Vegetable Stock

Vegetable stock is a staple around our house because it forms the basis for many of the soups we make, and I swap vegetable stock for chicken stock in almost anything. Most of the time I can make vegetable stock from ingredients that I have on hand, though occasionally I’ll have to buy some leeks to go into it since I tend to use those up rather quickly.

Because I stick with whatever is in the vegetable bin, the flavor of my stock changes a little each time, but I have a list of basic ingredients that almost always go in the pot. I happened to be out of parsley when I made this batch and my kitchen garden stash of parsley recently bit the dust, so none went into the pot this time, but parsley is definitely one of the regular herbs in my stock. Read more

Curried Lentil and Potato Stew

I’m not a summer soup person, and you generally won’t find soup on the menu around our house until the first frost. The weather isn’t even remotely cold here yet and I’m still wearing shorts, but for some reason I had a craving for this stew.

I love stews with lots of flavor, and this is definitely in that category. Lentils are a great way to get protein since they have the second highest protein content of any legume, and they are also rich in iron, fiber, and other important nutrients. Always rinse your lentils and pick out any stones or bad pieces before cooking them. I pour the dry lentils into a bowl and cover with water, allowing it to sit for about 5 to 10 minutes, then drain and rinse again.

You can make the spicy oil, or you can skip that step and add curry paste to the soup while cooking. Either way, you end up with a delicious, healthy, hearty meal. I serve this with dollops of plain yogurt on top. There’s something about having a lentil stew with curry flavors … it just begs for some yogurt. Read more

Empty the Freezer Gumbo

Our big plan to initiate the chocolate fondue pot this weekend was OBE. This was also the weekend before Mardi Gras and normally I make a King Cake, but that, too, died on the vine. We just have too much going on preparing for the move, which is only 10 days away, and some things have to give. We needed some down time, so we decided to relax and take care of a few things around the house. However, we couldn’t let Mardi Gras slide by without some sort of celebration, so we made a gumbo that used up some more stuff from the freezer.

I haven’t eaten much spicy food in the last year. Anything spicy made me miserable when I was pregnant and now it makes our baby miserable, so we went very easy on the spices and made a mild gumbo that I could safely enjoy, and then Michael doused his bowl with hot sauce. However, I’ve listed the full amount of spices in the recipe.
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Slow Cooker Beef Barley Soup

It’s official—we’re moving. Over the Christmas holiday we learned that Michael has a new job in the DC metro area, and now we’re in the midst of selling a home and looking for another. I’m excited about returning to that area and I think it will be very good for our family, but right now it is a *lot of work* and I don’t see that changing much in the next few months. Frankly cooking is not very high on the priority list at the moment, not when the house has to be kept immaculate for potential buyers to come visit. Oh, and our three little boys need some attention every now and then (every two or three minutes).

I never really gave this much thought until now, but all of this prepping to show the house has made me realize that I often make a real mess in the kitchen. I mean, some days it looks like a kitchen bomb went off. Read more

Ajiaco Bogotano (Colombia)

For me this is the ultimate comfort food, and it’s also my favorite food from my years overseas. It’s a great weekend soup, but it’s also a celebration meal for the Bogotanos who often make very large pots of this soup for festive occasions such as Christmas. They typically serve the soup in black bowls just like the one in the photo, sitting in a basket because the bowls are rounded, not flat, on the bottom. Sides include rice, capers, and avocado. I’ve missed the wonderful ajiacos I enjoyed in Bogotá, so this year I wanted to have it as part of our Christmas celebration.

There are several versions of ajiaco in Hispanic culture. Ajiaco Bogotano has chicken, three different kinds of potatoes, corn on the cob, and the herb guascas. The potatoes are papas criollas, sabaneras, and tocarreñas, or yellow, red, and white potatoes respectively. Of the three, the papas criollas are the most important Read more

Turkey Noodle Soup

Leftovers are as much a part of Thanksgiving day and weekend as the Macy’s parade, football games, and Christmas shopping. The turkey sandwiches taste delicious the first day or two after Thanksgiving, but we start getting tired of them by Sunday. After that, we make soup and pot pie. Read more

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