Soup--The Ultimate Fast Food

For a long time I thought of soup as something that took hours to cook. Not so--soup is one of the easiest, quickest meals to throw together--a true fast food! And you really can improvise easily, substituting ingredients. Tonight when I got home about 6:00, Greenling.com had not delivered my tub o' produce so I was stuck with just whatever I had on hand--which turned out to be two cans of cannellini beans and some swiss chard that had been in the fridge a week but still looked pretty good. I checked a couple of cookbooks and web sites for recipes and of course didn't have everything for any recipe so I fused a couple of the recipes to make....

Swiss Chard and Bean Soup
2 T. olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 good sized bunch swiss chard, rough chopped
2 cans cannellini beans
1/3 c. arborio rice
Healthy sprinkle of Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1 tsp salt)
1 qt. container of Imagine "No Chicken" Broth

Cook chard until just tender in 1-2 c. water; drain, reserving liquid. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in a good sized pot.  Add beans (drain first), rice, liquid from chard, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper and the broth. Cook about 15-20 minutes until rice is tender; add chard and cook a minute more. To serve, drizzle with balsamic vinegar or sprinkle with parmesan if you want dairy.

Note: Instead of Italian seasoning you could use oregano and rosemary--whatever you have on hand. I love the little boxes of frozen herbs that you can use as you need. I think they are better than dried without the waste that sometimes happens with fresh herbs if you don't use them right away.

Portabello Paninis for Me & You

Sunday evening I made great portabello/red pepper paninis. Easy and really good. Got Swedish Hill ciabatta at Wheatsville and it was perfect though focaccia would work just as well.

Portabello paninis for deux

2 portabello mushrooms
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1/2 onion, cut into rings
1/3 c. Tofutti I Can't Believe It's Not Cream Cheese
1 T. chopped chives
1 T. chopped basil
Olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Gently scrape the underside of the portabello with a spoon to get rid of the "gills" which can be bitter. Brush onion, pepper strips and mushrooms with olive oil; also brush mushrooms with vinegar. Roast or grill the onions, pepper strips and mushrooms. Our grill was out of propane so I had to roast in oven. Doesn't take too long--just want them to be a bit browned. Flip once while they are cooking. While the peppers and mushrooms are cooking, mix Tofutti "cream cheese" with herbs and cut bread into desired size (I cut just a bit wider than the mushroom). Spread "cream cheese" mixture onto bread slices. Make sandwich with the vegetables and grill in panini maker or just in skillet as I did with a little olive oil. I pressed sandwiches lightly with cast iron skillet for the panini effect.

You could use real cream cheese for non-vegan version.

You Won't Believe It Has Collard Greens

It has been about 2 years since I've posted anything but recently got inspired by a blog by Marijo Harding who is participating in Pure Bikram Yoga's 60 Day Challenge. During the past 2 years I've gone down the slippery slope of adding dairy, then fish, then chicken to my diet but recently decided that I wanted to go back to eating vegan most of the time along with becoming more consistent in yoga practice. I have continued to cook lots of vegan meals the past two years because Will, my oldest, is a hardcore straight-edged vegan. No animal products touch his lips or feet.

So here I go, back to blogging. I have been on a big greens binge the past month or so. Wheatsville has had the most divine spinach. I have always been a fan of swiss chard and I like collard greens but am always uncertain about how long to cook--some see bitter. Wheatsville and Johnson Farms to the rescue--wonderful organic collard greens. And serendipitously, I was watching Food Network on Saturday and on Cooking for Real there was a recipe for collard green pesto--it was made with lots of parmesan and served with chicken meatballs and pasta. I modified a bit so no cheese and I reduced the olive oil used in the recipe. It turned out great and is really a pretty quick dish to put together.

Collard Greens Pesto & Pasta

1 bunch collard greens, roughly chopped, ribs discarded

1/2 cup pecans, lightly toasted either in skillet on top of the stove or in oven

2/3 c. olive oil (could even use 1/2 cup and I think it would be fine -- original recipe called for 1 cup)

1-2 cloves garlic, peeled

1/4 Kalamata olives, pitted (I forgot the olives first and taste was fine so to save calories and fat you could omit; I did add in the end)

13 oz. box of linguine

Boil pot of water; add greens and blanche for about 1 minute; remove to ice bath to keep the color bright green. Blot greens dry with paper towel and put in food processor. Add pecans, garlic and olives. Pulse a couple of times before running processor and slowly adding olive oil.

After mixed thoroughly toss with linguine cooked according to package directions. Enjoy!