Roasted Fennel Salad with Asparagus, Carrots and Pear

This is the fanciest salad I've ever made, and probably also the best - it received rave reviews from my Dorothy-Lynch-loving family, including The Boy who likes neither asparagus nor fennel.  So there you go.

Roasted vegetables are awesome.  Fresh fennel bulb is awesome.  Fresh green herbs are awesome.  Salads comprising all of the above are triple-awesome.  I challenge any naysayers to a fight to the death.  I will win, because I'm all hopped up on nutrient-rich vegetables, so I recommend that you just eat the salad and shut up about it.

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Roasted Fennel Salad with Asparagus, Carrots and Pear and Basil Vinaigrette


Roasted Vegetables
Ingredients

• 1 fennel bulb, sliced into 1/4"-thick wedges
• 1 bunch asparagus, tough ends snapped off
• 8 small carrots, sliced lengthwise 1 or 2 times (you want the slices about the same width as the asparagus stalks)
• 3 firm pears, each cored and cut into 8 wedges
• 1/4 C balsamic vinegar
• 3 T olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425° F.
2. Toss all ingredients together in a really big bowl until everything is evenly coated.
3. Spread out over a low-walled baking sheet - unless your sheet is huge, you may need 2.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, until asparagus and carrots are crunchy-tender.
5. Allow to cool to just warm before topping the salad.

Basil Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 1 bunch basil, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
• 1 shallot, roughly chopped
• 1 T dijon mustard
• 3 T white wine vinegar
• 1/2 C olive oil

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except olive oil in a blender or food processor.  Pulse until chopped and combined.
2. With blade running, stream in olive oil until emulsified.

Salad

Ingredients

• 6 oz flavorful greens, such as mixed herbs, baby greens, arugula
• fennel-roasted vegetables
• basil vinaigrette
• fresh lime wedges

Directions

1. Plate the salad by laying down  a handful of greens, then stack a few asparagus and carrot spears on top.  Top with a few fennel and pear wedges, and drizzle with vinaigrette.
2. Just before eating, squeeze a fresh lime wedge on top.

Makes about 8 servings, or fewer if your family keeps stealing the roasted vegetables out of the pan before you can plate the salads.  You could also chill the vegetables before serving.

Vindaloo Curry

Vindaloo was my next foray into the Savory Spice curry sets I got for Christmas.  It's quite spicy, tangy, a little sweet, and totally awesome.  It's the kind of dish that tastes a little weird in the first bite, and then suddenly you're licking the bowl clean.

This is a really hearty curry, chock full of potatoes, butternut squash, and carrots.  These sweeter winter veggies help temper the spice a bit, and make this warm you right up on these bitter cold nights.  Feel free to use whatever veggies you like: I expect sweet potatoes and other types of winter squash would be delicious in this as well, and I'd even try cauliflower, garbanzo beans, or plantains if you're feeling really crazy.  Mine was a little too chunky for my tastes with all those veggies, so I added more tomatoes and a little vegetable broth, shown in the recipe below.  I also added a splash of almond milk (any nondairy milk or cream would work - try coconut for extra sweetness) although that's not traditional for vindaloo, as I understand it.  I served this with naan (a traditional Indian bread) and spooned it over some brown rice, which adds a lovely texture and mellows out the heat a bit.

This is adapted from Isa's Vegan with a Vengeance (you need to buy this book, for reals), and she lists all the spices and seeds you need to make a vindaloo curry from scratch.  I was lazy and wanted to use my vindaloo mix.  I'm not a curry expert, and I have no idea how "authentic" Savory's vindaloo is, but this sure was tasty.

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Vindaloo Curry with Butternut Squash, Potatoes, and Carrots

Adapted from Butternut Vindaloo in Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Ingredients

• olive oil, for sautéing
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tbsp. vindaloo curry spice
• 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 c. red wine
• 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (I used fire roasted)
• 1/2 c. vegetable broth
• 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks
• 2 medium carrots, chopped into bite-size chunks
• 3 tbsp. plain nondairy milk
• 2 tsp. agave nectar or other sweetener
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• salt, to taste

Directions

1. Heat enough oil to coat the bottom of a large pot over medium-high heat.  Sauté the onions until soft.  Add the garlic, and sauté a few minutes more.
2. Stir in the curry spice, and fry for a minute or so, until the spices become fragrant.
3. Mix in the red wine vinegar, red wine, crushed tomatoes, and veggie broth.
4. Add the potatoes, squash, and carrots.  Stir everything really well.
5. Bring everything to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low.  Simmer until veggies are tender, about 25-30 mintues, stirring frequently.  Be careful to not burn the curry on the bottom of the pan.
6. Uncover and stir in the nondairy milk, agave nectar, and lemon juice.  Taste, and add salt as needed - don't be shy with the salt.  Simmer uncovered, stirring frequently, until the curry has your desired thickness.

Makes about 6 servings.  Serve with naan or over rice.

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Eat this on a cold winter night, and blow a big ol' raspberry at the stupid weather.  Yum.

Happy eating.

Kale and Roasted Vegetable Soup

This soup is ridiculous.  So delicious, and so healthy... such a combination should be illegal.  You could eat your fill of this tastiness, and not feel a bit of guilt.  Except maybe that there's none left for anyone else in your family to eat.

This is also a great way to eat kale, if you're the type to be a little weary of dark, leafy greens.  In case you're new to the nutrition train, dark green vegetables are some of the most nutritionally-dense foods you can consume.  They have tons of vitamins A and C, lots of iron, and more calcium per serving than cow's milk (without all the nasty lactose, hormones, antibiotics, pus, and cruelty!).  I think the only reason "Got Greens?" never caught on is the fact that they make a far less attractive mustache.

But I digress!  My point is that kale is incredibly healthful, but can be a little bitter and tough compared to other greens like spinach, so it tends to scare people off.  Soup is the solution.  Not only does simmering get the kale nice and tender, and all those savory roasted veggies mellow out the flavor oh-so-nice, but since the broth is part of the meal, all the nutrients that would leach out during cooking still get eaten in the soup!  It's win-win.  Or win-win-win.  Whatever - it's kale ftw, peeps.

Roasting the veggies is key here, folks.  It caramelizes and sweetens, and is absolutely necessary for the flavor of this soup.  I didn't roast the garlic because I use that already-prepared kind in a jar, and out of the peel, it would burn in the oven; but if you have a bulb of fresh garlic cloves, you should roast it by cutting off the top of the whole bulb, drizzling it in a little olive oil, and setting it upright on the pan with the rest of the veggies.  Check it each time you stir the pan of vegetables, because you may need to remove it from the oven before the rest of the vegetables to avoid burning.  Then you squeeze out the meaty parts, finely mince them, and use as directed.

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Kale and Roasted Vegetable Soup

Adapted from SimplyRecipes.com 

Ingredients

• 3 medium carrots, quartered lengthwise
• 2 large tomatoes, quartered
• 1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges
• 1/2 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut lengthwise into 1/2" thick slices (I have used sweet potatoes instead of the squash with good results; pretty much any sweet vegetable would work)
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 8 cups vegan chicken broth (or 4 bouillon cubes, like No-Chicken)
• 1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and chopped
• 1-1/2 c. or 1 can white beans (like Great Northern or cannellini)
• 1 tbsp. ground thyme (or use fresh if you have it, about 3 large sprigs)
• 1 bay leaf
• couple tbsp. olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.  Lightly oil a baking sheet, and place the carrots, squash, tomatoes, and onion in a single layer on the pan, and drizzle with a little more olive oil.  Lightly season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
2. Roast vegetables until they are browned and tender, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.
3. Chop the roasted squash and carrot strips into bite-sized pieces, and set aside.
4. Toss the tomatoes and onions into a food processor or blender, and add the garlic.  Purée until almost smooth.
5. If using bouillon, dissolve in 8 cups of water.  Pour a little of the broth onto the roasting pan, and scrape off any caramelized brown bits.  Pour all the broth into a large soup pot.
6. Add the kale, thyme, and bay leaf to the pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered about 30 minutes, until kale is tender.
7. Add carrots, squash, and beans to the pot.  Simmer for 5-10 minutes to blend the flavors.  I usually add a little more broth or water at this point if the soup is too chunky.
8. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs.

Makes 6-8 servings of soup.  Delicious when served right away, but tastes even better after it's been in the fridge for a day.

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I love to serve this soup with a hearty bread or roll.  It keeps beautifully in the fridge for up to a week.

Happy eating.