OMGSNAX!

so i guess it’s finally winter — after all, one freak ice storm & power outage in december does not a season make — & the weather’s got me craving soups all the time. i’d decided over the weekend that potato soup was in my future, but then i neglected to get any ingredients at the store when we went grocery shopping. i checked my recipe bookmarks this afternoon & found this, & once i re-read & it sunk in how easy the soup would be to make, i had a plan.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled & diced
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chicken vegetable stock
plain yogurt, to serve

METHOD
preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. place the diced sweet potatoes & onions on a baking sheet. drizzle with the olive oil & then season with the cumin, salt, & pepper. toss the vegetables to coat evenly & then spread into one even layer.

place the pan in the oven & roast, stirring every so often, for 20 to 25 minutes, until the onions have caramelized a little & the sweet potatoes have gotten tender. the roasting time will depend on how small the sweet potatoes have been diced.

meanwhile, place the stock in a medium saucepan & bring to a simmer. when the onions & sweet potatoes have finished roasting, scrape them into a blender & then pour in the stock. purée until smooth & then pour back into the the saucepan.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
(still working out the photo kinks, honest. i’ve been meaning to start up again but have had battery issues recently.)

so i didn’t realize till after i made the soup (& consumed three bowls) that this is not only lowfat (perfect for my health-conscious mother), but also vegan (perfect for those of us who strive to be socially conscious in our eating habits)! i will admit to being a little apprehensive about the cumin, which i think drowns out the sweet potatoeyness of sweet potatoes, but it actually didn’t overwhelm at all in this instance.

notwithstanding almost losing a hand while cutting the obscenely huge sweet potato, to which i say THANK GOD FOR DANIEL’S DULL KNIVES, although my grandpa the butcher tells me that you’re more likely to cut yourself on a dull blade than a sharp one (as a sharp one will cut what you want it to cut & a dull one will, oh, i don’t know, slip around & make your job much more difficult) — NOTWITHSTANDING a near miss on a hospital visit! — i followed these directions slavishly & was rewarded with a sniffariffic & savory soup. (if a tiny bit thinner than i like. but really that’s just splitting hairs.)

the downside: it looks like baby food. & after spending more time than is normal smelling tiny pouches of baby food over the weekend (daniel’s step-brother’s girlfriend is having a baby, so there were naturally some odd games taking place at her shower), i have to say that looking like baby food isn’t a way to win over the hearts & minds of the people.

that being said, it tasted divine, & my only thought is that perhaps i’d leave a portion of the sweet potatoes in as chunks. i happened to be using an old worn-out blender so this happened naturally anyway — i suspect an immersion blender is really the best way to get a good creamy purée here — but next time, i’d leave more & do it intentionally.

& there WILL be a next time. although sadly neither daniel nor bart even stooped to tasting the soup, i will persevere.

sweet potato soup: a delicious (if unpopular) selection.

“Roasted Sweet Potato & Red Onion Soup” from cooking blog Well Fed.

i’ve been flipping through old cookbooks again, pausing at already-dogeared pages & contemplating new recipes. after a while, they start to look the same, or at least similar to recipes i already make — the devil’s in the details. so, for example, i’ve already made a pasta with squash, but come on! it’s winter! squash season! throw me a freaking bone here!

this was for our weekly sunday night dinner at daniel’s house, which was attended this week by the two of us, bart, sarah, val, & ian. bart felt sorry for daniel in his squash-hating state & brought along some chicken to prepare as well, but i think this recipe can stand on its own.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cups diced (1/2-inch) butternut squash (from a 1 1/2 pound squash)
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
6 sage leaves, minced or 1/4 teaspoon powdered sage
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 pound uncooked penne
grated parmesan

METHOD
bring a large quantity of water to a boil in a stockpot. heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. toss in the squash & sauté 5 minutes, or until it begins to get golden. sprinkle in the garlic & sauté 2 minutes. pour in the quarter cup of water. cook the squash until tender, about 5 minutes more.

cook the penne until al dente, about 10 minutes. drain thoroughly in a colander & return to the pot. spoon on the squash mixture & toss gently. serve with a sprinkling of parmesan & pass more at the table.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
so as i’m sure you’ve noticed, there’s a step missing from the directions — no indication as to when the seasoning should be added. common sense says it should be added before the squash is covered & cooked, but honestly: proofreading!!

as usual, there was recipe doubling involved, which meant much dicing of squash, & i know i tend to shout it from the rooftops, but i’d definitely like to reiterate that without pre-peeled & cubed squash from trader joe’s, i’d be SOL on this venture. it still took nearly fifteen minutes to take the cut squash & dice it, after all, & i’m nothing if not lazy. (plus the dish i made to go along with this was a sweet potato/russett potato/onion home fries medley that involved a fair amount of dicing itself!)

this recipe was easy to follow to the letter — although i used a rennet-less cheese instead of parmesan (as i always do) — & i thought it was mighty fine. i know my propensity for butternut squash knows no bounds, & i know the time is nigh to investigate other vegetable options, but it’s just so damn delicious.

verdict: the pasta was too al dente, daniel still hates squash, & yes, it was quite garlicky. but still: would make again.

“Penne with Garlicky Butternut Squash” from Vegetarian Classics: 300 Essential Recipes for Every Course and Every Meal by Jeanne Lemlin, © 2001.

bear cub’s been recording at my house this week & they were set to come over this evening to practice, so i figured something that involved a lot of prep time would work well as everyone else would be busy while i was cooking — although it was awfully loud as they were playing at full volume one room over, so loud that those of us in the kitchen couldn’t really make conversation over the noise & through our earplugs!

i saw the rice bowl post on kim o’donnel’s blog in the washington post & realized that i hadn’t made fried rice in some time, so i was quite excited to give this new recipe a try!

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 teaspoons sesame oil
2 large eggs, beaten
1/3 cup chopped shallots
2 tablespoons minced, mild fresh chilies
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup diced carrots (substitute: chopped fresh green beans)
4 cups cold cooked rice (about 1 1/3 cups uncooked rice)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced celery (substitute: chopped bok choy)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

METHOD
heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact.

swirl in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, & the eggs. cook 30 seconds to 1 minute, tilting wok so that the eggs cover the surface as thinly as possible to make a pancake. when bottom is just beginning to brown & egg is just set, flip & allow to set on other side, about 5 seconds. transfer to a cutting board & cut into shreds.

add remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil, followed by shallots, chiles, & garlic, & stir-fry for about 10 seconds. add carrots (or substitute), reduce to medium heat & stir-fry 2-3 minutes until shallots soften. add rice, bell pepper, celery (or substitute), soy sauce, salt, & pepper. increase heat to medium-high & cook 2-3 minutes more, breaking up rice with a metal spatula until heated through. add egg & stir to combine.

remove wok from heat. stir in cilantro & drizzle remaining sesame oil.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
i doubled the recipe since there were six of us eating, & that worked out just about right & was still manageable in the wok. more & more, i’ve noticed how difficult it is to properly use a wok on an electric range (especially one as shoddy as mine!). i blame alton brown for raising my awareness here — but it still seems to get the job done, so not too many complaints.

i do think the trick of using cold rice is probably helpful for it to be more fried & less sticky (i didn’t plan ahead & spent most of the day with my cousins, so i had to make the rice while i was chopping vegetables), & i have a hunch that long-grained rice would go a long way to that goal, too, but the taste was still fine & i don’t have a problem with sticky rice anyway.

the only real substitution i made was using peanut oil instead of vegetable oil. i considered adding broccoli (everything’s better with broccoli!), but it makes val sick so i refrained.

honestly, i’m not sure if i can say how it compared to the other fried rice. i’ve made it on several different occasions, & i do appreciate the addition of the tofu (which isn’t very popular among many of the people who eat my cooking), but i think that taste-wise, this version was maybe a little bit better by virtue of being less complicated. i definitely enjoyed the inclusion of the fried egg in this one!

“Aromatic Vegetarian Fried Rice” from The Breath of a Wok by Grace Young, via Kim O’Donnel.