FFtVSC: Lentil Soup with Kale Ribbons

This is a good solid work night dinner. It is a delicious, nutritious, and uncomplicated recipe. I give it a thumbs up.

FFtVSC: Pesto-Infused White Bean and Sun-Dried Tomato Stew

I'll admit, I didn't actually cook this one, Paul threw it together in the crockpot while I was at work. Unfortunately it didn't really turn out the way that I had thought it would. From the name of the dish I thought it would have the thick almost caramelized taste of the sun-dried tomatoes, the rich creaminess of the white beans and the sweet kick of the pesto. It didn't. I couldn't really taste the sun-dried tomatoes, nor the pesto, and the beans were lackluster. I'm hoping that this was a result of poor measurement, substandard ingredients, or a less-experienced cook. It's too bad because the concept of a sun-dried tomato and pesto stew was very enticing. I might need to rework it later when I have the time.

Seitan Pot Pie with Brussels Sprouts and Biscuits

Seitan Pot Pie is one of our favorites. It's usually the first menu suggestion out of Paul's mouth whenever we have seitan in the house. I've even blogged a recipe here before. Tonight's version included brussels sprouts and was made using the Simple Seitan from Veganomicon. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. The broth turned out very flavorful, even without any added salt.

Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil
2 med carrots, diced
2 med celery stalks, diced
1 large onion, diced (tonight I used red onion, it lent a nice sweet flavor)
approximately 1 lb seitan, either home-made or store bought
4 cups seitan broth or a light chicken-flavored broth (I like No-Chicken broth by Imagine Foods)
1/2 lb brussels sprouts quartered
2 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced finely
2 bay leaves
1-2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried sage
1/4 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
2-4 tsp corn starch and cold water (we like our potpie soupy, but if you like yours more of a gravy consistency, then add more cornstarch and/or use less broth)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Saute the onion, celery, and carrots in the olive oil until softened. Add the seitan and brussels sprouts and stir to coat everything with oil, saute for another minute or two, it's ok if things start to stick to the bottom a bit because they'll release when you add the broth. Add the garlic, herbs, and broth. Raise the heat to high until the broth boils, add the cornstarch mixed with a small amount of cold water (just enough to dissolve it), and then simmer on low while you prepare your favorite biscuit dough and the oven finishes preheating.

For this, I made the biscuits from the Leek and Bean Cassoulet, making sure to stir and combine everything more thoroughly this time. I used regular all-purpose flour this time and the biscuit dough was much softer and stickier. Instead of working it with my hands I used 2 spoons to form drop biscuits on the top of the potpie.

Just before adding the biscuits, I added the frozen corn and peas to the pot and stirred to combine. Remove the 2 bay leaves. Taste the broth now and make any adjustments for seasoning before you top with the biscuits. Then the entire thing goes into the preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the biscuits are cooked through and slightly browned.

101 Cookbooks: Split Pea Soup

Don't go by my photo. Go here and salivate.

This is by far and away the best split pea soup I've ever had. The ingredients are so simple that I was tempted to add a few things here and there, but I'm glad I didn't. The fruity olive oil (I used my best olive oil for the finishing touch) and lemon brighten up the dish, and the paprika adds the smokey flavor that you expect in a split pea soup. Yum! This soup wasn't on my original menu plan for the week but I had to work it in as soon as I saw Heidi's photograph.

Lentil and Orzo soup

1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 c lentils
4 c vegetable stock
4 c water
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 T fresh thyme
1/2 c tomato sauce or diced tomato
1/2 c whole wheat orzo
1 T fresh basil
1 c spinach or other leafy green

Saute onion, carrot, and celery in a small amount of olive oil until onion starts to turn translucent. Add lentils and saute for another 1-3 minutes. Add vegetable stock, 4 cups of water, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, and tomato and bring to a slight boil. Add orzo and simmer for 6-8 minutes before adding spinach and basil and continue cooking until orzo is al dente. Remove the bay leaf and rosemary before serving.

Seitan Pot Pie

1 chopped carrot
1-2 chopped celery stalks
1 chopped onion
1 package seitan w/broth
1 package Imagine No-Chicken Broth
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen spinach
1 bay leaf
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh sage
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 tsp fresh or dried oregano
1 T fresh basil
1-2 cloves garlic

Tonight's dinner was made in the slow cooker. I sauteed the onion, celery, and carrot in a skillet. I added these to the slow cooker along with the bay leaf, seitan (Whitewave Chicken-Style), the broth from the seitan and the box of Imagine No-Chicken Broth. Cooked on low for 6-8 hours, then 1 hour before serving, add the rest of the herbs, garlic, frozen peas, and spinach. Remove the bayleaf, rosemary and sage, and serve with a nice crusty bread. For a special occasion, cook in a dutch oven or casserole, top with biscuits and finish in the oven according to biscuit recipe.

This is one of Paul's favorite meals. It's usually the first thing that comes out of his mouth when I ask for menu suggestions. It's a great meal that we can agree on. I love soups and stews and Paul loves the texture of seitan. I remember hearing about seitan as a teenager and looking up a recipe for it on the internet, so the first time I ever had seitan was actually completely home-made by using bread flour and kneading the dough while rinsing away the starches. Today, most recipes for seitan skip the rinsing step altogether by starting with the dry gluten available from companies like Hodgson Mill. I still think that first time was far better than anything I've come up with since, but far more labor intensive. A far simpler solution is to buy pre-made seitan from a company like Whitewave. I can get my local health food store to order it for me by the case and it freezes beautifully in the sealed packaging without changing texture like tofu.