Do Asian vegetables confuse you?

Don’t know your bok choy from your choy sum?

Neither do I, but when David Tanis, one of my favorite food writers,  published this recipe for Glazed Shiitakes With Bok Choy in his New York Times column City Kitchen, I soon found myself at my local Vietnamese market sorting through the baby bok choy like a boss.

Tanis’ cooking bona fides are impressive. He was head chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley and is currently the chef at mid-town Manhattan’s famed Monkey Bar. You know the Monkey Bar. In fiction, it is where Catcher In the Rye’s Holden Caulfield knocks back scotch and sodas.

Tanis is the author of multiple cookbooks and one of his cookbooks, A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes, was chosen as one of the fifty best cookbooks of all time by the United Kingdom’s Guardian/Observer. You read that right…”of all time.”

Here is the Tanis recipe for Asian cabbage (bok choy) and umami-rich shiitake mushrooms in a sweet soy glaze. It is wonderful.

Glazed Shiitakes With Bok Choy

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Ingredients

• 1 pound baby bok choy
• 2 T. vegetable oil
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms (stems removed and caps sliced)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1/2 T. grated ginger
• 1 T. sugar
• 1 t. sesame oil
• 2 T. tamari or soy sauce
• 3 scallions (sliced diagnonally for garnish)
• 1/2 T. roasted sesame seeds for garnish
• Red peppers for garnish

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Prepare the bok choy by cutting off the stem ends. Separate the leaves. Wash thoroughly. Drop the leaves into boiling water and cook for 1-2 minutes. The bok choy will be barely cooked and will be a pretty bright green. Remove from boiling water, rinse in cool water, drain and pat dry. Arrange the leaves on an ovenproof platter and set aside.
2. Heat a large wok or cast-iron skilled over high heat. Add oil and heat the oil until it is very hot, almost smoking. Add the hot pepper flakes and the shiitake mushrooms to the pan and stir to coat in the oil. Add salt and pepper. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat slightly and add the garlic, ginger, sugar, sesame oil and tamari. Continue to stir fry for one more minute.
3. Spoon the stir-fryed shiitake mushrooms and their juices on top of bok choy.
4. Serve this dish at room temperature or slightly warm. If you want to serve it warm, cover it with foil and reheat it in a hot oven for 10-15 minutes.
5. Garnish the dish with chopped scallions, sesame seeds and a couple of fresh red peppers.

Nutrition

Calories

603 cal

Fat

17 g

Carbs

53 g

Protein

73 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

7.8.1.2

173

https://bluecayenne.com/like-a-boss-glazed-shiitakes-with-bok-choy

How about a hearty chickpea soup for New Year’s Eve or  New Year’s Day?

This recipe features all sorts of good vegetables to launch your new year–chickpeas, carrots, fennel, spinach and on and on. If you sprinkle some grated Parmesan over the soup at serving time and garnish it with a couple slices of jalapeno pepper, you will have a healthy feast to celebrate the first days of 2019.

There are many interesting New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day food traditions here in the United States and around the world.  My mother, who was from Mississippi, always served black-eyed peas and greens on New Year’s Day, for example. There was a whole lot of symbolism going on in those meals. In the American South, black-eyed peas symbolized coins and the greens were served because they were the color of money. Cornbread, golden-colored like…well…gold, was also served.  Mother was a strict taskmaster and it was clearly understood that if we ate these foods we had a shot at good luck and prosperity in the new year–something my blue-collar family desperately needed most years.  I choked down a lot of collard greens and mustard greens during those family New Year’s Day dinners in the hope of better days in the new year.

Whatever you are eating to celebrate the new year, Juliet and I wish you a happy new year from here at Blue Cayenne. Our hope is that you find you much happiness in the new year and a whole lot of good cooking.

Chickpea Soup With Orzo And Spinach

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Ingredients

• 2-3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium carrots (peeled and chopped)
• 1 small fennel bub (or 2 celery stalks-chopped)
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 t. minced fresh rosemary (optional--you can use less to your taste)
• 2 C. vegetable broth
• 2 C. water
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
• 3/4 C. roughly chopped cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1/2 C. orzo
• 1 quart loosely packed baby spinach (or mustard greens)
• Salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
• Sliced jalapeno peppers to garnish
• Grated Parmesan to garnish

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the carrots, fennel (or celery) and onion to the hot oil. Saute until the vegetables are tender. This will take about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, red pepper and rosemary if you are using it. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the vegetable broth plus two cups of water and bring the soup to a boil. Add the chickpeas, tomatoes and orzo to the boiling soup. Reduce heat of soup to a simmer, cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Check to be sure the orzo is tender. Uncover the soup and add the greens to the simmering soup. Cook until the greens are soft. This will take about 2 minutes.
2. Add more water (I added about 2 cups) to make the thick vegetable mixture more like a soup. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Garnish with grated cheese, sliced jalapeno, and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve.

Nutrition

Calories

164 cal

Fat

3 g

Carbs

27 g

Protein

8 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

7.8.1.2

170

https://bluecayenne.com/chickpea-soup-with-orzo-and-spinach

Here is the link to the original recipe: Chickpea Soup with Orzo.

Soup is hot!

Fortunately for us all, soup recipes seem to be having their moment.

There have been any number of interesting and innovative soup cookbooks published in recent years. I know I’ve added Anna Thomas’ Love Soup, Barbara Abdeni Massaad’s Soup for Syria and Marjorie Druker’s and Clara Silverstein’s New England Soup Factory Cookbook to my collection this year. Massaad’s book is an eclectic collection of soup recipes from renowned chefs, the profit from which goes to Syrian refugees. It is a great cookbook and a worthy cause. I also added an older book, Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Soups. I’ll be posting soup recipes from these cookbooks in the coming months, so keep your soup pots handy.

The recipe for Cauliflower, Potato and Cheese Soup featured in today’s post is from the New England Soup Factory Cookbook. I absolutely love this soup. I’m thinking it may be my new favorite cauliflower soup recipe. It combines just the perfect blend of cauliflower, potatoes and cheese to my taste and, depending upon how energetically you puree it, you can leave it just a bit chunky or make it velvety smooth. Pair it with a leafy green salad dressed with a very good vinaigrette and a chunk of freshly baked baguette and you will have a wonderful meal. Eat it as I did for breakfast and you will definitely start off your day warmed and fortified to face the winter weather.

The New England Soup Factory is a Massachusetts restaurant and catering chain founded by Marjoire Druker and her husband, Paul Brophy. The restaurants have won a lot of accolades including four “Best of Boston” awards. The cookbook includes a number of other interesting soup recipes. I’m intrigued by the recipes for Apple, Onion and Cheddar Soup, Lima Bean and Barley Soup, and Artichoke Bisque.

Here is an Internet link to a video collection of Druker’s recipes if you want to consider some of her other masterpieces: New England Soup Factory Recipes.

Cauliflower, Potato and Cheese Soup

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Ingredients

• 2 T. salted butter
• 2 whole cloves garlic (peeled and minced)
• 3 C. diced onions
• 1 C. diced celery
• 2 heads of cauliflower (separated into florets)
• 3 Yukon Gold potatoes (peeled and cut into chunks) or equivalent amount of russett potatoes
• 10 C. vegetable stock
• 4 C. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 C. light cream
• 1 t. ground nutmeg
• 1 t. dry mustard
• 3 t. Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• 6 dashes Tabasco sauce
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Garnish with parsley

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in your soup pot over medium-high heat and saute the garlic, onions, celery, cauliflower florets and potatoes. Be careful not to let the garlic burn. Saute for about 10 minutes and then add the stock to cover the vegetables. Bring the stock to a boil and then lower the heat to medium and simmer the soup for 30 to 35 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in cheese (small handfuls at a time), cream, nutmeg, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper.
2. Puree he soup in batches. I used a hand blender but you could also use a regular blender for this job. Garnish soup with parsley. I added a small heart-shaped piece of roasted red pepper for color.

Nutrition

Calories

5171 cal

Fat

286 g

Carbs

498 g

Protein

161 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

7.8.1.2

165

https://bluecayenne.com/swonderful-cauliflower-potato-and-cheese-soup

The New England Soup Factory Cookbook is available on Amazon. Here is the link: Amazon.