With all the holiday eats right now, it's easy to gain a few (and then some), so I've been trying every chance I get to cook on the healthier side. And as the weather is getting chillier too, I've been experimenting with soups, which are such a great, hearty food to satiate hunger but also to nourish the body.
I wanted to share this quick recipe for vegetable soup with you, as it's a great thing to make during the week since it only takes about a half hour or so to put it together. You can be creative and experiment with lots of different veggies, but the ones I used are rutabagas, mushrooms, red peppers, onions and chives. If you're a mushroom lover, I'd recommend adding in three different types of mushrooms and while the recipe below recommends dried, you can use fresh 'shrooms as well.
Hope it nourishes your tummy and your soul as much as it did for me. Recipe for this Vegetable Soup courtesy of Whole Foods Market.
Fall is a great time for mushrooms, one of my favorite non-meat ingredients that does a nice job of filling you up. As I was deciding what to make for dinner last weekend, soup came to mind and I found this fabulous little recipe in Cookstr for a broth based wild mushroom soup. I always enjoy this alternative to something cream-based, as it's easier for digestion and doesn't make you feel so terribly full.
The base for this soup is either a really good quality from scratch or store bought veggie stock or even chicken stock if you're a meat eater. I used the latter, incorporating a really yummy organic chicken stock, low in sodium. The mushrooms I used were portobellos, button mushrooms (a form of portobellos) and also the very beautiful looking (almost tree-like) maitake mushrooms. They're meant to be incorporated in chunks, rather than pureed, so you can actually see their beauty and taste their earthy flavor. Adding a little more body to the soup, I teared into it some toasted pumpernickel bread, which soaked up the chicken-mushroom liquid nicely and satisfied me to no end.
Here's the simple recipe for this Wild Mushroom Soup, courtesy of Cookstr.
I love Asian soup noodles, but thought they’d be too complicated to make on my own. When a Japanese food-loving friend requested a light, healthy meal for our catch up dinner the other night, I picked up an advanced copy of The Very Best of Recipes for Health by Martha Rose Shulman (Rodale, on sale August 31) and immediately took to this recipe. (Full disclosure: I work for the publishing company). Even without my affiliation, I’ve always found Recipes for Health, the popular New York Times recipe column, to be a great resource for healthy, tasty meals.
The freshness and pop of the peas is a great complement to the earthy, chewy mushrooms. My friend commented that the salmon was cooked perfectly- and all I had to do was drop it in and put on the lid!
Makes 4 servings
- 1 oz (about 10) dried shiitake mushrooms
- 6 cups kombu dashi stock, chicken stock, or vegetable stock- Soy sauce or salt- 1 pound green peas- 6 oz Japanese soba noodles, cooked, and tossed with 2 tsp Asian sesame oil or canola oil (these can be cooked ahead of time, just toss them with oil and refrigerate in a plastic bag for up to 3 days)- 12-16 oz salmon fillet without skin, trimmed of fat, and cut into 4 equal pieces
- 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, dark green parts kept separate
Equipment:- Stock pot- Cheesecloth- Sieve- Deep soup bowls for serving
1. Place dried mushrooms in a large bowl. Bring the stock to a simmer in a soup pot. Pour the hot stock over the mushrooms and let sit for 30 minutes. Drain through a cheesecloth-lined sieve set over the soup pot. Squeeze the mushrooms over the sieve. Slice the mushroom caps and discard the hard stems. Set aside.
2. Return the stock in the soup pot to a simmer. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding soy sauce or salt as desired. Add the peas and simmer 5 minutes. If the noodles have been refrigerated, warm them by placing them in a sieve and dipping the sieve into the simmering broth. Distribute the noodles among 4 deep soup bowls.
3. Add the mushrooms, salmon, and light parts of the scallions to the simmering stock. Cover and turn off the heat. Allow to sit for 5 minutes without removing the cover. The salmon should be just cooked through. Leave for another 5 minutes if it is not.
4. Place a piece of salmon on top of the noodles in each bowl. Ladle in the soup, taking care to distribute the peas, mushrooms, and scallions evenly. Sprinkle on the dark green part of the scallions and serve.
