Sesame Tofu & Rustic Cabbage Soup

Sometimes, you just need to detox.

Whether it's from having one too many cocktails or eating out too much (guilty of both this weekend), the body gives subtle clues when it's not a happy camper. For me, I know I need to detox when I start to feel a little sluggish and heavy on the inside.  I also start to crave green, crisp vegetables.

This weekend was especially busy and I got a little lazy with cooking. My body craved a home cooked meal today and it was the perfect opportunity to use up some produce that was nearing expiration. I had a half head of green cabbage and a couple potatoes. Luckily, I found an amazing recipe that used up both items.

I wasn't sure how the soup would turn out since it was my first time making it so I also made a back up meal, a sesame tofu recipe that my dear friend Clarissa sent to me. Luckily, the soup was light yet flavorful and super nutritious. And the sesame tofu was delicious as usual. Even if both dishes didn't quite go together, it still made for a delicious Meatless Monday and I'm ready to attack the rest of the week.

Sesame Tofu
Adapted from this recipe
Serves 6

14 ounces extra-firm tofu
2 teaspoons honey
3 tablespoons tamari
3 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
2 tablespoons sesame oil (not toasted)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon Canola oil
1/4 cup sesame seeds, lightly toasted
6 green onions

Cut the tofu into small triangles, place into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. After the tofu has simmered for 10 minutes, drain the tofu in a strainer.

Meanwhile, put honey, tamari, ginger, sesame oil, vinegar, garlic and chile flakes into a small saucepan and bring just to a simmer. Keep warm.

Coat a pan lightly with olive oil and put the tofu in to brown. Once browned, lower the heat to about medium and pour the sauce in and let simmer for a couple minutes. Toss the tofu with the sesame seeds and green onions just before serving over your carb of choice (I used brown rice).

Rustic Cabbage Soup
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks 
Serves 4

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
a big pinch of salt
1/2 pound potatoes, cut 1/4-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
5 cups vegetable stock 
1/2 medium cabbage, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch ribbons
Freshly cracked black pepper, garnish
1 cup cooked brown rice.

Warm the olive oil in a large thick-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the salt and potatoes. Cover and cook until they are a bit tender and starting to brown a bit, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the garlic and onion and cook for another minute or two. Add the stock and bring the pot to a simmer.

Stir in the cabbage and cook for a couple more minutes, until the cabbage softens up a bit. Taste and add more salt if needed, the amount of salt you will need to add will depend on how salty your stock is. Serve with a couple spoonfuls of brown rice and freshly cracked pepper and you've got yourself a full meal.

Roasted Potato Leek Soup

It baffles me that I haven't already blogged about this. Roasted Potato Leek Soup is my FAVORITE soup to make! So when John surprised me with a brand new Giada De Laurentiis food processor to replace the crappy old one I already had, I made my favorite soup by the fabulous Barefoot Contessa.

Something was majorly wrong with my old food processor. Whenever I used it, it smelled like burning metal. And then, no matter how careful I was with pouring the ingredients into the food processor bowl, it ALWAYS leaked out of the bottom! Always without fail!

Using GDL's food processor today was glorious! I didn't have to wipe down the base after I was done (because it didn't leak!), it didn't have a funny burning metal smell (no more second thoughts about whether or not I was poisoning my guests), and it was nice and quiet (professional grade is the way to go!). And although, I've made this soup more times than I can count, John said this is the best it's ever tasted, something about the texture being different from the other times.

I have to agree. LOVE this food processor! Did I mention it has suction cups on the bottom? No more worrying about your food processor bouncing off the counter!

Roasted Potato Leek Soup
From Ina Garten's recipe

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
4 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts, cleaned of all sand (4 leeks)
1/4 cup good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cups baby arugula, lightly packed
1/2 cup dry white wine, plus extra for serving
6 to 7 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
3/4 cup heavy cream
8 ounces creme fraiche
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the potatoes and leeks on a sheet pan in a single layer. Add the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss to coat the vegetables evenly. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes, turning them with a spatula a few times during cooking, until very tender. Add the arugula and toss to combine. Roast for 4 to 5 more minutes, until the arugula is wilted. Remove the pan from the oven and place over 2 burners. Stir in the wine and 1 cup of the chicken stock and cook over low heat, scraping up any crispy roasted bits sticking to the pan.

In batches, transfer the roasted vegetables to a food processor fitted with the steel blade, adding the pan liquid and about 5 cups of the chicken stock to make a puree. Pour the puree into a large pot or Dutch oven. Continue to puree the vegetables in batches until they're all done and combined in the large pot. Add enough of the remaining 1 to 2 cups of stock to make a thick soup. Add the cream, creme fraiche, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and check the seasonings.

When ready to serve, reheat the soup gently and whisk in 2 tablespoons white wine and 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Serve hot with an extra grating of Parmesan.

My new food processor rocks!

To clean the leeks, slice off the dark, tough leaves. Then slice down the shaft of the leek and rinse under running water. (Helps to press the leeks into the bottom of the bowl to fan out the leek.

Leeks and potatoes are prepped and ready to roast!

Leeks, potatoes, and arugula cooking over low heat with the wine and chicken broth.

Everybody into my new GDL food processor!

Perfectly processed!

Buon Appetito!

Soup and Sandwich Night

Sometimes you just gotta go back to the basics.

I recently saw an episode of Everyday Italian where Giada hosted a bridal shower for her girlfriend. One of the dishes she prepared was an Open-Faced Tuna Sandwich with Arugula and Sweet-Pickle Mayonnaise. It looked so delicious I just had to try it!

Since I had some leftover pesto sauce that I made earlier in the week for the Twice Baked Pesto Potato, I substituted the Sweet-Pickle Mayo for the pesto. It was so frickin' tasty!

Grilled ciabatta topped with pesto sauce, pan seared tuna, melted white cheddar & crisp arugula

And when you have a sandwich, you've got to pair it with a nice hearty soup! I found a minestrone recipe (because it's John's favorite) on the Whole Foods website and even got to use some fresh herbs from the garden. The only thing I did differently from their recipe is that I only used 1 carrot vs 2 (i HATE carrots) and tossed a potato in. I also made croutons with the left over ciabatta. The soup was so comforting - tomato-y and the croutons added the perfect crunch!

Minestrone soup topped with homemade croutons & a parsley garnish (conveniently from the garden!)

Udon

Homemade Beef Udon

This was so easy to make and lovely for chilly nights!

There's a japanese soup base that you can buy from Asian Markets. I boiled 1 parts soup base to 4 parts water. While that boiled, I sauteed the beef (already thinly sliced for hot pot) with minced garlic and onions. Once the soup started to boil, i added in the fish balls, kamaboko and the udon. Everything is already cooked so it just needed to heat up. Then i added the soup, udon, fish balls and kamaboko to a bowl, topped it with the sauteed beef and a sprinkle of green onions for color. bam! done! slurp!

sook

i'm in the mood for soup. no, wait, i want rice. hmmm, but i really want soup. and i want it to be hearty...

i sliced some sausages, chopped half an onion and browned it in a pot since i knew i'd be making soup (i'm a huge fan of one pot meals). i poured in chicken stock and waited (impatiently) for it to boil. once the soup came to a boil, i added in the wild rice and let it simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally.

i turned the heat back to medium-high and added jasmine rice to the pot (i like to use both types of rice together to create different textures) along with sliced celery. once the soup came to a boil, i turned the heat down and let it simmer for 15 minutes. just as i started to serve the soup i realized, "i don't want soup anymore, i want jook!" but my soup was too soupy so i threw the lid on a hoped that the rice would absorb more of the liquid.

30 minutes later...
it wasn't exactly jook, but it wasn't exactly soup. it was soupy jook, SOOK!

my sook


real jook (source: wikipedia)


jook facts

• commonly referred to as congee or porridge
• typically eaten for breakfast in china
• after a quick check on wikipedia, i found out that there are 19 different countries that make some variation of jook
• my favorite is soft, white fish jook

spinach

in my everlasting quest to be healthy & economical, i bought an economy-sized tub of pre-washed spinach last week. not one to let good food go to waste, i started thinking about what to make for dinner. it was 8am, i hadn't even had breakfast and i was already planning for dinner. oh well, it's chilly out so soup and salad it is!

i took an inventory of what ingredients i already had for my soup and salad and quickly jotted down the missing ingredients to give to will before he left for work:
- cherry tomatoes
- sliced almonds (for salads)
- 1 can of crushed tomatoes

here's what he came back with:
- grape tomatoes (close enough)
- honey roasted sliced almonds (i wanted unflavored, but i suppose this will be a sweet & savory salad)
- 1 huge can of crushed tomatoes

it turned out great!

bon appetit!


spinach salad with warm bacon dressing
Ingredients: spinach, grape tomatoes, boiled egg, bacon, bleu cheese, & honey roasted sliced almonds

fry the bacon in a pan, once crispy, set aside on a paper towel. take the remaining bacon fat and pour 2 tbsp into a small saucepan. over low heat, add lemon juice, 1 tbsp dijon mustard, salt & pepper, and whisk until thickens.

remove from heat and add a few handfuls of spinach into the saucepan and lightly toss until coated. add spinach to a bowl and top with sliced tomatoes, eggs, bacon, crumbled blue cheese & almonds. serve immediately.


spinach soup
Ingredients: chicken stock, chicken apple sausage, farfalle pasta, crushed tomatoes & spinach

brown the sausage in a large pot. once sausage has been browned, set aside to cool. over high heat, add 1 part chicken stock to 2 parts water and let the liquid come to a boil. add the farfalle pasta and cook until al dente. while the pasta is cooking, slice the sausage into thin rounds and add to the pot along with the crushed tomatoes. let the soup come to a boil again and add a few handfuls of spinach. once the spinach has wilted, the soup is then ready to be served. top with a sprinkle of parmesan and green onions.

spinach facts:

• rich source of vitamins c & a
• loaded with flavonoid that functions as antioxidant and anti-cancer agent
• makes my teeth feel rough (why is that?)