winter soup session: spicy grain and roasted root vegetable soup

I have long been an admirer of First Slice.  Mary Ellen Diaz, their founder,  left the restaurant world to start First Slice, a non profit organization who's goal is to ensure that needy and homeless people get "the first slice" of a pie, not the crumbs.  She funds her dream by selling subscriptions to family dinners.  For 10 weeks, at $78 a week, families come pick up 3 freshly prepared, then frozen meals for the week.  Included in the price is money to provide the same quality meal for homeless people at various shelters and soup kitchens in the Chicago area.  Her program is so inspiring.

I found this delicious, vegetarian and protein rich soup while researching grains.  Mary Ellen shared it with Food and Wine, saying that it is one of the more popular soups at the shelters.  I tinkered with it slightly, roasting the vegetables before adding them to the chile broth.  One of my soup session friends, Heather, planned to add shredded roast chicken to it.  Topped with crumbled tortilla chips, it would resemble a tortilla soup closely.

Spicy Grain and Roasted Root Vegetable Soup by The Family Table

winter soup session: beef borscht

It did not escape my observation that "beef borscht" was the hardest class to fill in my soup series this winter.  I guess I get it:  beets are not loved by everyone nor does the name really grab you.  Just say "borscht", it does not immediately inspire appetite.  Regardless, I was so excited to start sampling recipes and finding the perfect combination: beets, braised meat, vinegar, red cabbage and orange zest!

After mixing many recipes, I have come up with a nice blend.  When I first made the recipe, I seared and then cooked the short ribs in a stock pot with carrots, celery, fennel, onion, making a little stock that I then used as the broth for the soup.   Today at Family Table cooking, we shredded beef brisket that I had made in my crock pot the night before, and then used the cooking liquid for the soup broth as well.  Borscht is a great vehicle for leftover meat.

Borscht by The Family Table

winter soup session: lentil

There are so many different recipes for lentil soup: some are pureed, some are chunky, some are yellow, some are red, some have orange zest and ginger, some have sausage, some have vinegar.  I inherited my go to lentil soup recipe from my friend Sarah who had served it to my daughter for dinner.  It comes, adapted from the blog "vicious ange", from Bill Granger's "Sydney Food" and it is delicious: hearty, vegetarian, with a bit of a kick from the chiles de arbol.

Here are the pots from this week's Family Table cooking.  We were a symphony in red, a true advertisement for Le Creuset's cherry line.

As you can see from the picture, it is a thick soup.  If you like more of a brothy soup, just increase the amount of stock or water that you use.

Lentil Soup by The Family Table

Lentils were recently called one of the five healthiest foods by Health Magazine.  After soybeans and hemp, lentils have the most protein of any legumes or nuts.  When eaten with rice, lentils are a complete protein (contains all nine of the essential amino acids necessary for a human's diet).  They are also have a good fiber content, good iron, folic acid and vitamin D.   My preferred lentil is the green lentils de Puy, mostly because they keep their shape so nicely in a soup or for a lentil salad. 

How to cook lentils:

• Rinse the lentils, until the water runs clear, then put them in a pot
• Top them with water, covering by a couple inches.  Salt.
• Bring to a boil.
• Turn the heat down to a simmer, cover the pot.
• Cook until it is to your liking.  This usually takes about 20 minutes. Test it, it is done when it is soft.
• Drain the excess water out. 

I love tossing my warm lentils with a simple mustard vinaigrette, maybe adding in some diced red onions and eating for lunch. It is also a great bed for a seared filet of salmon. Or, cool them down, keep them in freezer bags in your freezer until you have a lentil hankering. They are a great way to get some protein into a simple green salad.

We also made Cauliflower Flatbread to go along with our soup:

 
Roasted cauliflower is one of my family's favorite vegetable.  I just cut the cauliflower into smaller florets, toss it in olive oil, salt and pepper and then bake on a pyrex glass dish at about 400 degrees for 30 minutes or so.  The cauliflower gets all brown and caramelized.

If it is not all eaten the moment it comes out of the oven, use this recipe from Mark Bittman for a nice side, or as a yummy appetizer.