Lettuce Soup

Lettuce Soup - Seriously Soupy

With the temperatures almost reaching 80 degrees today I was really excited to try out a lighter soup recipe - that was both easy to prepare and quick. Not quite ready for chilled soups, I decided to make a crisp Lettuce Soup after reading various recipes on Epicurious.com, The Nourishing Gourmet, and in this months issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray. For my variation, I used a simple combination of onions, garlic, leeks, celery, peas, rosemary, thyme, lemon, and of course a thick head of lettuce to complete this earthy soup. A soup I never tried before, I was pleasantly surprised by its interesting flavors that I found really worked with the subtle use of thyme and rosemary and tart from the lemon. This soup can also easily be varied to include various types of lettuce leaves and herbs as well as the addition of cream or potatoes - depending on your preferences. For With the warmer days ahead, I am definitely inspired to test out and enjoy more soups like this!

Lettuce Soup

Ingredients:
3 cups vegetable stock
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced and chopped
1/2 cup of frozen peas
2 celery ribs, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks, chopped - white part only
1/2 head of lettuce, cut into slices
Bunch of fresh rosemary - about 2-3 sprigs
Bunch of fresh thyme - about 2-3 sprigs
3 cups vegetable stock
1/2 lemon, squeezed into the soup
salt and pepper 

Directions:
Drizzle the olive oil into a medium-sized pot. Cut up the leeks, garlic, and onion and let saute. Add the vegetable stock (or water) and let boil. Add the peas, celery, rosemary and thyme and cover. Let cook for 15 minutes. Break apart the lettuce leaves and add them to the pot. Let cook for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and blend. Drizzle with some lemon juice and top with some lettuce leaves for a garnish. Enjoy!

How do you make your lettuce soup?
Seriously Soupy Serena

Vegetarian Moroccan Stew with the Make Ahead Mamas and AllRecipes.com

Vegetarian Moroccan Stew - Recipe by the Make-Ahead Mamas

Spice blend

This week I had the opportunity to attend an interactive cooking event at Rachael Ray's test kitchen in NYC. Sponsored by AllRecipes.com, the go-to online recipe resource (unless you want a soup recipe and then you know where to go), allowed us to learn about their exciting interactive menu planner (more on that in a future post) and about an exciting cooking community called the Make-Ahead Mamas.

Deb of the Make-Ahead Mamas

Lentils for the stew

Make-Ahead Vegetarian Moroccan Stew

Deb Kapsner (or Busy Spoons) of Make-Ahead Mamas was on-hand to teach us how to cook delicious and healthy meals through their model of variety, community, and organization. The group is made up of 8 Seattle mamas who get together every 8 weeks to prepare 8-10 meals for their families. Not only a great concept to get out of the boring dinner rut, the Make-Ahead Mamas is a community whose members get together to share the ups and downs of parenting as they cook, enjoy wine, and try to make their lives easier by planning ahead.

At the interactive event, I was able to test out a delicious Beef Bulgogi with lettuce leaves and noodles, the flaky and savory Spinach Spanakopita, and Deb's flavorful Make-Ahead Vegetarian Moroccan Stew. All of the recipes were fantastic that also made me realize dinner doesn't have to be dull.

Being all about soups and stews, I instantly fell in love with the rich blend of flavors (cumin, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, turmeric, and cinnamon) used in this stew, along with blend of kale, sweet potatoes, lentils and chickpeas for protein. Being a hands-on event, we were all given stations to start chopping, packing and scooping up spices so that we could create our own Moroccan Stew at home. Still thinking about the delicious and easy-to-prepare recipes a day later, I decided to make the stew with my daughter Little Soupy. Since all of the ingredients were cut up at the event, this was one of the easiest stews I have ever made. We loved adding the layers of ingredient - not to mention how amazing it made my kitchen smell. An inspiring and fun afternoon, the Make-Ahead Mamas is a great way to combine varied eating within a fun and supportive community.

The Vegetarian Moroccan Stew cooking

Little Soupy cooking the Vegetarian Moroccan Stew

 Make-Ahead Vegetarian Moroccan Stew as Featured on AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:
    •    1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    •    1 teaspoon ground cumin
    •    1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
    •    1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
    •    1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    •    1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
    •    1/8 teaspoon curry powder
    •    1 teaspoon kosher salt
    •    1 tablespoon butter
    •    1 sweet onion, chopped
    •    2 cups finely shredded kale
    •    4 (14 ounce) cans organic vegetable broth
    •    1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
    •    1 tablespoon honey
    •    4 large carrots, chopped
    •    2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
    •    3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
    •    1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
    •    1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
    •    1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
    •    1 teaspoon ground black pepper, to taste
    •    1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)
    •    1 tablespoon water (optional)

Directions
    1.    Combine cinnamon, cumin, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, turmeric, curry powder, and salt in a large bowl, reserve.
    2.    Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion in the butter until soft and just beginning to brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the shredded kale and reserved spice mixture. Cook for 2 minutes or until kale begins to wilt and spices are fragrant.
    3.    Pour the vegetable broth into the pot. Stir in the tomatoes, honey, carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, garbanzo beans, dried apricots, and lentils. Bring to boil; reduce heat to low.
    4.    Simmer stew for 30 minutes or until the vegetables and lentils are cooked and tender. Season with black pepper to taste. If desired, combine optional cornstarch and water; stir into stew. Simmer until stew has thickened, about 5 minutes.


To learn more about the Make-Ahead Mamas, please like them on Facebook.

Rachael Ray Talks Soup

I recently had the opportunity to interview Rachael Ray about her new cooking show - Rachael Ray's Week in a Day. Premiered on the Cooking Channel, this new culinary vehicle for Ray is designed to teach people (like busy mom's) how to cook meals for the entire week in one day.  So, essentially all that you have to do is re-heat your meals when you get home and make some sides. Developed by Ray and her business partner, the show focuses on a variety of meals - ranging from meat and gluten-free dishes to eclectic comfort food as well as provides strategies and tips on how to tackle the upcoming holidays. 

Being all about soup, I asked Ray if there would be any soups on the show and she answered with a resounding "yes, I love soups or stups," -- her combination of soup and stew. She mentioned soup recipes like cowboy chili, spicy vegetarian, ginger-soy carrot soup, peas and potato soup, a sausage and broccoli rabe stoup to classic soups and international ones- citing that she can eat soup every day and that her all-time favorite soup is beans and greens. (I'll have to look into how to make that one.)

Other interesting recipes on the show include portabella-porcini cacciatore, roasted chicken with roasted garlic gravy, braised pork tacos, and crab cake mac and cheese. If making all of your meals in one week sounds daunting, Ray suggests enlisting a helper (like a child) or a girlfriend for weekly cooking parties. So, who wants to join me?