Lemongrass Soup

This recipe comes from my Aunt Katie, which means it's pretty much guaranteed to be awesome. Lately, I've been thinking about adding a can of coconut milk to it but I already know it's so good without the coconut milk. When I lived in Boston, I was determined to find a recipe to make that slightly sweet coconut lemongrass soup that one could get at pretty much any Thai food restruant. I tried 5 different recipes before giving up. This is a great substitute; it's spicy instead of sweet.

It's also delicious as a side dish with pad thai.

Lemongrass Soup

3-4 stalks of lemongrass
8 cups chicken broth
1 tomato, diced
1 can straw mushrooms
1 small can bamboo shoots (I added this)
1/2 pound shelled shrimp or tofu diced
2 T instant sour shrimp paste (Tom Yum)
1/2 lime
fish sauce Aunt Katie suggests a few shakes; I think I did about 1/2 t
green onions, sliced thinly
fresh cilantro
basil (I happened to have some Thai basil)

Trim ends of lemongrass, using meaty portion only. Pound lemongrass with mallet. Add lemongrass to chicken broth in sauce pan and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove lemongrass from broth using a strainer.

To broth, stir in shrimp and cook until pink (only takes a few minutes). Drain liquid from mushrooms and bamboo and add to broth and shrimp. In a serving bowl, combine Tom Yum paste, juice from 1/2 lime and a few shakes of fish sauce. Stir until blended. Stir hot broth into mixture.

Garnish with diced tomato, green onion, cilantro, and basil.
Serves 8

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good

My only regret about this recipe is that I found it at the end of pumpkin season last year (courtesy of this awesome blog).

I can't wait to make it a few times this year. As a side note, I found it easier to serve and eat as a main course rather than an appetizer.

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good from Epicurious

Massaged Kale and Craisin Salad with Feta Cheese

I'm always trying to get my family (and me) to eat kale. I love kale chips, but no one else does. I like them in a soup, but I don't have a recipe for a good soup that uses kale. So, I was excited to find this recipe. It's quick, it's easy, and my kids totally ate it.

Massaged Kale and Craisin Salad with Feta Cheese from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad

I've had this recipe in my pile of "to try" recipes since 2007 (August 29, 2007 to be exact). Every time I went to clean out my folder, I would almost throw this recipe away because well, it'd been so long and I still hadn't made it.

I think the problem is that it needs 10 minutes to 1 hour to marinate. I was worried that longer might make the cucumbers mushy, and well, my vegetable dish of a meal never requires marinating time, so I just couldn't wrap my mind around how to do that, which in retrospect makes me look pretty rigid in my dinner-making routine (totally true).

Anyway, I'm so glad I did get around to making this this summer. The sesame oil adds a nuttiness not usually found in a cucumber salad, and the cucumbers don't get mushy and are perfectly delightful for lunch the next day if they make it that long.

Spice Asian Cucumber Salad
Cooks Country

Serves 4
1/2 cup rice vinegar
2 T fresh lime juice
2 T minced fresh ginger
1 hot red child (minced 1 1/2 T) we left this out
1 T toasted sesame oil mine wasn't toasted
3 cucumbers, peeled seeded and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch slices I used an hothouse English cucumber to cut out those steps
4 scallions, white and light green parts, sliced thin
1/4 c packed fresh basil leaves, chopped

Bring vinegar and sugar to boil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until mixture reduces by half, 5-6 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl and cool to room temperature.

Whisk in lime juice, ginger, chile, and sesame oil. Toss in cucumbers, scallions, and basil; season with salt and pepper, and let sit for 10 minutes or up to 1 hour. Serve

Vegan Salad

Usually, I have a few things to say about a recipe. All I can say here is, "Make it. Make it now." It's simply delicious...

http://ageoldtree.blogspot.com/2011/04/food-for-vegetarians-portobello-salad.html

Vegan Refried Beans (THE Refried Beans)

Do you know how many years I've been looking for THE refried beans? I've tried them on the stove, in the crockpot, with bacon or garlic or cumin, or something to make my kids not say, "I just want the red lady beans."

So, I could hardly contain myself when my brother-in-law and his wife made these delicious vegan refried beans. My kids love these, and I learned this week that they'll eat more if I don't mash them.

These beans plus Sour Cream Enchiladas makes a meal where no one missed the meat.


El Cucui's Awesome Refried Beans
Christian and Sarah Schumann-Curtis

1 pound dry beans (pinto or black) or 4 14-15oz cans of cooks beans makes this dish so much easier)
1/2 cup oil we used canola, Christian and Sarah use olive
6-7 garlic cloves
1 T water
1/2 c veggie broth we use chicken broth
1 t salt
1 t coriander (heaping)
1 t cumin (heaping)
1-2 T lemon or lime juice
1 tomato I used 1 can of diced tomatoes and drain them

If using dry beans, rinse beans and soak overnight. Rinse again and with fresh beans, bring to boil, then simmer until beans are soft, even falling apart (about 1 hour).

If using cooked beans, open cans, drain, and rinse.

Preheat oven to 350.

Peel garlic and put cloves in the oil in a cast-iron skillet. Place in oven while getting the rest of the ingredients together.

Put beans, tomato, cumin, coriander, broth, and salt in a large pot. Then, add garlic and oil (I take the garlic out of the oil and mince it before adding it to the beans) to the pot. Bring to a boil. (I then simmer the beans, with the pot lid on, while I make the rest of dinner. Sometimes, I mash with a fork a bit, but my family seems to like this recipe better with whole beans.) When you're ready to serve, stir in the citrus juice (I like lemon for pinto, lime for black beans) and add a chopped banana for a Cuban flair.

THE Chocolate Cake

Now, if only I could find THE chocolate frosting!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 1/4 c boiling water
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 c Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 t instant coffee
10 T (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 c sour cream, room temperature
1 t vanilla extract

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans, then dust with cocoa powder and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the boiling water, chocolate, cocoa powder, and instant coffee together until smooth.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla until incorporated.

Reduce speed to low and beat in one-third of flour mixture, followed by half of the chocolate mixture. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture, and remaining chocolate mixture. Beat in remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.

Give batter a final stir with rubber spatula to make sure it si thoroughly combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, smooth the tops, and gently tap the pans on the counter to settle the batter. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 15-20 minutes, rotating and switching the pans halfway through baking.

Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes. Run a small knife around the edge of cakes, then flip out onto wire racks. Peel off parchment paper, flip cakes right side up, and let cool completely before frosting, about 2 hours.