Vegetable Dumpling Soup

Soup. No joke (although people make jokes about me), is eaten in my house, at lunch and sometime even at dinner. Every. Single. Day. There is just no going wrong with a big pot or veggies, spices, sometimes beans, sometime not. I make it in big batches, in small batches. Sometimes it’s more a bisque, or a chili or a stew, or just a really really spicy broth. Whatever I have in the fridge or freezer, the stuff that might not be great eaten fresh, sad spinach…. It all turns in soup.

Does that make me some kind of weird soup freak? Maybe, but I am ok with that. And to those who see me walking down the street and yell silly things about me having to get home to eat my soup (it happens more then you know) well, you know you are just jealous and secretly wish you were eating soup with my too. So 😝.

Are you a soup person too? I mean, who isn’t, especially right now that is is fall time and it’s getting chilly and darker out and all we want to do is hibernate. Definitely a soup time if there was ever a specific time for soup. And this soup, made even more hardy and comforting with the addition on dumplings. I actually made it specifically for the mr because, well just because I love him and thought he would enjoy it. And well, he loved it because dumplings of course. Light and slightly chewy, soup thickening dumplings with hot and comforting soup. A perfect end to a day of him working outside in the cold.

So soup. Make it. Dumplings. Add those too. You will be a winner with food, and in life.

To the soup and dumplings!

The stuff. A few stalks of Swiss chard, a couple carrots and a few potatoes. An onion, dried navy beans, some cherry tomatoes. Then there is flour, with salt and baking powder, a little oil, plant based milk, and salt and pepper.

Veggie chopping time. Dice the potatoes, the onion, the carrots, and the stalks of the chard into small mouth sized pieces. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and the chard leaves into small ribbons. Set the tomatoes and greens aside.

Dump the carrots, onion, chard stalks, and potatoes into a very large pot, add all the spices, a good pinch of salt, lots of black pepper, and a few splashed of water. Cook on medium high heat for 5-7 minutes to just kind of sweat the veggies a bit.

Add in beans and water. Bring pot to a boil then reduce heat to medium and let cook for about an hour. Just give it a stir once in a while.

After an hour check the beans. If they seem close to being done (almost squish in between fingers), then add in the tomatoes, the chard greens, and a few more cup of water. Keep on heat and start the dumpling batter.

Dumpling batter. Mix together the dry ingredients then add in the wet. Mix until combined.

Soup. All nice and looking just about done. The vegges are soft and tender, the beans are cooked. Check and season for salt now then get ready to drop dumplings.

Drop the dumplings. Tablespoons of batter go right into the soup. Thencook, with a lid slightly covering pot, for about 15 minutes.

Look at that. Soup with soft, fluffy, dumpling ready for consumption.

Now all you have to do it serve it up and eat it up.

Soup all day. Every day. Dumplings too!

-C

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Vegetable Dumpling Soup

makes 4-6 servings

• For the soup

• 1/2 cup dried small white beans

• 1 large onion

• 2 carrots

• 2 small red potatoes

• 3 Swiss chard leaves and stalks

• handful of cherry tomatoes (about a cup or so)

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon dill

• 1 teaspoon thyme

• 1 teaspoon ginger

• 1 teaspoon marjoram

• 1 teaspoon ground mustard

• 1/2 teaspoon sage

• 1/2 red pepper flakes

• 12 cups water

• salt and pepper to taste

• For dumplings

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1 tablespoons oil

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/2 cup warm water or plant based milk

Couple quick notes. I use water but if you really want, use veggie stalk. I find stalk overpowers soup and makes it taste salty, even when it is low sodium. Plus water is there and free but again, use stalk if you want. Also, you can use just about any veggie that you like so if you want to replace chard with celery and spinach or throw some red peppers into the soup, go for it.

Start by small dicing the potatoes, the onion, the carrots, and the stalks of the chard. Dump it all into a large pot, along with all the spices and a good pinch of salt and pepper, and place on the stove on medium high heat with about 1/2 cup water and cook for a few minutes. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and cut the chard leaves into small ribbons. Set aside.

Once the veggies and spices have had a few minutes on the stove, add in the dried beans and 10 cups of water. Bring the pot to a boil then reduce to a medium heat. Cook for about an hour, giving it a stir once in a while. After an hour, check beans for doneness but removing one or two and pinching between fingers. . They should be close to done by now. If they are still really heard, cook for another 20 minutes, if almost cooked through, toss in the tomatoes, the chard greens and the other 2 cups of water. Keep cooking.

In the meantime, make dumpling dough. Mix the dry together then add in the oil and milk. Mix until just combined. Set aside.

Once the soup is done (the veggies are all soft and tender, the beans are cooked through which should take a total of 1 1/2 hours), it’s time to dumpling. Turn the soup up to a medium high heat and carefully drop tablespoons of the dumpling batter right into the soup. The batter will float. Once all the dumplings are in, half cover the pot and let the dumpling cook for 15 minutes or until the dumplings are big, light. and fluffy.

Remove pot from heat and serve and eat right away. Big bowls, Big spoons. Pinch more of salt if needed. Lots of pepper.

Potatoes in Tomatoes with Chick Peas and Onions

Potatoes in tomatoes. It just has a nice ring to it. And to tell the truth, that is the only reason I made this dish, because it sounds good.

Ok, not really the only reason, but it was the start, that and I have been sitting on some potatoes for a little while and it was time for them to be eaten. Enter in the tomatoes. I figures cooking the potatoes in tomatoes is alike to a ketchup and french fry situation. Not completely the same, but you get the idea. Add in chickpeas for good measure and onion because I wanted to and that is that. Nothing fussy, one pot, easy, hearty, and good.

Also not hurting anyone that these potatoes take a little while to bake. I could have made this dish in a way that made them cook faster (like parboil the potatoes) but I wanted the heat from the oven. It has been pretty freaking dang cold out so I liked having the heat, it adds another dimension to the term comfort food (as in me being comfortable hanging out next a hot oven).

Anyway, nothing too fancy, just all around tasty dish. It is just what you need to bake and eat on any given cold winter day. And it sounds nice too. Just say it aloud. Potatoes in Tomatoes. Right? Now you see, it had to be done.

To the potatoes in tomatoes!

The stuff. Potatoes, crushed tomatoes, cooked chick peas, an onion, a few cloves garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil.

Start by chopping the onion and mincing the garlic.

Get it all into a cast iron pan or oven safe skillet with a little olive oil. Add the spices and give it some heat on the stove top while you cut potatoes.

Now cut those potatoes nice and thin. A mandolin works wonders but a knife will do just as well, just try to keep the thickness all the same.

Potatoes are cut and onion mixture has sweated a bit so now you add in the chick peas (with liquid) and half the crushed tomatoes. Stir it all up.

Layer on potatoes, drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil and give them some salt and pepper love.

Dump the rest of the tomatoes on top then add in water, enough that all the potatoes are completely submerged.

Now into the oven they go.

Doesn’t that just look all fantastic? I mean really really , A+ good, no? If you are feeling extra crispy, you could even stick the skillet under the broiler for a few minutes right before you pull it out.

And that is that. Potatoes in tomatoes with chick peas and onions. A simple but very satisfying dish to keep your cold belly full of warm goodness.

Be well.

-C

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potatoes in tomatoes with chick peas and onions

• About a pound or so of white or red potatoes

• 3 cups (or a 28oz can) crushed tomatoes

• 2 cups (or a 16 oz can) cooked chickpeas in liquid

• 1 large onion

• 2-3 close garlic

• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

• 2-3 cups water

• olive oil

• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400

Grab onion and dice into small pieces. Mince the garlic. Grab a medium sized oven safe skillet and toss the onion and garlic in with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and the seasoning. Place on medium heat and cook for a few minutes until the the onion is slightly cooked and fragrant. Remove from heat. Mix in the chick peas with liquid and half of the crushed tomatoes.

Rinse potatoes and slice into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Place tomatoes into the skillet, layering any way you want. Drizzle the top with like a teaspoon olive oil then sprinkle the tomatoes with salt and pepper. Spread the rest of the crushed tomatoes over the potatoes then pour the water in. If the potatoes are not completely submerged in water, add more until they are. Cover the skillet with a lid or tin foil.

Place skillet in oven and bake 40ish minutes then remove lid or foil and bake for another 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender and slightly crispy on the edges. Depending on the type of patotoes you use,(like a really firm and waxy yellow potato) you might need to add more water to the skillet and cook for longer. If that is the case, just pour more water over until the potatoes are submerged again and keep baking until cooked.

For extra crispy, when potatoes are done, place skillet under broiler for a few minutes until crisp to your liking.

Pull from oven, let cool a minutes or two then dig in.

Butternut Mac N' Cheeze

Had some littles over for dinner halloween dinner the other night  and I made them some mac n' cheese.

Kinda, cause it wasn't really cheese. Let me explain. 

These particular littles are tough. Getting them to eat things that are not pizza, hot dogs, or some other crap is not always easy.(although they will always eat carrots) So whenever they come over, I try to feed them a healthier version of something that I know that they like,  like tofu dogs or homemade whole wheat pizzas. So this night, I though I would give my vegan mac and cheese and try.  I mean,what kid doesn't like it? But what kind is the question. If you ask them, its got to be boxed Kraft mac and cheese. I knew when I was making it that there was a great chance that I might have to make peanut butter banana sandwiches as well, but whatever These little littles need to stop being such picky crappy eaters and yeah. Even if that means I make them eat what why don't like or that on the ride home I tell them that any pizza that is not home made will probably end up killing them) So I try, and sometimes it works. 

So I made it, no cheese in sight and served it up. The verdict.... The mr, he loved it. My sister (she came too) she was into it as well. One little ate almost an entire bowl, and the other, well he spit it out, but he is more a hot dog guy then a mac and cheese guy so his opinion doesn't count. So to conclude, yes, this is a fantasic mac and cheese that just happened to be cheese less,  full of veggies, and damn tasty!

And serving suggestion DON"T LET THE LITTLE KNOW IT"S NOT REAL CHEESE!!! They don't need to know

To the mac!

The stuff. A small butternut squash, a potato, an onion, and a carrot. Also needed is nutritional yeast (the cheeze), garlic powder, olive oil, salt and pepper, and some water. And pasta.. don't forget the pasta. 

Start with the onion and carrot in a big pot with some oil. Stick that on the stove and turn on the heat, and when that's going, chop up the butternut sqauh and the potato and toss that into the pot too. Let the stuff cook for just a few minutes.

Pour in water (enough o submerge all the veggies)  and add in the garlic powder and some salt and pepper. Bring the water to a boil then turn heat down to medium and stick a lid on the pot.

Now is a good time to boil up your pasta situation (cook it the way the package says too)

When it's done, strain it. And if it happens that it is done a little before the sauce, it's cool, just drizzle it with a little oil so that the noodles don't all stick together and set aside.

Back to the sauce. Once the pot of veggies is all tender and falling apart, take it off the stove.

And blend the crap out of it with your blending method of choice (a hand o a regular blender)

Oh, and mix in the nutrioanl yeast (can add it in at the blending stage… I just forgot too) and season with any more salt and pepper if needed.

Grap the cooked noodles, dump them into the sauce and give a good mix.

golden deliciousness!

Scoop into food eating vessels,(handled coffee mugs are great for the littles.. and cute) Maybe sprinkle on some chopped green stuff(my people enjoyed the addition of chopped up kale) and serve right away!

Now you can eat all the mac n cheeze. 

Happy Thursday!

-C

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Butternut Mac N' Cheeze

Serve 6 or so people

• 1 lb macaroni noodles (any kind you like. vegan, gluten free, whole wheat) 
• half a small butternut squash (about 2 1/2 ish cups chopped)
• 1 medium white potato
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 1 large carrot
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil
• water

Chop up the onion and the carrot and stick into a large heavy bottom pot with a splash or two of olive oil and stick on the stove on medium heat. While that's  going on, chop up the butternut and potato into reasonable small chunks and toss that into the pot with the other stuff. Add in the garlic powder, season well with salt and pepper, and add enough water to full submerge the contents of the pot. Bring the water to a boil then reduce heat to medium and stick a cover on the pot.

While the veggies are boiling, boil the pasta up, slightly al denta (follow what the pasta people on the package tells you to do)

Once all the veggies in the pot are super tender, even falling apart (about 20 minutes) remove pot from heat and using your blending method of choice (hand or normal blender)  blend everything together until smooth and creamy and then add in the nutritional yeast. Taste and if you think it needs it, add more salt and  pepper. If you find that the sauce seems to thick, add in a splash or two of water.. to thin, stick back on stove and cook long to reduce. 

So you got you cooked pasta and you sauce. Mix it all together. And wa la… Mac N' Cheeze

serve right away and eat it all. But any left overs can be refrigerated. Tastes great  the next day warmed in a skillet with a little oil. 

Polenta Veggie Bean Pot Pie

Whenever I think of pot pies, I think of those little frozen, boxed pot pies that you get in the freezer section of the grocery store. Those frozen disks filled with all sorts of nasty shit made many appearances in my childhood. Hungry after school? Go home,grab pot pie from the freezer, give it a few stabs with a fork and toss it into the oven.. 

Well one day I did exactly that. Came home from school, grabbed a pot pie out of the freezer, grabbed  a sharp knife (wait a knife?) and stabbed the pie. One hole. Stabbed it again. Two holes. One more time for good measure. three holes, and. knife goes through pie and into my hand. I can remember it like it was yesterday. I was so shocked that I just stood there for a few minutes just staring at the whole situation. Imagine that, a little girl holding a knife with a frozen pot pie stuck on it covered in blood, screaming. Ugh.

Needless to say, after that, I never touched one of those frozen pot pies again.

But this is not one of those nasty frozen pot pies. This is a one pot,(skillet) full of warm and hearty goodness. Seasoned tender veggies and beans covered in a creamy polenta crust that has no need for any sort of stabbing.   And bonus.. only one pot to clean up! And it's all cool and autumn-y out so we don't want to die when to oven is on!!! 

Pot Pie WInner!

The stuff. Onion, zucchini. potato, carrot, tomato, canaille beans, corn meal, boiling water, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and a little olive oil.  

So If you are missing, or not wanting to use any of the above veggies, don't. Just sub in more of another or ad something different. Same with the bean. If you had chick peas or navy beans… its' all going to taste good. 

Chop up all the veggies, except the tomato and toss into a oiled skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the italian seasoing and stick on medium heat. We want to give the veggies a little cooking head start, but the majority of the cooking will happen in the oven. With that said, turn your oven on. 

 Veggies looking good.

Once the veggies have become slightly tender, add in the beans and the tomatoes.  Keep cooking for a little while longer, just to soften up the tomatoes.

While thats going on, get the polenta ready. Add a little salt to the cornmeal and grab yourself a whisk. Slowly poor boiling water over cornmeal while constantly mixing with whisk to prevent big lumps. (it's ok if there rare a few small lumps)

Dump the polenta onto veggies

And smooth over the top. Sprinkle with lots of pepper and stick it into hot oven to bake.

Some time later(about 45 minute) the polenta is all cooked and crispy, the veggies underneath  are all  creamy and soft, and the whole thing is ready for consumption.

Grab you bowls, grab you forks… Big scoops right into bowl

And happy eating it is.

-C

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Polenta Veggie Bean Pot Pie

serve 3-4

• 1 carrot
• 1 small onion
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 medium red potato
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 cup canaille beans
• 3 tablesoons italinan spice blend*
• 3/4 cup corn meal
• 3 cups boiling water
• salt and pepper
• olive oil  

*I make my own italian spice blend, which consists of basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram,, rosemary, and garlic powder. I think most blends are the same, minus the garlic so make your own use a pre blended mixture, just look to see there is garlic in it. If not, add a teaspoon or two of garlic powder to the veggies.

Preheat oven to 425.

Oil a large (I used a 12 inch) cast iron skillet or such oven. Chop up all the veggies, except the tomatoes, into smallish, mouth sized chunks and toss into skillet. Add in seasoning and a good few pinches of salt and pepper. Place on medium heat and cook for about 8 minutes, or until the veggies start to release there juices and are slightly tender.  Now chop up the tomatoes and toss those into the pot along with the beans, in with the veggies. Cook for another 5  minutes or until all the veggies are slightly tender. 

In a large jar or bowl, whisk together a pitch or two of salt and pepper to the cornmeal. While continuously whacking, pour the boiling water over the cornmeal. Pour/ spread cornmeal mixture over veggies, then smooth it out to form the crust. Season with salt and lots of pepper and place into oven. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the polenta is cooked and has turned a nice golden brown. Remove from oven, let cool for a few minute, then serve.

Some folks might enjoy some type of cheese so if you want to,  give it to them.