Dark & Stormy Mushroom Soup

Sometimes Alayna and I surprise ourselves. I feel like here, bathing in soup bowl #64, we are still making some pretty awesome soups with unique and rich flavors. The thing that's particularly wild about that is that they are all so simple. We were discussing how we've never incorporated tools beyond a blender, oven and stove. This attests to both our zen and lazy personalities.

Further, with each passing soup bowl ladled and served I feel more like ... I'm feeling heady so excuse me ... but soup as a way of life. (WWYSBD = What Would Your Soup Bowl Do? ... well, probably just sit there.) I have been making a point to utilize local farmer markets more and more and make and use our own broth-- the idea of knowing exactly what I'm putting in my bowl (the bowl that Alayna made in pottery) and that it's good and simple is quite the rarity in these fast, strange New York City times.

So as I sit back at my desk at work, sipping a Diet Coke, a product I have no clue what it actually is, where it came from, or how long it can last, though I have a feeling an awfully long time-- the fact that I am totally aware of the stuff in my soup bowl is a delight.

To think Alayna never saw a purple potato before!

• cut up about a handful and a half of baby potatoes into bite-sized pieces (we used multicolor ones) and put into a separate pot to boil
• fill a medium sized bowl with water and about two ounces of dried porcini mushrooms and microwave for five minutes, letting the mushroom steep until needed
  
• saute 6 cloves of chopped garlic in olive oil with one sprig of fresh rosemary and a few sprigs of fresh thyme, adding half a yellow onion when they begin to be fragrant
• when the onion is translucent, add six chopped carrots (the skinny kind or two of the fat kind) to the pot and cook covered
• wipe off 3 portobella mushrooms and chop into bite-sized pieces, adding to the pot and stirring
• cook until the portabella mushrooms are done all the way through, then add the porcini juice (straining out the mushrooms) and potatoes (strained), topping off with bouillon cubes and water
• when broth is heated, add a bunch of chopped chard and cook five more minutes until done
• serve with Gouda and/or Swiss cheese

Almost Summer Soup (Porcini and zucchini soup with walnut basil pesto)

So, we're having a warm snap in New York right now and I LOVE it. Windows open, sandals on and air drying my hair instead of bundling up on the way to work (and having SUNSHINE when you leave for work instead of freezing cold darkness and/or snow and rain) is pretty amazing.

We're a day late because Mary had to catch up on work after her vacation, but don't worry, this soup is worth it. It's vegan, but surprisingly filling. Sounds complex, but is really simple to make. And it straddles that line between a hot day and a cooler night quite well. It's also delicious and I made up the recipe, so I'm feeling super proud. SO:

Almost Summer Soup (Porcini and zucchini soup with walnut basil pesto)

• THE SET-UP (things to do while you're doing other things)

• Chop up 3 red potatoes and bring to a boil in a separate pot until you can stick a fork in them easily, but they aren't too soft

• Throw about half a cup to a cup of walnuts onto a cookie tray and put in the oven at 250 for 5-10 minutes until toasted, then set aside to cool

• microwave about 4 cups of water for about 5 minutes and put in an ounce of dried porcini mushrooms to soak, re-heating as necessary

• THE SOUP

• Chop about 5 cloves of garlic and sauté in olive oil with a sprig of fresh rosemary and a few sprigs of fresh thyme

• Add half a white onion and the white and light green parts of three leeks, chopped and cook covered to reserve liquid

• Once fragrant, add two zucchinis, chopped and cook covered

• When the zucchinis are starting to cook, add 4 portabella mushroom caps, chopped and cook covered, stirring occasionally

• PESTO BREAK! Now you have time to make the pesto! Take a big bunch of basil, take out any bad leaves, and rinse thoroughly. In a food processor, layer in the basil first, then add some walnuts, then parmesan cheese and 2 cloves of garlic with a generous amount of olive oil. You may have to do in batches as things get copped up and move down. Adjust flavoring to your taste (I love garlic) and put in the fridge for later.

• By now your veggies should be cooked through, so add your potatoes (drained) and your porcini juice (with the mushrooms strained out and squeezed for juicy flavor)

• Blend (taking out your rosemary and thyme stems) and serve with a dollop of pesto in the middle.

• YUM!

The Highest Nutrient Soup You Can Make

If you know me you know I love nutrition. The 700-page "Alternate Nutrition," is my bathroom book. I go to the Health Section first on the Times online. And I have some weird thing for Martha Shulman. Not to be confused with Martha Stewart- whom I also have some weird thing for, and have since I was the weirdest eight year old of all time. Alison Smith, please feel free to testify to this.

So as you can imagine this soup excited me plenty. Ever reach for the processed filled not-real-food snack in your cubicle on a Thursday afternoon. Stand up for the first time in 6 hours and hear your legs creak like an 85-year old then get on the over-crowded subway to have people cough on you- you get out at that dive bar in the East Village and drink watery beer? I know and I have. And it doesn't make me feel healthy. (As I write this out I can almost hear my I-live-in-a-town-that-has-a-much-higher-quality-of-life friends shake their head with that satisfaction. I geeeeet it.)

Okay, sorry, distracted, the reality TV boy of the moment is about to realize he's gay. And there those friends go. The friends who don't own TV. The friends who write, "TV, what's that?" on their Facebook TV show interests (And don't get me started on the friends who don't even have Facebook to begin with.) Whatever, Alayna is flipping between "NYC Prep" and "16-and-Pregnant" right now. I know what you're thinking, "16-and-Pregnant!" That's too far! That's unethical! Whatever. Okay. I'm getting off point.

Soupie contest! It's going on for another week. Alayna and I just didn't have the time to go through all our soupie submissions. Now that we're famous in Dubai those are starting to roll in in addition to our United States fan base. And Alayna and I are like, Shoot, now we have to translate Arabic. So anyways, if you, say, didn't have time to submit your entry about your favorite soup today is lucky your day because you have another week! And trust me the prize is going to be awesome!

...Oh my gosh, the 16-year old is actually having the baby. Right now. Alayna looks like she is about to cry but she keeps turning back with this sad-like-amusement. "Sad-like-amusement," really, actually, sums up the way I see most things. Ohhh, you and your TV-less satisfication head shakes are endless.

Regardless of where and how you live friends, hope you're in the mood for a bowl of fiber filled natural health. Salud.

Your Bowl of Feel-Better-Ness

• First, put 2 ounces of dried porcini mushrooms into hot water and let soak for about half an hour while you start up the rest of the soup
• Peel and chop two sweet potatoes and a handful of red potatoes into bite-sized pieces and boil in a separate pot
• Roughly dice 6-8 cloves of garlic and saute in olive oil until translucent with some hot pepper
  
• Add a handful of carrots, chopped, and cover
  
• Add the leaves of a full bunch of kale to the pot
• Slice 2 yellow squashes and halve the pieces and add to the pot
• Add a handful of shitake mushrooms, sliced, and a box of baby bella mushrooms
• Once everything is getting soft, add the strained porcini mushroom juice (you might want to squeeze out excess juice... they are delicious) and cover the rest of the veggies with chicken (or vegetable) broth
• Simmer until things are getting soft, adding the potatoes when they are easy to put a fork through
• Blend and serve!
  

We were so excited about health we broke our blender. Over our heads. Holla.

That's how Amal looks when she is really excited about Health.

There you go. A bowl of 10 more years to your life. Enjoy.

Hail to Kale Soup

If the first thing you do at work is go to The New York Times' online Health Section too, then you and I both know that kale is the new "It" vegetable. Shari Hern writes: "And yes, a vegetable can be amazing. Particularly when it's loaded with substances that can help protect one from cancer, cataracts, emphysema, and rheumatoid arthritis."

Hey Austin Brey, can your Trader Joe's frozen pizza do that? No. For more on the superiority of soup over Trader Joe's frozen pizza, please check back next week.

Anyway. If you love something you are going to fight for it and that's exactly what Alayna and I did.

First Soup Fight

Alayna: when are you posting it???

ML: soon I just got back from Jackson Heights.

Alayna: you're doing kale first, right?

ML: nah, I'm doing last night's

Alayna: but the kale is so wintery!

ML: nope, next week

Alayna: please?

Alayna: please, please, please

ML: nope. unless you want to write the blog

Alayna's First Blog Post

As you may have noticed, I have a mild obsession with soup. Actually, I wouldn't even say obsession with soup (although this blog makes it appear otherwise)... mostly I have an obsession with being secretly lazy.

Secret laziness means this: having home-cooked meals, but not having to cook (okay, really do the dishes) every night. Having nutritious food but only having to use one dish to eat it. Either way, I make so much soup because it's easy to make a huge quantity at once, it stores well, and you can put all kinds of good-for-you stuff into it.

Which brings us to kale. Mary and I only recently discovered kale because she read some article about how essentially it's mega-powered spinach. Fiber, iron, vitamins, whatever. It's all there. We like spinach, so kale seems like a good idea.

So far our relationship with kale has gone well. It's tougher than spinach, which means it holds up to cooking without becoming mushy if you walk away for a minute. It's also really good sauteed with fresh ginger, garlic and rock salt. And delicious in this soup. Other things delicious in this soup? Barley (fiber!), potatoes (vitamin C!) and mushrooms (the porcinis give that great earthy taste and the baby bella's keep the texture interesting.)

Wow Alayna, what an educational blog post.

And Now, Please Help Us Welcome Our New Friend, Kale

And welcome KZimm's first appearance on Monday's Soups.

Before you head to work put 3/4 cups of dried barley into cold water to soak for the day

When you get home, microwave 2 cups of water for 3 minutes

Then poor onto 1/2 ounce of dried porcini mushrooms

Let them sit for 30 minutes and put on sweatpants

Chop up about a handful and a half of baby red potatoes into bite sized pieces and boil in a separate pot.

Take off heat once they are mostly soft.

Saute about 5 cloves of garlic and 1 medium yellow onion in olive oil until translucent

Add 3/4 of a packet of sliced baby portabella mushrooms

(which are the same as cremini!)

and a handful of sliced shitake mushrooms to the mix and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are getting soft and everything is fragrant

Add in soaked barley, reconstituted mushrooms (with the soaking liquid!),

chicken broth,

a handful of parsley, rosemary and thyme

and let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste

Clean and de-stem a bunch of kale and add it into the pot with the potatoes for the last 10-15 minutes of cooking time.

Enjoy!

P.S. This soup was strongly inspired by a New York Times recipe. Thank you New York Times.