Archive | March, 2012

Lightening up with vegetarian minestrone soup

25 Mar

Every Spring I get the urge to lighten things up a little bit.

Eat more veggies.

Clean out the closets.

Make it to yoga a few more times each week.

Right now I’m in the midst of this seasonal urge.

Do you feel the same way?

Artie does. He has been the one nudging me out of bed at 6am to get us to yoga, and he has been eating a lot of healthy, vegetarian food.

This is the same husband that lives for  R.F O’Sullivan’s cheeseburgers, and coffee ice cream.

And Buffalo chicken wings.  Especially, Buffalo chicken wings.

But he has been subtly healthy-ing up his lifestyle lately.

Which means I have too.  Because dragging your butt out of bed when it’s still dark out, is easier to do when you aren’t leaving a contentedly sleeping body behind.

I’d like to think it was my nagging that caused this shift…

but he has relayed very clearly that was NOT the cause.

Apparently, he realized that not only does he dress, work, and act (mostly) like an adult these days.

His metabolism has matured as well.

And he has no intention of ending his passionate love affair with beer.

Especially now that it’s warm enough to drink it outdoors, with great friends and good food.

Here is a fresh, and healthy vegetarian minestrone soup recipe I wrote for The Boston Globe this week.

It’s packed with greens, and beans, and lot’s of savory flavor. Add a salad and a loaf of crusty bread to soak up the broth and you have a satisfying, meatless meal that makes you feel great.

Though you might feel even better if you top it off with a small scoop of really good ice cream.

Enjoy!

-Catherine

Vegetarian minestrone soup

Serves 4

1  tablespoon olive oil

1  onion, chopped

1  red bell pepper, chopped

2  stalks celery, chopped

1  medium zucchini, chopped

Salt and black pepper, to taste

2  cloves garlic, chopped

1  teaspoon dried oregano

1/2  teaspoon crushed red pepper

8  cups vegetable stock

2  cups water

1  can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained

1  can (14 ounces) canellini beans, drained

1  piece (3 inches) Parmesan rind (optional)

1  cup conchigliette or other small dried pasta

4  cups baby spinach

1/2  cup grated Parmesan (for serving)

1. In a soup pot over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, zucchini, salt, and black pepper. Cook, stirring, for 8 minutes or until softened.

2. Add the garlic, oregano, and crushed red pepper. Cook, stirring, 1 minute more.

3. Add the stock, water, tomatoes, beans, and Parmesan rind. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and set on the cover askew. Simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Stir in the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally for 7 minutes or until the pasta is just tender, but still has some bite. Remove the Parmesan rind.

5. Turn off the heat. Stir in the spinach. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and black pepper, if you like. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan.

 

 

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A leg of lamb to celebrate Spring

20 Mar

Spring has definitely sprung.

There is a small, paranoid part of me that feels like this weather is a little bit apocalyptic.

The whole, no winter and BAM it’s 76 degrees. In Boston. In March thing.

But as I go for walks outside with the pup, and see crocuses popping up everywhere, and enjoy cocktails outside with my neighbors, and let my color-of-skim-milk, so-pale-it’s-kind-of-blue skin, soak up these warm rays, I am quickly learning to embrace it.

For me, Spring means lamb.

It’s not something I indulge in often. Let’s be real, good lamb ain’t cheap.

And they are cute.

But man, are they tasty.

If it makes it any easier for you to swallow (haha, pun intended).

I do try to get lamb from reputable family farms, the few times a year I eat it.

You should too, if you can, because it is out of this world delicious.

And you can feel slightly less guilty about eating such a ball of cuteness.

If you are a lamb eater, I hope you will try these lamb recipes I wrote for the Boston Globe’s Sunday Supper Column.

This time of year is actually the perfect time to make these recipes,  because they use hardy vegetables like butternut squash and celery root, which won’t be around much longer.

On the first night you roast a whole leg of lamb, and serve it over a nutty farro salad with the roasted veggies I was just talking about.

 

Make sure to only cook the lamb to medium rare, you want that nice rosy hue.

When you are cooking a whole leg, the thinner parts will cook more quickly, so don’t worry, you will have some slices for the more well-done crowd as well.

The next day, tuck the leftover meat into pita pockets with some of the roasted vegetables, some crispy lettuce, feta and a lemony tahini-yogurt dressing.

So good.

These make an exceptional lunch, that will turn all of your co-workers green with envy.

And they make a perfect, packable picnic. How’s that for illiteration?

But seriously, lamb always feels like a special meal, don’t you think?

You will have no trouble finishing these “leftovers”.

Remember when I was talking about the loveliness of spring?

The part about alfresco cocktails with neighbors?

Well, a certain neighbor just texted me about a porch beer.

So I think it’s time I get off this here computer, and enjoy the balmy springtime air.

Hope you are doing the same!

-Catherine

SHOPPING LIST:

(For lamb, pita sandwiches)

1 bone-in leg of lamb (7 to 8 pounds)

1 cup Greek-style yogurt

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

8 ounces feta

4 cloves garlic

1 medium (about 4 pounds) skinned, seeded butternut squash

2 heads celery root

2 onions

1/2 bunch fresh parsley

1 head romaine lettuce

2 lemons

1/2 cup pitted black olives

4 small (8-inch) pita rounds

Salt and pepper

3/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 cup farro

2 tablespoons tahini

Leg of lamb with farro and roasted vegetable salad

Serves 4 with leftovers

1  bone-in leg of lamb (7 to 8 pounds)

3  cloves garlic, cut into slivers

8  tablespoons olive oil

 Salt and pepper, to taste

1  medium (about 4 pounds) skinned, seeded butternut squash, cut into 1-inch pieces

2  heads celery root, cut into 1-inch pieces

2  onions, sliced

1  cup farro

1/4  cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2  cup grated Parmesan

Extra olive oil (for sprinkling)

1. Set the oven at 425 degrees. Place a rack in a roasting pan.

2. Set the lamb on the rack. With a paring knife, cut small slits all over the lamb and insert the garlic. Rub the lamb with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

3. Meanwhile, on 2 rimmed baking sheets or roasting pans, toss the squash, celery root, and onion with 4 tablespoons of the olive oil (2 tablespoons per pan), salt, and pepper. Roast the vegetables for 45 minutes until caramelized and very soft. Set aside 2 cups of the vegetables for the farro salad. Refrigerate the remaining vegetables for the pita sandwiches.

4. When the vegetables are done, turn the oven temperature down to 375 degrees. Roast the lamb for 15 minutes per pound (1 1/2 to 2 hours) or until a meat thermometer inserted into the lamb registers 140 degrees. Let the lamb rest for 10 minutes before carving.

5. While the lamb is roasting, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the farro, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until the farro is tender. Drain the farro and transfer to a bowl. Toss with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 cups of roasted vegetables, parsley, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle with more olive oil. Carve the lamb, setting aside 8 pieces for the pita sandwiches. Serve the lamb with the farro salad.

Lamb pita pockets with lemon tahini dressing

Serves 4

DRESSING

1  cup Greek-style yogurt

1  clove of garlic, chopped

2  tablespoons tahini

Grated rind and juice of 2 lemons

2  tablespoons olive oil

1  tablespoon white wine vinegar

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a small bowl whisk together the yogurt, garlic, tahini, lemon rind and juice, olive oil, and vinegar.

2. Add salt and pepper; set aside.

POCKETS

4  small (8-inch) pita rounds

8  small slices roast lamb

2  cups roast vegetables

8  ounces feta, thinly sliced

1/2  cup pitted black olives, coarsely chopped

1  head romaine lettuce, torn up

1. Cut the pita in half and spread the inside with tahini dressing.

2. Fill the bread with lamb, roast vegetables, feta, olives, and lettuce.

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