treehousehip.

My little sister called me yesterday, with a nasty case of strep throat and an adorable baby to care for, and asked if I would make her some homemade soup. I jumped on the opportunity because 1. it makes me happy to comfort people with my cooking and 2. any excuse to see my nephew. Also I happened to have some amazing fresh vegetables in my fridge so I whipped up the first soup that struck my fancy. I pureed it because she’s sick and chewing is difficult, but this soup would be awesome with chunky veggies too. 

I used ramps because they’re in season right now, and totally delicious. They’re like wild mountain onions. If you can’t find them in your grocery store, substitute with leeks or just up the ante with some extra onion. 

Oh hey this soup was also delicious when I threw a bit of basmati rice in there and devoured it all with tortilla chips. It was rainy here in Chicago yesterday, so it felt juuuust right to cozy up with some soup.

3 cups golden beets, peeled and chopped in chunks

2 cups carrots, chopped

1 cup butternut squash, chopped

5 ramps (just the bulbs), chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 white onion, chopped

4 thin slices of fresh ginger, about 1 inch long

4 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

1 can coconut milk

1/2 lime

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon coconut oil (or olive oil)

cilantro, for garnish

1. Heat 1 tbsp coconut oil (or olive oil) over medium heat. Add ramps, onion, garlic, and ginger. Saute until translucent and fragrant, but not brown. About 3 minutes.

2. Add vegetable broth and water. Add beets, carrots, and squash. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 60 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

3. Puree in batches in a blender. Hot liquid will expand, so I usually fill to about half-way in the blender. Allow the heat to escape, to prevent spattering. I usually keep the lid open a crack while blending.

4. Pour soup back in pot and add coconut milk. Warm over low heat. 

5. Add salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze fresh lime in soup and stir. Garnish with cilantro.

1 banana

1 pear

2 cups coconut water

3 heaping cups spinach

blend and enjoy. share this with a friend. that’s how this salad happened too. i picked up some mangos this morning and couldn’t wait to devour one. i gave half to jim, because fruit always tastes better when you share it, and threw the rest into this lovely little salad for myself. in case you were wondering if mangos taste delicious covered in olive oil and salt and pepper, and then furiously shoved in your mouth with arugula and sunflower seeds. the answer is duh.

I can’t stop cooking. These sudden bursts of kitchen creativity should leave my roommate (lover) and friends feeling very blessed. But is it so wrong to assume that they should also be offering to do my dishes?

I borrowed (stole) an old vegetarian cookbook from a friend last week and so far I’ve adapted three recipes from it. This was the first one I whipped up. I’m reserving the zucchini pulp for Zucchini Pancakes. Should they turn out delicious, you best believe I”ll be posting em.

Olive oil cooking spray

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs

4 zucchini or combination of zucchini and yellow squash

1 tablespoon coconut or olive oil

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

1 avocado

1 cup wild brown rice, basmati, or quinoa

1. Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with olive oil cooking spray. Combine garlic and bread crumbs (a slice of aging bread from my fridge worked perfectly, just cut it into small pieces) and spread evenly on the baking sheet. Spray again with olive oil and bake 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, or until nicely browned. 

2. Begin cooking your rice or quinoa. Follow instructions. I used the brown wild rice mix from Trader Joes.

3. Meanwhile, trim ends of squash. Slice off the skins into long, narrow slices all around. Cut these into long strips, about 1/4 inch wide.

4. Put coconut oil (or ghee or olive oil) in  a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add squash skins, raise heat to high and cook, tossing occasionally, until squash strips are just beginning to soften but are still slightly crunchy, about 5 minutes.

5. Add garlic bread crumbs and parsley, toss and serve over rice. Top with avocado.