor, but the water made it too acidic. I rememdied this by throwing in a teaspoon of baking soda at the very end. It neutralized the flavor just fine, but if you want to make this addition as well, I'd recommend a little caution!

Easy Hot Lunch - Udon Noodle Soup

Yeah so, culinary adventures are just not my thing these days. I'm into sandwiches, easy homemade pizzas and pasta dishes lately. The more time I spend thinking bigger, better thoughts about my master plan (which encompasses everything), the less time I have to thinking about dinner.

I wanted a hot lunch the other day, despite my lack of creativity, and I luckily spied a package of forgotten udon noodles in the back of the fridge, hooray! So easy.

Hot water. Add udon.



Boil as the package instructs. Add miso (mine's vegan). Then I add a small handful of chopped spring onions and canned corn.



At the very end I add cubes of silky tofu. Don't heat them too much, or they'll disentegrate.



Less than five minutes. Hot lunch. So good.

Vegan Hokkaido Heavy Fajitas

So I'm in this co-op. And I love it. But practically every single week includes a hokkaido pumpkin. I like a good hokkaido once in a while, but you know...pumpkins and versatility...not so much. Usually they get thrown into soups, puréed and used in cakes and pies. It's all good. But it's just not enough. They're still milling around my kitchen, piling up in a sort of gourdish/kitchen traffic jam. I was loathe to make a soup out of one. Again. So I ate myself to one less hokkaido the other day, and I was quite pleased with my creativity in doing so. I present: fajitas with beans, hokkaido guacamole and hokkaido/tomato salsa.

Fillings:
- Admittedly, the beans are canned chili beans. I warm them on the stove with a bit of ground cumin and garlic. Still good, nonetheless.
- Peel the hokkaido with a good potato peeler. Cut in half, scoop out the seeds.
- Now, dice half of the hokkaido into smallish cubes, and blanche in a bowl for a few minutes. Drain, and leave to cool. When cool, mix them with diced tomato, diced onion, cilantro/coriander and a dash of vinegar. Tastes best when the flavors are allowed to mesh and mellow a bit. I also added canned corn to the mix, because the kids and I like to play with them at the table (!).
- Cut the other half of the hokkaido into chunks, and steam or boil them in just a tiny bit of water until soft. Let cool. When cool, mash them up with your regular old guacamole ingredients, you might want to go heavy on the avocado and lemon so the guac isn't too orange-y and pumpkin-y. Nothing wrong with it, but I know my kids would get suspicious!

Warm up some nice whole wheat tortillas, and you've got yourself a meal. The guac is extra creamy, and the pumpkin bits in the salsa have a lovely bite that's really satisfying. Because of the pure vegan aspect of this meal, it's nice and light, and doesn't seem to bog you down with that really full feeling, even after you've had your share. Yummy!

Kale. Chips. Kale Chips

Meet your new favorite snack. Or rather, meet mine.



The past month or so, I've noticed a couple of new kilos on my chops that while not overtly voluminous, are still an unwelcome addition to my wardrobe. Admittedly, I've been slacking on the exercise, but that usually doesn't throw the scale this much out of whack! I started charting my daily eating habits with a Calorie Counter application on my smart phone. Things were looking pretty good there, so I was really starting to wonder if I had a glandular problem or what. Then I noticed something. Something that I was eating, but not adding to my daily calorie counter. Because I didn't really consider it a meal or snack in itself.

See, my kids have gotten pickier lately. And they leave a lot of food on their plate. Food that goes uneaten. Rising food prices. Africa. See my logic? Yeah, I clean their plates for them. A direct connection between my childrens' pickiness and the scale. I will start serving them smaller portions, and subsequently refuse to eat their leftovers from now on - the worms in the compost bin will just have that much more to mulch from now on!

To get back to the point of this blog post (ie Jennie's fat!), I have nothing but praise for the kale. Kale, I love you. Usually, I just fry the hell out of it with some oil and garlic, reducing it to a spinach substitute that I gladly put in lasagne or on pizza. But kale is a lovely snack in its own right. And while I may need to watch what I eat a bit more closely, to be able to fit into those pants again, i will gladly have my kale chips, and eat them too, no guilt attached. They are absolutely delectably crispy, salty, yummy with just the tiniest bit of olive oil and some salt. And nothing else.

Just take 1 kale, removing the stems, and tearing the leaves up into smaller bits. Arrange on a baking tray, drizzle with oil and salt. Bake at 200 C (180 convection oven) for 10-15 minutes until they are crispy, and just slightly browned at the edges. The ones that were excessively browned still tasted fab, actually reminding me of fried okra, but the green ones were prettier. Still looking fresh from the farm. But packing a great flavor and a perfect crunch!

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Hi again!

Just to comfort you, we haven't stopped eating, even though posts have been few and far between! On vacation in Finland some weeks ago, I had the oppotunity to eat some old Finnish favorites, but fool I am, didn't get around to taking pictures of the goodies to share. Another time, alas.

Upon re-entry to Denmark, the weather's been pretty shifty. Sun, rain, torrents, baking hot. Every other day. Schizo-weather! I embraced a cold weather day, and also a cheap head of cauliflower, and concocted this soup. I've made cauliflower soup before, though by putting raw cauliflower into broth, cooking, puréeing, and that's it. It's ok, in a jiff, but if you have more time, pre-roasting the cauliflower imprives the flavor of the following soup roughly 80%!

1 head of cauliflower, sliced into half inch thick pieces
1 small onion, sliced/diced
1 small can of coconut milk
Herbamare broth, or other vegetable broth
a pinch of ground ginger and/or mild curry (optional)

I fried up the cauloflower sliced in olive oil, in two batches. You want to make sure that the cauliflower gets browned evenly on both sides, this gives the soup a darker and more characteristic color, not to mention flavor! Keep a lid over it, so the heat stays in, softening the cauliflower as much as possible. When the last batch of cauliflower is on the pan and about half done, add the onion to the mix, you just want it softened, not seared through. Add the spices here, if you like.

Transfer the fried cauliflower and onions to a pot covered with the coconut milk, and water/broth until completely covered. Simmer until it's soft enough to blend through with a hand mixer. Serve with bread.

It's creamy, yummy, and the flavor is addictive in a warm and nutty way, that non-fried cauliflower soup isn't!

Lent Status Report, Version 2.0

Hey ho folks! Still working on that camera issue. Plan on buying one next week, since I've pretty much close in on and identified the one.

I thought I'd do a little fessin' up about Lent. Well, that sounds like I've broken totally and utterly down and broken all good form here, which happily, isn't the case. But I have veered a bit. Just a smidge.

I'm still keeping myself mentally vegan on a daily basis, and even though I may pop an animal made product in my gob, it doesn't feel like I'm sinning. The main thing here is that I now thoughtfully consider every thing I put in my mouth. It may sound a bit obsessive, and I can totally see that, but it's not. When I was an omnivore, I didn't even consider myself as such, because I didn't think about everything I put in my mouth, despite striving for organic fare for the important stuff (fruit, veggies, meat). As a result, I would mass consume processed foods, candy, snacks, whatever, without really thinking about it. Now, I think. Not obsess. Just think. And it feels REALLY good.

As I mentioned before, I lost 2 kilos (5lbs) right off the bat. They're still off, no more, no less. Though I continually feel skinnier, and I think that's down to not feeling as bloated as I previously have. I'd love to lose more, but that's not my main objective at this time.

I have been eating goat's cheese to satisfy that craving, and if I ran out of soy milk, I'd use cow milk. Tastes awful, when you're used to the other stuff! Really bad after taste in fact. I also went to a belated Christmas/early Easter party with some girlfriends, and I did eat tuna salad, pickled herring and eggs, since I didn't want to make an issue out of it. My mom being here added some cow milk cheeses to the menu, plus a little ice cream and again, I didn't sweat it. But just today, at the office, my office mate fried up some bacon. Wow, did that ever smell bad! Death. Fried death. He asked if I wanted some. I declined, politely. Yuck!

So, I haven't been strictly vegan, but my diet has changed. I have fewer craving for either specific foods, or just stuffing my face in general. It's been a relief actually. Although I know it's restrictive, strictly speaking, to eat this way...it's actually liberating.

Rooty Coconut Chowder

I really really wish I had a picture of this. Alas, I have yet to find a replacement for my kaput camera (tips on better versions of the old point and shoot welcome), so an enthusiastic description will have to do.

I had yet another box of seasonal veggies staring me in the face, daring me to make something tasty out of them. Unfortunately, the biggest offering this time was a rutabaga! Wtf. Well, I actually enjoy the challenge of making anything tasty, but when you're pressed for time and have a hungry brood waiting small droplets of sweat form on your brow, and the nagging question of "what exactly am I doing" plagues you. Luckily, it went well. Really well.

1 rutabaga (by nature a large creature), peeled and cubed
.5 - 1 kg sunchokes, peeled and halved
1 large onion
1 tsp dried ginger
1 can coconut milk
sprinkling of cinnammon
1 tsp herbamare

- Start off by boiling the sunchokes and rutabaga together in a pot of salted water until soft. Drain, and set aside for next step.
- Finely chop the onion and fry it up in a little bit of coconut oil with the dried ginger until soft and fragrant. Add the boiled rutabaga and sunchoke, coconut milk, plus the herbamare. Let bubble, maybe adding a bit of water if it's too dry. When the taste is about what you want, take about half of the contents out of the pot, and blend them until nice and creamy. Add to the pot again, adding the dash of cinnamon. Stir well and serve with homemade bread.

Really really lovely chunky, creamy soup here. Enjoy!

Creamy Vegan Potatoes

Dude! It's been a while, huh? Well, between testing this vegan thing and my studies and my trip to Berlin, and now my mother being here for a visit...you get the idea. My camera is out of commission, for ever, so until we acquire a new one, I'll make do with old snaps of dishes I just haven't blogged about, and then second hand tales of decadent vegan meals, or something.

I made, actually invented, this warm potato salad as a side to an Indian dish I made recently, and it was good! And easy! And vegan!



I simply boiled some cute small potatoes, with skin, rubbing them gently off after they'd cooled a bit.
Then, I fried a small amount of finely chopped onion with light and dark mustard seeds and nigella seeds. When they'd released some of their flavor, I added the cooked and peeled potatoes again for a quick swirl, before turning the heat off. Then, as the creamy dot over the "i", I added a few bid spoonfuls of the white coconut cream that rises to the top of the canned coconut milk*. It was the perfect touch. And the dish was eaten with great fervor by all, young and older.

* Coconut milk has been a lifesaver in this vegan adventure of mine. Can't imagine not having its creamy goodness on hand.

Lent Status Report

Apart from an inadvertant bite of bread with butter/cheese I've been keeping this Lent thing up with no big problems. Just a few days after I started, I lost one whole kilo (2 lbs) which was quite a great perk if you ask me, and also a good reason to keep it up. I've lost another half kilo since then, and I think it's owing to the lack of butter in my diet. Boy, do we like butter here.

My breakfasts are a pretty standard bowl of oatmeal made on water, with raisins, cinnamon/sugar and flaxseed oil. Filling and quite satisfactory.

Lunches have been mostly bread with a smear of bean paste and beets, misc. vegan cold cuts, and cut up fruit and veg. Seriously, I haven't felt like I've been missing out. I would like to note that the bean paste has 15% protein, as opposed to a smear of Danish leverpostej, which has 24%. The vegan cold cuts have as much protein (wheat protein) as turkey cold cuts.

Dinners have been what they normally are, either vegetarian dishes with veggies and lentils, or dishes using quorn or soy meat substitutes. I made a mean chili sin carne the other night, and you could hardly tell the quorn/meat difference. Honestly.

If I am lacking any protein in this manner, just through regular meals, I put extra protein in my daily routine with lots of nuts for snacks, and peanut butter/hazelnut butter on Wasa crackers.

So far, no cravings for "real" meat, though I do miss cheese, so I'll find a good goat cheese to satiate that. I'll post some recipes I'm collecting soon.

Otherwse, I'm enjoying this little experiment, not in the least because I enjoy eating in a thoughtful manner. It's gratifying. And my body feels great, inside and out. 'Nuff said.

Two Days In

Thank you, Anonymous, for that cheerleading!

I just woke up after my second day without eating animal products, and get this, I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed before 7 am, and I hadn't even had my coffee yet! Something good is going down here. I thought I'd post what I'd eaten for the last two days, and I might update every week or so with a Lent update and recipes.

Day 1:
breakfast: 1 cup coffee with soy milk
oatmeal with raisins, cinammon/sugar and flax oil
lunch: apple, pear, orange, high fiber crackers
tea
dinner: Leftover rice, fried, steamed endive, coleslaw w/vinaigrette

Day 2:
breakfast: same as day 1
lunch: rye bread with bean paste/spread and pickled beets, cucumber and vegan coldcuts
dinner: Indian mélange of rice, spinach garam masala dish, carrot curry/coconut dish and potatoes in coconut and mustard

Snacks have included fruit by the bucket, and if that wasn't enough, Wasa crackers with a nice smear of hazelnut butter (better than Nutella!) and maybe a drizzle of honey. And yes I'm still eating honey.

Feeling good, and so far this is easier than I thought it would be.

Lent

For the first time in roughly 20 years, I decided to give something up for the Lenten fast. I don't know what spurred it on, perhaps that Tuesday was Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day/Mardis Gras, and I seemed to have forgotten why that is celebrated in the first place. Something about Jesus being 40 days in the desert, I believe. And people think Islam and Christianity are nothing remotely like each other. Huh. So, having just read Eating Animals, I've decided to eat adhere as much as possible to the food doctrine behind the book, for 40 days. That would mean mostly sticking to a vegan diet, though I'll allow for dairy from goats/sheep since Safran Foer points out that those animals have not yet been targeted by factory farming. Yet. And I'm going to Berlin in a week's time, and I will allow myself to be touristy enough to enjoy a curry wurst.

I've long wanted to give the vegan diet a try, though having three omnivores in the house has kept me back. I think though, that I'm grown up enough now to endure watching others eat a certain food, without feeling deprived. And there is an ulterior motive a well. The weight issue. My bmi is normal, but I want to see what such a diet can do for my waistline. But ultimately, I want to try the diet of the future, and understand its necessity for myself, without dreading it when it becomes inevitable. I think we can do it!

This blog isn't going on hiatus per se, but I have no idea how this will pan out, as far as yummy recipes go. We shall see.

Anybody else doing Lent?