Super Natural Every Day (21 page)

Cabbage Soup

CHICKPEAS, POTATOES, GARLIC, CURRY POWDER

This is a flavourful, yet humble soup that hits the spot on those nights when fat raindrops are pelting the windows, and wind is whipping the magnolia tree out back. I use plain old cabbage here, a punch of curry powder, and whatever potatoes I happen to have on hand. I call for chickpeas, but certain white beans work as well—cannellini come to mind. On occasion, I’ll add a big splash of coconut milk to this soup if I have some left over in the refrigerator.

½ head green cabbage (about 450 g)

20 g
Clarified Butter
or

1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil

Fine sea salt

225 g potatoes, unpeeled, cut into tiny cubes

2 tablespoons Indian curry power

4 garlic cloves, chopped

½ large brown onion, thinly sliced

1.25 litres vegetable stock or water

280 g cooked chickpeas (see
A Simple Pot of Beans
), or 1 x 425 g tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Remove any ragged leaves from the outside of the cabbage, cut out the core, and slice the leaves into ribbons no wider than a pencil and no longer than 2.5 cm. Set aside.

Warm the butter in a large, heavy-based pot over medium–high heat. Stir in a big pinch of salt and the potatoes. Cover and cook until the potatoes are tender and starting to brown, 5–8 minutes. You’ll need to uncover and stir a couple times. Stir in the curry powder, then the garlic and onion, and cook for another 1 minute. Add the stock and the chickpeas and bring the stock to a simmer. Stir in the cabbage and cook for a couple more minutes, until the cabbage softens up. Don’t worry that it seems like a lot of cabbage, it collapses quite a bit. Now adjust the seasoning, adding more salt, if needed. Getting the seasoning right is important, otherwise your soup will taste flat and uninteresting. The amount of salt you will need to add will really depend on how salty your stock is.

SERVES 4–6

Cauliflower Soup

AGED CHEDDAR, MUSTARD CROUTONS

This creamy-textured cauliflower soup with back notes of aged cheddar cheese, accompanied by crunchy mustard-slathered croutons, is a favourite of mine. If you’re looking to make this a one-dish meal, serve over cubes of pan-fried paneer cheese or poached eggs .

170 g chunk artisan wholemeal bread, torn into little pieces (less than 2.5 cm) in size (3 cups total)

40 g unsalted butter

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 ½ tablespoons dijon mustard (see
Wholegrain Mustard
)

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

40 g unsalted butter,
Clarified Butter
, or 40 ml extra-virgin olive oil

2 shallots (eschalots), chopped

1 brown onion, chopped

Fine sea salt

1 large potato, peeled and cut into tiny cubes

2 garlic cloves, chopped

830 ml vegetable stock or water

340 g cauliflower, cut into small florets

45 g freshly grated aged cheddar cheese, plus more for topping

2 teaspoons dijon mustard (see
Wholegrain Mustard
)

Extra-virgin olive oil, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas Mark 4) with a rack in the middle of the oven.

To make the croutons, put the torn bread in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium– high heat. Whisk the olive oil, mustard, and salt into the butter and pour the mixture over the bread. Toss well, then turn the bread onto a baking tray.

Bake for 10–15 minutes, until the croutons are golden and crunchy. Flip them once or twice with a metal spatula along the way.

While the croutons are toasting, start the soup. Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium–high heat. Stir in the shallots, onion, and a big pinch of salt. Sauté until the onions soften, a couple minutes. Stir in the potato, cover, and cook for about 4 minutes, just long enough for the pieces to soften up a bit. Uncover, stir in the garlic, then the stock. Bring to a boil, taste to make sure the potatoes are tender, and if they are, stir in the cauliflower. Cook, covered, for 3–5 minutes, just until the cauliflower is tender throughout.

Remove the pan from the heat and puree the soup with a stick blender. Stir in half the cheddar cheese and the mustard. Add more stock or water if you feel the need to thin the soup at all. Taste and add more salt, if needed. Serve sprinkled with the remaining cheese, some croutons, and a drizzle of olive oil.

SERVES 4–6

Wild Rice Casserole

MUSHROOMS, MUSTARD, TARRAGON

Here, I toss wild rice with a few binding ingredients and bake until the cheese on top and along the sides browns, then I let it go a minute or two more. Warm, creamy, and comforting, the casserole can be made with all wild rice, but my favourite thing to do, when convenient, is to use half wild rice, half brown rice. You get the creaminess of the brown rice playing off the individual wild rice grains. It’s great. Like many casseroles, it can be prepared a day or two ahead and baked off when needed.

2 large eggs

225 g cottage cheese

115 g sour cream

1 teaspoon dijon or
Wholegrain Mustard

Fine sea salt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or unsalted butter

225 g mushrooms, chopped

1 large brown onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 cups cooked wild rice and/ or brown rice (see
Wild Rice
), at room temperature

15 g freshly grated Gruyère cheese

1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon or thyme

Preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas Mark 4) with a rack in the top third of the oven. Rub a medium–large baking dish with a bit of butter or olive oil. (The dish I use is slightly smaller than a classic 23 cm x 33 cm baking dish.) Alternatively, you can use individual baking dishes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, mustard, and a scant ½ teaspoon salt.

In a large frying pan over high heat, combine the olive oil with a couple pinches of salt. Stir in the mushrooms. After the initial stirring, leave the mushrooms alone until they release their water and the water evaporates, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook and stir every couple minutes until the mushrooms are browned. Add the onions and cook until the onions is translucent, another 2–3 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cook for another minute, and remove from the heat. Add the rice to the pan and stir until combined.

Add the rice mixture to the cottage cheese mixture, stir until well combined, and turn into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with two-thirds of the grated cheese and cover with aluminium foil.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the casserole takes on a lot of colour. If you are in a rush, you can finish it under a hot grill for a couple of minutes, but watch carefully so the top of your casserole doesn’t burn; it can happen quickly. The finished casserole should be hot throughout and golden along the edges. Serve sprinkled with the chopped tarragon and the remaining grated cheese.

SERVES 6

Black Sesame Otsu

SOBA NOODLES, BLACK SESAME PASTE, TOFU, SPRING ONIONS

For those of you who liked the otsu recipe I included in Super Natural Cooking , here’s a twist. In this version, I still use soba noodles and tofu, but everything gets slathered in a thinned-out, salty-sweet black sesame paste, then topped with lots of sliced spring onions. The black sesame paste has become one of my standbys, and I typically make extra for use on salads, broccoli, spinach, green beans, edamame, even roasted potatoes. You can make the black sesame paste a couple days in advance, if needed. Leftovers make a great next-day lunch.