White bean, kale and potato soup

Posted on August 10, 2020 by ripe ~ red ~ berries

Now here’s a versatile soup that can be made utilizing a few basic ingredients;

Kale, onions, potatoes, white beans, veg./chicken stock, corn kernels, salt, pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, garlic, olive oil.

It can be made vegan or not. No white beans? Substitute navy beans.

No kale? Substitute spinach.

No potatoes? No worries.

No fresh corn kernels (who does in winter?) – use frozen.

Choose between vegetable stock or chicken stock (or bone broth).

Add sauteed mushrooms or not.

It’s truly a ‘use what you have’ soup!

Jennifer Wurst - Potato, kale, white bean soup

Half of one small onion – chopped.

One or two heads of garlic – chopped.

One good handful of kale – chopped.

5-6 peeled and chopped potatoes (depends on size of potato)

I.5 cups of white beans (or one can – rinsed)

4 cups of stock – veg./chicken.

1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernals.

Juice of one lemon.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Olive oil.

First take out your heavy bottom soup pot. Drizzle in some olive oil.

Add the chopped onion and saute until slightly browned. Add garlic. Saute a bit more…

Add in kale and maybe a little more olive oil – if needed.

Saute together until the kale softens. Add in potatoes. Give it all a good stir…and then add in the stock.

Add a few good pinches of salt. Freshly cracked pepper. Stir again.

Bring to a slow simmer, then continue simmering until potatoes are cooked through. About 20 minutes – give or take a few minutes …

Add in corn and lemon juice.

Taste for and add more salt/pepper if need be.

You can also add in dried oregano, basil or parsley. If you like to cook with wine – white wine would be nice to add in after the onions are sauteed. Give a little splash before adding garlic…

Serve with warm rolls/bread/pita – whatever you have…

Add a salad and you’ve got yourself a delicious meal!

Enjoy.

loveliness in a loaf pan

Posted on May 7, 2013 by ripe ~ red ~ berries

Meatloaf. I love meatloaf. Not meat meatloaf, but meat(less)loaf.

I love slicing into it, topping it with extra sauce and then serving it alongside mashed potatoes with freshly snipped chives…

I love its texture and hardiness. Its down home simplicity. Its common ingredients…

Especially on fog enshrouded evenings…comfort food in spring I say, and healthy at that!

Meatloaf without the meat.

Try it.

You’ll never know ’till you do…

Mushroom meat(less)loaf

adapted from the silver palette

Print this recipe!

2 cups white beans

1/2 cup walnuts, ground

generous pinch of coarse salt

generous pinch of ground pepper

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup organic ketchup (no high fructose corn syrup here)

1/2 tsp. basil (dried or fresh)

1 cup old fashioned oats (not instant)

2 eggs

2 tbsp. parsley, chopped

4-6 ounces fresh mushrooms, sauteed till browned

1/2 tsp. oregano

Cook beans and drain. If using canned, drain and rinse. Mash beans with fork.

Slice and saute mushrooms until browned (saute in butter or olive oil)

Add oatmeal, nuts, and eggs, to mashed beans, mix well.

Blend mixture with herbs, ketchup, mushrooms, onions, salt + pepper

Place mixture in a greased 9″ X 5″ X 2″ (or thereabouts…)loaf pan.

Top with red sauce. (recipe below)

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Red Sauce

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp.olive oil for sauteing

1 cup crushed tomatoes or diced

1 handful fresh spinach, kale or swiss chard, chopped

Saute onion in olive oil until browned.

Add chopped greens, saute until softened.

Add tomatoes.

Stir.

enjoy!

comfort food

Posted on April 23, 2013 by ripe ~ red ~ berries

Spring may be here, but warmer temperatures (and sunshine) are still fleeting…so what is one to do when wanting/needing warmth?

Cook.

Cook and eat.

Eat comfort food.

So that’s what I did. I prepared (and enjoyed) the fabulous fish pie from Jamie Oliver’s cookbook, The Naked Chef Takes Off.

Be sure to gather and prep all ingredients first; a few are cooked at the same time, in the same pot…best to be organized, but don’t let this intimidate you – it’s so worth the effort!

Fabulous Fish Pie

print this recipe

Recipe taken from The Naked Chef Takes Off, Jamie Oliver

5 large potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch squares

2 large eggs

2 large handfuls of fresh spinach

1 onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, halved and finely chopped

approximately 1 1/3 cups heavy cream

2 good handfuls of grated sharp cheddar or parmesan cheese (I used cheddar, haven’t tried it with parmesan)

juice of 1 lemon

1 heaped teaspoon of English mustard

1 large handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 lb. haddock, skin removed and sliced into strips

fresh nutmeg (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 F. Put the potatoes into salted boiling water and bring back to a boil for 2 minutes. Carefully add the eggs to the pot and cook for a further 8 – 10 minutes, until hard boiled, by which time the potatoes should also be cooked. At the same time, steam the spinach in a colander above the pan. This will only take a minute. When the spinach is done, remove from the colander and gently squeeze out any excess moisture. Then drain the potatoes in the colander. Remove the eggs, cool under cold water, then peel and quarter them. Place to one side.

In a separate pan slowly fry the onion and carrot in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes,

then add the cream and bring just to a boil.

Remove from heat and add the cheese, lemon juice, mustard and parsley.

Put the spinach, fish and eggs into an appropriately sized earthenware dish and mix together, pouring over the creamy vegetable sauce.

The cooked potatoes should be drained and mashed. Mash with just a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and even a dash of nutmeg, if you wish. Spread on top of the fish. Don’t bother piping it to make it look pretty – it’s a homely hearty thing.