Saturday Soup

I have my moments that some would call dramatic.  Personally, I think I'm just a romantic.     When I envision life on a farm I think of beautiful sunny mornings enjoyed with family as I pick ripe vegetables  all the while dressed like Anna Nicole's Guess shoot circa 1992.  A bona-fide city girl, the closest I get to this vision is a weekly delivery from my CSA; a box filled with the freshest vegetables begging to be included in our weekly meals.  Having a CSA has brought more recipes into regular rotation than anything else;  it may be the best decision I have ever made as a home cook.  Faced with a box of veg, I often turn to one of my vegetarian cookbooks for inspiration.  Even as a meat eater, I find these an absolute necessity.  With vegetables sitting front and center, a vegetarian recipe is the best way to learn flavors, cooking techniques and most importantly, how to integrate new tastes to your everyday diet.

This week's CSA box included the season's first sweet potatoes and an array of spring onions.  Time to make one of my favorite vegetarian dishes:   Sweet Potato and Cashew Soup with Avocado Cream.  This healthful bowl of goodness with its tangy garnish is the perfect light lunch.  Ready in under an hour, we enjoy it on Saturday afternoons or as a light midweek meal paired with a salad.

Sweet Potato and Cashew Soup with Avocado Cream
Recipe By: Terry Walters, Get Clean
Avocado Cream:
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 avocados
1/4 cup plain yogurt
3 TB lime juice
1/4 cilantro leaves (I omitted)
1/4 tsp sea salt
Soup:
1 medium onion
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 TB grapeseed oil
3 medium sweet potatoes peeled and chopped
1 cup cashews
5 cups vegetable stock (I used chicken stock I had on hand)
Sea Salt
1/2 cup scallions (I omitted)

For the Avocado Cream:

1. With the food processor running, drop in garlic and process until minced.  
2. Halve avocados, and remove pits.  Scoop out avocado flesh, add to processor and whip until smooth.  Add yogurt, lime juice, cilantro and salt and process until evenly combined.  
3. Place in airtight container with pits to prevent browning and set aside or refrigerate until ready to serve. 

For the Soup:

1. Place a large soup pot or Dutch Oven over medium heat.  Add oil until shimmery.   Add onion and celery and saute until soft, 4 to 6 minutes.  
2. Add sweet potatoes, cashews and stock.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender.  Season to taste with salt. 
4. Ladle into bowls and place a large dollop of cream on each portion.  Enjoy!

I used my immersion blender for this recipe, but can only imagine what a vitamix would do for the texture.  I did freeze individual portions of this soup, but without the avocado cream it tastes rather healthy.  Perhaps add a veggie sandwich to this lunch on the run for a full experience.  

High glam in the midweek

So, how do we elevate the everyday routine and still get everything done? The ever-essential midweek meal.  This week, I brought back a recipe for fish cooked in parchment; an oldie but goodie adapted from the quick meal master herself, Rachel Ray.  (Zip it Bourdain)

My senior year of college I was religiously-occasionally dieting.  One week I decided to eat nothing but steamed fish and vegetables.  With little knowledge of cooking, and even less knowledge of fish I stocked my fridge and prepared to for an entirely new self.  This diet met a rather gross death after I prepared a piece of steamed catfish.

Fast forward a decade, I love adding steamed fish to my weekly menu, in fact a beautiful filet of fish fresh from a parchment paper packet is one of my favorite meals.   Similar to stuffing a chicken with aromatics and spices, cooking fish in parchment allows you to layer flavors that infuse your end product in a delicate and delicious manner. The entire process is quick, easy and elegant.

On a particularly overbooked weeknight I took to the kitchen a mere 15 minutes before my scheduled departure.  I chopped the few recipe requirements, layered them in paper and wrapped.  My packets then spent a few hours in the fridge as I tended to the post school activities.  Once the dance classes had been danced, and yoga namasted, I returned home and was a mere 30 minutes from this beautiful meal.  With an added side of brown rice, this was certainly a midweek winner.

Fish in Parchment:
Inspired by: Rachel Ray


Ingredients:
1 bulb fennel, cored and thinly sliced
1 large onion chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, smashed
1/2 cup good quality olives (I used leftover almond stuffed green olives)
4 filets firm white fish (I used turbot... more on that below)
salt and pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Rip off 4 pieces of parchment paper, each a little over a foot long.
3. Make layered stacks dividing the fennel, onions, garlic, olives, and fish among the parchment pieces, working in the center of each piece of paper.  Season the fish with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.  
4. Arrange the packets on the baking sheet and place in the center of the hot oven.  Bake the packets for 20 minutes.  Cut packet open and enjoy!  

Turbot proved to be a delicious substitution, however, after a bit of internet research it appears to have 5 times the fat content of cod or orange roughy.  Did we have a great midweek meal?  Absolutely.  Was it healthy?  Not so much.  In the future, I think we will stick with cod during the week and leave the buttery taste of turbot for the weekend dinner party.