Super Soups !

 Is there any meal that says “winter” like a soup? Sure, roasts are great in the cold months, but can also say “special occasion”. Some of the slow cooked meals (like braises and curries and stews (oh my!) can whisper “winter” but can also say “time efficient cook”. But mention a bowl of soup plus/minus a bit of bread and you can practically see the frost on the ground and feel the extra layers of clothing.

 I’ve had a good relationship with soups over the years, especially considering we didn’t get off to a good start. Not liking tomato as a child, I avoided tomato soup and so the only other option was packet chicken noodle soup (or Campbells’ Cream of Chicken if you were feeling extravagant. In fact I think a Can of Soup was one of the first meals I was allowed to make by myself). My mum found a recipe for Chinese Corn soup after we had it out at a restaurant, and this became one of my favorites because of the “stringy egg” ingredient (made by slowly pouring egg into the boiling soup while stirring). One of our favorite family culinary tales involved my dad and the first time he made Corn and Bacon chowder: when the recipe called for a “pinch” of cayenne pepper, he gave a few shakes over the pot because, well, it was a BIG pot of soup, and his grandfather had used cayenne on his dinner the way most people use salt. Needless to say we didn't eat much of that soup (the next cayenne-less batch was much more readily digested). An easy recipe for Mulligatawny soup meant that it became a mainstay for our regular mums-at-home lunches, before being superseded by the even-easier and super yummy Wonton Soup (boil your wontons in a bit of chicken stock, ginger and soy sauce, add bok choy and sprinkle with chopped spring onions). Even cup-a-soup have helped out over the years on the I-can’t-bear-to-take-a-sandwich-for-lunch days.

 I find that the cooking magazines and sections usually start throwing in a few soup receipes around March, so by this time of the year I have amassed a good collection of new ones to try. Regular readers will remember my recent soup related escapades, so at the risk of repeating myself, click here to read about Ribollita with Italian Meatballs and Chicken and Kale soup.

 The next soup that caught my eye was a Bacon and Red Lentil soup. I perked up at the description of A Cheat’s Version of (well, "similar in taste" to) Pea and Ham Soup , which I have never been a fan of, but Hubby is (and I’ve never quite got around to buying ham hocks and making if for him. The shame...). This one had lots of veges and lentils for protein, which is something that I do love about soup in that it can be a complete meal nutrition wise, depending on what you put in it (most have veges, so throw in a bit of protein and a bit of bread on the side and you’ve covered your main food groups!). It started with frying bacon, onion and garlic, which is a good start to any non-dessert recipe. It thickened up quite a bit after the lentils had cooked, and once it was blended it was one of those super thick “stoups” (stew-soup) that you could almost stand your spoon up in. And it was delicious. Probably helped along by the yummy smoky bacon I used, but it was so good I wanted to climb in the bowl. I will be making that one again before the winter is out!

 I then spied a Kumara and Peanut Butter Soup recipe on a fitness clothing website, to which I though “I have to try that. Peanut butter soup?!? Crazy!”. We are big fans of peanut butter in our house, so much that we buy the Skippy 3 Lb (1.36 kg) jars from Costco. I have made peanut butter cookies and brownies and used it in the odd Asian dish, but never soup. I will admit that I wasn't enthused when I had all the ingredients in for the “simmer until tender “ part: it had chunks of sweet potato, red capsicum and tomato floating in  a pale milky water-coconut milk broth. Not very aesthetically pleasing. Thanks goodness for the Blend Until Smooth stage, as it is one of the best soups I’ve tasted. The best way to describe it as a satay sauce soup (flavour wise) with the stodgy-fill-you-up-ness of a good minestrone. And super healthy too – it even used coconut oil! And even Hubby, who when I told him what I was making had done the Polite Decline (“… but I’ll have a taste”) came back and ate a whole bowl. And the Peanut Butter Soup label almost enticed Sons  1 & 2 to try it (almost).

Photo credit to Hubby - thanks!

 So I was going quite well with my soup choices. The next one on my list was Kumara and Red Lentil, which gave me pause. I had already made a soup with red lentils, and this recipe didn’t have bacon. Plus, I had used kumara as well, but this one didn’t have peanut butter. So I took pity on that Recipe, which probably would have been quite nice had we had it first, but would always suffer comparisons to The Others, and I decided not to make it. So it must be about time to go through my “Soups” section and make a few of the stars from previous years. Pasta e fagoli? Thai pumpkin? Or Mexican chicken nacho???

C is for Coconut, K is for Kale

 I have never been into fads. Fashion-wise, I have always been a jeans-t-shirt-classic-pieces kind of girl, rather than the latest So Hot Right Now!!! (but not in 5 minutes) disposable fashion: I have not, nor will I ever own a pair of harem pants.
 So it follows that it takes me a while to jump onto the latest foodie gimmick - whether its a cooking style (hello sous vide), an ingredient (well, chipotle and I are friends now) or superfood. I need to read about it in several different places, maybe see it used in a few recipes and perhaps have a friend chat about their experiences before I'll feel brave enough to buy some and give it a trial. Quinoa and I started this way: I had heard rumblings about this gluten-free-grain-that-wasn't-a-grain that everyone had difficulty pronouncing. I started very slowly by using it in a salad, before graduating to fritters and porridge (which I now LOVE). So it makes sense that it has taken me this long to get around to using kale.

Yes, I know, its the latest superfood!!! Its high in anti-oxidants and has heaps of vitamins and minerals and stuff!!! It's SO versatile!!! (maybe its the enthusiasm that actually put me off, I mean it looks like curly parsley on steroids, how can it be THAT amazing?) But finally, there were a flurry of recipes in a couple of Delicious magazines that were cook worthy, so I grabbed a bunch of kale and got into it.

"It doesn't LOOK that super..."

 The first recipe was a "Ribollita with Italian Meatballs", which is a Tuscan "stoup" - lots of veges in stock with some meatballs to give it some oomph. The original recipe used cavolo nero, but I thought one green was as good as another and so used kale. This is a good way to use kale (or other winter leafy green) as when you cook it in the stock, all the nutrients stay in the dish (said the intro to the recipe). And it certainly did taste like a big bowl of goodness - nice and thick and hearty for the middle of Melbourne winter.

 (no picture I'm sorry - we ate it too quickly)

 Continuing with the soup theme was a "Chicken and Kale soup", which apart from having shredded kale through the dish, also had the chicken cooked in coconut oil (more on that later) as well as almond meal stirred through. Which did make for an interesting consistency, but again tasted quite nice.

"Cloudy with a chance of Kale"

 Probably not as hearty as the ribollita, but then it had about half of the ingredients. But a nice way to use up the kale. We were now down to two thirds of a bunch. Have I mentioned yet that a little goes a long way??

 While the soup was simmering, I gave Kale Chips a try. This was something that I knew had given kale its popularity - a healthy substitute for potato chips!! And so quick and easy - just rub in a bit of olive oil and pop them in an oven, These were "Spicy Kale Chips" and so had garlic, cumin and chilli mixed in with the oil. Quite yummy, but I did have my oven a bit hot (or got distracted and left them in too long) so half of them were a super crisp dark purple color and not very appetizing looking (so again, no picture, though the chickens loved them).  I will try them again with more attention to the details.

 The weekend rolled around and I came down to Hubby making brekkie of scrambled eggs, which reminded me that there were lots of uses for kale in breakfast dishes (which is good as I still had just under half a bunch in my fridge). I was planning on doing kale in scrambled eggs, but realised that didn't have quite enough eggs to make it for everyone. So I switched to what I am christening "Green, Eggs and Ham" (well, bacon). Fry up a few rashers of bacon, then saute your shredded kale in the bacon fat (soooo healthy) and fry an egg.

"Healthy" fry up

 Pop it all on a piece of toast (with avocado or aioli or whatever) and voila!
 

I DO like these Green. Eggs and (Bacon)Ham

 So that has been my Kale adventures so far, and I still have about a quarter of a bunch left to use. Hmm - might have to google some more receipes.

 The next Superfood to enter my pantry is coconut oil. Again, I had been hearing about it here and there (It's great to cook with as it has a high smoke point!!! Its full of healthy fats!!!... and you can look up the rest, there are lots of very long lists), but it wasn't until I has some falafel that my no-dairy-gluten-soy-and-generally-super-healthy friend had cooked in coconut oil was I convinced to try it (it gave them a delicious slightly nutty taste). AND after another friend gave me a jar of oil to try (before I buy!... bought), I had to give it a go.
 First up was cooking our Sunday morning pancakes, which was a perfect use as it didn't get burnt (like butter) when I left in in the pan too long (to get juice, cut up a pancake for Son 2, more syrup for Son 1...), and the subtle coconut flavour went really well with the maple syrup. I then used it as the "vegetable oil" in my standard muffin recipe (instead of the sunflower oil I usually use), and threw in a handful of shredded coconut and before I knew it I had banana coconut muffins! Quite yum. and very moist too.

 And amidst all the reading about how awesome coconut oil is, I read that coconut milk also shares a lot of similar health benefits. Which is great as I love using it in thai food; it always makes curries and laksas taste so decadent. But they suggested using it to cook quinoa porridge (instead of the soy milk I had been using. I'm not lactose intolerant, I just don't like the taste of milk) - which I did. And it was Ah-mazing!! So yummy and nutty and creamy - it didn't taste like it should be that good for you but it was! I know some people will say "Fat is fat and you should watch your intake" but I am a fan of the Good Fat, which is why I always found it hard to stick to low-fat diets in my younger days. Now I try to limit refined sugar but happily munch on nuts and avocado and cheese and I can seem to stay on track diet-wise.

 So I am happy to add these new foods to my pantry and fridge and will keep an eye out for the next foodie fad to come sweeping our way. But I think I will be sidestepping the edible insects craze, no matter how much I hear about it!