The Charmed Kitchen

Basque Soup

We had this soup in the Vegetarian Cooking class held in Beachwood a couple of nights ago. This is a super easy soup to make and pretty, too. I have made it with butter and milk but have also swapped out the butter for oil and the milk for either soy, rice or almond milk to make it a vegan soup. The version pictured here was made with olive oil and organic soy milk. A lot of the ingredients are things you can have on hand. This is a dish you can throw together in about 30 minutes.

Basque Soup

1 c. chopped onions

1 1/2 c. chopped celery

1/4 c. oil or butter

1/4 c. flour

3 c. milk, almond milk, rice milk or soy milk

1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can whole kernel corn, undrained- or use 2 cups frozen corn

3-4 cans butter beans, drained and rinsed

3-4 cups water and 1T. paste-type vegetable soup base

or 3-4 cups vegetable broth

pepper to taste

hot pepper sauce to taste

shredded mild cheese, optional

Sauté onions and celery in oil or butter until tender. Stir in flour until smooth and add milk, stirring to keep lumps from forming. Stir over medium heat until milk has thickened and begins to boil. Stir constantly as mixture simmers for an additional minute or two. Add remaining ingredients, except cheese and bring up to a simmer. Adjust seasonings. Ladle into bowls and top with cheese, if desired. Serves 8-10.

Easy Hot Crab Dip

We had a wonderful dinner at Amy’s on Saturday. Scott Bartko brought along a hot crab dip that he made. Simple and very tasty. Thanks Liz Cooper for getting the recipe to me.

Combine all ingredients in ovenproof bowl and mix until smooth. Bake in a 300-degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. You can also heat mixture in microwave for 90 seconds or until hot. You can mix the ingredients ahead of time and chill until ready to heat and serve.  Serve  with crackers, crusty breads or veggies. You can also spoon mixture into hollowed out tomatoes and broil until crab dip is hot and bubbly.

Sunshine Salad

When I say split peas what comes to mind? Split pea soup? GREEN split pea soup?  Years ago my dear friend, Dale Gallis, turned me on to yellow split peas.  I started making soup from them but also used them in salads. Today’s recipe is a tasty vegetarian salad that is as satisfying as it is pretty. Yellow  (or green) split peas cook to al dente in about 20 minutes so they are a quick option, too. Much shorter cooking times than other legumes.

Sunshine Salad

1- 1 1/2 c. raw yellow split peas

salt

1 carrot, peeled and shredded

1/2 c. chopped sweet onion

1/2 c. chopped sweet pepper

1/2 c. chopped parsley

1/4 c. olive oil

1/4 c. cider vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

6 c. mixed Spring greens

Rinse peas and place in a saucepan. Cover with water and add a little salt. Bring to a boil and simmer until peas are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Combine peas with carrots, peppers and onion and toss well. Add parsley, oil, vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Chill until ready to use.  Serve on greens.  Serves 3-4.

Cook in simmering water until tender

Rinse in cold water after cooking

Combine peas with other veggies

One Minute Spice Cake

Did you know you can bake cake in just a minute? By baking it in the microwave you can indeed have cake whenever you want it.  It’s also a fun way for kids to bake a cake and you can put  more than one mug to the microwave at a time. By mixing 2 cake mixes together ( one yellow or white, one angel food) and a few spices you have a mix that you just spoon into a mug, add water and microwave for a minute. Could not be easier. It’s also nice when you want a little something sweet but don’t want to bake a whole cake. Cute to serve cakes in tea cups for parties- but be sure the mug or tea cup you are using is microwave safe.

One Minute Spice Cake 

1 box white or yellow cake mix

1 box angel food cake mix

1 T. cinamon

1 t. each allspice, nutmeg and ginger

1/2 t.cloves

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir well. I actually like to sift in the ingredients but it is not a must. When ready to make a mug cake just place 4-5 tablespoons of the mix in a mug. Stir in 2 tablespoons of water. Bake in microwave on high for 1 minute*. You can top with fruit or powdered sugar once your cake is baked, if you like. Store leftover mix in an airtight container.

* Note: If you are doing several mugs at a time increase cooking time by 10-15 seconds for each additional mug.

Mix spices with dry cake mixes

Combine dry mix with water in a mug

Cook on high for 1 minute

Rustic Veggie Stew

“Meatless Mondays in March” opens today with a vegan stew I made for lunch today. Carl stopped by and so we got a chance to enjoy it together. I’ll go through what I used to make it- but feel free to sub out veggies you have on hand. Since I was able to get nice asparagus and broccoli I used them. For a non-vegan version you can serve it with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Rustic Vegetable Stew

oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

2 turnips, peeled and chopped, optional

2 potatoes, cubed

1 can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (14 oz.) tomatoes, undrained

4 c. chopped veggies, use what is on hand, I used asparagus and broccoli*

hot sauce to taste

1/4 c. fresh chopped parsley

1 t. fresh chopped rosemary

salt and pepper to taste

In soup pot heat oil and saute onions, carrots, celery and turnips for 5-10 minutes or until veggies are wilted. Add potatoes, beans and tomatoes and cook, covered, over medium low heat until veggies are tender. Stir occasionally. Add remaining veggies and cook, covered, another 10 minutes or until they are just tender. Add herbs and adjust seasonings. Serves 6.  I served it with a crusty herb bread.

*The last veggies added needed less time to cook so I added them later so they would keep some of their texture. Even frozen veggies could be used.

Saute veggies until wilted

Add tomatoes, potatoes and beans

Adding broccoli and asparagus for last 10 minutes of cooking

Zucchini Bread

I had some zucchini so I decided to make zucchini bread today. The recipe is easy- I doubled it and since I was using foil pans that are a little smaller than the 9×5-inch pans the recipe calls for I got 6 loaves of bread instead of 4. The addition of sour cream gives the bread a richness that is just yummy!!

Zucchini Bread

3 c. flour

3 eggs

2 c. sugar, I use less

2 c. shredded zucchini

1 c. oil

1 c. chopped nuts or raisins, optional

½ c. sour cream or Greek yogurt

1 t. each vanilla, cinnamon, salt and baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 2 (9×5 inch) loaf pans. Set aside. Place flour in large bowl. Beat eggs and add with remaining ingredients to flour, mixing well and scraping bowl. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake 1 hour , or until browned and toothpick in center emerges clean. Cool in pans on wire rack. Freezes well. Makes 2 .

There are still a few places available for this class in Beachwood on Wed. from 7-9pm.

Mar. 6: Vegetarian Cooking: Watching your cholesterol? Looking for an alternative to meat and potatoes? In this class you will learn the basics of eating meatless meals including ‘protein pairing’ and how to make food the family will enjoy, too. Whether you are already a vegetarian or just want a change of pace this class will give you a lot of information and plenty of good food. There will recipes to take home and samples to taste in class. Food Fee $8.00.

Beachwood Recreation

Cooking classes for Beachwood Recreation are held at the Beachwood Middle School in the home ec room. The School is located on Richmond Road behind the library. You can register by calling 216 292 1970.

Fresh Spring Salad

Fresh salad is one of my favorite foods. You don’t need pre-made or bottled dressing. Just a good olive oil and some balsamic vinegar and you are set.

Spring Salad

4 c. Spring mix  greens

6 asparagus spears

4 oz. sugar snap pea pods

1 carrot- shredded finely

3 broccoli stems, shredded finely

1/2 c. diced sweet onion

fresh parsley, chopped

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

salt and fresh ground pepper

4 oz. feta cheese crumbles

Wash and spin dry greens and place in salad bowl. Trim tough ends off asparagus and steam 4 minutes. Place in cold water to stop cooking and cut into 1-inch pieces. Add to greens. Add remaining vegetables to salad bowl. Drizzle with oil- not too much- and then toss. Add salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Serve in individual bowls and add cheese to taste. Serves 3-4.

Salad topped with Feta

Perfectly wonderful leg of lamb

Sunday dinner this week was extra special. Jonathan and I had a locally produced leg of lamb that was amazingly tasty. I started by studding the lamb with cloves of garlic then I rubbed it with a little olive oil. I rubbed it with pink sea salt and finished with sprigs of fresh rosemary. It was a 4 pound piece of meat and I allowed about 25 minutes per pound cooking time at 325 degrees for medium-rare. I also added cubed red skinned potatoes to the roasting pan. They were combined with  sauteed onions and mushrooms for serving. After the roast comes out of the oven allow it to rest about 20 minutes before carving.

Inserting garlic cloves into slits cut in the lamb

Ready for the oven

Oven roasted potatoes combined with mushrooms and onions before serving

Spiced Parsnip Cake

If you like carrot cake or spice cake I think you’ll really like this cake recipe. Fresh grated parsnips are the ingredient that makes the cake moist. You can serve it plain, dusted with powdered sugar or frosted.

Spiced Parsnip Cake

1½ c. flour

1 c. sugar

1 T. ground ginger

2 t.  each baking powder and cinnamon

1 t. each nutmeg and allspice

¾ t. each salt, and cloves

3 eggs

½ c. oil

½ c. milk

1 t. vanilla

2 c. packed peeled, shredded fresh parsnips, about 3 large

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 13×9- inch baking pan. Combine flour and sugar with dry ingredients and set aside. Whisk together the eggs, oil and milk and vanilla and pour over the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined and then stir in the parsnips. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes or until tester comes out clean.  When cool dust with powdered sugar or frost with cream cheese frosting.