Mendolonium

I have a love-hate relationship with Trader Joe’s.  I go to TJs for good prices on some of the staples that our family uses.  While I am there, I am always tempted by the frozen convenience food.  We all know why we choose convenience food; we’re tired, we don’t want to generate a pile of dirty dishes, we want something fast.  Sometimes I pick up a bag of frozen pasta or a frozen pizza, but I am always disappointed.  The pasta is inevitably overcooked and mushy, the pizza is relatively flavorless.  And although Trader Joe’s is relatively inexpensive it will always be more costly to purchase a pre-made meal over making the same dish from scratch.

None of that changes the fact that there are many lunchtimes or dinners that arrive with a hungry, cranky Gina and the need to get food into myself fast before I throw a three-year old style tantrum.  I need a meal that is fast, healthy, and delicious.  My favorite convenience food that fits the bill is homemade soup, made in huge batches and frozen in single servings.  There’s minestrone, bean with barley, lentil soup, and my current favorite, broccoli-cheddar.  My friend Kristen, pastry-chef extraordinaire, introduced me to this soup last November.  Just before Anna was born Kristen and my fellow pastry student Jess arrived at my doorstep with two quarts of the soup – along with lasagna, cheese bread, and mushroom ravioli (all with homemade pasta – because Kristen does not do things half-assed).  All that wonderful food sustained me for weeks after Anna was born and I have since made the soup several more times.  The recipe is from the awesomely named blog “All Day I Dream of Food“.  Because I am incapable of following a recipe exactly I modified the ingredients slightly; substituting vegetable stock for the chicken broth and doubling the amount of both cheeses.  I am planning on going to the farmers market this weekend and buying up 8 pounds of broccoli to make up another giant batch to enjoy over the next couple of months.  Besides the fact that it is delicious, every time I eat the soup I am reminded of when I ate it last year, while holding tiny baby Anna in my arms;  sustenance and sentimentality, now that’s a great meal.

My good friend Margie is on a strict low-fat, vegan diet to improve her health.  I am impressed at her fortitude – cream is one of my major food groups; it isn’t unusual for us to go though a quart of the stuff per week at our house.  But, in talking with her about the diet I realized that I actually cook vegan quite often.  Today it is chilly (58 degrees!  Ah, winter in southern California) and rainy; which makes me crave soup.  So for my friend Margie or anyone else who might by chilly and hungry here is my recipe for “Thick and Hearty Minestrone Soup”.  It’s lowfat, vegan, and warm.  What more could you ask for on a winter day?

Thick and Hearty Minestrone Soup

Gina Marie Mendolo

Egg-free.  Soy-free.  Nut-free.  Dairy free.  Can be made gluten-free by replacing the orzo pasta with gluten-free pasta or rice.

Ingredients:

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 T shallots, diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 1 cup zucchini, shredded or grated (Zucchini is not in season during the winter.  I use zucchini from our summer garden that I have grated and frozen.  If you don’t have any available it is fine to omit.)
• 2 T parsley, chopped (dried or fresh)
• 2 T basil, chopped (dried or fresh)
• 1 small sprig rosemary
• 1 quart tomatoes (Whole, diced or milled smooth – whatever your texture preference. I am not big on texture so I mill mine into a smooth sauce.)
• 3 cups cannelloni beans (or kidney beans or even garbanzo beans), cooked or canned
• 1 t salt (You may need to use more if you are using home cooked beans, rather than canned.)
• 5 cups vegetable stock
• 2 carrots, sliced into “coins”
• 4 ounces orzo pasta

Directions:

1. Sauté the onion, shallots, garlic, celery, zucchini, parsley, basil, and rosemary in the olive oil until soft (between 5 and 10 minutes).

2. Add in the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. If using whole tomatoes, use a spoon to break up the tomatoes into more edible chunks.

3. While the soup base is simmering (above) use a food processor to puree or a potato masher to mash one half (1.5 cups) of the beans into a paste.

4. After the five minutes of simmering, stir in the bean puree, the whole beans, the salt, and the vegetable stock.

5. Simmer strongly, uncovered, for 20 minutes. (Bonus: your house will smell fantastic after this step.)

6. Stir in the carrots and the orzo and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

7. Taste test the soup for salt and to make sure the carrots and pasta have cooked to your desired tenderness.

What’s the weather like where you are and what are you craving?

Source: Gina Mendolo

Ingredients:

* 1 T olive oil
* 1 small onion, finely diced
* 1 T shallots, diced
* 1 – 2 ribs celery diced
* 1 cup zucchini, shredded or grated
* 2 T parsley, chopped (I used dried because it was dark and I didn’t feel like going out to the back in the dark for fresh.)
* 2 T basil, chopped (Again, I used dried because it was dark and I didn’t feel like going out to the back in the dark for fresh.)
* 1 small sprig rosemary
* 1 pint tomatoes (Whole, diced or milled smooth – whatever your texture preference. I am not big on texture so I milled mine into a smooth sauce.)
* 3 cups cannelloni beans (or kidney beans or even garbanzo beans), cooked or canned
* 1 t salt (You may need to use more if you are using cooked beans, rather than canned.)
* 5 cups vegetable stock
* 1 – 2 carrots, sliced into “coins”
* 4 ounces orzo pasta

Directions:

1. Saute the onion, shallots, celery, zucchini, parsley, basil, and rosemary in the olive oil until soft (between 5 and 10 minutes).
2. Add in the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. If using whole tomatoes, use a spoon to break up the tomatoes into more edible chunks.
3. While the soup base is simmering (above) use a food processor to puree or a potato masher to mash one half (1.5 cups) of the beans into a paste.
4. After the five minutes of simmering, stir in the bean puree, the whole beans, the salt, and the vegetable stock.
5. Simmer strongly, uncovered, for 20 minutes. (Bonus: your house will smell fantastic after this step.)
6. Stir in the carrots and the orzo and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
7. Taste test the soup for salt and to make sure the carrots and pasta have cooked to your desired tenderness.
8. Remove the rosemary sprig.
9. Serve hot (With shaved Parmesan cheese curls on top if you are feeling fancy).

Note: This recipe made enough for four good sized bowls of soup. Next time I think I’ll triple it to make enough to freeze.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 3 cups leek, thinly sliced
• 2 1/4 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced into ½ inch pieces
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/3 cup cream
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.
2. Add leek; cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. (Do not brown.)
3. Add potatoes, water, salt, and broth to a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
4. Add leeks.
5. Simmer uncovered for approximately 35 minutes, or until potatoes are very tender.
6. Remove from heat.
7. Transfer soup to a food processor or blender and blend until desired consistency.
8. Stir in cream.
9. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle with black pepper.