Delishytown

Kale and White Bean Soup with Meatless Nutballs

These vegetarian meatballs were so good. I ate three of them when they came out of the oven, while still making the soup. Then I inhaled this dish after I took the photo. They were so delicious with the tomatoey broth. If you want something meaty, but are avoiding eating meat for whatever reason, you'll like these Nutty Vegballs. That is what he said.

I was on my way to the store and asked my Man what he had a taste for. He said "meatball soup". I was like, "Yum! turkey meatballs?" And he said "or just get a bag of veggie meatballs from the freezer". Hmmm, those things are awful. I decided to make my own. I wanted vegetarian meatballs with umami flavor and meaty texture that wouldn't fall apart in the soup. I looked up vegetarian meatball recipes. Some of them had nuts, so I decided to add nuts to see if they'd add meatiness. It worked, the nuts give these veggie meatballs a delicious texture and savoriness. I used sunflower seeds, almonds and a few sesame seeds. Along with eggs and garbanzo beans, they held together and had a great bite. The cheese and worcestershire add to the umami flavor. 

Heat oven to 350. Butter a cookie sheet.

In a food processor, process 1/2 cup sunflower nutmeats and 2 tblsp almonds until they become tiny bits, but not powder. Add to a bowl. Process 1 can garbanzo beans until crumbly, add those to the bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 1 small minced onion, 1 minced shallot, 3 smashed and chopped cloves garlic, 2 tblsp olive oil, a sprinkle of garlic powder, dash each of worcestershire & soy sauce, 1 tblsp sesame seed, salt, pepper, celery salt, 2 tsp dried basil, 2 tblsp leftover pesto if you have any, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup grated cheddar, 1/4 cup grated parmesan. Mix well to combine & don't over mix.

Roll the balls smaller than a golf ball. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes until hot and cooked through. 

For the Kale and Cabbage Soup: Sauté one diced parsnip, 2 chopped carrots, 2 chopped celery stalks, 1 small minced onion, 3 cloves garlic and 1 shallot in a little olive oil until fragrant. Add one large can diced tomatoes, 2 cups veggie broth, 1 can rinsed and drained organic white beans, 1 cup chopped cabbage, celery salt, pepper, pinch of dried basil, large pinch of dried parsley, 1/2 tsp sugar. Simmer about 10 or 15 minutes until desired doneness. Add 1/2 cup chopped kale. Serve over the Veggieballs, garnish with a squeeze of fresh lemon and parmesan shavings. Yum!

I'm 43 follows away from reaching 100,000 followers here on my sweet tumblrs! Whaat? This is so exciting. My husband says we have to drink some champagne when it gets there. Ha ha

Thanks everybody for all the love and all the follows! I'll try to do my best work ever in 2014 and make delicious, homegrown food for you all!

Happy New Year Tumblrs!  

Love, Betty a.k.a.  Delishytown

Thai Coconut Soup

We have lemongrass growing in back. It's really pretty and looks like a beautiful ornamental beach grass. The best thing about it is that you can just grab a stalk from it when you want to make lemongrass soup. Coconut soup is creamy, sweet and spicy. I love to make it in the winter when it's chilly like today. 

I usually make this soup with chicken or just make it vegetarian, but today I made it with leftover turkey since we still have lots leftover from our feast.

Chop up leftover turkey, chicken, tofu or whatever protein you like. Wash a lemon grass stalk. Peel off the outermost layer, cut into 3 inch lengths and smash gently to release the aroma. Add one can of coconut cream to a pot, use the unsweetened kind, not the cocktails kind. Add 1 large chopped shallot, 2 slivered and chopped carrots, 1 slivered red bell pepper, 2 sliced celery stalks, 2 smashed and chopped garlic cloves, 1 or 2 cups chicken or veggie broth, one star anise, the lemon grass stalks, a sprinkle of garlic powder, a pinch of parsley, a sprinkle of Chinese 5 Spice, a couple dashes of fish sauce, 2 tsp Organic Soy Sauce, 1/2 tsp red chili paste, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Simmer until hot. Taste for seasonings, salt and sweetness. Add a little red chili paste if you like it spicy. 

Once it cooks through and the denser veggies are done to your likeness, add chopped sugar snap peas and slivered zucchini pieces. I add these at the end to keep them crisp tender. Do not eat the tough lemongrass stalks, they're in there for the aroma.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend! Eat Hard. Nap Harder.

Roasted Cauliflower & Potato Soup with Crispy Kale and Parmesan

This soup was delicious! I made this for my sister the other day when she came over to help plant our winter vegetable garden. This soup was simmering on the stove while we worked outside. We planted a million vegetable seeds, including carrots, cilantro, kale, chard, peas, and various lettuces. We also transplanted a bunch of volunteer arugula and artichokes that were springing up all over the garden, and we planted two new blueberry shrubs. We got everything done just before it started to rain. 

This was made with homemade veggie stock, which really gives it a huge depth of flavor.

For the vegetable stock: In a large pot of water, simmer roughly chopped carrots, chopped celery with leaves included, 1 large onion, quartered with the skin still on, garlic cloves, peels and all, part of the big stem from the center of the cauliflower, 2 bay leaves, fresh parsley and kosher salt and pepper. Simmer for about 2-3 hours. Then you strain it and discard the spent vegetables. 

For the soup: In a 400 degree oven roast chopped cauliflower, 4 or 5 diced potatoes and 1/2 chopped onion that have been drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, a little bit of cinnamon and some paprika. Roast these for about 25 minutes until they get color. Add some chopped kale drizzled with olive oil in the last 10 minutes for the garnish, (optional). 

In a large heavy bottomed pot, add 1 tblsp butter or olive oil or both, saute the other half of the chopped onion with some minced garlic, kosher salt and pepper, 1 bay leaf. Saute until softened. Add the roasted potato and cauliflower, (reserving a small amount with the kale for the garnish) and the home made soup stock. Simmer on low heat for about 25-45 minutes. Simmering the soup on a low flame prevents it from becoming foamy. Remove the Bay leaves and blend with a stick blender. You can add 3/4 c. of cream at this point,  but we didn't and it was very creamy and delicious.

Serve with roasted kale and potato garnish and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Yum! This is so good! It's good for you too! Mmmmmm soup.

Curried Lentil Cauliflower Soup w/ a side of Carrot, Beet & Kale Chips

This is a good thing to make when you want something healthy and satisfying. These two recipes are delicious, inexpensive and easy. I used pantry staples and garden veggies to make this today. This whole meal is vegan if you use veggie stock in the soup.

One unusual ingredient here is Sumac, the red spice in the shot glass. Sumac looks like chili powder, but instead of being hot, it's got a savory, lemony flavor that's  very fresh and delicious. I usually buy it at the Middle Eastern grocery store.

The kale, carrot and beet chips on the plate were grown in our back yard.  I'm in the process of harvesting and using up all the carrots and beets growing in two large pots out back to make room for eggplants and squash. Our kale is still growing vigorously in the raised bed even though it's getting warm. Kale is much more heat tolerant than I thought it would be. And it makes delicious chips!

For the vegetable chips: Turn oven very low, about 275. If you have a convection oven, put that to the lowest setting. Mine goes down to 300.

In order to get crispy chips, slice the carrots and beets very thinly. I don't have a mandoline, so I used a knife. Cooking them on a pizza pan with holes or cookie rack helps the hot air to circulate, promoting even crisping.

Spritz with olive oil spray on both sides, salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes & check. Some of the small ones might be done. Eat those. Flip the ones that aren't crisp yet, and continue cooking for a few minutes. It's ok if they don't all get crispy, some of the fatter ones I made came out sorta chewy with caramelized edges, and that was delicious too.

Meanwhile, tear kale leaves off stems, toss with olive oil spray, salt and pepper. Cook on a separate cookie sheet. They crisp up faster than the root vegetables, about 4 minutes.

For the soup: In a heavy bottomed pot, sauté 1 chopped onion, 2 or 3 celery stalks with leaves, 2 carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 cup of dry red lentils, rinsed, 2 tblsp chicken base & 3 or 4 cups of water, or 2 containers chicken or veggie stock, 1 bay leaf, celery salt, chopped garlic, pinch of garlic powder, pinch of turmeric, pinch of curry powder, and 1 whole tomato, cored and cut in half. (As the soup cooks, the tomato will fall apart and you can easily remove the peels.)

Let the soup simmer for 45 minutes. Once it's all cooked and hot, add big cauliflower florets and let those cook an additional 5 or 10 minutes in the soup. I like my cauliflower al dente. 

Serve each bowl with 1 or 2 big cauliflower pieces, garnish with vegetable chips, and a pinch of sumac. I keep the sumac separate because I like things very lemony, but my husband likes it not as lemony.

 Sorry this was long, but it's two recipes in one. Enjoy!!