Ellie got her first cold last week, and of course we ended up getting it too. I hate seeing her sick, but she’s a trooper.

I felt pretty crappy on Monday and Tuesday. My throat was killing me and I had basically zero energy. Sometimes I’ll try and run when I’m sick but it just wasn’t going to happen on those days. Today I felt a little better and figured getting outside and running just might give me a little extra energy, and it totally did. Just changing into my running clothes perked me up a little bit, so I headed out for 4.5 miles and felt great. Slow, but more human than I’d felt in at least 48 hours.

On Monday, when all three of us were feeling pretty miserable, I decided to make some soup. I was trying to go for the richly flavored broth that came with the noodle soups in Thailand, except those obviously use meat. I probably should have added some vegetables (I think bok choy would be great), but it kind of escaped my mind at the time.

I sauteed some shallots, ginger, and green onions, then added the tofu and let it soak up those flavors before I added broth (and a pinch of five spice powder). The dumplings aren’t completely necessary, but they are a nice addition. I just used basic yellow noodles I found at the Asian grocery store. The addition of chili garlic sauce, in my opinion, is non-negotiable (especially for cold-curing purposes).

I’m submitting this to my friend (and fellow science teacher) Branny’s Souper Bowl. Click on that link to participate too (you don’t even need a blog!) Branny loves animals more than anyone else I know, and for every soup that’s submitted, she’s giving a dollar to the ASPCA. I’m dedicating this to Berkeley, the golden retriever my family had during my teens and early twenties. He was probably one of the worlds dumbest dogs, but he was a total sweetheart. I miss so many things about him, but my favorite thing was his full-body wag every time I walked in the door.

One thing I like almost as much as science museums is soup (worst tie-in ever? Oh well). This soup has it all – healthy beans and grains, cheesy pasta, and a spicy, fragrant tomato broth. The small changes I made to the original recipe were to reduce the liquid (I like my soups kind of stew-like), replace herbes de Provence with dried oregano and basil, and use kale instead of chard. It’s perfect comfort food!

This was originally a Jamie Oliver recipe for seafood and rice soup, using lots of spices and some coconut milk (but also seafood and white rice). Since I don’t eat seafood I added tofu, and I wanted brown rice instead of white. I also wanted to up the vegetable content with some spinach. I just made a few substitutions, and I’m happy to say it worked out really well.

Speaking of substitutions, the long term sub the district found for my maternity leave JUST found out she got a full-time teaching position, so they had to scramble to find another one pretty last-minute (school starts a week from tomorrow!) I am going to meet with her Monday to go over the ins and outs of my classes. I have no idea if she has science/PE/middle school/teaching experience, but I’m hoping for the best!

It’s amazing how much more productive I am when I actually have a reason to get out of bed and do something with my life. I made it to the gym by 5:30 AM the last two mornings and have been feeling fantastic. The workshop has been really awesome and I can’t wait to apply what I learned when I’m finally back to work, even though that feels like an eternity from now.

Recipe
(adapted from Jamie’s Dinners)

3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp mustard seeds
about 10 fresh curry leaves
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp garam masala
a pinch or two cayenne pepper (or more, to taste)
2 tsp turmeric
a 2″ piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
5 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 yellow onions, peeled and chopped
1 lb block extra firm nigari tofu, cut into small cubes
1 cup brown basmati rice, soaked for at least an hour, and drained
3 cups vegetable broth
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
2-3 handfuls fresh spinach, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
juice of 1 lime

Heat the oil over medium in a large pot or dutch oven.

Add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, cumin seeds, garam masala, cayenne, and turmeric. Cook, stirring, for a few minutes, until the mustard seeds start popping and turn dark brown.

Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and cook until the onions are soft, about five minutes.

Add the tofu and mix well.

Stir in the rice and vegetable broth, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, add the coconut milk and simmer for about 20 minutes (adding a little more broth or some water if soup appears too thick).

Stir in salt to taste and continue simmering until rice is soft. Stir in the spinach and lime juice, and serve.

I have been all about red lentils lately. They make the best soup, they’re such a pretty orangey-red color (which unfortunately changes to yellow when they’re cooked), and they are hopefully pretty healthy (I’ll have to check on that).

I normally cook them with Indian spices (mustard seeds, a little asafetida, cumin…) but this recipe called for cinnamon and bay leaves and it was AWESOME. Tangent: cooking onions with a cinnamon stick smells absolutely divine. Anyway, you cook up some onions with cinnamon and bay leaves, add the lentils and broth, and then (and this is the key) top the soup with caramelized onions. It is awesome.

So awesome, in fact, that I was extra inspired and made two different side dishes to go with the meal: I roasted some cauliflower with curry powder and salt, and I tossed some sliced cucumbers with yogurt, fresh mint, lime zest, and a little paprika.

EDITED TO ADD: The picture below was expertly styled by Mike. I had put my camera away but this looked so much better than the pictures I’d taken earlier I had to get another shot.

This was definitely a much bigger hit with Mike than my white bean pesto…

Recipe:
(adapted from A New Way To Cook)

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, quartered and sliced crosswise
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp finely minced fresh ginger
1 finely chopped garlic clove
pinch cayenne pepper
2 cups red lentils
3 cups vegetable broth
2-3 cups hot water
juice of 1 lemon
salt

2 tsp butter (OR Smart Balance or other vegan butter substitute)
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 medium onions, cut into thin half-circles
pinch salt
chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, bay leaves, and cinnamon and cook until the onions are soft (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic, ginger, and cayenne and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the lentils and stir them so they’re coated with oil. Add 2 cups of broth and 2 cups of warm water. Stir well, then bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the additional cup of broth and water, as well as the the lemon juice while the soup is cooking, adding additional liquid if it gets too thick. Add about a teaspoon of salt. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils have completely broken down into a smooth, creamy soup.

While the soup is simmering, caramelize the onions. Heat the oil and butter in a skillet. Add the onions and cook over low, sirring occasionally for about 20 minutes, until onions are very soft and brown. Season with a little salt.

To serve the soup, ladle it into bowls and top with onions and cilantro.

I know I’m a broken record, but I am completely obsessed with summer produce. Watermelon, berries, peaches, plums, grapes, corn, tomatoes… It may not ever feel like summer here, but at least we get all the amazing produce.

We had a pretty awesome weekend…Friday night we went to Ikea (yeah I know it’s the lamest Friday night activity ever but it’s kind of the best time to go because it’s pretty much empty) and bought a bunch of new furniture and some rugs.

Saturday we attempted to buy a crib but we are pretty much the least decisive people ever so it didn’t happen. We did get some more house stuff, though. With just 8 weeks until the baby’s due date, I’m a little stressed that her nursery is still just an empty room, but we’ll get there…

Sunday was a 6-hour run at Crissy Field. No, I didn’t run for 6 hours. Actually I didn’t run at all (I walked). But the event was set up so you could do as many 1-mile loops as you wanted to within the 6 hour window.

I know it sounds completely tedious and painfully boring, but the view was nice and a bunch of running/blogging friends were out there too, so I ended up walking 7 miles and having a ton of fun.

Courtney and I walked the first lap together, and then she went on to run 19 miles!

Jana, Sandra, Karin, Layla, Alyssa, and Aron were all out there too!

A bunch of these girls are running the San Francisco Marathon, and my sister is too. I’m SUPER excited about spectating in Golden Gate Park!

Mike ended up running 13 laps, and then walked a lap with me.

(I promise he does own other T shirts)

The morning was so fun, it probably deserves its own post, but I’ll just go ahead and give you that chowder recipe. This is a pretty easy soup…the hardest part is probably cutting the kernels off the ears of corn. It’s absolutely divine with a little shredded smoked cheddar cheese mixed in! I’m thinking it would be really easy to make it vegan, too…just use your favorite non-dairy milk.

Recipe:
(adapted from A New Way to Cook by Sally Schneider)

3 large ears fresh corn (2-3 cups kernels)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
2 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1 cm dice (peel them if you want)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 jalapenos, chopped (and seeded if you don’t want the heat)
1 tsp cumin seeds
salt
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups whole milk

garnishes
thinly sliced green onions
shredded smoked cheddar cheese
lime wedges
fresh cilantro

Cut the kernels off the cobs, but reserve the cobs to flavor the soup.

Heat the oil in a large soup pot and add the onion. Cook for about 8 minutes, or until onion is soft and translucent.

Stir in the corn kernels and potatoes, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes. Then stir in the garlic, jalapenos, and cumin seeds and cook for a few more minutes, until the cumin and garlic are fragrant.

Stir in the broth and milk, and add the corn cobs. Turn heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until corn and potatoes are tender. Add salt to taste.

Remove the corn cobs and pulse a few times with an immersion blender (you don’t want to puree the soup completely, this is just to thicken it up a little bit.

Ladle into bowls and garnish as desired.

ANYWAY… after 3 days of unpacking, cleaning, less than stellar eating, and generally feeling kind of like a mess (which happens when your life is in boxes, I guess), I turned it all around today and felt a whole lot better.

Today got off to a kind of slow start… I ended up getting some work done for my online class, then fell asleep on the couch for a couple hours, but I did manage to get to the gym and bike for 45 minutes, with some upper body weights afterwards.

I knew I wanted something pretty healthy, because except for grilled corn and and coleslaw, my life has been a little lacking in vegetables lately. I tried out an almost entirely raw broccoli soup recipe from this book:

I say almost-raw because you steam the broccoli for a few minutes, but other than that, there’s no cooking involved. I was highly skeptical because it seemed like a random mix of ingredients but this stuff was GOOD. Even Mike approved, and he’s quick to call me out when I make food that is a little too hippie-ish. It tastes a little like guacamole (because of the avocado) but with a slightly more complex flavor profile because of the herbs and lemon. I didn’t realize it until after I’d taken the picture, but I accidentally left out the onion. I’m kind of glad I did though, because I’m not a huge fan of raw onion, and I think there was plenty of flavor without it.

You may have seen a couple other blogs giving this book away (I know Anne and Joanne both did) and I have a copy to give away too!

I like the mix of recipes (for food as well as beauty products) and chapters about foods that can boost your mood, reduce stress, and improve PMS symptoms. Definitely a useful resource if you’re interested in improving your diet! TO WIN: just leave a comment telling me your favorite healthy food (linking to the recipe would be awesome, but you definitely don’t have to). I’ll randomly pick a winner July 7th at 8 PM.

And the winner is…. Julie! Enjoy the book!

FTC Disclaimer: Vega sent me two copies of this book for free – one to review and one to give away. The views expressed above are entirely my own

Recipe:
(Must Have Been Something I Ate) by Peggy Kostopoulos)

soup
1 medium head broccoli, cut into florets and steamed just until tender
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 small yellow onion, chopped (optional – I left it out)
1 clove garlic, minced
1″ piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch sea salt
1/2 cup warm water
2 tbsp olive oil
half an avocado, diced

garnish
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1/4 avocado, diced
pinch cayenne

Combine the broccoli, celery, garlic, ginger, onion (if using), lemon juice, oregano, salt, pepper, water and half avocado in a blender and puree until smooth. Add more water as needed until soup reaches desired consistency (I added about 1 1/2 cups total). Drizzle in olive oil and stir until smooth.

Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds, avocado, and cayenne. Serve immediately.

I promised I would do something with all the strawberries we bought, but instead I’m writing about soup. It’s a GOOD soup though, one of the best I’ve ever had! I think the mustard and croutons really make it… but more on that in a second.

Somehow this week flew by without me once removing my camera from the bag I keep it in. Between getting things wrapped up at school (grades are now turned in! 5 more days of work) and going to the gym every day (our new gym is a billion times more appealing than our old gym), I just didn’t get around to making anything blog-worthy. I actually made this soup a few weeks ago, but debated sharing it because it was almost June and it really didn’t seem like a seasonally-appropriate choice.

I know a lot of the country is hot and humid right now, but the Bay Area is much colder and wetter than normal, so it’s definitely still soup weather. I know things aren’t too different in the Pacific Northwest, because in the last week or two, I’ve noticed a LOT of facebook status updates about how ridiculously late Spring is to arrive, and “this is the LAST year I’m putting up with Portland weather…who wants to move to Arizona/Hawaii/Florida with me!?”

So here we are, on June 4, with soup. It is one of those rich, creamy soups that seems like it should be full of heavy cream, but is actually full of cauliflower, potato, and cheese. There’s a little mustard, both in the soup and on the croutons, which really enhances the flavor. The croutons are a MUST – a perfect, crunchy contrast to the creaminess of the soup.

Recipe:
(from Super Natural Every Day) <-- If you haven't bought it yet, you're missing out!

croutons
A decent sized chunk of whole grain bread (6 oz), cut or torn into 1/2″ pieces
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
a few pinches of sea salt

soup
2 tbsp butter
2 shallots, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
one large potato, peeled and diced (1/4″ cubes)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 head cauliflower, chopped
2/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese
2 tsp Dijon mustard

To make the croutons, toss all ingredients together in a large bowl, then spread on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, or until the croutons are crunchy

To make the soup, melt the butter in a large soup pot. Add the shallots and onions and cook for a few minutes, stirring, until they soften. Sprinkle with a little salt, then add the potato, garlic, and vegetable broth.

Cover and bring to a low boil, cooking for about 8 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Add the cauliflower and stir well. Cover and cook another 5 or 6 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender. Add the cheese and mustard and stir well.

Puree with an immersion blender, and add salt to taste. Add a little more broth or water if the soup is too thick.

Serve topped with croutons and a sprinkling of grated cheese.

I never really found black bean soup appealing. It didn’t look good, it never really tasted good (unless it was topped with so much cheese and sour cream you couldn’t really tell what it was), and I never felt any kind of urge to make it until this recipe.

My throat has been sore pretty much since we got back from Portland and yesterday it was so bad I took the day off work. I felt really guilty leaving the kids with a sub, but since I feel a lot better today, I guess it was worth it. Instead of supervising labs and timing the mile run, my day can pretty much be summed up by this picture:

It’s awesome to be reading a book I actually want to read again, instead of forcing myself to keep reading something I have absolutely no interest in (no, I never finished Everything is Illuminated…I gave up).

So after a highly thrilling day of downing Chloraseptic drops, drinking tea, and falling asleep every 20 pages, I knew I needed a healthy dinner that wasn’t very demanding to cook. This was perfect, and it’s really healthy, too. Cumin, paprika, and oregano are the only spices, but with the vegetables sauteed in the first step, there’s an amazing warmth and depth of flavor. I’m a convert – I LOVE black bean soup now.

And today, I might even try to run again since my weekly total currently stands at an impressive 4.2 miles!

Recipe:
(adapted from Veggie Belly)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped finely
2 small carrots, peeled and chopped finely
1 green bell pepper, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano or Italian seasoning
2 cups cooked black beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups water
Salt to taste
chopped tomato, red onion, and green onion for garnish

Heat the oil in a dutch oven or large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and bell pepper and cook for about 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes more.

Stir in the spices, beans, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the soup has thickened.

Serve topped with chopped tomato, red onion, and green onion.

Before we get to the recipe though, I have a really important topic to discuss: Lunch.

I am a total leftover person. I think I inherited it from my mom, who has lived on leftovers for lunch my whole life. I actually get really disappointed if Mike and I finish everything I’ve cooked for dinner because WHAT am I supposed to do about lunch!?

I’m assuming there are two camps: the I-pack-last-night’s-dinner-in-Tupperware camp, and the sandwich camp. My dad is most definitely in the second group, because while my mom eats leftovers, my dad eats PB & J every.single.day.

Which camp do you fall into? If you don’t eat leftovers or a sandwich, then what do you do for lunch?! (I realize lots of people buy lunch…but that’s not going to happen for me).

One other brief detour, and then I PROMISE we’ll get to the soup. See these shoes?

I got them FOR FREE! Somehow, a few weeks ago when we were volunteering at a trail race, I ended up getting a certificate for a free pair of La Sportiva Mountain Running Shoes. Since I have a 50K coming up far too soon, trail shoes seemed like a fairly crucial investment, so I ordered these and today was my first time running in them. Pretty they are not, but they are super comfy. Maybe not 31 miles comfy, but I’m pretty excited about them!

OK, back to the topic at hand.
I like this soup for several reasons:
1. It’s good (obviously)
2. It’s vegan (yay!)
3. You get to make a bouquet garni (very few things make me feel like a chef, but making a bouquet garni definitely does.)

It’s not a boring bouquet garni either. This one has cilantro stems, lemongrass, ginger, and Thai chiles. Yes, please! And don’t worry if you can’t handle spicy food, the Thai chiles really don’t add any heat.

Recipe:
(adapted from The Healthy Hedonist)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 small stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb bag frozen corn, divided
1 stalk fresh lemongrass, cut into 3″ pieces
4 thin slices ginger
12 cilantro stems
2 Thai chiles, halved lengthwise
4 1/2 cups water
salt
1 tbsp lime juice
1 roma tomato, seeded and diced, for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high. When the oil is hot, add the celery and onion and cook, stirring, until soft (about 10 minutes).

Add the garlic and about 3/4 of the corn and cook for about 4 more minutes.

Stir in the water and 1/2 tsp salt.

Put the lemongrass, ginger, chiles, and cilantro stems in the middle of a piece of cheesecloth and tie securely into a bundle. Drop into the soup, lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered, for about 20 minutes.

Remove the lemongrass bundle and discard it. Puree the soup with an immersion blender.

Stir in the remaining corn. Taste and add salt if necessary.

Stir in the lime juice, then ladle into bowls and top with diced tomatoes.

To make a complete dinner, I served this with a big bowl of salad with peanut dressing. In the salad was some thinly sliced cabbage, grated carrot, chopped fresh spinach, diced tomato, and cubes of pan-fried tofu. Drizzle with peanut dressing.

Peanut Dressing:
3 cloves smashed garlic
1 tbsp palm sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup PB
6 tbsp warm water

Blend all ingredients together, adding additional water if necessary.

The first time I ate chorizo, I was staying with a host family in a tiny town in Spain. Every night after work (and before they ate dinner at about 10:30 PM), they put out bread, manchego (and other similar cheeses) and chorizo. I instantly fell in love with the salty, spicy cured sausage and was really bummed to discover how hard it was to find at home. I wanted to make paella for my family the way I learned how to in Spain, but all I could find was Mexican chorizo, which isn’t the same at all. Although I was not a fan of it at first, I came to love it even more than the Spanish variety.

When I gave up meat a few months ago, I wanted to steer clear of imitation meat products (like soy nuggets and fake lunch meat), but when I saw Soy Chorizo at Trader Joe’s, I had to give it a try. I don’t plan on eating it often, but I LOVE the stuff, and it really does look and taste a lot like the real thing (but without a bunch of random pig parts). I recently bought a package to put in breakfast scrambles, but I wanted to use some in a real recipe. Black bean soup isn’t normally my favorite, but with chorizo, it takes on a whole new flavor that’s totally irresistible. I love how easy this is to put together, and with a salad it’s a nice, light meal.

Recipe:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lg onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
6 ounces Soy Chorizo (or regular…your call)
3 cups black beans, rinsed and drained (about 2 cans)
2-3 cups vegetable broth
lime wedges and fresh chopped cilantro, for serving

Heat the oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper and saute until soft (about 4 minutes). Add the chorizo, salt, and cumin and cook, stirring, another 5-6 minutes.
Stir in the beans and 2 cups of broth and simmer for about 15 minutes. Using an immersion blender, pulse a few times (so it’s partly but not completely pureed). Salt to taste, and add more broth if you’d like your soup a little thinner.
Serve with lime wedges and fresh cilantro.