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I’m going to let you in on an embarrassing secret. I will sometimes count vegetables in a meal and if there is a high enough number, I feel like I won a prize. Am I 10? Am I lame? Please, don’t answer! :)
For instance, that spaghetti with roasted vegetables, there were five different veggies. Not bad, I guess, but nothing special.
If you really want to win the lots-o’veg award, soup is a really good way to go.
Take this vegetable soup. I think there were 10 different vegetables – all different types and colors – with enough vitamins and minerals to counteract any chocolate cake that could follow. Serve it with a glass of red wine and a garlicky tapenade (+2 for the antioxidant list) to keep the meal from feeling too ‘diety’ and leaving you unsatisfied.
This counting trick also works particularly well when say adding something (or things) green to macaroni and cheese or pizza. Almost makes ‘em health food, right? 
This soup I guess is minestrone-like, except without the pasta (because I abhor pasta in soup), and because I can make no claims to authentic Italian, I feel silly calling my vegetable soup by a real name.
Again, like many things I cook – there is no real recipe, particularly as the time changes based on the ingredients you have. I always start with the basics – onion, carrot and celery in olive oil – and from there is really depends. If I have fennel or leeks, I will add them a bit after the mirepoix, but before other veg. Things like potatoes and cauliflower take longer than zucchini, so they go in next. I like to add them with the aromatics before any liquids to caramelize a bit and develop more flavor. Then maybe a big can of whole tomatoes, smushed up a bit and a can or two of water, depending on how much I want to make. After that, any other veg that take more than a minute or two – I hold the leafy greens until the end so they stay more vibrant. Don’t forget, salt and pepper at each stage – seasoning throughout is important!
My favorite little trick for a soup like this is to add beans for protein, but using a food processor or even a few forks, mush about half of the beans to add some thickness to the soup. Here I use canned white beans, but things are always better if you have the time to make your own. Cranberry beans would be super great here too.
Then, just let it all simmer for 15 minutes to develop the flavors – but not too long as you want all the vegetables to hold up.
Finally serve it with crusty bread, with maybe a quick tapenade or a pesto, a drizzle of olive oil and a few shavings of pecorino.
And of course, give yourself a quick pat on the back for having 1,000 vegetables for dinner!!
Do you ever go out to a restaurant, order something that looks good, like it so much you want to make it at home and realize you already have everything you need? It’s as if your body must have really needed those nutrients to have been attracted to them in both places. Oh, that doesn’t happen to you?
Me neither.
Or not exactly.
A while back I ordered a lentil and kabocha salad and liked it so much that I wanted to make it again. The squash was spiced and roasted and I loved the lentils in a salad – they were almost al dente, so they created a nice contrast to the soft squash and even their normal soft(er) presentation.
But what had me really coming back for more was the ricotta salata.
In the summers I love to make a zucchini and summer squash spaghetti with lots of lemon, mint and basil and top it with a mound of ricotta salata, but I don’t use it too much in the winter. I think that may have been what sealed the deal for me on this dish, as (at least in my head) it made the whole salad a perfect representation of the departing winter and upcoming warmth.
Back at home, I did have lentils and a squash on hand, so it was basically meant to be, and we can just ignore the fact that I always have lentils and squash is pretty common around here during the fall and winter. I even had the mint – which is not a given in months with an “r.”
The only thing I needed to run out for was the ricotta salata.
So this counts for my threory, right?
How many times have you started in the fridge, STARVING wondering if there could possibly be anything in there to eat? If you are anything like me, this happens more than you would like to admit. You go to the store and two days later, nothing. Or definitely nothing you want. I dream of long interesting meals when at the store, and dream of delivery when staring at my fridge. So this is not a recipe, just an inspiration that you can easily make something dreamy with all that “nothing.”
You want recipes, with lovely pictures and even better stories? (I may *hope to* be there sometimes *someday*, but until then…). I kindly suggest stopping by to say hi to Deb or Molly or Luisa or David or Matt or Adam or Heidi – all amazing and my favorites!!! Watch out, you can stay there really too long.
But in the meantime, here is one of my “quick fixes.” Also known as a frittata in many circles, but as my proportions are likely way off from Ina - heavy on the vegetables, light on eggs and done more on the stove than the oven – we will just call it brunch!
