comfort food – Page 3

In honor of the fact that we’re still teetering on the edge of winter one day and spring/summer the next, I thought I’d share a spring-timey (but still comforting) soup recipe with you! I came across this one on Gourmet Traveller and adjusted it slightly for what we had in the kitchen and how many people I was feeding. My younger brother joined Tim and I for dinner and he couldn’t stop raving about how good the soup was – my brother is a man of few words, so I take all his compliments to heart. We enjoyed topping our soup with quinoa, feta (a good addition to pretty much any meal, in my opinion), chopped parsley, mint, and a drizzle of olive oil. To go with this I also made focaccia in our bread machine and baked it in the oven, drizzled with olive oil, rosemary, kosher salt, and parmesan cheese. I’ll have to share that recipe with you soon! Until then, it would be great served with this bread!

Carrot Soup with Quinoa and Feta

Adapted from Gourmet Traveller

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Servings 4

Ingredients

1 lb carrots grated
1/2 yellow onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2-3 c vegetable or chicken stock
1 c quinoa
1 tsp sherry vinegar or to taste
Feta
Chopped parsley and mint
Olive oil

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan or stock pot over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes, until tender.
Add carrot, spices, and lemon zest, and stir occasionally, 4-5 minutes, or until carrot softens.
Add 2 c stock and 1 c water, season to taste and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until flavors have combined, 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the quinoa according to the package directions. Set aside when finished.
Remove soup from heat, add lemon juice and a handful of feta. Using a hand-held blender, process the soup until smooth. At this point you can add the additional cup of chicken or vegetable stock if your soup is too thick. (Instead of using a hand-held blender, you can also use a regular blender. Carefully ladle the soup into the blender, leaving plenty of room at the top so the hot soup doesn't spill over while blending. Process the soup in two or three batches until it's all smooth.) Add vinegar and stir.
Serve topped with quinoa, feta, herbs, and drizzled with olive oil.
This is delicious served with focaccia or some other crusty bread as well - I'll give you a good recipe for that soon!

Do not fear the tofu. I promise it’s not as scary as you think. For a long time I dismissed tofu as this gross blob of something I didn’t even want to consider eating. I’d heard nightmares about the awful texture and how bland it is. I didn’t realize that when it’s prepared the right way it can actually be delicious! And, can I let you in on a secret? Are you on a tight budget like we are? If you are, go find the tofu at your grocery store – it’s surprisingly inexpensive! There are all sorts of ways tofu can be prepared – I really enjoyed reading this little article about various methods for using and preparing tofu. My favorite way we’ve prepared it so far was to press, marinate, then pan fry it – that yielded a crispy outside and the tofu soaked up all the delicious flavor of the marinade.

For this recipe you can purchase extra-firm tofu, and it’s totally up to you whether you want to press it or not. The original recipe didn’t call to press it, but the next time I make this I might try it that way. Pressing tofu is typically done to help the tofu absorb flavor and stand up better to the heat – I’m not so sure it’s that important in soup, but I’m happy to hear arguments to the contrary! I’m fairly new to the tofu world and would love to hear if you have any tips or hints for me!

If you decide to press your tofu, give yourself about a half hour before you start the soup. Line a cutting board with towels, place your tofu in the middle, cover it with another layer of towels, and place something heavy and evenly weighted on top – big cookbooks work great for this! I like to layer mine up like this – cutting board, towel, tofu, towel, cutting board, books – that way my books don’t get wet at all from the moisture that gets pressed out of the tofu. Allow the tofu to press for 20-30 minutes before cutting it down to size.

Today is one of those try-new-things recipe days. Have you ever made Udon noodles? We found ours at World Market and we were curious to try them – if you’re okay not being authentic, you could probably cook up some spaghetti noodles for a similar meal. I found this recipe over on the PBS website and loved the little video and story that went along with it – if you have time you can watch that here! The recipe’s author Alice shares how she cooks this meal for her two sons – I just love seeing kiddos eating food I never would have considered eating when I was their age! Here’s to hoping we have adventurous eaters one day!

Udon Noodles with Tofu

Adapted from PBS's Kitchen Explorers

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Ingredients

1/2 - 1 lb. frozen or fresh Udon noodles prepared according to package directions The original recipe called for 1 lb of noodles, but I felt like 1/2 lb was plenty since I was using dried udon noodles.
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 inch piece fresh ginger peeled and minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce I used 1 Tbs soy and 1 Tbs fish sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup extra firm tofu cubed
1 cup broccoli florets
1/2 cup matchstick carrots I chopped baby carrots into little sticks since that's what I had on hand
2 cups spinach
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon sesame seeds I didn't have these, but if you do - I'd be impressed
Optional protein: Feel free to add a protein like thinly sliced fish or a runny fried egg on top.

Instructions

Prepare udon noodles according to package directions, then drain and set aside.
Bring broth, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar to a boil for one minute and reduce heat to a simmer.
Add tofu, broccoli, carrots, spinach, mushrooms and cook for three minutes or until broccoli is tender. (My broccoli took longer to become tender)
Divide Udon between four bowls with a pinch of sesame seeds on top.
Optional protein: Feel free to add a protein like thinly sliced fish or a runny fried egg on top.
Optional: Top with Sriracha, hoisin sauce, lime juice, or whatever flavors you like!