Red Kuri Soup with Spinach and White Beans

A few weeks ago, we got a new veggie in our CSA box: a red kuri squash. Have you ever seen one? Since we had no experience cooking with them, we decided to try the recipe that came in that week’s newsletter.

This soup was pretty easy to make, required no other difficult-to-find ingredients, and turned out very delicious! It is vegan but still very hearty, with a wonderful smooth and creamy texture punctuated by the beans and spinach. We ate it over a few nights, first with grilled cheese, then with quesadillas, and last with garlic bread.

We hope you try this one and enjoy it!

Red Kuri Soup with Spinach and White Beans (print here)
recipe adapted from Terra Firma Farms CSA newsletter

Ingredients 

• 1 cup dry cannellini or other white beans (or 1 can beans)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• (8 cups vegetable stock, if using canned beans)
• 1 red kuri squash
• ½ pound spinach leaves
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Fresh lemon wedges, for serving

 Directions

If using dry beans, soak them in water overnight. Drain and rinse, then cook in 8 cups salted water with the garlic and bay leaves, until the beans are tender. If using canned beans, cook the garlic and bay leaves in vegetable broth for at least 30 minutes, and rinse the beans and set aside.

While the beans or broth are cooking, cut the squash in half, then cook face down on a baking sheet at 350˚ for about 40 minutes (timing will vary, depending on the size of your squash). When the cut side is browned and bubbling, remove the squash and let it cool. Scoop out and discard the seeds and pulp, then scoop the orange flesh into to the soup. You’ll ideally want about 4 cups of squash flesh.

When the beans are ready, use a slotted spoon to remove them and reserve them. If you used canned beans, they’ll still be separate. Remove and discard the bay leaves. You should now have a pot of broth and garlic cloves; add to it the squash and cook it for about 5 minutes. Let it cool until it’s safe to use your blender (be careful if yours is glass), then puree in batches. Return the pureed broth and the beans to the pot to reheat.

Roughly chop the spinach and add it to the pot, then turn off the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve with lemon wedges to squeeze in the lemon juice.

Leftovers

The soup keeps extremely well in the fridge for a few days and will taste delicious reheated. We didn’t freeze any, but would love to hear how it turns out if you do.

 

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos

Is there anything better than tacos? Probably not.

We love the combined flavors of sweet potatoes and black beans, so we figured, why not spice them up and wrap them in a freshly fried tortilla?

These vegetarian tacos are easy to make, easy to customize, hearty, and delicious. They are also vegan (as long as you stick to vegan toppings).

There is no real recipe for these guys because they’re really just so easy. We started with a pot of our black beans (you could used canned if it’s easier for you). For the sweet potato: simply peel and chop one sweet potato into 1-inch cubes. Spread on a cookie sheet and toss with olive oil, salt, and cumin. Roast at 450˚ for about 40 minutes, shaking around a few times and checking on them. Remove when they are crispy on the outside and easily poked with a fork. If you like crunchy tacos, fry small corn tortillas in a large pot (helps prevent splattering) filled with about one inch of hot olive oil. Fold them in half in the oil so they’ll hold their shape.

Then, it’s taco-and-toppings time! Try sautéed onions and peppers, chopped romaine, salsa, sour cream, grated cheese, quick-pickled shallots, shredded cabbage, chopped tomatoes, fresh corn, or sliced avocado (always). Serve with a nice salty margarita.

Leftovers

These fillings made for spectacular breakfast burritos! We reheated everything, scrambled some eggs, and wrapped it all up in larger flour tortillas.

Megan’s Granola

Granola is one of those things that you buy without realizing how easy it is to make it on your own. But we suspect that once you try this simple and scrumptious recipe, you’ll never go back to buying again. By making your own granola, you can control the ingredients, the flavors, and the amount of added sugar. We prefer this savory-sweet but still very basic recipe that features a variety of nuts (your choice), olive oil, maple syrup, and honey. Use the recipe as a guide and don’t worry about being exact with measurements. Try different combinations and ratios. Let us know what you think!

Leftovers are the reason to make granola! You’ll want to let this cool completely so that it forms bigger chunks and so that it doesn’t get stale. Then, enjoy your granola by the handful (seriously hard to stop!), with milk or yogurt, topped with dried or fresh fruit, or sprinkled onto a yogurt parfait for dessert.

Megan’s Granola (print here)

Ingredients

• 3 cups oats
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup nuts or seeds of your choice
• 1/3 cup honey, maple syrup, or a combo
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

Directions

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, cinnamon, salt, and nuts. In a small bowl, mix the honey, maple syrup, olive oil, and vanilla. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, and continue mixing until evenly coated.

Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake at 300˚ for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir, and spread it out again. Cook about 10 more minutes. If needed, continue cooking in 5-minute intervals, stirring and spreading each time, until golden brown.

Let cool and harden completely on the cookie sheet. Then pop it off, break it into pieces, and store in an airtight container up to a week or so.

Notes

Almost any combination of nuts and seeds will probably taste delicious. We usually just use what I have in the freezer. Try walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flaxseeds, chopped almonds, etc.

I like to use an approximately equal amount of maple syrup and honey, but you can tweak this ratio each time you make it to find the right balance for you. Vegans can try it with no honey at all—please let us know how it turns out!

Megan’s Lentil-Walnut Burgers

It was a rainy weekend here in the Bay Area. Which meant perfect weather for cleaning, organizing, catching up on laundry, wandering art museums, reading, binge-watching Friends, and… of course, stocking the fridge and freezer! We made vegetable stock, blueberry muffins, a fancy potato-and-sweet-potato dish, applesauce pancakes, egg salad, and lentil-walnut burgers. We also defrosted some leftover chili and turkey soup. Phew!

Last week Joe unveiled his Chicken Cordon BBQ that he ate while we were camping. Megan’s turn this week! Joe says he really enjoyed eating these veggie burgers for dinner too. The slight crunch of the walnuts makes them a winner—don’t skip ’em!

This recipe is an adaptation from Mollie Katzen’s classic Moosewood Cookbook. Her original version has mushrooms, which Megan hates (yes, yes, she knows, she’s a terrible vegetarian). You can also, of course, cook the lentils from scratch as Katzen indicates, but the pre-cooked ones are a nice shortcut too.

 There’s not too much work beyond the mashing, mincing, and chopping. (Would this work in a food processor? If anyone tries it, please do let us know. )When you cook the burgers, you’ll probably need to use your spatula to coax them into a nice round patty; they tend to fall apart. And make sure to get them crispy!

We love our lentil-walnut burgers with melted cheddar, tomatoes, avocado, and lettuce, and… usually on a toasted bun. This weekend we went “protein style” (because we had to), and it was still pretty tasty. Check out that beautiful Yukon Gold and Sweet Potatoes Anna on the side! Buttery, crispy, sweet, salty… a recipe to share another day.

By the way, does anyone have Katzen’s newest cookbook, The Heart of the Plate? How is it? We’ve been eyeing it…

Leftovers

These burgers are delicious out of the freezer! We make a batch every few months to keep ourselves stocked. Simply wrap uncooked patties in saran and store in a ziplock bag in the freezer, up to a few months. Dinner doesn’t get much easier than pulling out these bad boys! And they are so tasty you’ll never go back to store-bought. Try them as a burger, in a wrap, in a breakfast burrito, on top of rice, in scrambled eggs. Endless options.

The Recipe (printer-friendly version here)

Ingredients

• 1 package cooked lentils (such as Trader Joe’s 17.6-ounce package)
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for cooking patties
• 1 cup finely minced onion
• 4 to 5 large cloves garlic, minced
• ½ pound fresh spinach, finely minced
• ½ cup very finely minced walnuts
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup bread crumbs 

Directions

Place lentils and vinegar in a bowl and mash (the bottom of a cup works well). Heat oil in a medium-sized skilled. Add onions and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, spinach, walnuts, and spices (but not breadcrumbs) and sauté 8 to 10 more minutes, until all the vegetables are tender. Add the sauté and the breadcrumbs to the mashed lentils and mix well. Chill for at least an hour. Then form 4-inch-diameter burgers: about ½ cup each or slightly smaller will make 7 or 8 burgers. You can also make smaller burgers if you choose.

To prepare, fry burgers in a small amount of hot oil for a few minutes on each side, so that they are heated through and crispy on the outside. Patties may need coaxing to maintain their shape. Serve on fresh buns with your favorite burger toppings.

Notes

These burgers will freeze very well. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze on a cookie sheet (to maintain shape), then transfer to a freezer bag. When ready to use, defrost a few hours in the refrigerator if you have time, or cook from frozen. Fry over a lower heat, covered, to help the burger defrost. Turn up the heat at the end to crisp them up.

If cooking on a grill, be careful that these don’t fall between the grates! Try cooking over a veggie grill basket or something similar.

The original Moosewood recipe offers instructions for cooking dry lentils: Place ¾ cup of lentils and 1½ cups water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes, or until the lentils are soft and the liquid is gone. The original recipe also includes mushrooms.

Joe’s Vegan Tortilla Soup

Apparently it’s soup-with-toppings month around here… A great way to warm up your January, don’t you think?

Joe has been tweaking and perfecting his Vegan Tortilla Soup for years—mostly because Megan was jealous of all those omnivores who got to put AVOCADO into their soup (genius!)—and we encourage you to do the same. We are offering this recipe as a starting point, so just remember that there are lots of alterations you can make so that the flavors, spiciness, and ingredients suit your own tastes. And we would of course love to hear about those alterations that you come up with!

We love recipes that taste good and are also easy enough to make when we are busy. Our past variations have used roasted peppers out of a jar, or canned tomatoes with green chiles already in them. This weekend we had some extra time and dedicated it to roasting our own red pepper and poblano pepper—yum! We usually keep some homemade vegetable brother in our freezer (look for that recipe soon).

Our favorite toppings are crushed tortilla chips and lots of avocado. Let each person add these to their individual bowls and eat immediately. Grated cheese got a little too stringy for us, but maybe it’ll taste just right to you. You could also try a dollop of sour cream.

Tortilla soup is, of course, traditionally made with chicken and chicken stock. Do you have a great non-vegetarian recipe you’d like to share with us? Maybe Joe will try it while Megan is out of town.

Leftovers

This soup reheats very well, though we recommend just once to keep the corn and beans from getting too mushy. At mealtime, heat up only the amount you plan to eat at that meal. Toppings should be prepared and served fresh each time (no one likes brown avocados).

Most likely you’ll also end up with some extra ingredients that you didn’t use, such as beans, corn, onions, and/or roasted peppers. We consider this a bonus: they make for awesome nacho toppings or quesadilla fillings. Or how about a spicy breakfast burrito or southwestern salad (maybe like this one)? A fast and easy egg scramble before heading to work?

We hope you enjoy the soup, and can’t wait to hear about changes and suggestions you’ve tried.

The Recipe (for printer-friendly version, click here)

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onions (130 grams)
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped (15 grams)
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes (400 grams)
• ¾ cup roasted diced red pepper (100 grams)
• ¼ cup roasted diced poblano pepper (30 grams)
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup corn (130 grams), cut off the cob or drained from a can
• 1 cup black beans (130 grams), drained
• Cumin, cayenne, and salt, to taste

Toppings (amounts will vary)

• Chopped avocado
• Crushed tortilla chips
• Grated cheese
• Sour cream

Directions

If roasting your own peppers, roast them whole on a cookie sheet covered in foil at 375˚ for 40 minutes, turning once about halfway through. Skin should be blackened and slightly bubbly. Once cool enough to handle, carefully peel off the skin and dice.

For soup, sauté the oil and onion for about three minutes over medium heat, then add garlic and continue to sauté a few more minutes. Add peppers (if canned, drain first), tomatoes with their liquid, and broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer on low for 15 minutes, covered with the lid slightly ajar. Remove from heat and stir in corn and beans. Season with cumin, cayenne, and salt to your liking. Let sit, covered, at least 30 minutes to soften beans and corn. Reheat only the desired portion when you are ready to eat.

Serve with chopped avocado and crushed up tortilla chips (we suggest yellow corn tortilla chips) on the side. Feel free to add a little at the beginning and replenish as you eat to keep the chips from going too mushy.

Notes

Many of the ingredients (beans, corn, tomatoes, roasted peppers) can be cooked fresh or, for an easier version of the soup, used out of a can—both ways taste great. Some stores offer a can of diced tomatoes with green chile already in it, which is a nice, flavorful option.

This recipe uses equal amounts onions, peppers (red and poblano together), corn, and black beans, but you can adjust proportions to your taste if desired.

The Best (Vegan) Chili Ever

No, seriously. This is the best chili ever. Even meat-eaters love it, Joe swears.

This all-time favorite chili recipe originally comes from a dear friend’s mother, and it has some not-so-secret secret ingredients: wine, beer, cashews, and… (you’ll never guess…) raisins. These little guys puff up and disguise themselves as black beans, giving the chili a wonderful and subtle sweetness that is hard to identify unless someone clues you in.

We promised to try out new recipes on this blog, and yes, we promise we will. But this weekend we went skiing with Megan’s family, so we wanted to bring along something tried-and-true. We also wanted to bring something easy—another huge bonus to this recipe. It does take some time (the more time, the richer the flavors), but it’s time that requires very little effort, and the ingredients might already be in your cupboard or fridge, or are easy to find at any market.

You’ll have some chopping to do at first…

…but mostly you’ll be letting your chili simmer while it taunts you with its aromas and you try to distract yourself listening to Karantamba’s album Ndigal.

It is really hard to resist a taste test—or a few. Can you guess which secret ingredient is Joe’s favorite?

We always serve our chili with cashews and grated cheddar cheese—two very crucial toppings (vegans can skip the cheese). Don’t mix the cashews in ahead of time, or they’ll get soggy. We love the classic side: cornbread slathered with honey butter.

Leftovers

This chili makes wonderful leftovers, as it only improves with time in the fridge or freezer. The flavors will continue to meld and deepen. Reheat in a saucepan over medium heat, or in the microwave (add cashews and cheese after). Megan could eat this all day every day, but if you get bored, try a bit of chili in your quesadillas or breakfast burritos, on top of nachos, or as a chili cheese dog. You can also create a delicious party dip by stirring in cream cheese and serving with tortilla chips.

The Recipe (click here for printer-friendly recipe)

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium onions
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 3 stalks celery
• 1 large green pepper
• 75-80 ounces of canned beans, your choice
• 2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes
• ½ cup raisins
• ¼ cup vinegar
• ¼ dry red wine
• 1½ teaspoons cayenne (to taste)
• 1½ teaspoons basil
• 1½ teaspoons oregano
• 1½ teaspoons cumin
• 1½ teaspoon allspice
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup beer

Toppings (amounts will vary)

• Cashews, lightly roasted
• Grated cheddar or jack cheese

Directions

To prep, dice onion, celery, and green pepper into approximately half-inch pieces, keeping separated. Mince garlic. Drain and rinse about half of the beans and save the liquid from the other half.

In a large crockpot, sauté the onion in oil over medium heat, until soft and translucent. Add garlic, then celery, then green pepper. Sauté one minute more. Stir in beans and the reserved liquid. Drain the juice from the tomatoes into the pot. Remove the tough tops of the tomatoes and cut them into bite-sized pieces, adding them and additional liquid as you go. Add raisins, vinegar, wine, and all spices. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, at least one hour (up to a few hours if you have time). Stir in the beer and simmer, uncovered, an additional 15 to 25 minutes to thicken.

Serve with cashews and cheese.

Notes

While we love using canned beans for their ease and the ability to mix different types of bean, you can use dry beans instead. Soak 3 cups of dry kidney beans in 9 cups of water overnight. In a large pot, add 2 vegetable bouillon cubes and 1 bay leaf to the beans and soaking water. Simmer about 2 hours, until beans are just tender. Then just remove the bay leaf, and follow the rest of the recipe (use all their liquid).

One of the greatest things about this recipe is its flexibility. You don’t need all the ingredients, as long as you have the basics. We have actually never used the allspice or oregano. The type of beans or vinegar is up to you. You can try chili powder or Tabasco sauce instead of (or in addition to) the cayenne. Make it your own, and enjoy!