Posts Tagged "Soups and Salads"
Chorba d’Crevette {Moroccan Shrimp Soup}
Last weekend both of my boys had Friday off of school. I have been busy with work lately and MarocBaba has been weighed down with school but we wanted to do something fun for the boys. Let’s face it we both needed a break from the daily grind too. Friday morning we packed up a lunch and went to the Minnesota Zoo. You have to know that K loves animals. He’s nuts for animals and so the zoo was sure to appeal to him. Apparently we had the same idea as half the state of Minnesota because once we got to the zoo, it took us nearly 30 minutes just to get through the gates. The weather was supposed to be nice but after an unseasonably warm spring it felt cool.
We spent the entire day there and had time to visit the Middle Eastern grocery store on our way out of town. Once we were home we were all left with a chill. This in-between season when it’s not really winter and it’s not quite spring yet sometimes leaves me scrambling for what to make. We needed something warm but not something heavy. I have been hunting for new ideas for Moroccan recipes and this was one my mother-in-law suggested. I was skeptical but in the end I loved it too.
The base for this soup is Saffron Roads’ Classic Culinary Vegetable Broth. The ingredients that make up the broth compliment the ingredients and add a little extra flavor. This recipe is gluten-free, low fat and very inexpensive. When I began cooking this I was immediately overcome by how the ginger comes through in the smell and taste (in a good way!) If you can, use fresh grated ginger – it will make a huge difference and is worth the little extra effort.
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion grated
- 2 Tbsp good quality butter
- 1/2 leek
- 1/4 c rice
- 3/4 c fresh or frozen shrimp (I use cocktail size)
- 4 c Saffron Road Vegetable Broth
- 1 Tbsp crushed ginger
- pinch of saffron
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp black pepper
- extra salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Begin by grating a medium onion into a bowl and roughly chopping 1/2 a cleaned leek.
- In a large pan add 2 Tbsp butter and turn heat to medium high.
- Once the butter begins to melt, add the onion and leek and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Next, add the ginger, saffron, turmeric, and pepper and stir.
- Once everything is combined add the vegetable broth and rice.
- Cook 15-20 minutes until the rice is tender.
- Add the shrimp last. Once the shrimp are pink the soup is ready!
- Add salt and pepper as desired to taste.
When I’m Dining Alone – An Easy Weeknight Meal
I love soup and it’s only been recently that I have been able to convince everyone else in my house to love it as much as I do. That being said they have their favorites and tend to stick to them. Recently I had the opportunity to try out Bertolli’s Meal Soup for Two.
Read MorePaula Wolfert’s Spiced Butternut Squash Soup
We have been having unseasonably warm weather, that is until this week when temperatures have dipped to single digits. Whenever I start to feel a slight winter chill it’s time to dig out my heavy blankets and soup recipes. It has only been in the last year that I have been able to get MarocBaba and the boys to enjoy soup. You must understand how difficult that was for me, a soup lover. For years I went without, choosing to sacrifice my soup-love. Mostly that was because I would never eat a full pot myself but also I didn’t want the work of cooking two different things.
This year has however been a successful year on the soup front. First there was the Avgolemono and Veal Meatball Soup (a HUGE hit), then the Chicken Couscous Soup and most recently Vegetable and Ricotta Gnocchi Soup.
When Paula Wolferts’ Food of Morocco came out I poured over all of the recipes. Moroccans don’t eat a lot of soup save for the traditional harira. But what I did find in this book was a Spiced Butternut Squash Soup. Creamed soups aren’t usually my thing, I like broth, but we had gotten butternut squash in some of our last CSA boxes. This recipe is from the Rif Mountains in northern Morocco (most likely why I hadn’t had it before) where the winters are cold as they are here in the Midwest. You can find Paula’s original recipe in her book or on the Food and Wine website. I made mine slightly differently.
I went a little overboard with turmeric (yellowness) it's good for you!
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium butternut squash halved and seeded
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 8 oz goat cheese
- Harissa on the side if desired
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Begin by halving and seeding the squash. Rub lightly with olive oil and place cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake at 375F until soft (about 45 minutes - 1 hour). Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- In a large pot add the olive oil and onions and cook over medium heat until the onion is soft. Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger, as well as the water. Scrape the insides of the squash into the pot and mix well. Be careful not to get the squash skin into the soup.
- Add the milk and 1/2 of the goat cheese. Because the squash is already soft you do not have to blend this, however for a creamier texture I did blend it. If the contents of the pot don't fit in your blender mix in small batches.
- Serve hot with harissa and extra goat cheese on the side.
I’m linking this recipe up to the January FaveDiets Blog Hop – Soups
A Vegetarian Eid al Adha with Saffron Road Food
Eid al Adha is right around the corner (Sunday) and is perhaps most well known as the “sheep holiday”. Muslim families purchase a live ram and on the morning of Eid sacrifice the animal. This is done as a remembrance of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son on God’s command. At the last minute God replaced Ismail with a ram. After the sacrifice families separate the ram into three parts; one for themselves, one to share with friends or family and one to donate to the poor.
Many women pride themselves on creating a wonderful meal on Eid, making many dishes that only make an appearance for this holiday. One obvious staple is plenty of sheep. This year we’re not making our own sacrificing but allowing a relative in Morocco to do the sacrifice for us. We’ve consciously cut out a lot of red meat from out diet and neither MarocBaba or I would eat enough of the meat over the year to warrant buying one. Frankly, I’m still pretty full of meat from our trip last month. This got me thinking about others who are either vegetarian or just don’t like mutton. There generally aren’t a lot of options for them on the Eid table.
I created this very healthy and filling soup to fill the void. I used Saffron Road broth to speed up the cooking time and add a really great flavor. I love Saffron Road because all of their products are halal and completely natural, but also many of them are gluten free. I stopped using canned or boxed broths awhile ago because of the high sodium levels and blah taste but Saffron Road broths are really different – so much flavor.
There is a little bit of prep work to make this recipe but it’s well worth it.
Pre-cut all vegetables (love the purple potatoes don't you)
Gnocchi can be made ahead of time and frozen until ready to use.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic crushed
- 1/2 cup brown lentils
- 4 carrots chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic crushed
- 1 zucchini chopped
- 1-2 small to medium potatoes
- 1/2 cup green peas
- 1 1/2 cartons Saffron Road Vegetable Broth (if not wholly Vegetarian the Chicken Broth is great too)
- salt, pepper, cumin for seasoning at the end
- 3 cups of AP unbleached flour + more for dusting
- 32 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 c parmesan cheese
Instructions
- To make the gnocchi start by placing the ricotta in a strainer or on top of cheesecloth suspended over a bowl. This is to drain any excess water out of the cheese - leave for 30-60 minutes.
- In a stand mixer add 2 cups of flour and the parmesan cheese. Mix using the flat beater. Once the ricotta is strained add this to the flour along with the eggs. Mix on a low speed to combine everything, adding the final cup of flour as the mixture combines.
- The gnocchi will be ready when it has a thick and slightly sticky consistency. Chill for 20 minutes before rolling.
- Remove from refrigerator and pull off a ball of dough. Dust a flat, clean work surface with flour and roll the dough into the shape of a snake. You can make it as fat or thin as you'd like. I make mine about the size of a dime. Cut off pieces of the dough about every 1/2 inch. Use a fork to make a depression on the tops of each one.
- Set aside in a single layer. If you don't plan to use all of them they can be put on a cookie sheet and flash frozen for 30 minutes, removed and stored in a freezer - safe ziploc bag.
- (I like to do all of the prep work first and then add ingredients as needed)
- Prepare the lentils by soaking in warm water for 30 - 60 minutes before cooking. The longer you leave them to soak the faster they will cook. Peel the carrots, potatoes and zucchini and cut into small cubes - keep them separate from each other because they will be added to the pot at different times.
- In a heavy bottom pan or dutch oven add the olive oil and garlic and turn on medium/high heat. When it starts to sizzle pour some of the Saffron Road broth into the pot.
- Stir in the tomato paste and add the rest of the carton of broth. Drain the lentils and add them, as well as the potatoes and carrots.
- Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium. Allow to cook 45 minutes and check the tenderness of the lentils and vegetables. If tender, add the 1/2 carton of broth and the zucchini and peas.
- Place another pot of water to boil (for the gnocchi) at this point. Once it boils add the gnocchi. It will only take a few minutes to cook and you will be able to tell it's done when they float.
- Remove from the water with a slotted spoon, add a small amount of the cooking water to keep them from clumping.
- Serve the soup and gnocchi in separate bowls, encouraging guests to take the amount they would like of each. This will help with any leftovers there might be as the gnocchi tend to break down if left in liquid. Top each bowl with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
Here are some of the other great things Saffron Road has going on around the web this Eid;
Great deals on their products at Whole Foods and Kroger nationwide!
A giveaway for a copy of Clean Your Kitchen Green from Yvonne of My Halal Kitchen and free product coupons on their Facebook page.
Speaking of My Halal Kitchen – make sure you check out these two posts to get ready for Eid too!
- Quick and Easy Eid Appetizers (and really these chicken bites are aaahmazing)
- Hajj Season and Preparing for Eid ul Adha Celebration (with a printable shopping list)
What’s on your menu for Eid? Do you have other meat-free ideas to share with other readers?
This recipe has been linked to FaveDiets November Blog Hop.
Bring on the Vegetables!
A revelation I had during this trip to Morocco was that our diet has clearly changed. While we were once eating meat at every meal we have really relaxed a lot on the quantity and types of meat eaten. If we do eat meat it’s most likely chicken or turkey. You might find red meat on our table once a week. Maybe. Within 3 days of our trip I felt like I had meat coming out of my ears. No one wants meat coming out of their ears. Not kidding I was almost in tears I wanted a salad so bad. I cobbled together a little meal and trust me cucumbers and tomatoes never tasted so good.
This is not that meal.
Ha! I almost had you! This little meal I put together before we left and I was trying to use up all of our CSA veggies so that they wouldn’t spoil. The salad is really very simple with just some spicy mixed greens, sweet cherry tomatoes, very thinly sliced yellow heirloom tomatoes and red peppers and a good smattering of goat cheese drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Yum.
I put my very favorite side dish with the salad. Gratin Dauphinois or Potato Gratin. Potatoes and Cheese. You really can’t go wrong there especially on a chilly fall night. Check out this recipe for them from Gratinee.
Harira Dgeg (Moroccan Flour Soup)
This is K. Have you met him?
He’s 4 and he’s always been a very picky eater. If it wasn’t a chicken nugget or chocolate milk he wasn’t even going to try it.
One night, MarocBaba made this;
It’s flour soup. Yes you heard me right. I’ve been searching to see if there is a recipe for this somewhere or if MarocBaba made it up but he claims it’s something he’s eaten at home. The thing is, K loves this soup. He will eat bowls of it and tell me how great of a cook Baba is and how much he loves Baba’s soup. I snapped this picture quick because I thought it was just an interesting concoction. I’m sharing the recipe for K.
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup (or more) flour
- 1/4 cup milk
Instructions
- In a medium or large sauce pan add the water, olive oil, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Slowly add the flour, whisking it in while you go. You may need to add more flour, it will just depend on how it incorporates. It is important to add the flour slowly and whisk briskly so that clumps do not form. The liquid will start to thicken as the temperature rises again to a boil. Reduce the heat and slowly add the milk while whisking. This will thin out the soup a little bit. Bring the temperature up to a boil a final time while whisking so that the milk doesn't scorch. Once it starts bubbling immediately remove from the heat and serve hot.
- *You can also add some rice to the soup. A short grain rice would work well. Add 1/4 cup in the beginning so that it cooks completely.
Rainy Weekend: Comfort Food
It’s a cold and rainy start to Labor Day weekend here. Not only is the weather grey so am I. Somehow I’ve come down with a bug, not sure if’ it’s the flu or just a nasty cold but either way I’m pretty miserable. This soup really is perfect for this kind of day. I think if you go back in my posts a few years you would find me complaining that MarocBaba doesn’t appreciate soup – well the times they are a changing. Lately every soup that I have made he has eagerly tried and liked! Both M and K also like soup so I am looking forward to the fall and winter months and trying lots of new recipes. Finally everyone shares my soup love!
This is a very simple soup that could be made 50 different ways. We liked this combination.
Ingredients
- 2 quarts of chicken stock
- 1 cup of dry instant couscous
- 1/2 cup vermicelli noodles
- 1/2 cup frozen peas (or more if you’d like)
- veal, turkey or chicken meatballs (as many or few as you like)
Avgolemono and Veal Meatball Soup
For as long as I can remember the only thing on my bucket list (the list of things to do before you die) was to have a passport full of stamps. That technically means there’s more than one thing on the list because gathering all those stamps would involve a few trips. I got my first stamp at 15. I can remember when my passport came in the mail, and this just goes to show how big of a dork I am, I must have opened it and gone through the pages 20 times. When I went through passport control for the first time it was really really exciting for me. Boarding my first international flight – oh the excitement! As our plane touched down in Athens, one of the oldest cities in western civilization, my stomach was loaded with butterflies. This first international trip was all it took to hook me as a travel addict and I haven’t stopped since. As much as I’ve loved every place that I have visited since, the food of Greece has always stuck with me. I can still taste some of those meals even though they were 10+ years ago.
I recently have been looking over soup recipes to prepare for Ramadan. One soup that I had sort of forgotten about was Greek Avgolemono a Greek egg and lemon soup. Then I thought, I bet that would be even more filling with some little meatballs added in. It was. After the first sip I closed my eyes and felt like I was back on that first trip sitting in the Grecian sun.
Ingredients:
For Soup
- 6 c (48 oz) chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 c. (140g) orzo
- 5 eggs
- 1/2 c. (8oz) lemon juice
For Meatballs
- 1/2 lb (225 grams) ground veal
- 4 tbsp bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp sumac
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
Directions
Combine all of the ingredients for the meatballs and roll into very small meatballs, the smaller the better. Set aside. In a medium to large size pan add the chicken broth and begin to cook on medium high. Once the liquid boils add the meatballs and orzo. Allow to cook about 8 minutes. In a large bowl beat the eggs until they are foamy.
Next, add lemon juice, a little at a time. When all lemon juice is incorporated take a ladle and add a scoop broth at a time to the eggs (usually 2-3 ladels will be plenty). The purpose of this is to combine the eggs slowly. If you just dump the eggs into the hot liquid they will cook right away and form egg chunks. This is not what you want. Once the temperature of the eggs has been increased add it into the larger pot. Do NOT allow the soup to boil. Serve immediately.
Think your kids won’t like this? Think again – my 4 year old ate three bowls full!
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