no-salt soup

I’m a salt addict. I have no problem admitting it, and am sincerely hoping it will have no negative impact on my future. A life of eating salt-less food sounds horrible to me. I don’t think I could bear it.

Because I don’t add salt to Small One’s baby food, the purees I make for him have taught me a few things about the natural flavours of fruit, vegetables and meat (yes, I even put salt on some of my fruits – oranges, pineapples, grapefruit – don’t knock it until you’ve tried it). The number one lesson I’ve learned is that meat has very little taste on its own. Have you ever tasted pureed chicken breast? Try some, and I promise you will lose all desire to eat chicken. Beef is a little bit better, but only if paired with veggies like carrots, sweet potato, zucchini and herbs. Caramelized onions and garlic are the two things that make Small One’s meat purees taste good. The vegetable purees are flavourful, fresh and unique.

I don’t know what this means for us as a family. Husband and I both love our meat, and I’m never certain that vegetarians and vegans get enough iron in their diet, but I am definitely going through one of my tempted-to-be-a-vegetarian phases. I made this soup during the weekend, and it’s the sort of meal that reminded me of why vegetables are that much better than meat. For starters when I tasted it without salt, my first thought was, This doesn’t need to be salted, and I couldn’t believe myself. Let me say it again, I salt everything, absolutely everything, but this soup had a beautiful taste without salt.  Husband and I loved it, Small One loved it (I could not feed it to him fast enough).

• Sweet Potato Soup    (from ohdeardrea, a great source of vegan recipes)   I used all of the ingredients she suggested, but with different proportions. I had a huge quantity of celery to get rid off, so there was a lot of celery in my soup. I have yet to find kale in Switzerland, so I use Swiss chard as a replacement. For whatever reason, the idea of garlic in this soup didn’t sit right with me, so I skipped it (and the soup tasted great). Because of Small One, I usually skip adding stock at the beginning and add it at the end after I’ve taken out his portion, but when I tasted this soup, I personally thought it didn’t even need stock. It’s an easy soup – I highly recommend this one. The flavours are wonderful, and it’s filling and hearty.
• One warning – I put it in the blender to blend, and it went relatively well (ok, there was a bit of projectile soup on the kitchen counter and on appliances), but this is definitely one of those procedures that requires a lot of attention and care, so be very, very careful. I always cover the top of the blender with a thick cloth and hold it down while the blender is running.

a good bad day and green soup

Today is the second day of May, and Small One and I ventured out this morning in the rain, I in my boots and coat, him in his bear suit, because it was around 15 degrees (Celsius), and honestly I was ready to have a bad day. The list against this day was long: the weather (obviously), only six hours of sleep, the possibility of a missed nap time because of a doctor’s appointment, and have I already mentioned the weather? Are you sure? It was cold and rainy, very cold and rainy, and it’s May. I just want to make sure you understand.

So as I sat on the bus and prepared for the bad day to come, I sat next to a Filipino lady, and we started talking. Two things happened – we had a lovely conversation, and we had that conversation in Tagalog, a language I used to speak fluently. While I can still understand it almost perfectly, my ability to speak has considerably diminished, but today the Tagalog rolled off my tongue, and it felt great. I got off the bus, and I felt good – happy, even – and had a great visit with the doctor. On the way home, I stopped at a Moroccan cum Tunisian cum Algerian cum a whole lot of other things patisserie for a chocolate croissant and gazelle’s horns (a Moroccan pastry).

After living in the French part of Switzerland for now almost-two years, I can tell you with absolute certainty that there are very few bad things in the world that cannot be remedied by consumption of a chocolate croissant.

We returned home with Small one giggling and screeching to himself; he took his morning nap, and I came across a particularly encouraging blog post and a song that is giving me a frame for this time in my life.

This is a long and circular way of saying that I was going to have a bad day except that it became a great day, and the weather never changed.

There is no moral to this story – at least, not yet – but I am thankful to feel thankful right now at 2:28pm instead of grumpy. This soup makes me think of this day; you think it’s going to be a jolt of tasteless, gross health, but instead it surprises you with its smooth, delicious flavour with some tart pops from the tomato and the crunch of the asparagus.

• Potato, Leek and Asparagus Soup      I made this soup last year, and this time I combined it with part of this recipe. Basically I sauteed an onion, then added the leeks and eventually added potato and covered it with water plus salt and bay leaves. Adding veggie stock would make the flavour fuller, but I didn’t do that this time. In the mean time, I roasted the asparagus in olive oil. When all is cooked, I threw it all into our blender minus the tips of the asparagus. I saved those and mixed it in when the whole thing was blended, and I added sun dried tomatoes into the bowls. Delicious, nutritious, and simple.

 

warm weather, where art thou?

If you’re surprised by the number of winter food items that appeared here in April, I am as well. We had an unseasonably warm March, but April brought with it rain, winter temperatures and even a bit of hail. The mountains around Geneva are covered with fresh snow. It’s nice that the cold can bring with it such beauty because other than that, well, it is just plain cold. Cold as in I can’t get warm enough in the flat, cold as in the legs of my jeans are wet from freezing rain and now so my feet are wet and cold when I get inside, cold as in without gloves on my hands freeze around the shopping bag handles.

Yes, it has been cold. Way. Too. Cold. There is only one upside to this weather, and that is the continued presence of winter food in our lives, and this simple chicken and leek soup is one of them. It’s easy to make, and at the end of it, you have a warm pot of wholesome, hearty chicken, veggies and pearl barley in a delicious broth. One pot lasted several days for us.

• Chicken Leek and Pearl Barley Stew (from delicious. magazine)  I followed the recipe and skipped the dumplings. One note about the pearl barley – I made this the night before, and the next day the pearls soaked up so much liquid. In the future I will make this when we need to eat it and put the pearl barley in 30-45 minutes before eating time.

avocados and lime

If we ever live somewhere where we can plant trees, I know the first two that go down in our mythical yard: Avocado and lime. I thought about writing a haiku about these two beauties today, a declaration of my love, but having “avocado and lime” in the first sentence puts it over five syllables. Disappointing, yes, but I am moving on  to write a soliloquy about Mexican food in general. Ok, that’s not going to happen either, but hopefully the following paragraph of adoration will do the trick.

There are no words in the English language that can describe my great love for Mexican food. It must have been all those years of eating out in Arkansas and the wonderful Taco Bell drive through (I say that as evidence that I am no food connoisseur. It’s possible that the Mexican food I refer to is not even real Mexican food but my own version of Tex-Mex. Also, I love Taco Bell.)

It’s probably because many of my favourite fresh ingredients – coriander, lime, avocado, garlic and onion – are found in abundance in Mexican cuisine, and when it comes to ease in cooking, Mexican food is a winner.

This taco soup is simple to throw together, the ingredients could be easily varied depending on your taste. It’s a great recipe for any busy person out there, and it provides lots of left overs for lunches and dinners. I made a pot on Tuesday, and it is still feeding me today. I used another Faux Martha recipe for the ingredients and proportions.

• Taco Soup    I followed the recipe minus the ingredients I did not have. I find chili flakes work very well for us as a heat provider, and I prefer its taste to chili powders and hot sauces. I love making a salsa to go on top of this soup – ours was chopped avocado, lots of lime juice, freshly ground sea salt and chopped coriander. The soup has a lovely undertone of sweetness, and the lime is a nice fresh burst on top of that.

asparagus moments

Every day of the past week I wondered if the weather could be any better. I don’t think it can. Glorious sunshine, cool air, spring flowers and most people seem happier. Spring is the loveliest time of year, and I appreciate it more living in Europe with our cold winters (even though this year’s was not bad). Spring comes ever-so-gently with a bit of green here and there, small buds, the twittering of birds. It’s the kind of transition that doesn’t rock or jarr, but it takes you by the hand and kindly leads you into what is next.

Asparagus is probably my favourite spring vegetable and embodies all the best features of its season. Not aggressive in taste but distinctive on its own, joyful to the eyes when cooked properly, fresh and simple. We’ve had it twice in the past week, basically the same way, oven roasted with salt, pepper and olive oil. When its cooked just right, it doesn’t need anything else.

Once again I went to Taste for a basic potato and leek soup base, then I added the asparagus. This soup was fabulous and an easy way to eat asparagus with a few other veggies. The potato in it makes it a bit more filling. I would say the thin cream is optional depending on your taste. Happy spring eating.

• Potato, Leek and Asparagus Soup I followed this recipe somewhat closely except that I used small potatoes, left the skins on and blended the soup with a stick blender. Potato skins have lots of nutrients. Small One (and I) need nutrients. It’s easier to not peel and chop a potato. Everyone wins, really. Toss the asparagus in olive oil, salt and pepper and pop into the oven at about 200 for as long as it takes to be perfectly roasted. You should be able to pierce it with a fork, but it should not be too soft. It will be a vibrant, green colour. Check on it sooner rather than later, very few things in the food world are sadder than over-cooked asparagus. Chop up the asparagus and add to the soup at the very end (you can turn the soup off when you add it in).