Mushroom-garlic-kale soup etc.

There was a recipe for mushroom and kale soup in a recent issue of Vegetarian Times that sounded so perfect I couldn't wait to make it. I've adapted the recipe to suit my taste and pantry and offer it to you here. Last night we served the soup for a casual company supper. (Recipe at end of post.)



With the soup we had a salad of mixed greens, cucumbers, carrots, celery, grape tomatoes and olives.



And bread made from the basic recipe found in "Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day". (When I make this bread I usually change the proportions slightly, and use white whole wheat flour instead of regular whole wheat. I use 6-1/2 cups www flour, 1 cup unbleached white, 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten, 1 tbsp. yeast, 1-1/2 tsp. salt, 2 tbsp. sucanot, 2 tbsp. olive oil, 4 cups warm water.) You can find the complete information and instructions here. A video is available here. (Not all the breads in the book are vegan but they are easily adaptable.)



We also had baby back ribz— a tester recipe for Celine and Joni's upcoming cookbook. They are supposed to be all sticky-gooey with barbecue sauce so I slipped a little on that score but they were still delicious.



Since I'm mentioning tester recipes, here's one for mock tuna salad made with tempeh. It didn't taste like tuna to me but it tasted great!



Above you see a bowl of quinoa soup we were served for dinner by our son and his girlfriend. It's topped with chopped peanuts and avocado, and is a favorite of mine. It's a traditional Ecuadorian food, and you can find a recipe for a very similar soup here. For dessert we had chocolate peanut butter pillows from "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar" but I was so fixated on eating my cookies that I completely forgot to take a picture. Too bad, because they were gorgeous!



This is try #2 of frito misto. I really liked this version but it's still not perfect. Sigh.



Last but not least, we just couldn't give up on Turnpike Pizza's vegan (Daiya cheese) pizza without giving it another chance. The idea of vegan pizza this close to our house is just too alluring. So we tried again, this time telling them to go light on the cheese and heavy on the mushrooms. The resulting pizza was MUCH better. It had large slices of tomato and much less cheese. For some reason, the crust seemed completely different, too. It was not the soft-pretzel dough of our last experience, but a much chewier, crispier version of pizza. I wonder, if we order again, what our pizza will be like.



Mushroom, kale and garlic soup adapted from Vegetarian Times

• 8 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cups thinly sliced fresh mushrooms (I used crimini and white button)
• 10 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup brown rice vinegar
• 4 cups low-sodium broth
• 2 cups mushroom water (from soaking the shiitake mushrooms)
  
• 1 large bunch kale, washed and sliced
  
• 1 can no-salt cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 green onions, washed, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup brown rice (I used a jasmine, red and black mix)

1. Cook the rice in 1 cup of water and set aside.
2. In a bowl, soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in 3 cups of warm water for about 20 minutes while you prepare the rest of the soup. (This will give you approximately 2 cups of mushroom water.)
3. Sauté the fresh mushrooms in a 4 quart soup pot for about 10 minutes or until they start to release their juices.
4. Add the sliced garlic and cook 1 minute.
5. Add the vinegar and cook until it is almost evaporated.
6. Meanwhile, gently squeeze extra water from the dried shiitakes and thinly slice them. Add to the pot and sauté 1 minute.
7. Add the broth and 2 cups of mushroom soak water, leaving any dark residue behind in the bowl. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes.
8. Add kale and simmer for 10 to 20 minutes, or until kale is tender.
9. Add beans and rice. Bring soup to desired temperature for serving.
10. Stir in green onions and lightly cook them for a minute, or use them as a garnish.
11. Add salt if needed and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
    

Serves 6.

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Haiti still needs our help
I can't write a post without encouraging all the generous bloggers out there to make a contribution to help the people of Haiti recover from the horrendous earthquake. Here's a list of trusted places that will put your money to good use. Even a small donation will help.

The American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP) announces its top-rated list of charities involved in Haitian earthquake relief efforts. AIP, a leading charity watchdog that issues letter grade (A+ to F) ratings of nonprofit groups, identifies the following charities, which are providing aid to the victims that receive an “A” or “B” grade based on the portion of their budget going to program services and their fundraising efficiency. Contact the organizations below for information of specific relief operations now underway.

• Action Against Hunger (A)

• American Jewish World Service (A)

• American Red Cross (A-)

• American Refugee Committee (A)

• AmeriCares (A)

• CARE (A)

• Catholic Relief Services (A)

• Church World Service (A)

• Doctors Without Borders – USA (A)

• Habitat for Humanity International – N.O.

• International Medical Corps (A+)

• International Rescue Committee (A+)

• Lutheran World Relief (A)

• Medical Teams International (B+)

• Mennonite Central Committee (A)

• Mercy Corps (A-)

• Operation USA (A)

• Oxfam-America (A-)

• Partners in Health (A+)

• Project Concern International (A)

• Save the Children (A)

• Salvation Army (A)

• UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) (A+)

• World Concern (Program of Crista Ministries) (A)
  

• World Vision (B+)