Thanksgiving Detox/Beans & Greens Soup

I don't know about you guys, but I am feeling a little...bloated.

That may be little too much information, but I can't imagine I am the only one. After a holiday centered around food followed by 1-2 days of leftovers and multiple dinners out with the family, I am stuffed. And I look it, too.

I always need a little post-holiday detox to get my body back in balance. I am not talking "going on a diet," although I am not sure I even know what that means anymore. I just like to take a week to eat things that are really good for my body to make up for all the things that were not. Like that second piece of pecan pie.

My recipe for Beans and Greens Soup is the perfect post-holiday meal. It is made from lots of super healthy ingredients, including collard greens, olive oil, cannellini beans, and a whole lot of garlic. Plus, it also happens to be incredibly cheap (which is great for those of you who held Thanksgiving at your place), and very easy (once you get past that whole soaking the beans thing).



A quick note before we get to the recipe. I have been trying to find a good vegetable soup base for a little while now. I know homemade broth is the best, but let's be real, it doesn't always happen. Some of the organic store-bought broths are pretty good, but they can also be expensive. When I am on the road, I often buy dinner from the Whole Foods hot bar, and every time I read the ingredient list for one of their soups or even grain dishes, it starts with a vegetable base. If it's good enough for Whole Foods, it's good enough for me.

In this recipe, I tried out Vegebase by Vogue Cuisine. I thought it was pretty delicious, and it was both vegan and organic. However, you are welcome to substitute homemade or store-bought vegetable broth for the water in this recipe, and omit the base. It will be just as delicious!

Enjoy your healthy, nutritious soup.



Beans and Greens Soup
Serves 5-7

Ingredients
3/4 cup dry cannellini beans*
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
4-8 cloves garlic, minced (I like a lot)
1.5 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
3 tablespoons vegetable base**
2 teaspoons tomato paste
6-7 cups water**
4 cups collard greens, finely shredded
fresh parsley to garnish (optional)
grated parmesan to garnish (optional non-vegan garnish)

Instructions
1. Cover beans with about 3 cups of cold water. Cover and let soak overnight.
2. Drain and rinse beans. Set aside. (skip steps 1&2 if using canned beans)
3. In large stockpot, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add onion, saute for 5 minutes. Add garlic, and saute until mixture starts to turn golden brown. Add salt, pepper, thyme, bay leaf, and vegetable base. Stir, cooking for one more minute.
4. Add tomato paste, water, and beans. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.
5. Add greens, and continue to cook for 20 minutes or until beans are soft. Add water if soup becomes too thick.
5. Remove bay leaves. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and grated parmesan. Serve with crusty bread.

*Canned Bean Option: To make this soup with canned cannellini beans, replace 3/4 cups dry beans with 1 cup canned beans. Drain and rinse beans. Skip instructions steps 1 & 2. In step 4, add all remaining ingredients (including greens) and cook soup for 20-30 minutes total.
**Vegetable Broth Option: To use vegetable broth instead of base, substitute 6-7 cups broth for base and water. Add in step 3.

Spicy Vegetarian Chili

YESSSS!!!!! There is a chill in the air. You know the feeling.
Yesterday was the type of morning when you can actually feel the seasons change. Here in Florida, I wait and wait for that day. While the rest of the country is going to apple orchards and putting up Halloween decorations, I wait. It feels wrong to drink cider or bust out the candy corn when it is 80 degrees. Very, very wrong.

But October is here and it has happened! The air has changed and all of a sudden it is autumn, and a flood of nostalgia rushes in. It happens every year. I am overwhelmed with the desire to bake cookies with cinnamon and nutmeg, roast brussels sprouts with sage, and fill my kitchen with the aromas of the fall.

Today, though, I want chili. A cool Saturday morning with college football on TV calls for chili, and I am almost positive it is some sort of sense memory that makes me feel this way. The chili of my youth was a meaty and mild one, so today I came up with a meat-free chili filled with vegetables and fresh peppers for a special kick. Chili is one of those easily veganized foods. You can just omit the meat and fill your chili with veggies and beans, or you can start with some savory mushrooms to add a beefy flavor. I was looking for an authentic chili taste, so I opted for some Boca crumbles.

Last Call for Tomatoes in THE BURG

Hang on to those last summer tomatoes as long as you can! Read my tomato article in the Burg with cooking tips, pretty pics, and some delicious recipes.

Southern Comfort - Vegan Style

It's been a while, my friends. I hope you have been eating some great food!

I took a little time off. When the metaphorical plate gets too full, its best to rank the items in order of importance and say goodbye to the potatoes. Just came up with that, but I think it makes sense. The past couple months, my plate was overflowing with activity, so I decided, with some sadness, that cooking would have to be put on hold. So, while I taught my classes, planned my wedding, trained for a half marathon, and organized a fundraiser, I subsisted mainly on microwaved sweet potatoes and peanut butter. Not at the same time.

Thanksgiving Warm-Up

Who says it can only come once a year?

Thanksgiving! It is the holiday that all foodies (and really any food-lovin' people) await with great anticipation. It also happens to be the holiday that vegetarians and health-conscious individuals find the hardest to navigate. Stuffing soaked in chicken broth, greens cooked with ham, pies galore, and of course, the centerpiece of it all - a huge roasted turkey served with gravy made from its own juices.

Thai Basil Stir-Fry

Heading out of town, a fridge full of leftovers from this week. Any rational individual would heat up some veggie lasagna and hit the road. I, however, am rarely rational when it comes to food.

In the mood to cook, I wandered out to my little herb garden to see what was happening. Some of them have been looking a little worse for ware lately (so sorry, dear mint), but my Thai basil is looking absolutely beautiful.

The Hand Roll Experiment & Other Pretty Pictures

Oh how I missed you, dear kitchen.

There was a turning point in my life recently: the day I started traveling with my chef's knife. Whether it is a trip home or to a friend's house, I don't dare to leave my baby at home in case the opportunity to chop an onion presents itself and I find myself without the proper tools. So, last week, while out of town for quite a while and in need of a soothing activity, a vegetable to dice would have been lovely. However, on this particular trip, there was no kitchen to be found, and therefore, no knife needed.

It was precisely this lack of creative outlet that became catalyst for my most recent cooking spasm. While away, I spent a long period of time thinking about all the things I was going to cook when I got back - asian, indian, thai, italian, greek, etc. So, when I returned, I hit the store, and like a shopoholic in Gucci for the first time in a month, I went nuts. Without plan or purpose, I bought everything in sight. This spree continued as I got home and cooked roughly 5-7 disjointed, unrelated meals.

Therefore, for this post, I give you:

The Hand Roll Experiment and Other Pretty Pictures.

I have been craving the clean, fresh simplicity of sushi for quite a while now. A friend of mine was recently telling me how she and her family would always snack on nori rolls when she was a kid. Hence, it was immediately added to my ongoing "things to cook" list.

You should know, before we begin, that I acquired a new kitchen gadget this week. Although I have enacted a strict "no purchase" policy in the kitchen due to my upcoming wedding and therefore possible wedding gifts - I simply cracked. I was trying to make a good baba ganoush last week, and I remembered the "smoked eggplant dip" that was made in Philly vegan kitchen I worked in - that was all it took. 5 minutes later, there was a smoker box on the way to Daytona from Cheboygan, Michigan via Ebay. DONE!!!

So, when the nori roll craving hit me, my first thought was - SMOKED TOFU. Now most of you probably don't have a smoker, especially if you are vegetarian. People smoke ribs and pork all the time, but not everyone is sitting home smoking strips of eggplant, tofu and tomatoes. It's cool. Baked tofu will do just fine. You don't all have to be crazy like me.

There are a number of things you can put in sushi and hand rolls, so I will just give you the recipes of some of my fillings. They are clean and simple. For a tutorial in making your own hand rolls, watch this video.


Carrot & Daikon Salad
1 carrot, grated or julienned*
1/2 daikon radish, grated or julienned
2 green onions,sliced thinly on a bias
1/8 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon agave nectar or sugar

Spicy Tofu
1 block smoked tofu or baked tofu, diced
2 tablespoons vegan mayo
4 tablespoons Sriracha chili sauce or Sambal (add more for a little kick!)
pinch salt
2 green onions, finely chopped

My Favorite Sushi Stuffin's
Sushi rice**
Avocado
Cucumber
Bell Pepper
Wasabi
Cilantro
Panko bread crumbs

*A mandolin is ideal for this, but I don't have one. So, I like to use the biggest holes on my box grater. Perfect.

**Traditionally, a short-grained white rice is used in sushi. It is essential to create that sweet "sticky rice" that is so yummy. However, I prefer brown rice, and since I am not making something traditional, brown works. If you can find it, short-grained brown rice is ideal. You can choose any kind you would like (you can even go crazy and use millet or quinoa if you are feeling feisty) - just cook 1 cup rice according to the directions, then spread it out in a baking dish, and sprinkle with a mixture of 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar mixed with a little sugar. This will give even brown rice that sweet subtle sushi flavor.

This was my first attempt at a hand roll, and I have to agree with the video, they are much easier than inside-out sushi rolls. It took me a couple tries, and they were not perfect by any means, but they are a GREAT snack or light lunch. Use any of these fillings for traditional sushi as well.

Enjoy.

Before I move on to the "random photo" section of this post I would like to add one final note. My beautiful, loving uncle, Kevin Martin, passed away last week. While it feels silly mentioning this in my blog about food, it would feel sillier not doing so. Kevin was a huge foodie, and especially loved a big plate of sushi. So, I would like to dedicate this rough-looking, half-thought-out plate of sushi to him. He would have eaten it up gladly and asked for more.

And now, as promised, some random pretty pictures:

Curried Sweet Potato & Spinach Soup


Lemoney Hummus with Kalamatas

Farmer's Market & Impromptu Tacos!

My, I love Thursday mornings! The farmer's market in Ormond Beach boasts my favorite produce guy, the super-secret Thai shitake grower, and the organic baker who speaks mostly German. I can barely contain myself!


My return to the market this morning after a summer away was delightful. My farmer guy, Mike, was there with some exciting new items. I found plump white eggplant, okra, yellow squash, and a bundle of basil as big as a cabbage. What do I love best about this Mike? Aside from his kids, who entertain me with their latest school lessons while I shop, the produce is incredibly cheap. I bought all of those items for $8. The basil alone would have cost that much at Publix. Anyway, a successful produce purchase - one that will surely spark a pesto post dish of some kind later in the week.

Sidenote: my mushroom lady was happy to see me, and informed me that she will start bringing shitakes to the market again now that I am back. Am I the only person who appreciates a $4/lb bag of the freshest, most meaty shitakes I have ever seen? Jeez!

While I was finishing my stroll, I passed the seafood guy, who convinced me to buy some local sea bass. It was super expensive, but I decided to support local and buy enough for a small lunch for 1.

Which leads me to the food for today....

Impromptu Fish Tacos!

Why the exclamation point? Because fish tacos are the bees knees! If you haven't ever had a true fish taco - put on your shoes, go to the closest seafood shack, and dig in.

Because this was an impromptu lunch, and I am making an effort to use what I have rather than hitting the store every time I have an idea, this one is not my super ideal taco - but it was a damn fine stand-in.

I had some compari tomatoes and greek yogurt*, so I decided to throw together some salsa, and top with lime creme.

Impromptu Fish Tacos
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 jalapeno, finely chopped
1 green onion, finely chopped
1 lime, juiced (roll the lime before you cut it to release the juices)
1/4 cup greek yoghurt (I like full-fat for this)
pinch cumin
pinch chile powder
pinch garlic powder
sea salt & fresh ground pepper
1/4 lb sea bass (mahi-mahi would be great here too)
1 TB olive oil
small handful fresh cilantro
2 corn tortillas**

In a bowl, combine tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, half the lime juice, and salt to taste. Set aside.



In a small bowl, or ramekin, combine yoghurt, the rest of the lime juice, and a pinch of cumin.

In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. In the meantime, heat another small skillet to medium hot. When hot, place corn tortilla in the dry pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side to warm/toast the tortilla. This will prevent it from falling apart when you eat it.

Season fish with cumin, chile powder, garlic powder & salt. I am not big on measurements, but a light dusting of each works well. When the oil is hot, add to pan and shake once. Cook 2-3 minutes, being careful not to move the fish (you want to let it get a golden crust). Turn and cook for 2-3 minutes on the other side. Test the fish with a fork - if it is flaky and falls apart easily, it is done. Immediately move to a plate.


Now all you have to do is assemble your tacos! Throw on some pieces of flaky fish, salsa, and top with your lime creme and some fresh cilantro.

I hope you enjoy!

*I use Greek yoghurt in place of sour cream, cream cheese, or mayo in a lot of my food. Yoghurt, even made from whole milk, is much healthier, and I never miss out on the taste. Try it!
** Some people prefer flour tortillas, but corn are traditional for fish tacos. Flour overpowers the delicate taste of the fish - so if you haven't tried it yet, give it a go.

Spicy Shrimp and Collard Greens over Creamy Polenta

I have this habit of trying a dish once and then moving on.

So, in the spirit of change, I decided to focus on once recipe this week. For some reason, I have been craving shrimp and polenta for quite a while now. I am not sure if I have ever eaten this dish, but the idea of sweet juicy shrimp in olive oil over creamy polenta has been taunting me. I did a little recipe research to get some ideas, and dove in earlier this week for my first attempt.

This is such a simple dish, so my first try surprisingly successful. However, the greens weren't cooked as well as I would like, and I felt like there was a depth missing in the shrimp.

So, on my second attempt, I came a little closer to perfection. Here it is...


1 cup polenta
3 cups vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lb medium/large wild shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on (why? it's prettier)
4-5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 cayenne or jalepeno peppers, minced
2 TB tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 lemon, juiced
1 TB butter*
handful chopped fresh flat-leafed parsley
4 cups chopped fresh collard greens or spinach
Sea salt & pepper

In a saucepan, bring vegetable broth to boil. Slowly whisk in polenta (whisking prevents clumping), add bay leaf, and a couple pinches of salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, heat the 1/4 cup olive oil over med heat in a large skillet. Add garlic and chiles, saute for 3-4 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic. When the garlic begins to brown, add wine and tomato paste, whisk, and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Add shrimp, and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. This step is important. Overcooking shrimp is a very common mistake, and can make the difference between juicy and fishy.

While the shrimp is cooking, heat up a small amount of oil in a deep skillet, and add turnip greens and a pinch of salt. Cook them for a minute or two, adding a little water as needed to steam. They should only need a couple of minutes, then transfer them to a mesh strainer to drain the water. Try not to squeeze them too hard, or they will loose their form and look like a mess.

Ok, back to the shrimp - When the shrimp is almost opaque, it is time to add the next ingredients. Add lemon juice**, butter, and parsley, and remove from heat immediately.

Test polenta, and add salt if needed. If it is too thick, whisk in more broth or water to desired consistency. Add 1-2 TB of butter for extra goodness.

In a shallow bowl, spoon polenta in the bottom, Place a mound of greens on top, and, then pour shrimp and pan sauce over top. Garnish with a sprig of parsley.

Voila! A delicious dish that is both simple and impressive. This recipe can be little tricky on timing, because there are a number of things that need to happen at once. Don't get overwhelmed by it - just try it a couple times to get your rhythm.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, and as Julia would say, "Bon Appetit!"

*For butter, I use Earth Balance, a vegan butter alternative. I am not vegan (hence the shrimp recipe), but I find it yummy and it is made from mostly expeller-pressed oil, so I feel it is healthy. However, if you would like to use real butter, I suggest getting some farm fresh butter from a farmer's market in your area, preferably from a grass-fed cow farmer. The taste difference will blow you away.

**If you don't have a juicer (like me), squeeze your lemons over a mesh strainer to eliminate seeds.