Spring Minestrone with Parmesan and Chive Meatballs

It's Spring! Well, almost. While it is sunnier and the days are longer, it's just not warm enough to give up soup yet. So we took some inspiration from a recipe from Bon Appetit and tweaked it a little to fit what we had in our pantry, and increased some measurements to get about 6 servings. The leftovers are AWESOME!!!

Ingredients:
12 oz. Grass Fed Beef
1/2 Cup Breadcrumbs, maybe a little more
6 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan (3 for meatballs, 3 for garnish)
1 Egg, beaten
Olive Oil, for sautéing
2 Qt. Veggie Stock, we used home made
3 Carrots, cut into 1/4" slices
1 Bunch Lacinato Kale- You know, the dinosaur kind. Chopped pretty finely. No giant pieces.
2 Large Shallots, finely diced
4 Cloves Garlic, finely diced
1 Cup Ditalini Pasta, cooked al dente (measurement is precooked)
6-8 Leaves of Basil, chiffonade for garnish
6 Chives, finely chopped (half for garnish, half for meatballs)
salt and pepper to taste

Let's-a make-a meatballs! Combine beef (you could totally substitute chicken or turkey), egg, breadcrumbs, 3 Tbsp. of Parmesan, half of the chives, and some salt and pepper and mix well. You can add more breadcrumbs if you need to get them to form. In a non-stick pot (we used a Dutch oven) over medium-high heat saute the meatballs until browned on all sides. Don't have a non-stick pot? You might need a little oil then. Don't worry about cooking them through, that will be the soups job. Go ahead and take them out and set them aside, but don't get rid of that pot yet!

While you are cooking the meatballs, its a great idea to cook and drain the pasta. You can also set that aside as well.

Now in that meatball pot, add in about 2-3 Tbsp. of olive oil and toss in the garlic, shallots, and carrots. Saute' these until the shallots and garlic start to turn translucent, about 5-6 minutes. Add in the veggie stock, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes until the carrots begin to get cooked through. At this point, you can toss in the meatballs, pasta, and kale. Cover again and simmer for another 10 minutes and then season to taste.

Grab some bowls, garnish with basil, chives, and Parmesan and get your slurp on! We served this with some pesto toast, but you could use crackers, other crusty bread, or whatever your heart desires. Enjoy!

balsamic cremini mushrooms and shallots over polenta

I should start out by saying that I absolutely love polenta. If it's on a menu, I'm ordering it. This recipe is very loosely inspired by a dish I had at Greens. It only makes 1 or 2 servings, but since Kenny hates mushrooms, that was really all I was looking to make anyway!

Ingredients:
6 oz. cremini mushrooms, quartered
1 Tbsp butter
1 shallot, peeled and trimmed
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
pinches of sugar and dried rosemary
1/2 cup polenta
2 cups vegetable stock
1 Tbsp heavy cream
1/4 cup pecorino romano
salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Add the shallots to an oven-safe ramekin. If you don't have a small oven-safe ramekin, (we don't) just make a little bowl out of tin foil. Add the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and pinches of salt, pepper, sugar and dried rosemary. Bake for 15 minutes. The mushrooms should only take about ten minutes to cook, so you can prep them in the meantime. Melt the butter in a small non-stick pan, then add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt, cover and let cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the shallots are done, combine them with the mushrooms and be sure to pour in any of the delicious balsamic vinegar juices. Feel free to remove any stray pieces of rosemary. The shallots should be tender and the layers will naturally separate if you push down on them a bit.

To prepare the polenta, boil 2 cups of vegetable stock in a small pot, then whisk in the polenta and stir constantly until it begins to thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream and cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Plate and pour the mushrooms and shallots over top.

crepes with chard, caramelized onion and shallot

You can make your own crepes, but we didn't for this recipe. We bought them pre-made. LeSter is the brand we used. They are even cut in half to make life easier.

Ingredients:
2 bunches chard, thinly chopped
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 onion, 1/4" slice
1 Tbsp Earth Balance, or butter
4 crepes
1 1/2 cups shredded Coolea Irish Gouda (Another Hazel Rue home run!)
salt, pepper to taste

In a saute pan on medium low heat, melt the Earth Balance. Add the shallot and onion and allow to slowly caramelize stirring often, total time is about 12 minutes. This would also be a good time to preheat your oven to 350 degrees. When the shallot and onion are caramelized, add in the chard and fully cook, about 6 minutes, stirring frequently so they don't burn. Season with salt and pepper. When they are finished add the mixture to a 1/2 crepe on a lined cookie sheet. Top with cheese and another 1/2 crepe and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, flipping half way through so the bottom doesn't get soggy.


This recipe was enough to make two HUGE crepes, and man were they awesome. We have left over crepes, which we put in the freezer for later use. I have a feeling we will be doing something along these lines again soon. These were so tasty. Actually I am eating the leftovers as I'm typing, once I started thinking about them, I just had to eat it.

shallot and pea risotto

Tonight we were prepping some things that we plan on making tomorrow, just to get some of the grunt work out of the way. It's weird to cook like that when you are hungry, knowing that you aren't going to eat the food you are making until the next day. After we had all our prep work out of the way, I had one of those moments were you just stand in the kitchen, staring at the pantry and refrigerator and have no idea what to make. Everything looked boring... I could make some pasta, but blah. I could make grits? Or heat up some box of frozen whatever in the fridge? Blah, nothing was appealing to me.

"Would it be ridiculous if I made risotto right now?"
It was already 9 o'clock at night. "Well yeah," Kenny said, "but let's do it anyway. We need to use that vegetable stock I made."

I was just going to like cook some rice and dump some cheese onto it, but Kenny (god bless him) suggested using the shallots we have from the box and the Piave that we had leftover from the spring greens.

Ingredients:
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 quart vegetable stock
1 cup arborio rice
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic confit
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup Piave cheese, shredded
1/2 cup soy milk

In a large pot or sauce pan on medium low heat, saute your shallot and garlic confit in olive oil. Once the shallot is translucent, add the rice to the pot and toast, stirring to coat in the oil and shalloty-garlic goodness for 2 to 3 minutes. Add one cup of stock and continue to stir until almost no liquid remains. Add another 1/2 cup of stock, and do the same, continuing until you have about 1/2 cup left. When you get to this point, add your peas, cheese, and last 1/2 cup of stock. Keep stirring, and when the rice looks deliciously creamy, and there is just a bit of visible stock, add the soy milk, turn off the heat and stir for 1-2 minutes more until it is incorporated. Garnish with some extra cheese, and get ready to be in risotto heaven!

orange quinoa with black beans and cilantro, spring salad with grapefruit shallot vinaigrette

Whole grains are awesome. Beans are great. Strawberry season makes life worth living. It is getting warmer outside (although not today in S.F.) and that means it's time for cold picnic salads to eat at... well, a picnic!

These two recipes use eight different ingredients from the box! Eight!!!


Ingredients:
Quinoa:
2 cups quinoa
4 cups water
3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 can black beans, rinsed well and drained
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, tightly packed (1/2 of a bunch)
1 piece of green garlic, green parts only, sliced on a 1/2" bias (You could also use a green onion.)
2 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse and drain your quinoa several times with cold water. Quinoa has natural tannins (bitter compounds, like those in tea) that coat its exterior and you really don't want them hanging around. Add the quinoa and 4 cups of water to a pot, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. When the quinoa has finished cooking (no more water in the bottom), fluff it with a fork and set it aside to cool for at least ten minutes. You could totally do this a day or two in advance, just make sure its tightly covered in the refrigerator during storage. Toss the black beans, cilantro, and green garlic into the quinoa. Mix the citrus juices together with the smoked paprika and add to the rest of the dish. Toss together and season with salt and pepper. This dish has a ton of veggie protein, is super low fat, high in fiber, and not to forget- refreshingly good!


Stop. Salad time!

Ingredients:
Spring salad:
1/2 lb mixed baby greens
1 apple, sliced
4 big strawberries, sliced
4 red radishes, sliced

Grapefruit shallot vinaigrette:
3 Tbsp Olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp red or pink grapefruit juice (these are the sweet ones, not the sour ones)
1 shallot, finely minced
salt and pepper to taste


In a dressing shaker (what we refer to as a dressing shaker or container is actually an old glass peanut butter or Veganaise jar) combine the grapefruit juice, shallots, olive oil, some salt and pepper. Shake it like you mean it, taste, adjust your seasonings. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, add dressing, toss and eat!

I have to admit that I was skeptical about this salad dressing at first, although I didn't let Katie know that. However, once I tasted it- oh my god, was I wrong! It was crisp, sweet, tangy, and just really made all of the ingredients in the salad mesh together so well. We will totally be making this again.

vegetable stock

So we had a bunch of left over celery, onions, and shallots kind of hanging around from the past few deliveries. While the onions and shallots could have easily kept for another week or so, the celery was not getting along quite as well so I decided to make a quick batch of stock, because we were completely out of the aseptically packed stuff, and well, nothing tastes quite like homemade. I grabbed a few organic carrots from work and had at it. This recipe made 3 quarts of stock, and cost close to nothing to make. Properly storing it, you could have stock for a while. Heck, got a pot big enough and some recycled or reusable containers? Double or triple it!

Ingredients:
3 quarts + 1 cup water
1 large bunch of celery, chopped into 1 inch pieces
3 carrots, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large shallot roughly chopped
1 white or yellow onion, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tsp dried thyme
1 small sprig dried rosemary (or 2 tsp dried whole leaves)
2 Tbsp canola oil
salt and pepper to taste
three quart sized or six pint sized heat safe containers

Put your stock pot to medium heat and add in the oil. When the oil is hot, add all the vegetables and saute for 6-8 minutes until the onions just start to soften. Toss in all of the herbs, a few pinches of salt and pepper, and continue to stir for 1-2 minutes to let the flavors mingle. Add your water and cover the pot. Once the pot reaches a boil, after about 12-14 minutes, turn the heat down to low and let simmer uncovered for 25-30 minutes.

Using a fine mesh strainer (want to put some cheesecloth in there- even better!), strain stock into another large vessel, like a pitcher. If you still see a lot of "floaties" strain again using more cheesecloth, or even a coffee filter if you have the time to wait, and get ready to store. Fill your containers of choice (Katie and I usually make pretty big batches of things, so I chose quart containers. Containers I have saved from the hot bar at work.) with stock, leaving about an inch at the top of each one. Let containers sit uncovered on the counter top to cool for about an hour. Transfer the containers of stock to the fridge, leaving them uncovered for an additional 2 hours. Once they have finished cooling and are at refrigerator temperature you can cover them with lids, and now you can transfer any stock you won't be using in the next week to the freezer where it will keep for a few months. It is important that any containers that are going into the freezer have that gap of about an inch at the top, or they may break the lid when the freezing liquid expands. Now you have a lot of awesome homemade stock!

It may seem like a long process and a lot of work, but it is totally something you can do while working around the house, hanging around your neighborhood, or watching an entire season of TV on DVD one evening.

fakin' bacon collard greens, parsley pesto potatoes

These two vegan sides can be served with your favorite protein- we used Quorn (which actually is not vegan) smothered in Stubb's spicy BBQ sauce.

At work I decided that we would have a dedicated vegan bar everyday. Yes, that's right- totally vegan hot (4-8 selections) and cold (4-6) self-service items with a lot of the recipes coming from yours truly. It has been going for about six weeks right now, and everyone is loving it! There is one dish that has been a total show-stopper and has had a bunch of veggies, and omnivores alike asking me for the recipe. I tell them how easy it is and they freak out, so without further ado; here is my fakin' bacon collard greens. Well, the potatoes are actually first, but scroll down a lil.

Ingredients:
Parsley pesto potatoes:
1 pound new potatoes
1 large shallot
1 bunch parsley
1 Tbsp lemon juice
4 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Fakin' bacon collard greens:
1 bunch collard greens, roughly chopped
1/2 package Lightlife smoked tempeh strips
1 Tbsp canola oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Quarter the potatoes, toss with 1 Tbsp. olive oil, salt and pepper. Put potatoes on an oiled baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes, until fork tender. Combine shallot, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil in a food processor and run until incorporated (or pesto-y as I like to call it). Season with salt and pepper. When potatoes are finished in the oven, place them in a bowl, add pesto, shake 'em up and serve immediately.

For the greens: Add the canola oil to a saute' pan over medium heat. Toss in the fakin' bacon and saute until it starts to get crispy on both sides, about 8 minutes. Add in the collard greens and cook until just wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Eat, and be addicted.