Oh readers, let me tell you a tale of two thirds fail. My second Boston Organics delivery was chock full of vegetables I'd never really cooked with before, and I was ready for the challenge. But some challenges remind you that life is full of setbacks, and the important thing is to keep on going.
So everything started okay. I had some potatoes from a shopping trip that needed to get used up, so I threw them on the boil. I mean the basics of mashed potatoes are pretty easy, right? Boil the potatoes until they're soft, with or without skin, then mash into a bowl with milk/cream, cheese maybe and salt & pepper.
From the Boston Organics order, I had a bunch of spinach, which I chopped and simmered in olive oil with an orange pepper and some onions. Then I sort of saw the eggplant of the corner of my eye and decided to throw that in. I skinned it, sort of squared it (cut the sides off some it was moderately rectangular), and then cubed it. I had done this for a nut loaf before, and liked the way it looked. But that wasn't where the fail came in -- because I hate dry/rubbery eggplant, I decided I should add some veggie stock to make it juicy. It did that, I guess. But mostly, it just made it taste like soup. The most boring soup you've ever had.
You may have noticed that I shied away from explaining further about the mashed potato, well, no, that was not the 1/3 win. I also had a beet handy. I've posted my beet salad before -- oh wait! i haven't! i must do that! -- but I wasn't ready for anything quite so sweet. So, yeah, I boiled up a beet and threw it in the mash, which made it this ludicrous pink. It didn't mash as well as the potato, probably need another twenty minutes longer if it would ever get that way. And THEN I ADDED HAZELNUTS. Le sigh. Awful idea. Great with potato salad, but there is nothing great about hard nuts in your mashed potato, because even though you know what's in there, every time you bite down on the nut you just get this idea that the potatoes didn't cook enough. Awful.
However, the meal was saved by the asparagus. It was beautiful, a great mix between thin and thick, and I copied a recipe Nicole told me over drinks -- brush them with olive oil, salt & pepper, then broil in the oven for 15 mins. I also took the liberty of adding some secret seasoning. I'm not gonna lie, they were AMAZING. Anyone baking asparagus instead of broiling or grilling is a fool. There, I said it.
Anyway, I look forward to righting the wrongs I inflicted on these innocent vegetables in the future. Thanks for listening.
First, Justin Bieber, who makes young girls apparently all Beatles-like riotous.
Really? Seriously? Do you get it? Cause I don't. And I actually LIKE pop music. I dunno, maybe I'm too old to understand. I did really like Joey Mac back in the day, so evs.
OK, matter at hand, GREEN SOUP!
Here is my picture of GREEN SOUP. Yes, I drank half of it before photographing, but I just couldn't help it. Soooo good.
This post is a kind of cousin to my last post, which involved a chowder recipe made from vegetables out of the Boston Organics Box. This weeks box contained asparagus, zucchini, and a basil plant. I still had broccoli(yuck) left from my last box and some onions, so I had all of the ingredients available to make Ellie's mom's famed GREEN SOUP that she served them in Mexico. I have been cautioned not to eat too much of this in one week because there apparently is so much chlorophyll in it that too much can affect your liver negatively. I cannot confirm this. Also, if I have to say - "How much is too much?" It's really good, I needed to be cautioned.
So ok, ingredients:
2 small onions or 1 large onion, thinly sliced
olive oil
2 garlic cloves
a large handful of asparagus, maybe 12-15 spears, with the tough ends broken off (reserve this for veggie stock later), cut into 2 inch pieces
2 cups of roughly chopped broccoli florets (you can keep the florets whole, just make sure they're off the stalk. Reserve the stalks for stock.)
2 small zucchinis, diced or sliced
1 large handful of swiss chard, about 2 cups, no need to chop
salt
pepper
water as needed
garlic powder, optional
half a cup of fresh basil leaves, optional
NOTE: No need to precut veggies. Each step allows for time for you to chop the next vegetable before it goes into the pot.
Warm olive oil on low heat in a large pot. Add onions and salt and pepper, I added about a half a teaspoon of each. Stir and let it work itself out for a while. Crush the garlic cloves to remove skin, reserve skins for stock. Add the garlic to pot, no need to chop, mince, etc. Once onions are translucent, add asparagus to pot and stir. Cook for about 3 minutes and then add water to pot to just cover the vegetables. Turn heat up high and cover. Let boil for 4-5 minutes while preparing broccoli florets. Add to the pot and add more water to just cover the vegetables. Add another pinch of salt and pepper to the pot. Cover and let boil for 4-5 minutes while preparing zucchini. Add zuccini and enough water to just cover vegetables. Pinch of salt and pepper and let boil while you prepare the swiss chard and basil or any fresh herb. You can use a comparable amount of fresh parsley or nothing at all.
This soup should be simple! Once you add the chard and herbs, cover the pot and let boil for about 5 more minutes. You can add more water if it's looking low, but you want to make sure the level of water is always just covering the veggies. Once the 5 minutes are up, uncover and test your veggies. Stick a fork in the asparagus pieces, the asparagus should completely yield to the fork. All the veggies should be completely tender at this point. If not, let it boil for a little while longer. Now for the exciting part. Grab that amazing immersion blender that you gifted yourself prompted by self love...No? Ok, grab the immersion blender you stole from your ex-boyfriend. Evs. Just get yourself an immersion blender. Whatever it takes. Trust me. It will change your life. Like when Boston Organics sends you every root vegetable known to man all autumn and if you eat another fricken turnip mash you will die or kill someone but then you were saved by the immersion blender and now you can make turnip and chive soup, or potato leek soup, or curried sweet potato soup, or anything else wonderful like that because you have an immersion blender and you make your own veggie stock so you always have some on hand and is anyone else's life like this?
Ok, maybe not. So enough of a rant. You can use a regular old blender, but um beware. Wait for the liquid to cool so the blender won't explode and the top of your blender won't pop off and the hot liquid will squirt everywhere and burn you - this has happened to me and to others, please be careful. So when the soup is all blended, taste it. You will need to add salt and pepper and maybe even a few really good shakes of garlic powder like I did. Up to you...I like things with a little kick. Your soup will be creamy without any dairy products at all. It will be delicious and healthy - except for the chlorophyll thing, but I don't know. Internet research suggested that chlorophyll cures everything from cancer to bad breath. Here's a link about this that I cannot confirm the validity of and that Mad Tasty has no affiliation to.
But anyway, back to GREEN SOUP. GREEN! TASTY! SOUP!
a few months ago, i invited my friends, ryan and regina, over for dinner because ryan and i had been talking for weeks about getting together to make dinner. since it was at my house (and i'm the pickiest eater of the three of us), i picked the recipes for salsa chicken and asparagus strawberry walnut salad along with a fun alcoholic drink.
we met at my house and ryan and regina sat at my kitchen bar. i clapped my hands and said, "ok, let's get to work! ryan, you can do the chicken and regina you can start the salad. i'll make the drink first since its a surprise and then help you guys." i was very proud of myself for delegating. they looked at each other and kind of said, "ok..." then they went to wash their hands. i didn't hear what they were saying. they came back and kind of stood there. i thought they needed encouragement. "ryan, do you want to start cleaning the chicken?" so he gets out the knives and gets ready. "regina, i think we have to wash the spinach and asparagus." so she gets to work. i make the drink as seen here:
Buddha Punch
Ingredients 5 dash(es) Orange Bitters 4 oz. Triple Sec 2 cup(s) Gewurztraminer (Or Riesling) 1 bottle(s) Champagne (Or sparkling wine) 1 cup(s) Light Rum 1 cup(s) Orange Juice (Fresh) 1/2 oz. Cherry Brandy 1/2 cup(s) Lemon Juice (Fresh) 1/2 oz. Sugar Syrup Instructions All the ingredients must be chilled. Stir everything (except champagne) into a punch bowl and stir. Just before serving, add the champagne and a large block of ice. Stir again and garnish with a few lime slices. This punch makes approximately 20 servings. [editor's note: just enough for 3 people!]
i was tickled pink because i found this drink that had a TON of alcohol in it (i needed to use up most of my bar). i thought if i told them what was in it they wouldn't drink it. we tasted it and it was scrumdidliumptious, but strong. when i finished i went over to help regina with the salad. the recipe was on the counter on the other side of the oven, so i read what to do next.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a heavy baking or broiler pan with foil. In a large bowl toss asparagus in olive oil and spread out in pan in a single layer.
So then i look at the recipe and see that it calls for
1/2 cup vegetable oil
regina had already spread the asparagus on the pan so we decided to just drizzle the oil over it instead of putting in a bowl to coat. she starts pouring the oil and after about 3 or 4 tablespoons she pointed out "this seems like a lot of oil." we all looked at it and agreed. we put it in the oven and figured we could add the rest of the oil later. i read the next part:
Meanwhile mix spinach, strawberries and walnuts in a large bowl; whisk together dressing ingredients.
regina gets everything together and i notice that ryan was asking me what to do next with the chicken. finally, i said, "well, here i'll tape the recipe up so it's easier for you to see." he and regina looked at each other then at me, "you told us not to look at the recipe." i was confused. then i realized what had happened - when i told them not to look at the recipe, i meant the DRINK recipe, but they thought i meant all three recipes. miscommunication #1 sorted - we all laugh.
we get back to work and check on the asparagus. it's so not getting crisp. this is about the same time that regina starts the dressing and when we realize that the amount of oil i had read her was for the DRESSING not to COAT the asparagus. we should've only used 1 tablespoon of oil. we take the asparagus out and pat it dry with paper towels and moved the asparagus to another baking sheet. miscommunication / error #2. some more laughter (a little bit louder because we've had a bit of buddha punch).
the dressing calls for the following ingredients:
Dressing:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup raspberry vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
in my defense, if you look at the recipe on the website, you may notice that the word "dressing" is a bullet point and mixed right in with the rest of the ingredients - this is why i didn't notice it. we mixed the ingredients in my dressing flask and tasted it - mmmm. it was delicious. a bit thick, but very very good.
meanwhile, the chicken was moving along nicely. here is the recipe:
Kim's Special Salsa Chicken
Ingredients 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1 package taco seasoning mix 1 16 oz jar salsa (mild, medium or hot) 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rub the chicken breasts with the taco seasoning mix. Pour some of the salsa into a 8x8" glass baking dish. Place the chicken in the dish. Cover the chicken with the rest of the salsa. Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the salsa and chicken breasts. Cover dish loosely with foil. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.
when we sat down for dinner, we were talking and it came out that they thought they were coming over for dinner that * I * was going to make. no wonder they didn't seem too excited at first. i reminded ryan that we had talked about making dinner together and he didn't remember (although i have the IM conversation to prove it). miscommunication #3. we laughed and cried about that, as well (much more alcohol). we also talked about how it would be great if we had our own cable access show about...cooking food! which made us think back to wayne's world, the most famous cable access show. in case you missed the recent reunion, here it is:
anyway, the salad ended up being delicious when thrown together. here is the actual recipe formatted so that one does not screw up, which is very possible:
Asparagus & Strawberry-Walnut Salad
Salad Ingredients 1 lb fresh asparagus (tough ends snapped off), cut in 1-inch pieces 1 Tablespoon olive oil 1 package (10 oz.) fresh spinach, torn in bite-size pieces 1 pint strawberries, hulled and halved or sliced 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
Dressing Ingredients :1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup raspberry vinegar 1 teaspoon sugar (or to taste) 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a heavy baking or broiler pan with foil. In a large bowl toss asparagus in 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and spread out in pan in a single layer. Roast until crisp-tender, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Meanwhile mix spinach, strawberries and walnuts in a large bowl; whisk together dressing ingredients. Add roasted asparagus and dressing to spinach mixture; toss to coat. Serve immediately.
we actually used pecans instead of walnuts and regina bought sugared pecans, so the salad was very refreshing and sweet. a few weeks later i made this recipe with my parents and it wasn't until i was shopping for the ingredients that i realized just why the salad dressing was so sweet and thick the first time i made it. we had not, in fact, bought raspberry vinegar (a watery-like substance), but raspberry vinagrette (a creamy, dressing-like substance). so basically, we bought salad dressing already made and then added oil and sugar and salt to it. it was double the oil necessary. when i got home from my parents, i noticed the leftover dressing in my fridge - it was a bottle of pink liquid at the bottom and yellow oil on top - the oil that we had added had separated. it was kind of gross. miscommunication (after the fact) #4.
we learned: 1) make sure it's clear who is cooking. if it's a group effort or a pot lock, it should be clear. 2) read the whole recipe a few times before beginning. 3) when writing / submitting a recipe online, make sure it's clear to everyone. 4) vinegar and vinaigrette are NOT the same thing.
