Thursday, December 15, 2005

A Magical Culinary Combination?

I'm beginning to think that the following combination is some sort of magic culinary bullet.

1/2 cup tamari
1 Tbs nutritional yeast
1 Tbs maple syrup
2 tsp garlic powder

That combination made some fairly bitter greens, chick peas and bulgur into "the best soup ever." Jim said that and believe me, he's not one to give out unwarranted praise.

I have a two theories about this. First, I gave the greens a whirl in the Vitamix. I think the fact that no one ended up with a chewy mouthful of bitterness had a lot to do with the success of the soup. Also, I served the soup with Oat Sticks, which are basically quick bread sticks. They were a high fun factor food which ties into my long standing when in doubt add a fun food theory. Even grown ups like to have a little fun.

I'm a lot more confident today about getting through all the greens in the freezer. I should also mention that even though I'm calling this soup, if you stuck your spoon straight into it and let go, the spoon would continue standing. This was very thick soup.

5 comments:

Barbara said...

I've noticed you use that combination of ingredients quite often. I think I'll give it a try with the kale I have frozen in the freezer. I haven't branched out to the other greens yet, mostly because both I and my partner love kale. Plus it's so good for you!

Barbara

Ruthie said...

Yummm, kale.

I have a recipe that uses kale and some italian seasonings to make a pesto sauce for linguine.

You should totally try it. :)
Ruthie

Katie said...

You're right Barbara, I do use that combo a lot. We started with kale and collards and have gradually expanded our repertiore of greens, mostly due to the CSA.

Ruthie, I want to see that recipe!
Please!

Ruthie said...

This is from Feeding the Healthy Vegetarian Family, one of the best, IMHO. :)

Greens Linguine
1 big bunch of freshkale (1.5 lbs)
10 to 12 oz (about 10 c) fresh spinach
1/2 c olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt & pepper to taste
juice of 1/2 a lemon
3/4-1 lb linguine

Strip the kale leaves from their central stem. Put the leaves in a large bowl of cool water and agitate them vigorously to remove sand & grit. Put the leaves in a covered enameled pot with 1/2 inch of water. Cover and turn the heat up. As the kale begins to steam, remove the stems of the spinach and rinse it as you did the kale. Add the spinach to the pot and recover. Steam the greens until they are tender, a total of about 12 minutes from the time you start the kale. Check the water level of the pot periodically, you do not want it to boil off completely. Drain the greens, pressing them with a wooden spoon to express some excess moisture. Transfer the greens to a food processor, chop them finely, and set aside. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil for the linguine.

Warm the oil over low heat in a medium skillet. Stir in the garlic and continue to heat for another minute; don't let the garlic color. Stir the chopped greens ino the oil and let the mixture heat for one minute more. Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the lemon juice.

Cook the pasta. When it is done, transfer it to a large bowl and scrape the greens mixture over it. Toss well and serve at once, garnished with olives and [vegan] parmesan if you like.

:) It's a pretty rice recipe. You might want to cut back on the pricey olive oil, it'd probably be just as good.

Ruthie

Ruthie said...

rice = rich :-D