veehive

Well the last 36 hours have completely sucked.  Woke up early Sunday morning with plans to run before church only to start feeling nauseous, really really nauseous.  “Oh no, food poisoning!”   It wasn’t.  But it was some crazy 24 stomach flu.  Alka seltzer and dayquil were my best friends yesterday.  Woke up today without the sweats, chills, fever or all over body aches.  Still felt out of it enough to spend most of the day in bed but by early afternoon I rejoined the living.  But there was no way I was cooking.  Early in the morning I had enough where with all to take some potato leek soup out of the freezer and then this evening picked up a take and bake pizza from down the street.  This is not that old kind of take and bake – Zaw is better.  It is made to order from seasonal, organic products.  And the crust, which is thin and crispy the way I like it, is available in white, wheat and gluten-free. No special tools needed, just an oven and your hands.  Pizzas come on baking paper atop a cardboard disk, which is use to get the pizza in and out of the oven.  425°, 10 minutes, a couple of minutes to cool and you’re good to go.  And for those in the neighborhood of their five locations, they have bike delivery. My very favorite is the arugula patch but since it was meatless monday got the marg + rita.    The soup is comprised of simple ingredients, so easy to make and full of flavor.  Glad to be able to eat again today. Now heading back to bed.

Potato Leek Soup
serves 8

2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
Kosher salt + fresh ground pepper
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 sage leaves, finely chopped
2 lbs leeks, cleaned {I slice then soak them in a water bath} and finely sliced
5 cups hot vegetable stock
2 lbs potatoes {I use yukon golds}, roughly chopped
2/3 cup heavy cream

Heat the oil in a large soup pot, add onions and cook over low heat for 6-8 minutes until soft.  Season with salt and pepper {you can use a good quality white pepper if you don’t what the dark specks, but they don’t bother me} then stir in the garlic and sage.  Add the leeks, stirring well, and cook for 10 minutes or until the leeks start to soften.  Add the stock; bring to a boil.  Add potatoes and simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Puree the soup {I use a stick blender} until smooth.  Just before serving, salt and pepper to taste and stir in the cream.

By now you are all aware that I’m completely infatuated with Heidi Swanson.  Actually, obsessed would be a better description.  Absolutely love every single one of her recipes we’ve tried so far so you can understand my excitement when I got home Monday night to find the following voicemail message from my local {independent!} bookstore: “Your copy of Super Natural Every Day {Heidi’s new book} has come in!”  The next morning, Riley and I went on our usual coffee/walk route, delaying it until Queen Anne Books opened at 10 a.m. Picked up our fancy new cookbook and sat on the patio with giddiness, sipping my latte and flipping through the recipes.  Ah!

For the first recipe out of the book, decided to make this tonight: Weeknight Curry.  It was perfect because the base is a great foundation for any seasonal vegetables that need to be used by the end of the week.  For me that meant asparagus and an onion that I’d sliced an eighth out of earlier in the week. Although the recipe calls for extra-virgin coconut oil OR clarified butter {the later I had}, I decided to try the coconut oil. Oy! My local grocery store only had one available and it was $23.oo!  Even though it was a large jar I did stand there and think, “I should just use the clarified butter I have at home.” But I broke down and bought it to give it a whirl. Looks like I’ll be using that for a while.  I will say this – it didn’t burn and worked out nicely.  So if you can, splurge and give it a try.  Here’s the recipe with the ingredients I used tonight.  We like a little spice so added a pinch of crushed red pepper at the end. Very flavorful, filling and prepped + ready in 25 minutes.  What could be better than that?

Weeknight Curry
serves 4

1 ½ tsp. extra-virgin coconut oil {or clarified butter}
1 yellow onion, sliced
sea salt
2 small Japanese eggplants, cut into 1″ cubes
2 tsp. red Thai curry paste
2/3 cup coconut milk
8 oz. firm tofu, cut into 1″ cubes
10 asparagus spears, cut into 1″ slices
½ cup vegetable stock
1 cup frozen peas
pinch of crushed red pepper 

Heat coconut oil in a large pot or wok over medium heat.  Stir in the onions, eggplant and pinch of salt.  Sauté until onions becomes translucent {a couple of minutes}.  

In the meantime, mash the curry paste with a few tablespoons of the coconut milk in a small bowl.  Add to the pot and stir until the vegetables are well coated.  Stir in the remaining coconut milk.  Bring to a simmer, then add the tofu and asparagus, cover and cook until both are heated through and the asparagus are no longer raw {a couple of minutes}.  Uncover and add broth and peas. Stir and salt to taste.  Add a pinch of crushed red pepper and cook for 1 minute.  Serve over rice if you’d like.