15030702 Love Soup by Anna Thomas

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Transcript of 15030702 Love Soup by Anna Thomas

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l o v e s o u p – 3

table of contents

chapter 1: broth . . . 000

fall and winter soups . . . 000 chapter 2: beautiful fall soups . . . 000 chapter 3: green soup . . . 000 chapter 4: winter squash soups . . . 000 chapter 5: bean soups . . . 000 chapter 6: the comfort of soup in deep winter . . . 000 chapter 7: big soups and stews . . . 000 chapter 8: holiday soups . . . 000

spring and summer soups . . . 000 chapter 9: first tastes of spring . . . 000 chapter 10: green and greener . . . 000 chapter 11: sweet summer chapter 12: hearty soups of summer chapter 13: cold soups

from soup to meal . . . 000

chapter 14: a few good breads . . . 000 chapter 15: hummus and company . . . 000 chapter 16: salads for summer and winter . . . 000 chapter 17: a few easy sweets . . . 000

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chard and yam soup

Here’s a simple and tasty soup that I think of as a “starter soup”—even someone who has never cooked can make this without any trouble. The amounts are pretty flex-

ible, the technique is basic, and the result is delicious.

• • • serves 6 generously • • •

Chop the onion coarsely and sauté it in the olive oil, over medium heat, stirring often, until it is soft and beginning to color. Add the chopped garlic and keep cooking over low heat, stirring often, until the onion is golden brown, about 15 more minutes.

Meanwhile, peel the yam and cut it into 1/2-inch dice. Wash the chard, slice the greens off the stems, and cut the leaves into 1- or 2-inch pieces. Thinly slice the chard stems. Wash and trim the green onions and cut them in 1/2-inch pieces. Combine the yam, chard, green onions, and broth in a soup pot and simmer gently, covered, for about 20 minutes.

Add the sautéed onions to the soup and simmer another 10 minutes, then taste. Add salt if needed, then add pepper and lemon juice to taste.

1 large yellow onion (300 g)

1 Tbs. (15 ml) olive oil

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 large yam (12 oz.; 350 g)

1 bunch chard (12 oz.; 350 g)

6-7 green onions or scallions, white and green parts

(120 g)

6 cups (1 ½ l) any basic vegetable broth (pp. 000-

000), or 5 cups canned vegetable broth diluted

with 1 cup water

sea salt, if need

freshly ground black pepper

fresh lemon juice• • •

optional garnishes: Simple Chipotle Sauce (p. 000) or

other salsa

crumbled queso fresco, feta cheese, or other

goat cheese

fruity green olive oil

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sweet corn soup

This is a variation on a creamy corn soup I’ve made for years. It’s made with a light veg-etable broth and some milk—no cream at all—so the pure essence of the corn is what

you taste. You must have absolutely fresh, very sweet corn for this soup.

• • • serves 6-8 • • •

Husk the corn, clean away the silk, and slice the kernels off into a bowl with a sharp knife. You should have about 6 cups of corn kernels. Put the corn in a medium soup pot with the vegetable broth and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes. If you like, you can scoop out a cup or so of the corn kernels and save them to stir into the pureed soup.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a nonstick skillet and cook the chopped onions in it with a dash of salt over medium heat, until they are soft and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Add the caramel-ized onions to the corn, along with the milk, and puree the soup in a blender, in batches, until it is as smooth as possible. You can use an immersion blender for this, but corn is fibrous and you’ll need to keep blending longer than usual. Have patience, and add a little more milk to thin the soup as needed.

If you like a soup with a rustic texture, you’re done. For a silky, creamlike soup, pass it through a sieve: rub the pulp down with a wooden spoon until it is quite dry, then discard the fibrous pulp and return the soup to the pot. Taste it and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper; you can use white pepper or a pinch of red pepper.

10 ears sweet white or yellow corn (about 5 lbs.;

2.5 kg)

3 ½ cups (850 ml) basic light vegetable broth (p.

000)

2 Tbs. unsalted butter

2 medium yellow onions, chopped (450 g)

sea salt

about 2 ½ cups (600 ml) low-fat milk

white or red pepper• • •

garnish: cilantro leaves

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vegetarian onion soup gratin

It is no secret that traditional French onion soup, the one lovingly described in any lit-erature touching on Les Halles or French bistro cooking, is based on a strong beef broth.

Prodigious amounts of onions are cooked down and added to that, and the whole thing is topped with a piece of toasted bread and a pile of Gruyère cheese and then baked until the cheese melts and forms a golden brown crust, dripping over the edges of the individual casserole in which the soup is made. It’s a rich, lusty dish.

Making a meatless version of this dish is a challenge that vegetarian onion-lovers con-tinually address. I gave a recipe for onion soup in the first Vegetarian Epicure and it was a good one, but it has evolved over time and now it is even better. I customized my basic veg-etable broth to get a deeper, more intense flavor, and now I use a mix of red and yellow onions and more olive oil. Here’s the ever-evolving onion soup that I’m enjoying right now.

• • • serves 6-8 • • •

Peel the onions, halve them lengthwise, and then cut them lengthwise into thin slices. Heat 3 table-spoons olive oil and the butter in your largest sauté pan and add the onions, 1 teaspoon salt, and the thyme. Cook the onions over medium heat, stirring often, until they are soft and golden. This will take at least 45 minutes, perhaps an hour, as the volume of onions slows things down considerably.

Here’s my rule of thumb for caramelizing onions: when you think the onions are done, cook them on a low flame for another half-hour. Yes, I mean it! They will be a rich caramel-brown and

3 ½ lbs. (1.5 kg) red and yellow onions

4 Tbs. (60 ml) olive oil

1 Tbs. unsalted butter

1 tsp. sea salt, plus more to taste

1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme or ½ tsp. dried thyme

2-3 Tbs. (30-45 ml) dry red wine

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 Tbs. tomato paste

4 tsp. (20 ml) aged tamari (soy sauce)

8 cups (2 l) basic dark vegetable broth (p. 00) or

root vegetable broth (p. 000)

cayenne

6-8 slices French country bread, toasted

6 oz. (170 g) Gruyère cheese, grated

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taste like onion jam. This super-caramelizing is the secret of a good onion soup. At the end, stir in the red wine and let it cook away—it will deglaze the pan and bring all those delicious, sticky dark bits into the soup, where they belong.

In an ample soup pot, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and add the minced garlic, followed a moment later by the tomato paste. Stir this mixture over medium heat for a few minutes, until the tomato paste is sizzling and darkening. Add the tamari, then the vegetable broth and a pinch of cayenne. Bring the broth to a simmer and taste it. It should have a full, deep flavor, but you should not be able to pick out the specific taste of tomato or soy. Correct the salt if needed.

Add the caramelized onions, deglazing the pan again by swirling a little broth around in it. Simmer the soup another 20 minutes or so to marry the flavors.

Preheat the oven to 400º.Ladle the soup into 6 ovenproof bowls or individual casseroles, or 8 if you want smaller serv-

ings. Make sure that each serving has a good proportion of onions in the broth. Place a slice of toasted French bread on top of each serving and sprinkle grated Gruyère cheese over that.

Arrange the bowls on a large baking sheet and put them in the oven for about 2 minutes, or until the cheese has completely melted. At the last minute, slide the soups under the broiler, just until the cheese bubbles and browns.

Serve at once, using pot holders and warning everyone about the hot bowls!

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stewed root vegetables with moroccan spices

To make this into an even more substantial one-dish meal, you can add cooked or sprouted garbanzo beans and serve the stew in generous bowls over couscous.

• • • serves 6-7 • • •

Peel the turnips, parsnips, and carrots and scrub the potatoes. Cut the squash in half, scrape out the seeds and strings, and cut away the skin.

Cut all the vegetables into pieces of a similar size—cubes of about 1 inch for the squash and turnips, thick slices or short chunks for the carrots and parsnips. If you have fingerling potatoes, cut each one into 2 or 3 pieces, or leave tiny ones whole. Wash and trim the fennel bulb, quarter it lengthwise, and slice it thickly. Cut the green tomatoes into wedges and cut large wedges in half crosswise. If using tomatillos, peel off their husks and cut them in half, or in quarters if they are large.

1 lb. (450 g) turnips

8 oz. (225 g) parsnips

8 oz. (225 g) carrots

8 oz. (225 g) yellow potatoes

1 medium butternut or kabocha squash (1 ½ lbs.;

700 g)

1 large fennel bulb (280 g)

1 lb. (450 g) green tomatoes or 12 oz. (350 g)

tomatillos

1 Tbs. cumin seeds

2 large yellow onions (450 g)

3 large cloves garlic

3 Tbs. (45 ml) olive oil

1 tsp. turmeric

1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon

1 ½ tsp. sea salt, plus more to taste

¼ tsp. cayenne

2/3 (100 g) cup raisins

about 3 cups (750 ml) light vegetable broth (p.

00), root vegetable broth (p. 000), or canned

vegetable broth

1 or 2 fresh green chiles, such as jalapeño or ser-

rano, seeded and chopped

2-3 Tbs. (30-45 ml) fresh lemon juice, plus more

to taste

1 small bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped• • •

garnish: Harissa (p. 000)

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Toast the cumin seeds lightly in a pan until they release their fragrance, and grind them roughly in a mortar or a spice grinder.

Coarsely chop the onions and the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep sauté pan or Dutch oven, add the chopped onions, and stir over medium heat for 10 minutes or until they soften and begin to color. Add the garlic and sauté for a few minutes more. Add the cumin, turmeric, cinna-mon, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the cayenne, and stir for another minute, just long enough to warm the spices.

Add all the prepared vegetables and stir them around in the pan over medium heat until they are evenly coated with the spice mixture. Stir in the raisins, vegetable broth, and chopped green chiles.

From this point, the stew can be finished on the stovetop or in the oven. To stay on the stovetop, lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pan. Leave the vegetables simmering for about 45 minutes to an hour, stirring and checking the liquid a few times.

The oven method is even easier: if you’re working with a sauté pan, transfer the stew to a large, covered baking dish, such as a Dutch oven or a big casserole, and put it into a 350˚ oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the vegetables are tender and the liquid has thickened. If your baking dish is tightly cov-ered, you don’t even need to check and stir; the stew will simmer gently, flavors will marry, and it will be delicious. Add the cilantro just before serving.

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red cabbage and apple salad

This versatile concoction started as a hot cabbage dish, but as I kept eating it, warm, cool, and then cold from the fridge, I realized it was really meant to be a salad. It’s an

easy, bright-tasting dish that can be served at any temperature.

• • • makes about 8 cups, or 6-8 servings • • •

Shred the cabbage. Peel and core the apples, cut them into wedges, and slice the wedges crosswise, thinly.

In a large nonstick pan, heat the oil. Add the cabbage, along with 2 teaspoons salt and the fen-nel seeds, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, for about 15 minutes. Add the apples, lots of freshly ground black pepper, and 4 tablespoons cider vinegar. Continue cooking, stirring now and then, for another 20 minutes, or until the cabbage is soft and juicy and reduced by almost half.

Taste the cabbage, and correct the seasoning with more salt and vinegar, as needed. The apples should provide just the right touch of sweetness, and the pepper some real bite. Serve hot, warm, or cold.

1 large head red cabbage (3 lbs.; 1.4 kg)

3 crisp Fuji apples (500 g)

2 Tbs. (30 ml) grapeseed oil or olive oil

2 ½ tsp. salt, plus more to taste

1 tsp. fennel seeds

freshly ground black pepper

4-5 Tbs. (60-75 ml) cider vinegar

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grilled goat cheese sandwich

This is the best grilled cheese sandwich I’ve tasted. The semi-sun-dried tomatoes are a Sicilian wonder. The tomatoes are dried in the sun,

but not all the way, so they don’t become leathery. Then the semisoft tomatoes are marinated in olive oil and herbs. If you can find a jar of these, snap them up—they’re worth the price. Oth-erwise, take your favorite marinated sun-dried tomatoes and cut them into very thin strips.

• • • makes 1 sandwich • • •

for each sandwich

If you are cutting slices from a baguette, cut on a slant. You want medium to small pieces of bread, no more than 1/2-inch thick.

Spread one slice of bread with the pesto, the other with the goat cheese. Arrange the slices of marinated tomatoes on top of the cheese and cover with the pesto-smeared slice.

Heat a teaspoon or two of olive oil in a pan or on a griddle and cook the sandwich on one side, pressing down occasionally with a spatula, until the bread is golden brown and crusty. Add another teaspoon of oil to the pan and turn the sandwich over, repeating the process until the other side is golden brown as well. The cooking time will probably be about 4 minutes on a side, but will vary with the specific heat of the pan or griddle.

I like to place a small cast-iron lid, smaller than the pan, on top of the sandwich as it cooks. The lid acts as a weight, keeping the sandwich pressed down so it grills evenly. Gentle pressing with a spatula is also fine but takes more attention.

2 smallish slices French or sourdough bread (1 ½

oz.; 45 g)

1 rounded tsp. basil pesto

1-2 oz. (15 g) Montrachet cheese or other fresh

white goat cheese

1-2 marinated semi-sun-dried tomato halves, cut

in strips

olive oil for the pan

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a norton paperback original

160 All-New Recipes from the Author of The Vegetarian Epicure

Delicious recipes for vegetarian soups from the author of “the most influential cookbooks in the history

of modern vegetarian cuisine” (Chicago Sun-Times).

nna Thomas’s Vegetarian Epicure cookbooks have sold millions of copies and inspired generations. Now she describes her love affair with the

ultimate comfort food. “From my kitchen to yours,” Thomas says, “here are the best soups I’ve ever made.” Her wonderfully creative recipes make use of fresh, seasonal produce—try black bean and squash soup in the fall, smoky eggplant soup in midsummer, or seductively perfumed wild mushroom soup for the holi- days. Silky puree or rib-sticking chowder—each recipe has room for variation, and nearly all are vegan-friendly.

Love Soup also provides recipes for breads, hummus, pesto, salads, and homey desserts—and simple menus that put soup at the heart of the meal. Throughout, Thomas offers expert advice on shopping, seasoning, tasting, becoming a cook. With soups that delight and nourish, Thomas invites us all into the kitchen, reminding us of the joy and good sense of home cooking.

anna thomas is the author of The Vegetarian Epicure cookbooks and a screenwriter. She lives in Ojai, California.

marketing and publicity• Off-the-book-page features

• National media interviews

• Online promotion

• Author Web site: vegetarianepicure.com

• Author video: youtube.com/wwnorton

• Co-op available

september 2009$22.95 paperback original (Can. $28.50) ISBN 978-0-393-33257-5

$35.00 simultaneous hardcover (Can. $43.50) ISBN 978-0-393-06479-7

Territory W 8˝ x 8˝ • 2/c line art 528 pages

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