Rustic Kale and White Bean Soup

Rustic Kale and White Bean Soup

I made this soup to go into the bread bowls this past weekend. I loved this recipe, it was so simple, and it has so many fresh ingredients. I found it over at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. Sadly I scarfed it down immediately once I finished making it, so this is a shot of my leftovers. I loaded this bowl up with nutritional yeast and parsley!

Ingredients

1 bunch red kale (or use any other green available)
1 large onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 15-ounce cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans
4 cups water
pinch red pepper flakes

Prepare the kale by removing the thick parts of the center rib and discarding them. Slice the leaves thinly. Measure out 4 cups of kale for the soup; save the rest for another use.

Mist a large, non-stick pot lightly with olive oil. Sauté the onion and celery until the onion begins to brown. Add the garlic, and sauté for another minute. Add all the remaining ingredients, and allow the soup to simmer, adding extra water as needed, until the kale is tender, about 30-60 minutes, depending on the kale. Taste the soup and add more basil, if necessary.

Serve the soup, stirring a few drops of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of vegan parmesan into each bowl, if desired. Makes about 6 servings.

YUM :)

Bread Bowls

Last night, I decided to try and make some bread bowls for my mom's family dinner (tonight). I had some irrational confidence that I would be able to just pull it off first try. Not so! The recipes instructed me to separate the dough into x number of pieces and form balls from each. I don't know if the dough just didn't rise high enough or if I have a grossly exaggerated idea of what a bread bowl should look like thanks to our country's portion size problem, but I have no idea how a main course soup is going to fit into one of these bad boys.

Either way, I tasted two of the three recipes I attempted and they are GOOD!


#1

Dark Rye Bread adapted from knowell, who submitted at Allrecipes
(pictured above - the darker ones)

Ingredients:
1 1/8 cups water
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups rye flour
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 (heaping) teaspoon caraway seed
2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

I put it into my breadmaker in this order and set it for the dough cycle.
When it beeped, I took the dough out and separated it into five sections and created the dough balls from there. I covered them and let them rise for an hour, then baked them at 375 for about 20 minutes (just kept an eye on them). This rye bread recipe is perfect. I've been looking for one just like this for a while!



#2

Bread Bowls adapted from King Arthur Flour (I used my new kitchenaid for this one!)

Ingredients:
3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 cup corn meal
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups water

Combine all of the dough ingredients and mix and knead them together -- by hand, mixer or bread machine -- till you've made a soft, smooth dough. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Divide the dough into five pieces, and form them into round (not flattened) balls. Place them on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover lightly, and set them aside to rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, or until they've almost doubled in size.
Uncover the balls and let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes, to develop a tough skin. Just before placing the bread bowls in the oven, mist them heavily with water. Bake the bread bowls in a pre-heated 425°F oven for 18 to 22 minutes, until they're a deep, golden brown. Turn off the oven, prop the door open a little, and leave the bread bowls inside for 15 minutes; this will keep the crust crisp.
Remove the bread bowls from the oven and cool them completely before cutting the tops off and removing the insides; (reserve the insides to make bread crumbs). Yield: 5 large bread bowls.

That last part is a lie. :(


I'll post the third once I taste it later today!

Isa's Pumpkin Muffins

Found this one on theppk.com, a site I'm having a ton of fun browsing through. I made these muffins early this morning before I left for work to bring in for my friend who is pregnant.. she ate 3 in a row! Not because she eats like a cow right now at all... :) but because they were so good! I changed the recipe from the original and have listed what I did below:



Pumpkin Muffins




Ingredients

1 3/4 cups flour (1 1/4 cups whole wheat, 1/2 cup AP)
1 cup agave syrup
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup pureed pumpkin (fresh)
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons molasses



Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease muffin tins with vegetable shortening or spray on oil. Sift together dry ingredients (flour through cloves). In a seperate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (pumpkin through molasses). Pour wet into dry and combine. Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way. Bake for 27-30 minutes, till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Life change

I am on my 5th day of being vegan.
I had been thinking about it for a while, had stopped eating meat and eggs and drinking milk/cream for a while but couldn't give up on fish and cheese. Then I came across some information that penicillin is often used with animals. I don't know if this makes any sense at all, but it was huge for me. I have had hives all over my body for about 5 years now, and no doctor was ever able to figure out where they came from. I was just diagnosed with "chronic hives" and told to take Zyrtec every day. Then that stopped working, so they made me take it twice a day (double the recommended amount on the package!) which I wasn't really comfortable with, but would rather do that than have hives. Anyways I realized that the pattern of hives I get without medicine is the same pattern as when I react to penicillin. I wanted to do an experiment to see if it was possibly related to what I was eating.
So far, it has worked. I have gone down to just one pill a day (at night because they make me drowsy - yes, I've been drowsy 24/7 for 5 years!!!) and I haven't had a single hive. Not one. This is so huge!
It looks like I may have found the fix? Don't want to jinx it.
So from here on out I will be posting only vegan recipes, some that I have found and others that I have invented myself. Wish me luck!