Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup

Here’s a soup for a crowd.  Traditionally made with real meat chorizo, variations of this recipe are easy to find. I found this interpretation in Twelve Months of Monastery Soups by Brother Victor D’Avila Latourrette. Brother Victor calls for the soup to cook two hours, but you know me, the pressure cooker is the way to go—dinner will be on the table in less than an hour, provided you have planned and soaked the beans beforehand. Lacinato kale was on sale last week so that is what I bought. Rumor has it that Lacinato or dinosaur kale is the most nutritious of kales.

Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup

1 cup white beans, either the larger Northern or the smaller Navy bean

2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

9 cups water

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut in ½-inch cubes

1 pound Lacinato kale, stems removed and discarded

12 to 16 ounces chorizo style vegetarian “sausage”, cut in 1/2-inch pieces

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 ½ to 2 teaspoons sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Put the beans in a bowl, cover with plenty of water, and let soak overnight.

Heat the first 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pressure cooker; cook and stir the onions over medium flame, until translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook a few minutes more. Pour in the water and stir in the tomato paste. Rinse the soaked beans and add them to the pot along with the potatoes. Chop the kale leaves and add them. Lock the lid in place, and over high heat, bring to high pressure. Lower the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 9 minutes. Allow the pressure to come down naturally for 10 minutes; then quick release as directed by your pressure cooker.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Cook and stir the “sausage” until the pieces are lightly brown on the sides. Add the browned “sausage”, the vinegar and salt and pepper. Taste, adding more salt as needed.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

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Vegetarian for the Holidays Cooking Class

On  November 18, 2009, I will be teaching a cooking class. At a cute, well-stocked kitchen store cum cooking school in Logan–Love to Cook at Kitchen Kneads. It would be fun to see some Park City/Summit County friends in the group. Sign up and carpool? In the morning that day, I”ll be making cheese at Rockhill Creamery just north of Logan, after a bread and Caffe Ibis coffee stop at Crumb Brothers Bakery….    Here’s the class menu to tempt you all.

Red Lentil and Pecan Pâté

Potato and Onion Gratin

Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce

Baked Acorn Squash Stuffed with Brown Rice and Hazelnut Pilaf

Vegan Maple Pumpkin Pie with Whole Wheat Crust

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Hot and Sour Miso Soup

Last week, a nasty cold bug found its way into my body. It zapped my energy and made my nose drip everywhere. I drank thermos-fulls of hot herbal tea, Yogi Throat Comfort and Green Tea Triple Echinacea and laid low for the entire weekend. I wanted soup—but not Grandma’s chicken noodle, I craved my homemade comfort soup—Hot and Sour Miso Soup.

Miso soup really is good for you. It’s rich with antioxidants and protective fatty acids, and a healthy dose of Vitamin E. It also boasts protein and Vitamin B12, and a nice selection of minerals to help boost the strength of your immune system. Miso is a fermented seasoning, a staple in every Japanese kitchen; its range of flavors and colors, textures and aromas is as varied as that of the world’s fine wines or cheeses. For this soup use a deep red-brown miso, versus light, white miso.

4 dried shiitake mushrooms

8 cups hot vegetable stock

3 leeks, white parts only, sliced, or 1 bunch green onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

1/2 pound firm tofu, sliced (optional)

2 tablespoons rice wine (mirin)

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons tamari soy sauce

1 or 2 jalapeño peppers, veins and seeds removed, minced or 2 pinches cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

1/4 cup dark miso

2 carrots, julienne-cut or grated

Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl, pour 2 cups of the vegetable stock over them, cover, and let stand 10 minutes.

In a large saucepan, cook the remaining vegetable stock with the onions, garlic, and ginger for 5 minutes. Add the tofu (if using) and simmer 5 more minutes. Stir in the rice wine, vinegar, tamari, jalapeño pepper and sesame oil.

Strain the soaking liquid from the dried mushrooms into the soup. Slice the mushrooms into slivers and add them.

Dissolve the arrowroot in the 1/4 cup of cold water. Add to the soup and bring to a gentle boil, stirring. The soup will become very slightly thickened. Place the miso in a bowl and whisk in 1/2 cup of the soup. Add the miso liquid to the soup along with the carrots. Do not allow the soup to boil as boiling destroys some of the nutrition of the miso and changes the flavor. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning with more vinegar, tamari, or cayenne, as needed. Serve immediately.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

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Sesame Shiitake Vinaigrette

Beautiful Ranui salad greens every week. We will miss them this winter–salad greens from the store don’t even come close in flavor and freshness. Back in June, I wrote about my homemade version of a popular bottled dressing, sort of promising the recipe, so, to help savor these last 2 weeks of salad greens before our CSA boxes stop coming, here it follows.

I am a label reader and I make a point to not buy anything with a list of additives. Many commercial salad dressings, organic or not, include something called xanthan gum—usually the last ingredient, which means it is the smallest ingredient by percentage. Xanthan gum seems pretty harmless, a bacteria, like yogurt or blue cheese, grown on (usually corn) sugars. It’s widely used in gluten-free baking and readily available–Bob’s Red Mill is a common brand, sold in a bag with so much xanthan gum you’ll need a gluten-free baking spree to use it up. In salad dressings, xanthan gum gives viscosity, so it sticks to the food, and it acts as emulsifier, to keep the oil and vinegar from separating right away. I bought some xanthan gum, and it’s included in my recipe, though it is not a crucial component, and its thickening and emulsifying powers won’t be apparent right away. I wondered why, but if you think about it–we certainly don’t use commercial salad dressing the same day it’s made in the factory.

I also use canola oil. I’ve experimented with extra virgin olive oil, and so can you, but the result is heavier—I think this dressing should be light, less Italian, more Japanese. Taste your sesame seeds for freshness–they stale quickly—and replace older seeds that have gone rancid.

Sesame Shiitake Vinaigrette

1 dried shiitake mushroom

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

3/4 canola oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce

2 tablespoons mushroom soaking water

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum powder

Put the mushroom in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soak until the mushroom is soft. Toast the sesame seeds in a small skillet, stirring until they are golden in color. Remove from the heat so they don’t burn.

When the mushroom is soft, saving 2 tablespoons of the soaking water, trim and discard the stem; chop the mushroom.

Put the oil, vinegar, soy sauce, reserved soaking water, sesame oil, the chopped mushroom and xanthan gum in a blender. Whir just until the mushroom is in tiny pieces, about 10 seconds. Add the toasted sesame seeds and blend a few seconds more.

Store in a glass jar, refrigerated. Makes about a cup—recipe can be doubled, no problem.

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