Sunday Night Supper

Eileen and Nathan hang out in the kitchen as my husband works his cocktail magic.  The tiny counter space is arranged with martini glasses, St. Germaine, Absolut Wild Tea vodka, an old-fashioned ice crusher, and drink condiments—fresh ginger, crystallized ginger, and fresh lime juice.  He is about to make Wildtinis, a delicious drink we had last summer at Victor’s in Provincetown.  I squeeze by him, trying to reach to stove to stir the soup.

We have our drinks and I finish cooking dinner.  Tonight we are having cream of broccoli soup to start, then tempeh sausage with black beans and coriander chutney.  I roast beets, onions, red bell peppers, carrots, sweet potatoes, red potatoes and broccoli in garlic olive oil until the vegetables are tender and browned.  I steam a basket of fresh kale, and the frilly edges of the greens peek out around the steaming roasted vegetables, making a bright, earthy bed for the spicy tempeh sausage.  There is lemon-peach glazed gingerbread for dessert.

We eat leisurely in the dining room, candles lit, and catch up on a month’s worth of time.  We talk about their upcoming wedding, Nathan’s band‘s CD release party at Oberon in Cambridge, Eileen’s circus tours.  They ask about our lives—the kids, our jobs, and soon the space between us magically melts together in a lovely spell that only good company, food and drink can work.  In the end, the soup was the favorite and I promised the recipe.  It takes about 15 minutes to make this from start to finish, even if you have to make the cashew cream fresh.  I try to keep some cashew cream in the freezer—it makes any soup or chowder extra rich and yummy.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:

1 large onion, peeled and chopped coarsely

2 whole cloves garlic, peeled

2 large crowns broccoli, washed and chopped coarsely, stems included

6 c vegetable stock or vegetable broth

2/3 c cashew cream

1/3 c nutritional yeast

generous pinch freshly grated nutmeg

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

minced scallions, green ends only, for garnish if desired

Method:

In a soup pot, combine the onion, garlic, broccoli and vegetable stock or broth.  On stove top, bring pot to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and partially cover.  Boil soup for 10 minutes.  Turn off heat/remove pan from heat.  Using an immersion blender, puree soup until there are no chunks left.  (To puree without an immersion blender:  allow soup to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer in small batches either to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth, then return soup to pot.)

Return pot to stove and turn heat to medium-low.  Stir in cashew cream, nutritional yeast, nutmeg, and black pepper until well combined.  Cook over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes more, or until very hot.  Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with minced scallions.  Serve with warm, crusty bread as a starter, or add a hearty green salad for a meal.

Curried Veggie Burgers

Ah, summer and burgers.  The grill.  The bun.  The condiments!  I love veggie burgers— at least I love the idea of them.  Easy to heat and eat, can dress them up for company, or down for a quick summer supper with some lovely greens on the side.  The problem?  Some are bland.  Some are squishy and too fragile.  Store-bought varieties often have ingredients I do not recognize.  And, unfortunately, many online recipes fail when it comes to texture, flavor, and nutritional punch.  After a moderately successful attempt at an online recipe that tasted great but would never stand up to a bun and serious condiments, I finally marched myself into my kitchen, ready to face the veggie burger challenge.

I dug around in the fridge, knowing these burgers would have to include some leftovers.  Quinoa, small white beans, mushrooms, and a bowl of fresh ginger would be the main ingredients from which to build.  I wanted lots of veggies, so took out most of what I had and lined it all up on the kitchen counter.  I wanted lots of flavor, so dug around in the spice cupboard and came up for air holding handfuls of Indian spices.  I chopped and diced, sauteed and sprinkled.  I even measured, just in case I liked the end result.  Good thing I did!

Currie Veggie Burger with Indian Paratha, Chutneys, Onions and Greens

Ingredients:

1 c cooked quinoa

1 c cooked small white beans

2 T ground flax seed

2-3 T coconut oil

2 c peeled, diced sweet potato

1 c diced mushrooms

1/2 c minced onion

2 cloves minced garlic

1/4 c minced fresh ginger

1/2 red bell pepper, minced

4 c fresh kale, tough stems removed; chopped fine

3 T curry powder

1 t turmeric

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t salt

1/8 t cayenne pepper

1/3 c water

1 c frozen green peas

olive oil (for the cookie sheet)
Method:

Process the quinoa, half the beans, and the ground flax in a food processor until mostly smooth.  Set aside.

In a large, heavy, nonstick skillet, heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat.  Add the sweet potato, mushrooms, onion, garlic,  ginger, red bell pepper and kale.  Saute until the kale begins to wilt.  Add the curry powder, turmeric, cinnamon, salt and cayenne pepper.  Stir and saute the spices into the vegetable mixture until incorporated.  Add the water, cover, lower heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 7 minutes.  Uncover and remove from heat.  Spoon half of the vegetable mixture into the processor and process until the mixture is mostly smooth again.

Scrape down the sides of the processor and spoon the mixture into the vegetables that are left in the skillet.  Stir everything together until well mixed.  Fold in the remaining 1/2 c white beans and the peas.

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Generously oil a cookie sheet with olive oil.  Use an ice cream scoop or cup measure to divide burger mixture into 10 rounds, each about 3/4 c.  Press and shape into patties on cookie sheet.  Bake 15 minutes.  Gently turn with spatula and bake 15 minutes more.

These can be served right away and are great with Indian condiments, such as coriander chutney, tamarind chutney, and onion chutney.  We liked them on Indian paratha with all the condiments and sliced onion, tomato, and bell pepper.

As the burgers cool, they firm up quite a bit.  They can be frozen and reheated on a cookie sheet at 375° for 18-20 minutes, or heated in a lightly oiled skillet over medium heat until crisp on the outside and heated through.

The Power of Choice

I am standing in the kitchen, hungry, trying to decide what to eat for lunch.  I have cooked every night this week, and the fridge holds an abundance of choices:  green curry vegetables and purple sticky rice; chili-infused soba noodles with broccoli, red bell peppers, sweet green onions and sesame seeds (from The Vegan Table); quinoa burgers stuffed with grated sweet potatoes and spinach and roasted red pepper sauce (Thanks, Michelle!  They were delish!).  There’s smokey tempeh salad, creamy artichoke spread, sprouted sunflower seed pate.  What to eat?  How to choose?

Greens.  That’s my first thought.  I love the bright color of stir-fried kale or southern greens with chopped garlic, and I love the feel of tender baby spinach leaves on my tongue, right before I chew.  Whatever I choose, it’s definitely going to be served over a pile of lovely greens.  And tea.  It’s damp and cold out, and a steaming mug of tea will warm me all the way through.  And maybe something sweet.  Yesterday I made a couple of batches of my Five Star Bars.  I gave one batch, the apple pie ones, to my friend Billy.  I have left a batch of peanut butter cup ones, thick and chocolatey, the salty ground peanuts chunky enough to still have some crunch.

I choose a salad, topped with one of the quinoa burgers.  I add a handful of fat, juicy blackberries, some sliced red bell pepper, a little leftover grated raw sweet potato and a handful of raw pecans.  I quickly whisk together a spoonful of sesame tahini, the juice of a lemon, and a bit of water to pour on top for a dressing.  I make my tea and sit down to a perfect lunch for today, savoring each bite, tasting the crisp, complex flavors.  My dessert is over the top—rich with the chocolate, sweet with dates, satisfyingly chewy.

I realize how fortunate I am to have this power of choice.  The thing is, we all have it.  It can be hard to recognize or acknowledge, but we all have this power.

The power of choice transcends my lunch—we have this power to choose in every aspect of our lives.  We can sit or we can walk.  We can fall and stay on the ground, or we can brush ourselves off and get right back up.  We can react and be angry when we encounter something or someone we don’t like or agree with, or we can relate and respond kindly in the same situation.  We can make compassionate choices by what we choose to eat, by how we treat each other and every living creature.  We can choose to be satisfied with who we are, how we are, and where we are, or we can choose to grow toward who we want to be, how we want to be, and where we want to be.

I can’t imagine being perfect.  I don’t want to be perfect.  I just want to do my best, be my best, try my hardest.  I know there are days when I make choices that could be better, but I refuse to let one poor choice cast a dark shadow over the rest of my day.  Each time I open my refrigerator, I have the opportunity to make a choice.  Each time a lift a fork, I am making a choice.  Each time I tie my running shoes, I am making a choice.  Each time I make dinner for my husband and daughter, or for my parents or guests.  At the market.  On the highway.  With my friends.  At a party.  Each moment.

It is impossible to cover each moment, but quite possible to be aware of each moment.  And to choose.

Fitness Rule #19:  Recognize your power to choose, and take responsibility for those choices.