I’ve decided that I like couscous much better in soup than pasta because it holds its shape a lot better, especially when the soup is reheated, and adding couscous makes the soup making process a lot faster too. The harissa (my new favourite condiment again since we just got a new jar) adds a nice spicy zing to the soup, so you can add as little or as much as you want. This recipe makes enough for 6 bowls of soup at 97 cents per serving.

Moroccan Couscous Soup
glug of olive oil
2 medium zucchini, halved and sliced into 1/2 inch slices
4 green onions, thinly sliced including the green tops
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 14-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
small jar of marinated artichoke hearts
1 cup couscous
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon harissa, plus more to taste
salt and pepper

Heat up the olive oil in a large pot and saute the zucchini and green onions over a medium heat. When they have softened, add the stock and the remaining ingredients minus the parsley, salt, and pepper. Bring the soup up to a quick boil and then reduce the heat and let everything simmer uncovered for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the couscous is fully cooked. If the soup is too thick, add some extra water or stock until you get the desired consistency. Taste the soup and add more harissa if needed, then season with salt and pepper. Throw in the chopped parsley at the last minute and serve.

If you have leftovers, you might need to add some extra water when you reheat it because the couscous absorbs a lot of the soup liquid when it is in the fridge.

Pancake Day reminds me of the powerful traditions that food can play in your upbringing. It was always one of my favourite holidays, and I loved how my mum always made pancakes for me, even though my sister and brother never really liked them that much. I’m pretty sure that I’m the only one who is continuing the Pancake Day tradition now in my family and I know that I will make sure that any children we might have will obsess about pancakes as much as I do!

Speaking of family food traditions that only me and one parent enjoyed when I grew up reminds me of my dad’s Bubble and Squeak. Bubble and Squeak is a traditional English dish made of leftover potatoes and cabbage, or in our house brussels sprouts, that you mash together and then cook in a frying pan until it bubbles and then squeaks (hence the name). I grew up with my dad making this for breakfast after every Christmas, and later when we moved to America, after every Thanksgiving. It is one of the few dishes that my dad makes, but it is my favourite. He always adds any other leftover vegetables from the holiday meal like carrot and turnip mash, and the bubble and squeak then gets served with a fried egg, brown sauce, and baked beans to make a mean English breakfast. This breakfast was only ever enjoyed by me, my dad, and occasionally my mum. My little brother would always reserve his leftover roast potatoes so they wouldn’t get used in the bubble and squeak. Although Carlo thinks that the name bubble and squeak is ridiculously English and silly, he always slides up to the dinner table the morning after the holidays for some of my dad’s breakfast goodness.

This Bubble and Squeak Soup gets its name from the combination of brussels sprouts and potatoes, and tastes like a grown up twist on cheese and broccoli soup for any non-English people who have never heard of bubble and squeak! This recipe makes enough for 6 bowls of soup at 91 cents per serving.

Bubble and Squeak Soup with Aged Cheddar, adapted from Riverford Farm Cookbook
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 bacon slices, chopped
1 pound potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 pound turnips, peeled and diced
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
1 pound brussels sprouts
2 ounces aged cheddar cheese, grated
sea salt and black pepper

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and cook it for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the bacon and cook for a further 5 minutes. Then add the potatoes and turnip, and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes.

Pour in enough stock so that all of the potatoes are covered by an inch or so. Let the soup simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chopped brussels sprouts, and cook for 10 more minutes. Use an immersion blend to puree the soup. You can take out and reserve a couple cups of vegetables and return them to the puree for a more rustic soup. Season the soup with salt and pepper, and serve topped with grated aged cheddar.

The only downside to our adventures is returning home and feeling the results of over eating and drinking for 2 weeks! We came back to Vegas with an insatiable desire to eat lots of veggies in an effort to detox our bodies from too many poolside cervezas and all those buffets at the resort.

Yesterday I made this carrot soup and it totally hit the spot: Tons of veggies, lots of flavour, and very healthy without tasting like health food. This soup recipe made enough for 6 bowls at 74 cents per serving.

Indian Spiced Carrot Soup with Ginger, adapted from Bon Appetit, April 2008
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard powder
3 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon curry powder, preferably Madras
2 tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger
2 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
zest and juice of 1 lime
5 cups (or more) chicken broth or vegetable broth
salt and fresh ground pepper
plain Greek yogurt for garnish

Heat the oil in heavy large pot over a medium-high heat. Add the dried spices and stir for 1 minute. Next add the grated ginger and stir it for a minute. Add the onions, carrots, and zest of the lime to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Saut?© the soup base until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes.

Add 5 cups of broth and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer the soup uncovered until the carrots are tender, about 30 minutes.

Let the soup cool slightly, and then puree the soup with an immersion blender until it is smooth. If the soup is too thick, add more broth by 1/4 cupfuls until it is the right consistency. Stir in the juice of 1 lime and season with salt and pepper. Serve the soup with a dollop of Greek yogurt on top to stir in.

Anyway, I’m determined to eat less Asian food this week and eat way more vegetables instead. Y’all know that I love making soups because they are so easy to prepare and make weekday lunches effortless if you cook a huge pot of soup at the beginning of the week. Plus soups are a really great way to load up on your veggies. On one of our healthy non-Asian food eating days last week, I made this simple but delicious soup crammed full of roasted veggies and spinach. I let the soup sit on the stove while it cooled and the roasted butternut squash really flavoured the broth. This recipe makes enough for 6 bowls of soup at $1.10 per serving.

Roasted Vegetable Soup with White Beans and Spinach, adapted from Bon Appetit, January 2000
nonstick vegetable oil spray
3 medium carrots, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 large tomatoes, quartered
1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 cups (or more) vegetable or chicken broth
4 cups baby or finely chopped spinach
3 large fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 15-ounce can Great Northern beans, drained

Preheat the oven to 400¬?F, and spray a baking sheet with oil. Arrange the carrots, tomatoes, onion, butternut squash, and garlic on the sheet, and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Sprinkle the veggies with salt and pepper and toss them to coat. Roast the vegetables until they are golden and tender, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

Set aside the carrots and butternut squash. Place the garlic, tomatoes, and onion into a food processor and puree until the veggies are almost smooth. Pour 1/2 cup of broth onto the baking sheet and scrape up any of the browned bits stuck on the sheet.

Transfer the baking sheet broth and vegetable puree to a large pot, and add 5 1/2 cups of broth, spinach, thyme, and bay leaf to pot. Let the soup come to a boil and then reduce the heat and let everything simmer until the spinach is tender, around 20 minutes.

Add the beans and the reserved carrots and squash to soup. Simmer for 5 minutes to blend the flavors, and add more broth to thin soup if it is necessary. Season the soup with salt and pepper, and discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf.

Keeping this in mind, we have come up with a few turkey recipes that use up all of those leftovers. And believe me, we cooked a 13 pound turkey for two people so we had TONS of leftover meat.

First up is a recipe for Turkey Stock, which is a great way to use the carcass of the bird instead of just throwing it into the rubbish bin. Plus homemade turkey stock is so much better than any canned or cube stock that you buy at the grocery store. We made a huge vat of stock and then divided it among smaller containers which we froze so we can use them later as a chicken stock substitute. This recipe makes enough for 10 cups of stock at 24 cents per cup.

Turkey Stock, adapted from Gourmet, November 2004
1 turkey carcass
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 medium yellow onions, left unpeeled, then trimmed and halved
3 celery stalks, cut into 2-inch lengths
3 carrots, quartered
6 fresh parsley stems, without leaves
1 bay leaf
10 black peppercorns
5 quarts cold water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Take the turkey carcass and break it down into thighs, drumsticks, wings, and the back bone. Halve the turkey wings at the joints, and then crack the wing bones in several places with the knife. Don’t worry about picking the carcass clean of every last piece of meat since this is what helps make a flavourful stock.

Heat up 1/4 cup of oil in a heavy stock pot over a medium heat and then throw in the turkey bones and let them brown. Once they are browned, remove the bones from the pot and set them aside for a few minutes.

Add the onions to the stock pot, cut side down, and cook them until they are golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. Remove them from the pot and let them rest with the bones. Then cook the celery and carrots until golden, about 3 minutes.

Add the turkey bones, onions, and remaining ingredients to the pot and bring to a boil over a high heat. Reduce the heat and let the stock gently simmer, partially covered, for 3 hours. Be sure to skim the top of the stock to remove any foam that may build up during this cooking process.

Once the stock is cooked, remove the pot from the heat and let the stock cool uncovered until it is room temperature. Pour the cool stock through a large fine-mesh sieve and throw away the solids.

Now measure the stock. If there is more than 10 cups, boil the stock until it is reduced, or if there is less than 10 cups, add a bit more water to make up the difference.

Let the stock stand for a few minutes until the fat rises to the top and then skim that off and throw it away. You can either use the stock right away, or freeze it for up to 3 months in an airtight container.

I’ve always enjoyed cooking (and of course eating), but since getting laid off, I have become the primary chef in the house after Carlo taking the lead for the last 8 years. Thinking about what I’m going to cook, grocery shopping, and then actually cooking takes up a large portion of my unemployed life, which helps add some structure and significance to days that are largely indistinguishable from one day to the next. Cooking makes me happy, and I love making something that Carlo enjoys. Plus I like sharing my cooking adventures with y’all too.

On Monday when I was super down in the dumps about not getting this job that I wanted, I knew that I had to get into the kitchen and cook something even if we did have Beef, Guinness, and Cheese Pie leftovers for dinner. I decided to make this Mexican Pumpkin Soup that my old friend Tina from Wales was raving about and which is in the great cookbook that she gave me last month when she visited Vegas.

The meditative process of chopping vegetables and pureeing made me forget about my crappy afternoon. Instead I focused on the delicious soup that I was making and how it would nourish me and Carlo, both literally and metaphorically. Making the soup made me think of my friend Tina and all of the good times we had together at the UEA Union Bar all those years ago, and it made me wish that I had more friends and family in Vegas with whom I could share this soup.

I’m a firm believer that any food that you put love into tastes great, but this soup was a knockout winner with its spicy sweet flavour and the crunchy flavorful topping. Plus it seemed to have magical powers in chasing the blues away. This Mexican Pumpkin Soup recipe makes enough for 6 bowls at $1.40 per serving.

Mexican Pumpkin Soup, adapted from the Riverford Farm Cook Book
1 pumpkin or butternut squash (about 3 pounds), peeled, deseeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
5 garlic cloves, crushed
2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
14 ounce can of chopped tomatoes
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
14 ounce can of red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn, defrosted
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce or garlic chilli sauce
juice of 1 lime, or more to taste
1/2 chopped cilantro
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

To garnish the soup:
tortilla chips, crushed
grated cheddar cheese
2 ripe avocados, peeled and diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the pumpkin or squash cubes on a roasting tray and toss them with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and generously season with some salt and pepper. Put the pumpkin in the oven and let the cubes roast for 40 minutes, until they are slightly golden.

While the pumpkin is cooking, heat the rest of the olive oil in a large pan and add the onions. Cook the onions for 20 minutes until they are tender and slightly caramelized. Stir in the paprika, garlic, and chillies and cook for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and let them simmer for 15 minutes or until the base is reduced and thick. Stir in the roasted pumpkin.

Add a little bit of the stock and begin pureeing the soup using a hand blender. Slowly add the stock and continue to puree until everything is well combined. Bring the soup to a boil and add the kidney beans and corn. Season well, adding the cilantro, chilli sauce, and lime juice to taste. Let everything simmer for 10 more minutes.

To serve the dish, top with crushed tortilla chips, grated cheese, and diced avocado.

Winter Minestrone, adapted from Gourmet, January 2009
1/3 pound sliced bacon or pancetta, chopped
3 medium red onions, chopped
4 celery ribs, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch Swiss chard
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes in juice
3 quarts hot water
5 cups coarsely chopped cored Savoy cabbage, about 6 ounces
5 cups coarsely chopped escarole, about 1/2 pound
1 piece Parmesan rind, about 3 by 1 1/2 inches
1 14-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
4 ounces dried macaroni pasta

Brown the bacon or pancetta in oil in a 7-to 9-quart heavy pot over medium heat. It is best to get the bacon as crispy as possible so that the majority of the fat renders and you aren’t left with flimsy and fatty pieces of bacon in your finished soup. Add the onions, celery, and carrots, and stir occasionally, while preparing the chard.

Cut out the tough stems from the chard and then chop them up, reserving the leaves for later. Stir the chard stems into the bacon and veggie mixture with garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until all of the vegetables are very tender and begin to stick to bottom of pot, about 45 minutes total.

Push the vegetables to one side of pot, and add the tomato paste to the cleared area and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste begins to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Stir the paste into the vegetables and let everything cook for another 2 minutes while continuing to stir.

Stir in the canned tomatoes with their juice, and use a spoon to break them up into smaller pieces. Add 3 quarts of hot water and scrape up any brown bits from bottom of pot.

Bring everything to a simmer, and then stir in the cabbage, escarole, and Parmesan rind. Let the soup continue to simmer, covered, until the greens are tender, about 40 minutes.

Coarsely chop up the chard leaves and stir them into the soup along with cannellini beans and pasta. Simmer, partially covered, for another 10 minutes. Remove the Parmesan rind from the soup and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Both Carlo and I love all kinds of Spanish food, in particular tapas, but I’m a sucker for a good stew especially when it has chickpeas AND chorizo in it. The hardest part of this recipe is cooking the dried chickpeas, which is a bit time consuming, but you can do it the day before if you want. The end result is a complex stew with a nice smokiness from the paprika and a good contrast of textures between the soft meatballs and the nutty chickpeas. This recipe makes enough for 4 people at $2.66 per serving.

Chickpea Stew with Chorizo and Meatballs, adapted from The New Spanish Table
For the chickpeas:
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight or quick-soaked
1 bay leaf
6 ounces Spanish chorizo, sliced

For the meatballs:
2 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
10 ounces ground pork
1/4 cup grated onion
1 egg, lightly beaten
sea salt and pepper
extra-virgin olive oil

For finishing the stew:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon smoked sweet Spanish paprika
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
sea salt and pepper

Prepare the chickpeas by placing them in a large pot and covering them with 2 inches of cold water. Bring the soaked chickpeas to a boil over a high heat. Add the bay leaf and then reduce the heat to low, and simmer, partially covered, for 1 hour. If the water level gets really low, add some extra water to the pot.

After 1 hour, add the sliced chorizo to the chickpeas and continue cooking until the chickpeas are tender but still have a bit of bite to them, around 30 minutes longer.

While the chickpeas are cooking, make the meatballs by putting the bread into a small bowl and covering the slices with cold water. Let the bread soak for 5 minutes, then drain and squeeze out the excess liquid. Finely crumble the bread and place it in a large bowl with the pork, onion, and egg. Gently knead the meatball mixture with your hands until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Season with salt and pepper.

If the meatball mixture is too moist to form into meatballs, stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. Shape the meat mixture into meatballs the size of a cherry tomato. Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan and in batches, cook the meatballs until they are browned on both sides and pretty much cooked through. Remove the meatballs from the frying pan and set them aside until later.

In the pan with all the meatball drippings, cook the onion, carrots, and garlic over a medium heat until they are soft but not browned, around 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes then cover the frying pan, and let everything cook for another 5 minutes. Finish by stirring in the paprika.

By now, the chickpeas should be ready. There will still be some water left in the chickpea pot, and if you think it is too much, remove some of the cooking juice and reserve it in case you need to add it back later to the stew.

Add the tomato mixture to the chickpea pot and cook the stew over a simmer until the chickpeas are very tender, around 15 to 20 minutes longer. Add the meatballs at the end and simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Taste the stew and season with salt and pepper as needed.

To serve the stew, chop up some fresh parsley to sprinkle on top and enjoy.

A very old friend Britney, who I met at my first ever job at a party store in Texas circa 1993, sent me this recipe for Moroccan Spiced Chickpea and Lentil Soup saying that I had to try it. I like lentil soups, although canned ones are usually rather bland, so I was excited to try this new soup.

It got two thumbs up from both Carlo and I. It was hearty and full of flavour from all of the dried spices, plus the Moroccan condiment charmoula added a nice shot of colour and brightness to the soup. This soup recipes makes enough for 8 big bowls of soup at 97 cents per serving.

If you have any incredible recipes that you want to share, please send them my way!

Moroccan Spiced Chickpea and Lentil Soup
Soup:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 fennel bulb, chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 medium white onion, chopped
2 14-ounce cans chopped tomatoes, with their liquid
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Pinch of saffron threads (optional)
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup dried lentils (green, brown, red or yellow), picked through and rinsed
4 sprigs cilantro
4 sprigs parsley
2 dried bay leaves
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cups canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed, about 2 cans

Charmoula:
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and deveined
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 bunch cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil up in a large pot over a medium heat. Add the fennel and let it gently cook for a few minutes until it releases its natural juices. Throw in the red and white onions and cook until they are translucent, around 10 to 12 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes with their liquid and turn the heat up to high until it begins to simmer. Then add all of the spices to the soup base and let everything simmer together for a few more minutes.

Add the broth, lentils, cilantro and parsley sprigs, and bay leaves to the soup base and bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Mix in the sugar, salt, and pepper, then cover the pot and let everything simmer for another 25 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Add the chickpeas and cook the soup, uncovered, for another 5 or so minutes, until all the ingredients are properly heated through. Remove and throw away the bay leaves, cilantro, and parsley. Then season with salt and pepper to taste.

To make a chunkier soup, I took a couple cups of the soup and threw them in a blender until everything was pureed and then I returned the puree to the soup and mixed it in well.

The Moroccan condiment charmoula adds a nice freshness to the cooked soup and can easily be made by mixing the olive oil, cumin, garlic, jalapenos, and lemon juice in a food processor to make a puree. Throw in a bunch of cilantro leaves along with the lemon zest, and salt and pepper, and whiz until the mixture looks like a rustic pepper. If you need to thin it out, add a little bit of extra oil. You can keep the charmoula in a tightly closed container in the fridge for up to few days.

Serve the soup hot, with 1 tablespoon of the charmoula mixed in. The soup keeps for a few days in the fridge and makes great leftovers. We didn’t freeze any this time, but I think it should hold up well in the freezer too.

Sadly there is no Soup Peddler-equivalent in Vegas, but I did make a HUGE pot of soup last week that was just as delicious as anything that we ordered from him. This Soupe Au Pistou, or Provencal Vegetable Soup, is crammed full of veggies and has a mellow depth to it from the added saffron. But what really makes the soup is the pistou, a twist on pesto but with the addition of tomato paste. It adds a nice freshness and brightness to the soup so the soup doesn’t taste like just any old veggie soup from a can. Also the soup really fills you up and feels like a real meal so you aren’t starving a couple of hours later.

When I make soup, I normally make a large vat so we can have lunch for a few days and then I also put the soup in individual serving sized containers and freeze them for a later date. This soup freezes really well, which is good since the recipe makes enough for 8 large bowls of soup at $1.71 per serving.

Soupe Au Pistou
Soup:
2 tablespoons good olive oil
2 chopped onions
3 chopped leeks, white and light green parts
1 pound 1/2-inch-diced unpeeled boiling potatoes
1 pound 1/2-inch-diced carrots
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 quarts homemade chicken stock or canned broth
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
1/2 pound green beans, ends removed and cut in half
4 ounces spaghetti, broken in pieces

Pistou:
4 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup tomato paste
24 large basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 cup good olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot, and add the onions. Saute them over a low heat for around 10 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add the leeks, potatoes, carrots, salt, and pepper to the pot and saute them over medium heat for another 5 minutes.

Add the chicken stock and saffron to the mix. Bring everything to a boil, then let it simmer uncovered for about 20-25 minutes, or until all of the veggies are tender. Add the green beans and spaghetti to the pot, bring to a simmer, and cook for 10 more minutes.

To make the pistou, whiz together the garlic, tomato paste, basil, Parmesan, and olive oil in a food processor until everything is mixed to create a paste. To keep its colour when you put the pistou in the fridge, place it into a container and pour a light film of olive oil on top and cover the container with a lid.

Finish off the soup by stirring 1/4 cup of the pistou into the hot soup, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup by topping each bowl with a big dollop of pistou to complete the dish.