Got holiday anxiety?

You deserve a little private celebration during these busy holiday weeks.

This elegant little Pea and Fennel Cream Soup certainly fits the bill. It is bright-green beautiful, comfortingly creamy and oh-SO-easy to prepare.

This recipe is adapted from one that appears here.

Oh, we strategized.

We’d be at our computers at 9 a.m. sharp, fingers poised to click the button that read “buy Hamilton tickets” the moment the digital clock struck nine. Then, The Segerstrom Theatre would place us into a “virtual waiting room” where the ticketing system would randomly assign us a number in the waiting line. We could do this!

Nine a.m.

Click!

Then, there was what we will forever call “the minor setback.”

40,018 and 42,303.

How could that even be? The answer to that question is that, apparently, more than forty thousand other Hamilton junkies signed in at nine, too. Again, how could that even be?

So, throughout the day my friend Carole and I have mostly watched our computer screens ever-so-slowly tick down the numbers. It is 6 p.m. as I write this–nine hours since we joined the line, and we are now 26,691 and 28,976 respectively.

What does one do while waiting in a virtual ticket line for nine hours? For Carole, it was a no-brainer. Clean your house while watching a marathon of old Colbert reruns. (Carole knows how to party!)

For me, it was a day to make soup and finish my income taxes.

I’m beginning to accept the fact that, at 26,691, the closest I may ever get to a Hamilton ticket is to read the lyrics online. This snippet seems apropos.

“Alexander Hamilton
My name is Alexander Hamilton
And there’s a million things I haven’t done
But just you wait, just you wait.”

Like Alexander Hamilton, I’m  waiting.

My number is now 26,443.

How can that even be? Apparently, seeing the play Hamilton is going to be among the “million things I haven’t done.”

Here is a recipe for the soup. It’s quite good–a brothy Tuscan soup with farro. I don’t know if the founding fathers ate farro. It was popular in Europe and the Middle East during the time Hamilton et al were putting together our new government.

Tuscan Farro Soup

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Ingredients

• 2 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion (sliced)
• 2 celery stalks (trimmed and chopped)
• 2 carrots (peeled and chopped)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 T. minced garlic
• 1 C. farro (or spelt or barley) (uncooked)
• 2 C. cooked white beans
• 2 C. chopped tomatoes (I used Trader Joe's San Marzanos)
• 6 C. vegetable stock or water (If you don't eat all the soup on the first day, you will need to add more stock or water as the farro absorbs the liquid in the soup)
• 1/4 C. chopped fresh parsley and/or cilantro (I used both)
• 1/4 C. chopped basil (optional)
• Freshly-grated Parmesan

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot. Add onions, carrots and celery to the hot oil and saute for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables are beginning to soften. Stir the garlic into the vegetable mixture and add the farro, tomatoes and stock. Stir.
2. Turn up the heat and bring your soup to a boil and then turn down the heat a bit letting the soup simmer for about an hour until the farro is tender. Add the cooked beans to the soup and stir in the parsley and/or cilantro and cook for another five minutes.
3. Taste. Adjust seasonings. Serve with a generous amount of grated Parmesan sprinkled over the top of the soup.

Nutrition

Calories

1584 cal

Fat

33 g

Carbs

158 g

Protein

45 g

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

7.8.1.2

116

https://bluecayenne.com/tuscan-farro-soup-while-waiting-for-hamilton

Here is a link to the original recipe from which this recipe was adapted: Mark Bittman’s Tuscan Farro Soup.

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I love fall. I love the crisp cool edge that creeps into the mornings.

I love the changing colors of the leaves on my Japanese Maple.

I love the songs of autumn.  If you need a little fall “fix,” here is a great rendition of Autumn Leaves by the late Eva Cassidy. If you don’t know about her, you are in for a treat.

And, in the cooking realm, I love that fall gives me permission to make soup again.

I posted my all-time favorite lentil soup recipe on this blog back in December. I hope you have found time to try that recipe. It is one of the wonders of the soup world. That soup is called Egyptian Lentil Soup and you can look it up in the index that appears on the right side of this page or by clicking here http://bluecayenne.com/?p=566.

The lentil soup I’m posting today is also excellent. It is a little more “tomatoey” and takes a slightly different spice turn with the addition of a small amount of curry powder and a small amount of dried thyme leaves. It is also just downright pretty with its bright oranges, greens and reds.

If you can’t work up the energy to make lentil soup today, don’t put your lentils away just yet. It is clear from a quick Internet search that lentils (and beans) are a popular crafting item. For example, someone had a good sense of humor and was definitely “feeling the Bern” with this piece:

The Bernie picture got me to thinking that orange lentils would be perfect for portraying The Donald’s hair. Go for it and be sure to send me a picture!

This recipe is adapted from one that appeared on the Cookie and Kate Food Blog. A link to the original recipe appears at the end of this post.

Ingredients: Lentil Soup with Spinach
1/4 Cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
3 carrots (peeled and chopped)
1 garlic clove (minced)
1 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. curry powder
1/4 t. dried thyme leaves
Generous pinch of whole cumin seeds
1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 C. orange lentils
4 C. vegetable broth
2 C. water
1 t. salt (more to taste)
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
1 C. chopped fresh spinach leaves
Juice of 1/4 to 1/2 lemon (to taste)

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large soup pan.

Sauté chopped onion and carrots in hot oil, stirring often, until onion is softened and translucent. This should take about five minutes. Add chopped garlic, cumin, curry powder, and thyme leaves to the onion/carrot mixture. Stir spices to mix then in thoroughly–about 30 seconds.

Add the diced tomatoes and continue to cook for a few more minutes. Stir.

Add lentils, broth and water. Add pepper flakes and salt. Season with freshly-ground black pepper. Bring soup to a boil then lower heat and let the soup cook at a gentle simmer for about 30 minutes.

Stir in chopped spinach and cook for a few more minutes until spinach is softened.

Remove from heat, add lemon juice and taste for seasoning.

Here is a link to the Cookie and Kate recipe from which this recipe was adapted:

http://cookieandkate.com/2015/vegan-lentil-soup-recipe/