My Simple Soup

Rainy days and yummy soup go hand in hand! 

I love Asian inspired clear broths. There are a few pantry items I always keep on hand so I can make this quick soup anytime. They are frozen dumplings, tofu, broth (homemade or store bought), a bottle of hon tsuyu and noodles (any kind). Greens are a great addition – I use anything from bok choy to spinach to kale. Pick any leafy green – you just have to cook the tougher greens a little longer. 

This soup is really just a matter of combining all of these ingredients together. I do different variations   – tofu and greens soup, dumplings and greens or sometimes I put everything in – tofu, dumplings, noodles and more.

I usually put a lot of ginger in my broth. If you are using a store bought broth, you can shave a few pieces of ginger in and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. 

Here is my simple soup recipe.

Sweet Potato Chips

I love sweet potatoes and the simplest way to cook them is to bake them. I make all kinds of baked fries with them. When I’m feeling extra lazy- I just slice them up in my food processor into thin chips and bake them.

Be careful as you bake these as they can become black and crisp very quickly but you do want to mix in a few of the crispy ones with the rest as it really adds a nice crunch to the chips. You can eat them straight out of the oven but if you wait a little and let it cool down – they tend to get crisper. Top them with any of your favorite seasonings.

 

Sheet Pan Gobhi Kathi Rolls

Recently I made a really easy sheet pan cauliflower (gobhi). Here is what I did with the leftovers the next day for lunch. I rolled them up into a Kathi roll – threw in some condiments and it was a totally transformed dish.

I always make a concoction of sliced onions, lemons and chili to put in my Kathi roll but this time I had some purple cabbage lying around which I added to this mixture and the results were just brilliant. The cabbage added and a really nice crunch and made them that much healthier. If you have some mint chutney on hand, serve with the rolls – it will really kick the flavor profile up a notch.

If you wish to keep the roll vegetarian just skip then egg in the roti. Here is a link to the recipe for the sheet pan cauliflower. 

 

Farro w/ Roasted Broccoli

I’m all about quick and healthy recipes. I always buy a bunch of broccoli, chop it up and keep it in my fridge to throw into any dish I can. I had some leftover farro and decided to combine the two. 

I stir fried some hot peppers with garlic to give this dish a kick but you can skip the heat or use sweet peppers instead if you don’t like the spice. 

When cooking the farro, follow instructions on your package – I generally add just a little less liquid (like maybe 1-2 tbs less) than is suggested so that it doesn’t turn out mushy. Also cooking it in broth makes it much more flavorful. 

I roast the broccoli with olive oil in the oven and add it in at the end. You can choose steam it too but the char does add a nice flavor. Always use a good quality extra virgin olive oil to finish the dish off with – it makes all the difference. 

Sheet Pan Gobhi (cauliflower)

This is a really easy way to cook cauliflower (gobhi). It’s a riff on the traditionally popular aloo gobhi – except I skipped the potatoes (aloo) and replaced it with onions and turnips which I found hiding in my fridge. Throwing everything on a sheet pan and baking it makes it so easy to cook. You can choose just how charred you like your veggies and whatever spices you want to add. 

By the way just wait and see what I did with the leftovers……….

Spanish Tortilla with Mushrooms and Kale

I looked in my fridge and found I had eggs, kale, mushrooms and potatoes and was in the mood to make something really yummy on a weekend morning. Viola – my very first Spanish Tortilla!

When we were in Spain a few years ago, this dish was a tapas favorite and I loved the comfort of it! The great thing about this dish is that it can be eaten hot or at room temperature – so you can make it ahead of time. I didn’t have fresh thyme so just used the dried version. I’m sure you can substitute it with any other herb. I found a really easy recipe by Florence Fabricant in the NYT, one that I will be using over and over again. The tricky part of this dish is flipping it over and making sure nothing sticks to the pan – using a nonstick pan will help with that!

 

Asparagus and Mushroom Tart

Asparagus is abundant in spring time and here is a yummy way to use it. 

I love working with puff pastry because it is so forgiving that you can pretty much put anything on it and it tastes so good. I try and stock up on my puff pastry whenever Trader Joes has it (usually around thanksgiving time). Their puff pastry is affordable and doesn’t have all the extra fillers that some of the more popular brands have. I do love Dufour though – they are really pricey but are the best.

My tart has onions, mushrooms and asparagus. I had some ricotta lying in the fridge and used it as a thin layer on the base but this is really not necessary as the caramelized onions makes for a nice creamy bottom. You can however add any kind of cheese to this tart – goat cheese, Boursin , ricotta etc. if you wish. I will say that it was a bit of a struggle cutting the tart once cooked with the long spears of asparagus – so the next time around I might just chop it down into 1” pieces and sprinkle on top – it just won’t look as pretty!