Oh, this was the best soup, and it became a satisfying sludge the next day. Now I'm going to try to remember how I did it. A lot of my recipes start this way.

Ingredients:

• 2 T olive oil
  
• 4 yellow onions, sliced
  
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  
• 5 carrots, sliced
  
• 1 red pepper, diced
  
• 5 small potatoes, peeled and diced
  
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
  
• 2 can whole corn
  
• 1 can tomato paste
  
• 1 c jasmine rice
  
• 4 c vegetable broth
  
• 4 T butter

Spices:

• Key (a tbsp or more): Basil, Oregano
  
• Note (tsp) Coriander, Red pepper flakes, tarragon, thyme
  
• Lots of salt and some pepper

Method:

• In a large soup pot, sautee the hell outta them onions. Cook them until there's brown stuff on the pan.
  
• Add spices, stir a bit, then deglaze pan with a cup of veg broth.
  
• Add garlic, let it cook a bit.
  
• Add everything except the butter, then add water to cover.
  
• Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes, or until veggies are tender.
  
• Add the butter. Once incorporated, test seasoning. Add basil and salt if the broth is at all bitter--it should be tomoto-ey and sweet.
  
• Add dumplings. Oh, I didn't mention the dumplings? They go like this (recipe from Joy of Cooking):
  • Mix together 2 cups flour, a tablespoon of baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt.
    
  • In a small saucepan, bring a cup of milk and 3 tablespoons of butter just to a simmer.
    
  • Mix the wet into the dry with a fork until it all comes together. Don't overmix unless you're like me, and you love
  • chewy dumplings.
    
  • Roll dough into about 18 little balls and place on top of soup. Cover and cook 10 minutes.

Last night was cooking night, and it has brung more veggie loaf and the casserole below. We cooked up our entire delivery of vegetables, except for just a few potatoes and a couple cloves of garlic. Note to veggie-loaf lovers: this time, we roasted the veggies first, and it didn't really make a difference. So don't waste the extra time. In the delivery were some fresh green beans, so naturally we did what our white-person instincts demanded: got out the cream-of-mushroom soup.

2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
4 plump cloves of garlic, sliced
1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (I probably used more--I just grabbed handfuls. Thus the title.)
1 cup fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch bits
1/2 cup milk
1 can condensed cream-of-mushroom soup (the cheaper the better!)

• preheat oven to 375°.
  
• Spray a medium casserole dish with nonstick spray.
  
• Layer in the pan thusly: potatoes, garlic, green beans, cheese. Make about two layers.
  
• Mix the milk and soup, whisking lightly until the big lumps are gone. Pour over the top of the layers.
  
• Bake for about an hour, or until the potatoes are tender.
• Serve to cheese-lovin' Spousal Unit.
• Administer CPR.

As I sit munching on my second veggie-loaf sandwich of the evening, I realize I must try to remember what I put in this amazing stuff, in hopes of recreating it someday.

Amounts will be vague. I had just cooked a batch of a dozen onions until they were just caramelized, and tonged them into various foodstuffs.

Pre-cooking:

3 medium onions, sliced, cooked just until caramelized
1 head garlic, chopped, also caramelized
3 cups cooked rice

Blade-process in batches:

2 red bell peppers, chopped
1 bunch fresh spinach, chopped
3 carrots, grated
6 leaves fresh basil
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can roasted tomatoes, drained
1 package extra-firm silken tofu
About half the onions
Garlic

Put everything in a huge-ass bowl. Stir in:

½ cup cheddar cheese, grated
4 beaten eggs
Cooked rice
Remaining onion

Spice generously with:

Salt
Pepper
Cumin
Oregano
Tarragon
Thyme
Sage

Bake in a 350° oven for about an hour. I used a pan that produces six mini-loaves, and had a little mix left over. While the loaves hold together more or less, it is more like a pate than a loaf. I wrapped each loaf in wax paper, and they are very handy for making sandwiches.

We had a surplus of onions this weekend, so I cooked up a mess of them and did various things. This was the tastiest, and it's good hot or cold:

Extra-virgin olive oil
2 large yellow onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8 eggs, beaten
1 heaping teaspoon dried dill
Healthy dash jalapeno tabasco
Salt and pepper to taste
½-cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Spray a glass pie pan with nonstick coating. Preheat oven to 350°.

Sautee the onions and garlic in the EVOO until they just begin to caramelize (I actually did them separately because I was doing batches of both ingredients, but I don't think cooking them together will hurt, just put the garlic in later so it doesn't burn). Place the onions and garlic in the pie pan and spread them out so they make an even layer on the bottom.

Sprinkle cheese evenly over onion layer.

Mix salt, pepper, dill, and tabasco with the eggs, and pour mixture over the onions and cheese.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Tonight I made a variation on dhal soup, intended to be thick enough to serve over rice. The result was worth writing down.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
Dash chili flakes
1/2 tsp salt
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup red lentils
1/2 can good coconut milk
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 can diced tomato (I used Muir Glen's fire roasted)
About 2 cups vegetable broth (as needed)
Dash soy sauce
1/3 cup peanut butter

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until slightly browned. Add spices, garlic, lentils, and stir for just a minute and get everything coated in spices. Add the coconut milk and half of the vegetable broth. Let cook for about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, stirring them in well. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender. Serve over rice.

Tonight I finally cooked in our new kitchen. I went for a variation on one of our favorite soups. I also went easy, with lots of organic canned stuff, since there is still a lot of work to do on the house. 'Twas mighty yummy:

2 tbl olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
1 onion, sliced
1 tsp turmeric
1½ tsp garam masala
¼ tsp chili powder
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt
½ c lentils
2 cans organic diced tomatoes
1 can organic garbanzo beans
1 can organic black beans
1 c veggie broth
1 can coconut milk

Heat the oil in the bottom of a soup pot on med-high. Add the onions, cooking until soft. Add garlic and spices, and stir for another minute. Dump in everything else, and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 30 minutes. Buzz it with a stick blender until it's a bit smoother (if you don't have one, don't worry about it), but has a few chunks. Serve with baked tortilla chips--spoons are only for scooping on to chips!

Because we thought it sounded good, we added a can of corn to what was leftover. This will be dumped over rice and taken for lunch. Mmmmm.

This time, I have pictures:

Of course, the recipe was a little different this time--that's the idea! For The Stuff, I used two apples, a cup of dried cranberries, and a couple grated carrots. I also added some applesauce to the wet.

Spousal Unit had a great idea he passed along from his mom: wrap slices of the bread and freeze individually, that way you can toss a couple in your lunchbag and they're ready when you are. It's much handier than freezing the loaves.

With only one minor change (lime for lemon), this recipe is from the book What's Cooking Vegetarian by Jenny Stacey. I love this book, because every recipe includes beautiful pictures. Sadly, it doesn't have a great index so you have to hunt around a bit.

2 tbl butter
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion, chopped (okay, I sliced it. I hate chopped onions)
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
¼ tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cans of chopped tomatoes (14.5 ounces ea)
1 cup red lentils
Juice of ½ a lime
2½ cups veggie stock
1¼ cups coconut milk

Melt the butter (I used a little olive oil too, to keep the butter from scorching) in a large saucepan. Saute the garlic and onion for 2-3 minutes. Add the spices and cook for another 30 seconds.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes, until the lentils are tender.

This is (as of this writing) officially my favorite soup ever.

When I bought this a little while ago, the goal was to make little loaves full of veggies, fruit, nuts, etc., packed with nutrition and sweetness, that could be easily taken to work. I used the pan for the first time tonight (great pan!), with this recipe:

The Dry:

4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
2½ c whole wheat flour (fine grind)
½ c rye flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c white sugar

The Wet:

A bit over ½ c honey
1 tbl molasses
1 c olive oil (not extra-virgin--too strong!)
3 eggs
½ c apple juice
1 tsp vanilla

The Stuff:

1½ c chopped almonds
1 pear, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 zucchini, very finely chopped
1 banana, pureed
Zest of 1 lemon

Mix the dry ingredients together. Pour in the Wet and the Stuff and mix until dry ingredients are moistened. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.