Stone Soup and Irish Soda Bread

Have you heard of Stone Soup? It's an old expression, based on an older fable, and refers to what was made when there was little food about. I'm lucky that when I have little food about, it's because I haven't grocery shopped.
I was feeling soupy at lunchtime but we had few ingredients, so I made a stone soup with ingredients from our herb garden.

First, I made stock from last night's chicken carcass, with half an old nectarine thrown in for flavouring. Most popular soups contain a fair amount of sweetening, so adding fruit to the stock isn't as odd as you may think. If you buy commercially-made soup, look at the sugars: Campbell's contains 12g, their Healthy Request Tomato Soup has 10g, and Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup has 10g—all more than a can of my perennial favourite nutritional whipping boy, Coke.

Adding sugar to your stock adds flavour and can help you choose less salt, if salt use concerns you. I'd rather add a naturally-occurring sweetener like fruit, so in the pot my half-nectarine went. (Why half? Simply because the other half was rotty-looking so I composted it.) I love the challenge of a low-waste kitchen, and for the price of old chicken bones, half a nectarine, some ginger tea, and a pot full of water, I had delicious stock after a couple of hours, maybe three.

I added rosemary, lavender, oregano, green onions and basil from my garden, plus curry leaves, celery and bits of the leftover chicken meat. Not counting the time it took to simmer the stock to golden perfection, making the soup itself took about 20 minutes. I would have let the herbs cook in longer, but I was hungry!

I enjoyed my healthy-tasting soup with a side of Irish Soda Bread (from Bittman's recipe) which fits the stone-soup style of cheap ingredients: flour, buttermilk (or yogurt or soured milk), baking powder and baking soda, salt and water. It makes a funny-looking loaf, but is quick and easy to make and for some reason, the kids love it. I made this loaf with half rye flour and half all-purpose flour so it was denser than usual, making it perfect for dipping in my stone soup. What a heartwarming and health-inducing lunch.

Feast on This!

It’s getting close to Thanksgiving (2^nd Monday in October) which means it's time to talk about gratitude. Even in a year that held mixed blessings, there's lots to be thankful for. Along with great health and a loving family, I give thanks for things in my life that are simple yet profound.

Something that's easy to take for granted in my part of the world is an abundance of clean drinking water. In Vancouver we have some of the best-tasting water in the world. It’s my favourite drink; in fact our family rarely buys juice, soda or other beverages. Water is a healthier approach to hydration, saves a ton of money and I don’t have to schlepp heavy things home from the store. As access to fresh drinking water becomes politicized and people spend more and more on water they want to drink, I appreciate how lucky I am to have the luxury of inexpensive access to clean drinking water.

I give thanks for fresh fruit. It’s amazing stuff; healthy, gorgeous and flavourful. I’m always amazed by how ready for the day I feel after a breakfast of fruit, yogurt and eggs.

As you know, I love love love soup. Rainy days here can be bone-chilling. Whether it’s congee, stew, or clear broth soup, hot savoury liquids warm from the inside out. Soup warms my body and soul. (Plus it's fast and really easy to make!)

And baking, of course. It's a favourite activity on rainy winter days. I enjoy baking with my family; whether we pore over recipes or grab the first one off the internet (cookies, and hurry!). It may sound corny, but when my kids take something I've baked in their lunch, it feels like I’m able to give them an extra hug while they're at school. It satisfies my mommy-ing needs without embarrassing them in public.

I invite you consider what makes you wealthy—love, friendship, fresh fruit, a healthy appetite—and give thanks, today and every day.

Fabulous (almost-vegan) Dinner!

I feel so full of fresh vitamin goodness! Coming home from a run I stopped in the yard to harvest strawberries and tomatoes. We had a huge storm last night and I'm concerned that the tomatoes may split, so am picking even slightly underripe ones. We have a super-sunny windowsill behind the kitchen sink that's great for storing and ripening fruits and veggies.


Rosemary Croutons
Meanwhile I took the heal of an olive loaf I got at the market last weekend. It was old and dry so yesterday I put it in a plastic bag with a few drops of water to soften it. Today it was soft enough to work with, so I diced it. Meanwhile I sweated rosemary, herbes de provence, and finely-diced onion in butter. Heated some olive oil in a different pan (enough to cover the bread), added it to the onions, and then threw in the bread. Sprinkled salt over top. After cooking off the liquid, I put the mixture in the toaster oven for a toasty finish. Man those were good croutons. Unfortunately they were gone by the time I remembered to photograph them. This shot is the making of.

Tomato Vegetable Soup
For tonight's soup I used vegetable stock with ground herbes de provence, and threw in half an onion, some celery and the last of our bbq'd corn. After letting it combine over medium-low heat for a while, I added eighth'ed beefsteak tomatoes. We garnished with cilantro.

Tomato Basil Salad
Some people ate the croutons in their soup, and some with the tomato salad. I used grape tomatoes, sliced diagonally in thirds. Tossed them with salt, truffle oil, white balsamic, and fresh-picked basil (one of my favourite summer flavours). Those tomatoes are so sweet that you'd swear someone added sugar. They went perfectly with the rosemary croutons.

Baby Carrots and Herbs
I cooked our baby carrots in fresh-picked rosemary, which has loved this summer's dry heat. I sweated the rosemary along with some oregano and lavender (also just-picked) in butter, which was the only non-vegan part of the meal, then threw in the carrots for a slow steam.

Dessert was strawberries, just plain.

My daughter and I reflected as we ate. We're so grateful for the fresh goodness of our dinner, and so lucky to be living in a relatively stable and safe part of the world. Gratitude makes everything taste sweeter.

 

Carrot, celery and spinach soup

Super-quick to make; I just threw a container of frozen stock in the pot, added three carrots, five stalks of celery and some leftover spinach, then let it simmer on low for about ninety minutes. I added only salt – the strong flavours of the ingredients (especially celery) carried the soup.

It was good to make while I was working; ie didn’t need much attention – just a taste every half hour to see if it was done. And it was hearty and delicious.

My soup wasn’t vegetarian because I use chicken stock, but you could easily use vegetable or mushroom stock.

Beet broth soup

How revitalizing! Full of nutrients, easy to make and easy to eat while working. Pretty, too.

Soba noodles in soup with mushroom onion and yellow pepper

I put soba noodles on to boil, while heating chicken stock, mushroom and fried onions. When the noodles were cooked and the broth was ready, I assembled it and topped it off with sliced yellow peppers and green onions.

It was delicious. The kids had it for after-school snack and finished it. We ate the rest of the noodles for dinner, with sauteed smoked tofu. Ice cream with vanilla yogurt and whipped cream for dessert.

My fabulous lunch - Tom Yum Goong (a la Lucinda)

I went for a spectacular run today – suddenly I’m running faster than I ever have for more than a block at a time.

Then I had an appointment and realised far too late I’d forgotten to eat breakfast. I was hungry.

On the way home I imagined what I would have for lunch. I need to be careful what I eat on an empty stomach, so I prefer light and easy to digest. Because my food is my health, and what I eat first sets the tone for the rest of the day, I like to keep it healthful and energizing.

Broccoli leak soup with cream and onions

This recipe takes a potato, broccoli, leaks and stock. Next time I'll use less water - it called for equal amounts water and stock, and I found it a bit thin. I like my soups saturated with flavour! Nonetheless, it was a good soup; heartwarming on a cold winter day.

Update: I simmered it down for a couple of hours, gently so as not to break the cream. It's way better - quite delicious, actually.

Kabocha squash soup

Made with the leftover squash from christmas day dinner, and stock made from the chicken carcass. The soup was amazing! Sweet, thick and delicious. I added nothing but a bit of sea salt and a couple ounces of ginger tea. There are several sickies in the house right now - a cold/fluey thing and it seems to help them feel better.

The soup doesn't photograph well without fancy plating and a garnish, but it was one of the best soups I've made or eaten, and I've had soup so good it made me cry. (That was on my 30th birthday at a late lamented soup cafe run by two sisters and their mom in Kitsilano - anyone remember the name of it?)

Longaniza Soup

I fried up some longaniza, sliced and added them to broth, along with onion and carrot. Simmered it down for about twenty-five minutes and ta da- excellent tasty lunch. Pretty healthy and good for cooler weather.

Longaniza is a sweet filipino sausage. It usually comes frozen. It's a perfect addition to everything except maybe coffee. Kids like it because of the sweetness and small link size. Some sausages - especially pork - can taste funky to me, but I never experience that with longaniza. Another good freezer staple.

Double Happiness soup

Did you know that you can find happiness in food? Double happiness even. A local noodle company sells Double Happiness noodles. What other food can make you feel so optimistic?

Soup for dinner tonight: I took a bag of three sausages out of the freezer. I buy them in bulk, split up the package and toss them in the freezer in ziplock bags.

Thaw them in a fry pan, about half-covered in water. Boil them off – remember to pierce the skins several times.

Meanwhile I boiled three litres of water for the noodles and let them boil unlidded for about twenty minutes. (That’s how long these ones take.)

I put a portion of frozen chicken stock into a pot to thaw and heat. I crush and add one garlic clove and some salt.

With all the pots underway, I wash and chop half an onion, several button mushrooms, a dozen green beans, and the rest of a very sweet red pepper. (Save the seeds for spring planting.)

The sausages are just about done now. The water’s boiled off and a meat thermometer inserted tells me they are to temperature. I let them brown, turning them as they sizzle. Add a small ladle of stock to deglaze the pan, then throw in the  chopped onion, mushrooms and green beans.

I hold the pepper back because it won’t take long to sweat the flavour and I don’t want mushy pepper. When the vegetables are almost sweated, I add the pepper for a few minutes, then toss everything into the stock pot to heat on med-low for five or ten minutes.

When the noodles are done, I drain and rinse (to stop the cooking – don’t want them mushy) then portion some into each soup bowl.

Add the soup over top and voila – a beautiful, nutritious and delicious pre-workout dinner.

Sausage soup with chanterelle mushrooms and peas

As you by now have guessed, one of my favorite things is soup for lunch. I find it can be incredibly nutritious, full of energy for the day ahead, digestible enough to avoid gas and discomfort, and light enough so that I don't get the 2pm sleepies.

One of my favorite food tricks is buying meat in bulk at costco then portioning and freezing it for future or last-minute use. I get their excellent mild italian or honey & garlic sausages, then freeze them, three to a bag. Even if I haven't had the time or foresight to thaw them, I can pull them out of the freezer, boil them down in an inch or so of water and let them brown slightly. Add rice or noodles, a quick veg like frozen peas or rough-cut carrots cooked in chicken stock and brown sugar, or a salad, and bob's your uncle - quick and nutritious meal.

Last night's quick meal became today's soup. I added chicken stock to the leftover sausages, as well as the chanterelles I'd sauteed in butter. Heated everything, then turned off the burner. To the bowl of soup I added in some frozen peas and let it sit for five minutes while they thawed.

Hey presto a quick and delicious soup full of protein and energy.

Best Lunch Ever

I think I'm proving to myself how much I love homemade tomato soup and a cheese sandwich for lunch. It's funny because I remember having that for lunch after kindergarten; sitting with my mum, crumbling saltines into my soup as I told her about my morning at school. Nice memory.

I love tomato soup when it's smooth and homemade. It's one of those soups you can't fake - out of a can never tastes the same.

This version took many cherry tomatoes, two romas, a beefsteak tomato, strained tomatoes, chicken stock, salt & pepper, and a tablespoon or so of tapioca starch to thicken it. I cooked it all down for until the fresh tomatoes were mushy, then strained the soup and served it beside a grilled ham and cheddar sandwich. Yum.

Sick Day

I had a terribly dramatic-sounding cold last week, so I stayed home bundled on the couch, drinking ginger tea and watching Mary Tyler Moore. I made myself an easy to digest, healthy lunch of cheese sandwich, clear tomato soup and cantaloupe chunks. How healthy, how delicious and how fortifying. I'm better now and able to go running again. I'm sure it's due to that soup!

Rainy Day Fish Soup-Stew (Stoup) with baby eggplants

Baby eggplants are so cute! I added them to my fish (tilapia), chicken stock, and leftover roast veggies, along with a couple ounces of ginger tea, some lemon ponzu, salt and pepper, and a sprinkling of herbes de province. I  put it all in the slow cooker for a few hours (maybe four or five).

It's good food for our first wintery day of the fall - it's been dark and rainy all day, chilly for the first time, and most of our family have colds. I'm having some medicinal tequila and ginger tea - if you've gotta be sick, might as well make it fun!

This soup will give us a blast of easily-digestible protein, along with vitamin C from the veggies, and of course the scientifically-proven antibiotic benefits of chicken stock. I used a bag of stock from my freezer, and a frozen filet.

It looks good and tastes great. I'm just cooking some spatzle for those who want to add noodles to their soup.

[update] It's good - the eggplants seem to add umami to the broth. One of my kids had a friend over for supper. They all ate tons and some even came back for seconds - pretty good for a fish & vegetables dish; most people wouldn't be able to make it likeable for kids without resorting to decoration or fatification (adding whipped cream, cheese shapes etc).

Kids like healthy food and don't need to be bribed with cheese-stuffed crusts or cutesy cutouts on top of their food. They like a variety of flavours and are happy and proud to know what they eat and that they eat well.

starting out: frozen stock and fish

Tomato Soup with ham 'noodles', cheddar cheese & english muffins

Delicious! I heated leftover tomato sauce and chicken stock, poured over ham "noodles". I used rosemary ham deli slices and sliced them into thin ribbons or "noodles".

Added two toasted buttered english muffins as dippers - my favorite way to eat english muffins.

I garnished the soup with chunks of that horrible but wonderfully salty processed cheddar cheese, and fresh cilantro. It was a great, easily digestible lunch with enough freshness and protein to nourish me for a busy afternoon.

Overall, the flavors were similar to mexican food, but in an asian lunch-soup style. Kind of weird but good. Kids might like it, although some of my kids' friends would look at me funny if I served it to them! (Other friends are used to our crazy eating habits ;)