A couple of weeks ago, I was scouring the farmers market looking for inspiration. My spring canning class was coming up and I wanted to show the class something a little bit different in the pickle category – something that might inspire them to think of vegetable pickles “outside the jar”.  Something that would lend itself to use beyond a sandwich garnish.  My eyes landed on some beautiful, stripey, baby eggplant, and I knew immediately what I would do.

Two years ago, while participating in the Can Jam, I created a recipe for pickling spring onions and green garlic in balsamic vinegar and red wine that was so versatile, I used it as part of an antipasto plate, on cheese sandwiches, and even used the pickling liquid as a dressing for salads and caprese picks.  That recipe was even chosen to be included in Sarah B. Hood’s book, We Sure Can!

I thought that something similar would work for this beautiful baby eggplant, so I gave it a try.  And yes, it was worth it! The eggplant became tender and smooth – almost unctuous – contrasting in texture with the still firm onion, and the sweet/tart balsamic brine works beautifully as a dressing, alone or mixed with melted butter and/or olive oil.

One of my serving suggestions in class:  Melt 2 Tbs butter, add 2 Tbs olive oil, then add a one pint jar of this pickle, including the liquid.  Heat gently for just a couple of minutes and toss with hot pasta, long or short, of your choice. Instant supper! If you use short pasta, toss the hot pasta with olive oil and this pickle, and you can also serve it as a cold pasta salad – refreshing on a hot summer day. The possibilities go on and this recipe is easily doubled if your eggplant crop starts getting out of control, this summer.

Melanzana Balsamica
(Balsamic Eggplant)
(Makes about 3 pints)

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ lbs  baby eggplant
• 1 large red spring onion
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 1 cup red wine (preferably Italian)
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp canning salt (or 1 ½ tsp kosher salt)
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
• ¾ cup balsamic vinegar (5% acidity or higher)

Preparation:

Fill the canning pot with water and bring to a boil.  Place 3 pint canning jars and their lids into the pot and sterilize for 10 minutes.  While this is happening:

Wash and dry the eggplant, cut off the stem caps, and slice lengthwise into quarters.  If using a less-tender-skinned variety of eggplant, you may wish to peel it first.  Peel the onion, cut off the ends, cut in half lengthwise and cut into thick slices, also lengthwise.  Peel garlic cloves and smash with the broad part of the knife blade.

Put the vegetables into a medium non-reactive pot, add the wine, water, and salt, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat to medium-high, and allow to cook for 5 minutes.

Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Canning:

Divide the hot vegetables equally between the 3 hot jars, pressing down firmly.  Add the hot liquid to each jar. Release trapped air bubbles with a chopstick or any thin, non-metallic tool (such as a plastic knife), allowing the liquid to fill the space.  Leave ½” headroom at the top of each jar, removing any excess liquid with a spoon.

Clean the jar rims well with a wet paper towel, place lids on the jars, screw on the rings finger-tight, and return to the canning pot. Bring back to a rolling boil and process for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and allow the jars to remain in the water for an additional 5 minutes before removing them to a covered surface to cool. Listen for the ping!

Allow to meld for a minimum 1 ½ – 2 weeks before using.  Of course, it gets better with age.

I think I can get in one more Passover recipe to share with you, this week. As you know, Gnocchi is probably my favorite pasta – the one I judge all Italian restaurants, and even cookbooks, by. So, when Amy of Ess Eppis (Yiddish for Eat Something) piped up on Twitter that she’d found a kosher for Passover gnocchi recipe, I had to give it a try.

Amy found the original recipe here, where it was originally posted in 2009.  And since Amy posted it in 2010, I thought it was time to share it with you, with my own tweaks. As Mimi said in her post that she couldn’t recall where she’d found the recipe originally, I’m going to post my version of it here, in full.  If anyone recognizes it as theirs, please feel free to pipe up!

Actually, my only quibble with the original recipe is that it specifies “medium potatoes”. Potatoes come in a number of varieties and sizes, and I frankly don’t know what a “medium” potato is. No, I don’t think I’m being dense, because, while a “medium onion” is a more forgiving measurement in, say, a sauce or a soup or a stew, when the size of the potato (or avocado, etc.) could significantly affect the texture when combined with the other ingredients, I do feel it necessary sometimes to get more specific.

I’m also not that wild about the method of boiling potatoes unpeeled, then peeling them hot. Which is heresy, I think, to the purist. I think it’s messy and uncomfortable, and just annoys me.  So, I peeled my potatoes and boiled them whole.  The recipe also didn’t indicate what kind of potatoes to use.  Gnocchi traditionally calls for a more mealy potato, such as a Russet, but I was out of those, and used reds.  The reds yielded a very silky end product, but if you like a more substantial gnocchi, definitely go with the Russets.

Passover Gnocchi  (makes approximately 120-130 pieces)

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ lbs of potatoes (russets, reds, or golds)
• 2/3 cup matzo cake meal
• 1 cup potato starch
• 2 egg
• 2 tsp salt
• ¼ – ½ tsp. pepper
• 2 Tbs olive oil

Preparation:

Peel the potatoes and boil them whole in salted water until fork-tender, about 20-30 minutes. Start poking them with a fork at around 20 minutes, to check.

Drain the potatoes and, keeping them in their cooking pot, shake them over a low flame till they are very dry, just a minute or two.  Mash well with a potato masher, while still hot.

Turn the potatoes out onto the counter or a large cutting board (or even a very large mixing bowl), add the dry ingredients, and make a well in the center.  Add the eggs, salt, pepper, and olive oil to the well.

Start mixing from the inside, out, drawing more of the potato, cake meal, and potato starch in and then mixing and kneading with your hands, until you have a smooth, silky dough. Don’t add any additional meal or starch – it will take a few minutes, but it will come together.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator, cut the dough into 4 or more pieces, and on a flat surface well dusted with potato starch, roll each piece out into a snake about 3/4 of an inch thick.  If you have small counter space for the purpose, feel free to just tear off pieces of dough that you’re more comfortable with.  Using a fork, cut the rope into pieces about 1/2 inch long, and roll them along the tines of the fork to kind of round them off and imprint them with those lovely grooves.  I got a little better at it, than I did the last time.   The process moves pretty quickly, after you get past the first few.

Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water, in batches, if necessary. When they rise to the top, allow them to cook for an additional one minute. I mean it: One minute, only. Do not overcook!  Scoop them out with a slotted spoon or spider, and if not dressing right away, toss with a few drops of olive oil, to prevent sticking.

Please note that, in the end, I doubled this recipe from the original. Who knew? I was weighing potatoes and perfected it by feel. Half of this fed the two of us, but we didn’t have anything else for supper, except small green salads.  Be assured, that you can wrap any remaining dough in plastic wrap and drop it into a freezer bag and freeze the remainder for future use.

I like a pink sauce on my gnocchi, so I made a batch of my Quickie Pasta Sauce and added 1/4 cup of cream at the end.  I like the sauce kind of chunky, but you can hit it with a stick blender at the end, if you prefer yours smooth.  You can also garnish with some shaved Parmesan, which I didn’t do here.

Verdict? This was some of the best gnocchi ever. Really. Even the husband said that, not only is this the best gnocchi I’ve ever made, he thinks I should make it this way all the time, not just at Passover!  So, if you’re jonesing for some pasta right about now, make this. You’ll feel guilty – I promise!

Top o’ the mornin’ to ye!  St. Patrick’s Day is here again, one of the favorite holidays around the ol’ Flamingo Pond.  The husband is half-Irish, and back when we got married, we made a deal:  I would get all the Jewish holidays and he would get St. Patrick’s Day and Christmas.  I took this to be a pretty fair compromise, since the only holidays he wanted were the ones involving good food, good drink, and prezzies!  And we like to start the morning with a slab of old-fashioned Irish Brown Bread.  This is not the sweet bread with raisins or some such, that you might find in stores, today.  Real Soda Bread is just that – bread. Slice it up for sandwiches, chunk it up to sop up soup or gravy, toast it up & slather with good butter, a piece of cheese, maybe some jam.

We don’t dye anything green around here, no sir!  From the beginning, we’ve only made traditional Irish recipes, prepared as closely as possible to the traditional ways.

One of the really lovely things about this bread is that it’s pretty quick to make. Just mix up the dough – either by hand or mixer with a dough hook – form it up and bake.  No resting time, no rising time.  You can have this on the table, all warm, crusty, and ready to eat in about an hour!  And I’ll bet you have the ingredients ready to go, right now.  So, let’s do it:

Irish Brown Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 cups stone ground whole wheat flour
• 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 3 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbs. sugar, honey, or molasses (optional)
• 2 1/2 cups soured milk *

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425° F.

In a large bowl (or your mixer bowl), combine the flours, salt, and baking soda. Mix well.  Add the sweetener (if using),  and add the milk, a little at a time, mixing well.  The dough should be firm and still just a bit sticky.

Divide the dough into two pieces, form into firm balls, and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or pan liner.  Flatten each ball slightly with your hand, to about 2-3 inches thick.  Slash an X across the top of each loaf (to let the fairies out, of course!).

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when the bottoms are rapped with your knuckle, or an instant-read thermometer inserted through the side indicates at least 192° F.

* Yes, I actually let milk go naturally sour for this. Don’t go freaking out. No, it’s not going to hurt you.  After all, that’s how basic farmers cheeses historically got their starts, and the natural acids work with the baking soda to get the dough rising.  And it’s a great way to use up milk that’s “gone off” on you.  If you don’t have any soured milk on hand, just measure out your milk and add either a teaspoon of lemon juice or a teaspoon of white vinegar, mix it well and let it sit till it reaches room temperature.

Don’t save this just for St. Patrick’s Day, either! This is a tasty, healthy bread that’s great all year long, especially if you just noticed that you’ve run out of bread for sandwiches or snacks.

More St. Patrick’s Day food ideas:

• Mashed Potato Biscuits (Irish Potato Cakes)
• Shepherd’s Pie for St. Patrick’s Day
• Chicken in (Non-Dairy) Tarragon Cream Sauce
• Colcannon (Mashed Potato with Cabbage and Leeks)

Things have been a little crazed around the ol’ Flamingo Pond these days, and I apologize to everyone for not putting together a #GreatHallowTweet Halloween bloghop, this year.

But that doesn’t mean that I’ve forgotten about our fave holiday of the year, around here, and I haven’t forgotten that you need to give those kids of yours (young and old) a special supper before they hit the Trick or Treat trail!

Slime Soup! This falls into both categories: Trick and Treat. I mean, c’mon – what kid doesn’t want to eat slime on All Hallow’s Eve? The color’s a wonderful, bilious green, the texture is smooth and silky, and best of all – and you don’t have to tell them this part – it’s actually healthy.

Slime Soup (Quick Broccoli Vichyssoise)

Ingredients:

4 cups (1 quart) vegetable broth (I used my store brand’s organic version)
2 potatoes (about 1 to 1 1/2 lbs russets or golds)
1 16 oz. package frozen broccoli
1 cup unflavored soy milk or regular milk (1% is fine)
salt & pepper

Preparation:

Pour the vegetable broth into a 4 or 5 quart sauce pot.

Peel the potatoes, cut into roughly half-inch pieces, and add to the pot. Cover, bring to a boil, and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add the broccoli to the pot, cover, and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and allow to cook for another 10 minutes.

Add the milk to the pot, whip out your handy dandy hand blender, and puree until completely smooth. (You can carefully do this in a regular blender and then return the soup to the pot). Stir, and warm through.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with pita chips, crackers, or a nice crusty bread.

I love this soup for a number of reasons. For one thing, it’s quick – you can make this in 30 minutes or less. It’s super-healthy and perfect for Meatless Monday or anytime you want to trick the kids or your significant other to eat some veggies. It’s equally delicious hot or cold. So, if it’s chilly where you are, it makes a nice warmer-upper. If it’s 87 billion degrees outside, like it is here, it’s refreshing and nourishing at the same time. So, you can even make this in the summertime for a healthy light supper as a turn on vichyssoise!

Slime Soup would be great served cool at a party, too. Just pour it into a cauldron (okay, fine – a punch bowl would work, too), and let folks pour themselves a cup.

Happy Halloween, everyone! Bwahahahahahahahaha!

Now that I’m back from my travels, I’m going back to the farmers market for inspiration, both for personal use, and for Freakin’ Flamingo.

I love pickles. I can’t think of any meal that a pickle can’t perk up. You know that I’ve made pickles before – pickled asparagus, pickled carrots, pickled spring onions & green garlic, even pickled cantaloupe. What I haven’t pickled yet, are cucumbers. Mostly because I hadn’t seen pickling cucumbers around here that are local and worth the effort.

That’s changed. I recently found a vendor at the South Miami Farmers Market with some of the prettiest – and tastiest – local produce I’ve ever had. Seems I can now get limes and key limes grown locally, not from Mexico or Guatemala. And I can now get pickling cucumbers! In my latest outing this weekend, Laura tossed a few cukes into my box so I could try them out before buying a boatload next weekend.

So, I canned up a quick quart and this is what I came up with:

Spicy Garlic Pickles
(makes 1 quart)

Ingredients:

2 cups white vingegar
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup water
1 Tbs. pickling/canning salt

4 pickling cucumbers
1 serrano chili pepper
1 tsp. whole black peppercorns
1 tsp. whole coriander seeds
1 tsp. whole dill seed
1 large clove garlic

Preparation:

Bring the vinegars, water, and salt to a boil in a 2-quart pot.

Slice the cukes in half, lengthwise, or leave whole if you prefer. Heat (or sterilize) a one-quart canning jar and fill the hot jar with the cucumbers (stuff ‘em in there!). Make a long slit in the serrano pepper, give the peeled garlic clove a good whack with the flat of your knife blade, and insert those into the jar, followed by the whole spices.

Fill the jar with the boiling brine, leaving 1/2″ of head space, wipe the mouth of the jar with a clean, very damp paper towel, top with a new, heated lid, and add the screw-on band, tightening finger-tight.

Place the filled jar in a boiling water canner, or even a tall stock pot with a rack in the bottom (make sure you have at least 1″ of water over the top), and boiled, covered, for 15 minutes.

Allow to meld for a minimum of one or two weeks before eating.

Notes:

If you don’t want to boiling water process these, you can put the jar in the fridge after it’s cooled, but it may take a bit longer for the flavors to develop. Also, they have to live in your fridge. One of the benefits of water canning process is that you can leave them in your pantry for months.

I’m going to pop these babies open next weekend, and I can’t wait!

Hey – stay tuned for some special announcements, including some promotions for Freakin’ Flamingo!

I love egg rolls. Crispy on the outside, tender and crunchy on the inside. And while I’m not vegetarian, I don’t eat pork or seafood, and it’s impossible to find a veggie egg roll when we have the occasional take-out Chinese food for dinner. And while I can occasionally find them in the kosher freezer section of my grocery, they’re generally all cabbage and flavorless. I always intended to try making them at home – bought the wrappers and watched them slowly shrink in my fridge until they became dried up squares of pasta, beyond redemption. Sad, really.

Then, my husband decided to design a board game on China, and invited several couples over to play-test. So when Chris of Blog Well Done and Elle of Elle’s New England Kitchen announced the theme of this edition of #GoJunkFood would be Egg Rolls, it seemed like the time had finally come. I could delay no longer.

And just to make the experience even more intimidating? One of our guests that evening was Hong Kong-born Eleanor Hoh, another Miami food blogger and wok-cooking instructor. Do I know how to put the pressure on myself, or what? And despite that, I cheated anyway. You’ll see.

Vegetarian Egg Rolls
(makes about 16 egg rolls)

Ingredients:

Sauce:

2 Tbs. soy sauce or tamari
2 Tbs. corn starch
2 Tbs. hoisin sauce
1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. sriracha or other hot sauce (optional)

Filling:

1 14 oz. package fresh coleslaw mix
8 oz. baby portobello mushrooms (or your choice)
1 8 oz. can water chestnuts, drained
2 or 3 scallions (green onions)

1 16 oz. package egg roll wrappers
1 egg, beaten
Oil for frying

Preparation:

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl or measuring cup and set aside

Run the mushrooms through a food processor until finely chopped (or you can do it by hand if you’re more patient than I am). Set aside. Repeat with the drained water chestnuts. Slice the scallions thinly (both green and white parts). Set aside.

Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the coleslaw mix and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, or until the cabbage just begins to wilt.

Add the mushrooms with the sauce to the pan, combine well, and stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the water chestnuts and scallions. Stir to combine well. Allow filling to cool to room temperature.

For each egg roll, lay out one of the egg roll wrappers so that it appears diamond-shaped when facing you. Brush some of the beaten egg along the edges of the upper half of the diamond. Place about 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling on the lower half of the diamond, below the two widest points. Take the point closest to you, bring it over the filling, and tuck it under the filling, tautly. Roll up to the widest points, fold them in over the ends of package and continue to roll all the way up. Make sure that the outer edges are sealed firmly. Repeat with each egg roll.

If you have a deep-fryer, heat the oil to 350º F and fry the egg rolls, no more than 4 at a time, until they’re golden brown, turning once. This won’t take more than 2-3 minutes, so look sharp!

I don’t have a deep-fryer, so I used my large frying pan, into which I poured about 2 inches of oil, heated to 350º F and proceeded the same way.

Serve with Chinese hot mustard, duck sauce, or my favorite dipping sauces – Oxford Falls Three-Pepper Peach Sauce or Cherry Chipotle Sauce.

Notes:

In case you’re wondering, Eleanor ate 2 of these, so I’m taking that as a seal of approval. Either that, or she was just starving after sitting in traffic for over an hour to get to my house.

These are super if you have a time crunch and need to make them ahead of time. Just allow them to cool, throw ‘em in a freezer storage bag, and freeze. To reheat, preheat your oven to 375º F and put the frozen egg rolls on a parchment-lined or foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

A bunch of other folks are also making egg rolls this weekend in their own unique ways. To find out who, search the hashtag #GoJunkFood

Happy Chinese New Year! It is the Year of the Rabbit, a kinder and gentler year, according to Chinese Astrology. I, myself, am a Monkey – no smart remarks, thank you. To celebrate, I’m trying out several dim sum style dishes, and I’m starting with Vegetarian Pot Stickers.

The concept of dim sum is similar to Spanish tapas: lots of little plates and tastes. It’s a wonderful way to try out different flavors and textures, and to stretch your cultural palate. For me, the problem with going out to a dim sum restaurant, is that it’s tough to find dumplings and pot stickers and so on, that aren’t filled with pork or some sort of seafood.

I decided that if I’m going to get to indulge in this delectable form of Chinese cuisine with abandon, I’d have to learn to make it myself. And you know what? It’s not particularly difficult to make at home, either. You can buy egg roll and won ton wrappers in pretty much any grocery store, and while there are traditional fillings, there’s no reason you can’t create your own, or modify the recipes to suit your own needs and tastes.

Vegetarian Pot Stickers
(makes 24 – double or triple recipe as needed)

Ingredients:

24 won ton wrappers

8 oz. mushrooms (your choice – I used half whites & half baby portobellos)
1 Tbs. tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp. sriracha hot sauce
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp. fresh garlic (pressed through a garlic press)
2 scallions, white & green parts, roughly chopped

A little cornstarch
A little vegetable oil
1 cup water, divided

Special equipment: 10″ skillet with a tight-fitting lid, small bowl of water

Preparation:
Add all of the ingredients (except the wrappers, cornstarch, oil, and water) to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mushrooms are finely minced and all of the ingredients are well combined. It will help if you’ve given the mushrooms a bit of a rough chop first, or if you use pre-sliced mushrooms.

Place a won ton wrapper on your work surface, turned so that it appears to be a diamond shape. Place a teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper.

Dip a fingertip into the bowl of water and trace along the two edges farthest from you. Bring up the end closest to you, fold over the filling, and pinch the edges together to seal. Make sure you’ve gently pressed the wrapper around the filling so there are no air pockets.

Stand up your little triangle pocket so that the filling side sits on your work surface. Fold the top point down, away from you, and pinch. Now, give the edges on either side of that fold 2 little pleats and pinch. Your pot sticker will now look like it has wings. Place it on a large plate that’s been dusted with a bit of cornstarch, to prevent sticking.

Heat the skillet over medium-high heat. Brush just a few drops of oil onto the hot pan surface, and place 12 of the pot stickers, upright, into the pan. Allow the bottoms to brown. Carefully add 1/2 cup water to the pan and cover it quickly. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until all of the water has been absorbed. Remove the pot stickers immediately to another plate to keep warm, and repeat the procedure with the rest of the uncooked ones.

Notes:

Traditionally, pot stickers are made with round dumpling wrappers, so if you have them, you can skip the part about folding the top point down. You still have to pleat, though.

Feel like you have to have meat? Substitute 4 oz. of ground chicken (or pork, if you must) for half of the mushrooms, just don’t run it through the food processor. Mix the processed ingredients with the ground chicken thoroughly and fill the wrappers as before. Add a full cup of water (instead of 1/2 cup) to the pan, and steam until the water evaporates, about 5-6 minutes.

Wouldn’t it be fun to do up a bunch of these for your Super Bowl party?

I’m starting to warm up to kale. It took awhile, and some peer pressure. And guilt.

One of my favorite ways to disguise ->ahem!<- incorporate kale in meals, is to add it to pasta. We do love pasta around here, and I’ve got to admit that – aside from calling out for pizza – it’s my favorite “fallback” position when it comes to supper. Perfect for “Meatless Monday” (today is Monday, right?), 30-Minute Meals, or whatever category you’d like to put it in, we just call it “Delicious.” We’re totally going Italian, here!

Pasta Fagioli e Cavolo
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 lb. spaghetti
1 bunch kale
1/4 cup olive oil
4 Tbs. butter
4 – 5 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1 19 oz. can cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
Salt and pepper
Balsamic vinegar & parmesan cheese to finish

Preparation:

Cook and drain the pasta according to the package directions and set aside.

While you’re waiting for the pasta water to boil, rinse the kale under cold water, blot fairly dry, and, using just your hands, strip the leafy parts off of the ribs. Discard the ribs. Roll up the leafy bits and slice into thin strips.

Using the same pot you cooked the pasta in, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the chopped garlic and reduce the heat to medium-low. Add salt and pepper, and continue to poach the garlic until it just starts to turn golden, about 4 – 5 minutes. Add the kale strips and toss until it’s completely coated with the hot garlic oil and wilts. Add the beans, followed by the cooked pasta, and toss it all together until the kale and beans are well-distributed.

Serve in individual bowls and finish by drizzling some balsamic vinegar over each serving and grating some parmesan cheese on top. If you want to make it look really fancy, shave the cheese on top with a vegetable peeler. You can also serve it family-style, and let everyone do their own drizzling and grating (or shaving). Add some nice crusty Italian-style bread, and ->poof!<- supper’s ready!

Notes:

Okay, I made up the name. It means pasta with beans and kale. But if I called it that, would you look at it twice? And now you’ve got a fancy Italian name when the family looks at it, looks at you, and says, “What’s that?“

If you don’t want to use butter, just add another 1/4 cup of olive oil. I know it sounds like a lot of oil, but it really isn’t when you consider that it has to coat all of that pasta and greenery. You can also substitute 4 Tbs. of Smart Balance Light spread (my favorite non-dairy butter substitute), but it will take a bit longer to melt.

Make it even healthier by using wholegrain pasta. Many of the newer ones are very very good.

If you’re in a really fancy mood, or serving this to company, adding a small drizzle of truffle oil at the end will really send this over the moon. You know, if you happen to have some around.

This dish is fast, it’s easy, and it’s completely open to change-ups. No kale? Try some Swiss chard. No cannellini beans? How about some navy beans or great northerns? Kidney beans would add a real pop of color, and make it the same colors as the Italian flag!

*Name change at suggestion of two actual Italian-speakers. LOL! And just when I was getting the hang of typing Ravizzone.

Last night I made an old favorite for supper: lentil barley soup with mushrooms. Living in South Florida, we don’t get much of an opportunity – or inclination – to eat much in the way of hearty soups of the bean-mushroom-barley persuasion. We rarely need to warm up that much! But I’ve had a yen for mushroom barley soup, lately. I was just waiting for our temps to drop enough to justify it. The cooking lentils, pearl barley, and potatoes act as natural thickeners, and give this soup lots of texture and substance. It really is a meal in a bowl!

When I was growing up in Ohio, my Mom used to make a lot of bean/lentil/mushroom/barley soups in the winter. Her soups always had a meat base, usually gotten from throwing a big old beef bone or two into the pot. While not vegetarian by any stretch, I was never really a big meat-eater, either. And modern times being what they are, I live in the wrong end of town to have much access or choices in the kosher meat department. So, my version is completely vegan*, low-fat, and a real budget-stretcher, too.

Mom called her soup, krupnik. No, I don’t know what it means, but it doesn’t sound terribly appetizing, does it? I suppose it would be sexier to call it soupe aux légumes du potager avec champignons et orge – or something – but for now, let’s stick with Lentil Mushroom Barley Soup, okay?

Lentil Mushroom Barley Soup

Ingredients:

3/4 cup lentils
1/2 cup pearl barley
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
4 – 5 thin carrots, peeled & cut into 1″ – 1-1/2″ pieces
1/2 cup mushroom slices
4 cups vegetable broth
4 cups water
3 bay leaves
3 – 4 medium potatoes, peeled & cut into 1-1/2″ pieces
2 Tbs. worcestershire sauce* (I used Oxford Falls Vegan, Gluten-Free Worcestershire Sauce)
freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Preparation:

Put the lentils and pearl barley into a strainer or sieve, and rinse under cold water for about 30 seconds. Allow to drain.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a 6-quart pot. Add the onions, garlic, and salt. Sweat the vegetables until the onions are translucent and softened. Add the carrots and mushrooms, and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Add the lentils and barley, vegetable broth, water, and bay leaves, stir, and bring the soup to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Now add the potatoes, worcestershire sauce, and pepper (if using) stir, cover, and simmer for an additional 30 minutes. You may need to raise the heat briefly after adding the cold potatoes, but as soon as the soup begins to boil again, reduce it back down to medium-low. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary, and remember to remove the bay leaves before serving.

Notes:

Unlike most other beans, lentils don’t need to be soaked or softened before cooking, so they’re very convenient to have around for what I call “cooking by the seat of my pants”, and they’re packed with protein and other good stuff.

This recipe is a real time saver, if you choose to make it several days ahead of time and refrigerate it. While it’s very flavorful and satisfying immediately after cooking, making the soup ahead of time allows the flavors to meld and deepen. You can also freeze it for later use. Now that’s planning! Which I don’t. Usually. Oh, and if you’re really in a hurry, go ahead and use a couple of 4 oz. cans of mushrooms, drained well. I won’t tell anyone.

I referred to this recipe earlier as a “budget-stretcher”. Here’s why: As the soup cools, the starches from the lentils, barley, and potatoes, um, coagulate (for lack of a better word), and make it twice as thick as it was when it was freshly-cooked. The cooling process turns the soup into more of a soup base. To reheat, you must add more water or broth to the soup so it won’t burn. So, if you’re storing it (either refrigerated or frozen) for later meals, make portions half the size that you’ll need later. When ready to re-heat, just put the soup portion into a larger pot and add a nearly equal amount of broth or water. If you’d like, you can add another cut-up potato to leaven things out, and simmer for about another 20 minutes until the potato is fork-tender.

This soup also lends itself to nearly infinite variation, too, depending on what’s in your fridge. If you’ve got some kale or spinach you need to use up, just cut it into ribbons and toss into the pot for the last ten minutes of cooking. Chunks of squash – either summer or winter varieties – work well in here, too. Fifteen or twenty minutes should do it. So, clean out that vegetable drawer and use your imagination!

Stay warm, friends!

This post is part of Share Our Holiday Table, a seven-day, online progressive dinner series that we hope will encourage you to support and donate to Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign during this critical holiday period. I’m honored to be one of more than 50 bloggers who are participating. If you’ve been following along, the dinner has been unfolding for the last week across 7 courses and in 4 tracks (Gourmet, Family-Friendly, Gluten Free and Vegetarian).

Today’s featured course is the Side Dish and I’m offering you one of my favorite Vegetarian dishes, Kasha Varnishkes. My mom used to make this as a side to pot roast and turkey, and I’ve been cooking it through my adult life, frequently as a main course.

You see, kasha is actually roasted buckwheat kernels and is one of the healthiest grain products out there. A complete protein on its own, high in fiber, yada yada yada, kasha can be used as a main dish, side dish, stuffing, and even as a delicious hot breakfast cereal. It’s also gluten-free, so if that’s an issue for you or someone you love, you can also prepare the following recipe without the pasta as a Kasha Pilaf.

This recipe will feed a crowd on your holiday table or buffet, and makes an attractive change – or addition to – the usual potato fare. If you have less than a crowd, you can easily make half the quantity.

Kasha Pilaf Varnishkes
(serves 8-10 as a side dish, 4-6 as a main course)

Ingredients:

1 14 – 16 oz package Farfalle (Bowtie) pasta

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup carrots, split & sliced thin
1/2 cup celery, sliced thin
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced thin
1-1/2 cups medium or coarse Kasha
1 large egg or egg white (optional – see Preparation)
2 Tbs canola oil or butter
3 cups vegetable broth (divided)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

If not using the egg, skip to the next step. If using the egg or egg white: Beat the egg or egg white until well-blended. Add the kasha and combine with a fork until the grains are coated well.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the kasha and stir while toasting, till the grains are mostly separate and you smell a pleasant, toasty aroma.

Add the vegetables and 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth, stir well, and saute until the vegetables soften slightly, about 3 – 4 minutes. Add the remaining broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover the pan tightly, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 8 minutes, or until the kasha is soft. Uncover, and cook an additional 3 – 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, to allow the kasha to dry out a bit.

Check the seasoning, and add the farfalle (bow-tie) pasta, tossing together until thoroughly combined. Serve hot.

Notes:

You can find kasha in your regular grocery store in either the pasta/rice aisle or the ethnic foods, kosher products section. I’ve only ever seen Wolff’s brand, but feel free to use any other you may spot. It comes in Fine, Medium, or Coarse granulations. Only use the medium or coarse granulation for this recipe. The fine granulation is mostly for cereal and will turn out mushy.

A variety of liquids can be used to prepare this, including beef or chicken stock (although using these would render this no longer vegetarian), or even water.

The word “varnishkes” refers to the bow-tie pasta. No, I don’t know what it means.

As noted earlier, if you omit the pasta, this Kasha Pilaf is an excellent gluten-free choice, too.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this special holiday post on behalf of Share Our Strength, and that you’ll visit the other participating blogs to see what they’re serving up for Share Our Holiday Table.

In fact, I hope you’ve enjoyed it enough to click on one of these links and make a donation to Share Our Strength and sign the No Kid Hungry Pledge. Approximately 17 million children right here in the United States go hungry because of lack of access to programs that can change that, and lack of access to healthy foods. A hungry child can’t learn.

Even though my husband and I have no kids, we recognize that today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders. And can yank our Social Security in a heartbeat.

Will you join us in the No Kid Hungry Campaign?

Today’s side dishes in each track are brought to you by:

Gourmet

• The Urban Baker
• Heather Christo
• We Like to Cook, and Eat
• Plum Pie

Family Friendly

• What’s Cooking
• Dine and Dish
• The Evolving Cook

Vegetarian

• My Kitchen Addiction
• Taste as You Go
• Flamingo Musings (that’s me!)

Gluten Free

• The Whole Gang
• Jenn Cuisine– A mostly gluten free cooking blog.
• Creative Cooking Gluten Free