Zucchini-Lemon Soup. Thai Curries

ZUCCHINI-LEMON SOUP

This is a very forgiving recipe, and you can adjust the amount of zucchini used according to your appetite and to the desired thickness of the finished product. Although I have included tofu in this recipe, I often make it without tofu altogether and it is delicious that way too.

3/4 lb zucchini squash, sliced but not peeled
1 or two slices onion, chopped, or to taste (less rather than more, in this case)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
zest of half a lemon
4 cups water or low-sodium vegetable stock
crushed chilies to taste
juice of half a lemon
half a pack of soft tofu, roughly cubed


Put all except the lemon juice and the tofu into a soup pot and cook until the zucchini is just done.

Blend the soup with a wand blender but preferably in a blender jug along with the lemon juice and the tofu. The soup should be creamy and a lovely fresh pale green colour. You may need to add a little water to get it to the consistency you wish.

Return soup to the soup pot and reheat gently. Serve garnished as you will - I used cilantro for the soup in the photo because we like the taste and it also goes very well with the lemon.

Variation: you may wish to use fresh or dried herbs along with the zucchini etc. in the soup pot. Italian herbs go well, but be careful not to overwhelm the fresh taste of the zucchini and lemon.

And now for a change of pace :)

THAI CURRIES



Wanting some Thai curry (yes yes, the whole thing with - gasp - coconut milk and all!) I decided to make my own for the first time in ages. The impetus was seeing some lovely fresh Thai basil and some fresh kaffir lime leaves along with lemon grass at our local asian shop. I also picked up some of their tofu - a real treat when we can get it. Stopping at another shop, I got a small jar (yes, I know it's cheating) of Thai
yellow curry paste - the kind without fish paste of creatures of any kind in it. It's good to make your own paste, but this was to be a relatively quick meal and I didn't think I'd have the time. I found organic light coconut milk at my health food store, so all was set.

No real recipe here, except to shred a few kaffir lime leaves, grate some ginger, peel and finely chop the lemon grass, chop a little onion and garlic, and defrost and chop some Thai red chlies which I always have in the freezer. This all went into a large pan with some cubed eggplant, a diced potato, and (a little later so that it didn't get overcooked) a red bell pepper - and of course the Thai basil and enough of the Thai curry paste to make it just right (which in our lexicon means HOT).



By the time the rice was ready, so was the curry!

We've had variations on this over the last week - including one with sweet potato and green snap peas - and it's been lovely every time. I do so love Thai food.

Mushroom & Tofu Pasta Bake

I'm always searching for new ways to take a lazy way out of cooking - which by the way I profess to love most of the time - without compromising my promise to myself to cook from scratch (well, I don't make my own pasta anymore and never make my own tofu or soymilk, so . . . .LOL ). Somehow - it must be because the oven makes the place so warm and cosy - I've taken to popping pasta dishes and other kinds of things in the oven and then sitting back and waiting for them to be ready!

Here's what I did the day before yesterday - and I'm including a lot of photos cuz someone asked me to do step-by-step and so here it is LOL

But first a word about the pasta itself. I found the most delectable kamut spirelli in one of my favourite shops and thought I'd try it out:



I'm sure it comes in many other brands, but this one is organic and is actually available in Ontario! Anyway, here we go:

MUSHROOM & TOFU PASTA BAKE

(for 2 hungry people or 3-4 lighter eaters)

125 g (4 or 5 ounces in weight?) spirelli (you could use penne or whatever) pasta, set aside until ready to cook.
250 g (1/2 lb.) Mushrooms, sliced (measurements can vary - use what you have)
1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
150 g (around 5 or 6 ounces in weight?) Zucchini, chopped (ditto)
1/2 pkg low-fat tofu (you might want to use more so that you have extra sauce to pass at the table)
soymilk and/or stock - enough to thin out the tofu to a cream consistency
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 - 2 Tbsp lemon juice
black pepper
1 Tbsp white miso
crumbs or vegan parmezan cheez for topping (I used my own mix that I keep on hand)
herbs according to taste

Method of sorts:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Saute your mushrooms - I do it in a little water with a Tbsp low-sodium soy, since I avoid using oil if at all possible.

While you are doing the mushrooms (only a short while - you'll want them to shrink to half size and look 'cooked'), boil some water and drop your zucchini into it for a couple of minutes only - or you could lightly steam them. You don't want them to go at all mushy. When these are done, drain and set aside.

Cook that pasta before you forget!



This kamut pasta is so pretty, isn't it, and it only takes a few minutes. Here it's still in its raw, dried state, but I thought the colours were nicer than I'd ever seen! Pop it into boiling water and keep an eye on the time - I only did mine for about half the time it called for, but you be the judge. You'll want your pasta, regardless of which kind you use, to be a little underdone because it will cook more in the oven.



When the mushrooms are ready, add the zucchini (I cut mine into small pieces so that they didn't take long to blanch and so that they'd mix in with the size of everything else. You might want to decide to do it differently)



and season to taste - but remember that you're going to have a seasoned tofu sauce over the lot, so go easy on salt etc.

Here we are again, all ready for the sauce.



For The Sauce:
Crumble the tofu, add enough soy milk or other liquid (do this a bit at a time) to make it possible to blend into a creamy sauce with a blender or a wand blender. Blend in the garlic and all other ingredients. Taste for seasoning and adjust. Sometimes it's the addition of a little vegan worcestershire sauce that helps a whole bunch, sometimes it isn't needed. Your choice.

Er, no pic of the sauce being made. We're going to just have to live with that. Imagine white. Got it? Okay, onwards!

Stir the sauce, pasta and vegetables together and turn into a baking dish which has been sprayed or lightly wiped with a faint film of olive oil. Here it is:



Top it, if you like, with crumbs, vegan parmezan cheez, or other appropriate crumby topping - or leave it plain. Your choice.



Yeah, well, you're right - it's the same image you got at the top of this post. Life's full of surprises, eh?

Bake for around 20 minutes. I cover mine with a layer of foil, very loosely, and take it off in the last few minutes.



And here it is baked. Now a warning for those like me who like to leave it in the oven until they've finished the first course:
If you leave it too long, it will dry out - but hey that's what that extra sauce I mentioned in the ingredients list is for. This recipe is so forgiving of absent-minded cooks!

Serve with whatever you like - we had ours plain the first day. But we did have a salad beforehand! :)

Zucchini Hash with Mushrooms & Potatoes; Stuffed Shells

This dish comes in the nature of a using-up-the-veggies exercise too - I had some nice zucchini and a couple of very tiny white potatoes (what did I mean to do with those, I wonder). Lunch loomed. So I took a look at what was in the veg bin and came up with:

ZUCCHINI HASH WITH MUSHROOMS & POTATOES

1 stick celery, chopped in small rounds
1 yellow cooking onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 small potatoes, diced
1-1/2 zucchini, chopped in quarter-'moons' (amount depends on size - enough for two hungry people is what I used
5 or 6 or more mushrooms, roughly chopped
optional: a tsp minced ginger or to taste (I tend to put it in a lot of things)
pinch of crushed chilies or to taste
salt (if you use it) and pepper to taste

I softened the onion and celery in a little water and threw the potato in with them to cook (the dice was small, so they didn't take long), added the zucchini, mushrooms, ginger and chilies when the potatoes were almost done, careful not to overcook the zucchini. I served garnished with celery leaves and added in a tomato, fennel and onion side salad.



The next dish was in the nature of an experiment. One day, feeling creative but lazy (the latter means I didn't want to shop before lunch) I found some giant pasta shells I had bought to make a completely different dish and never used. So this is what I dreamed up:

STUFFED SHELLS

Giant Pasta Shells for two persons (I used a little over 4 ounces, 120 grammes)
1/2 lb extra-firm low-fat tofu
a couple of slices of onion, finely chopped
4 or 5 mushrooms, finely chopped
two handfuls of basil, chopped
a pinch of cayenne, if you like it (we do)
salt and pepper to taste
two or so cups home-made tomato pasta sauce (from my freezer - you could use your favourite)
handful of torn basil to be added before going in oven
crumby cheezy topping for dish for baking

I cooked the shells and, meanwhile, heated the oven to 350 F, crumbled the tofu into a bowl and set the onion and mushrooms to soften and cook in a little water while I chopped the basil and defrosted the pasta sauce.

When the onion and mushrooms were cooked, I added them to the tofu along with the chopped basil and zapped the whole thing with the wand blender, to form a kind of creamy ricotta-like mixture. Season.

I spooned the mixture into the shells, added a few pieces of torn basil leaves to each stuffed shell, poking them into the mix with a naughty finger.

In a flat baking dish, I added a little of the pasta sauce - to just cover the bottom - lined up the shells as prettily as I could, added the rest of the sauce and sprinkled my own mix of equal parts cashews, crumbs and nutritional yeast (all ground together with oregano, paprika and pepper) over the top.

I baked in the oven for around 25 minutes covered, then removed the cover for a few minutes at the end.

I had never but NEVER stuffed shells before, and these were dead simple and very nice! They disappeared so fast that it was all I could do to snap a blurry photo before they were consumed! There were no leftovers.

RATATOUILLE

For lunch today we had some Tuscan-style white beans (recipe to follow) accompanied by this fat-free ratatouille - which is quick and easy and cooked on the stovetop.

You'll need -
2 onions, chopped
4 or 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large eggplant, diced
14-ounce can of tomatoes, with juice, crushed
1-1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs such as organo, thyme, basil, parsley
Several good turns of freshly ground black pepper
2 medium zucchini, sliced into half moons
1 large bell pepper (I like the red ones), diced
salt to taste

Cook the onion and garlic in a large pot in around 1/2 cup water on medium-high heat, until soft (maybe 5 minutes) then add the diced eggplant, tomatoes and herbs, salt and pepper and stir well. Reduce heat somewhat and let it cook covered (stir frequently, though, so it doesn't stick) for around 15 minutes or until the eggplant is soft.

Add the other ingredients and stir well, and cook for another 10 or 15 minutes, or until the zuccini is tender. Adjust seasonings and serve.

Serves 8.