winter soup session: tunisian soup with swiss chard, chickpeas and harissa

Swiss Chard is a beautiful, and nutritional plant.  It grows at the garden from May until November.  I like to describe it as somewhere between spinach and kale.  It wilts quickly in a soup like spinach, but you need to take the stems off as they take longer to cook.  Some mistakenly throw away the stems, but I just dice them and then throw them in when you saute the aromatics (carrots, onions and celery).  Swiss Chard is in the chenopod family along with beets, spinach and quinoa.  It is high in vitamins C, E and K.  Swiss Chard has anti inflammatory and anti oxident properties and contains lots of manganese, beta carotene and calcium. 

I adapted this recipe from Gourmet and cook it regularly.  The harissa gives it a richness, the chickpeas add protein, and the swiss chard adds color and vitamins.  Make the harissa first.  I took this harissa recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks "Sunday Suppers at Lucques".  It is possible to buy harissa in upscale grocery stores, but this is so easy and it makes enough so you can keep what you don't use in a canning jar or tupperware in the fridge.  It lasts for a while.  I swirl it into soups or toss on roasted vegetables.

Harissa by The Family Table

If you have some leftover beef brisket, shredded chicken, pork carnitas on hand, throw it in the soup pot.  I like using egg noodles, or farro, or barley, or israeli couscous...whatever is in your cupboard.

Tunisian Soup With Chard 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

in the garden...beets.

Pulling a beet from the ground does not inspire an immediate appetite.  It has long red or green stems, you grab hold, yank, and a dirty spade shape emerges.  I used to avoid cooking them as the whole peeling thing seemed like too much work.  That changed for me when I discovered roasting: wash and dry the beets, put them in a baking pan or pyrex pan, toss them in olive oil, dust them with kosher salt, cover the pan tightly with tin foil and bake in a 375 oven for about 45 minutes or until a knife can pierce the beet effortlessly.  Take them out of the oven, let them cool a bit and then use a knife to peel off the skin, they should slip off easily.  Your beets are ready.  My favorite preparations at this point are to eat them warm with butter and a squeeze of lemon or to cut them in chunks and drizzle with a simple vinaigrette.

Beets contain a wealth of health benefits.  They are high in potassium, magnesium, fiber, phosphorous, iron, vitamins A, B and C, beta carotene and folic acid.  Beets contain betaine, a substance used in some treatments for depression.  They also containe trytophan, which relaxes the mind, creating a sense of happiness, much like chocolate.  No wonder there is a cult following for red velvet cake, the original version was made with grated beets, imagine the double dose of happiness in each bite.  Beets are high in sugar (natural, pure sugar) but low in calories, so great for a boost of energy. 

Over the summer, I invested in a juicer, a small breville juicer, under $100.  It is just perfect for my home concoctions, usually concentrated around beets.  I am pretty much in a slump.  I juice beets, carrots, ginger, apple or pears and kale.  It is absolutely delicious and always comes out perfectly.  I cannot brag enough.

Here are a few beet recipes:

Beet and Quinoa Pilaf
I would omit the cherry tomatoes here.

Roasted Beet and Blood Orange Salad

Warm Beet Salad with a Parmesan Dressing