I was in a panic because the escarole plants in my garden were so ready to eat, and I hadn’t planned out a recipe. I made up this Escarole and White Bean Soup with what I had on hand, and inadvertently created what might just be my ultimate comfort soup! It’s proof that escarole is one of the most under-appreciated greens out there.

With a short list of ingredients, this soup sounds so humble – but it’s remarkably satisfying. The leeks and celery really gave it a lovely depth of flavor. The just-picked basil and parsley from the garden didn’t hurt, either.

Be sure to serve this soup with some crusty bread. You’ll want to do lots of dipping.

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White Bean and Escarole Soup

12 ounce dried cannellini beans, picked over and rinsed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 or 5 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium stalks celery, very thinly sliced, plus any leaves from the head of celery
3 leeks, white and light green part thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 large heads escarole, well-washed and chopped
4 cups vegetable stock (recommend Imagine No-Chicken broth)
1 15-oz can tomatoes, with juice (not puree), well chopped (or use Eden brand diced tomatoes, which are already finely chopped)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Soak the beans overnight, or use the quick soak method. Drain. Place the beans in a large pot with water to cover by two inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until beans are completely tender, about 45 to 75 minutes depending on the freshness of your beans.  If you’re not using them immediately, let the beans cool in the cooking liquid.  If you are using them now, drain and reserve the liquid.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large heavy pot or dutch oven. Add the garlic, celery, leeks and red pepper flakes. Sauté for 10 minutes.

Add the escarole and cook for one minute, until it wilts. Add the beans, stock, tomatoes, pepper, and 2 cups of reserved bean cooking liquid. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the basil and parsley (if using) and serve.

Serves 8

Even though I have three other muffin recipes on my blog, I can’t help but add more. Especially when I make a batch as good as these.

There’s just something irresistible about the combination of toasted pecans and sweet dried cherries. I ate one right out of the oven, another after they cooled, and then later in the day…oh, I don’t need to explain the rest.

These are whole grain and quite low in fat and sugar, yet don’t taste like “health food muffins”. Like my famous (well, should be famous) banana bread, these muffins contain yogurt, which I’m convinced makes them nice and tender.

Be sure to look for dried cherries that aren’t sweetened or otherwise messed-with. If you find dried tart cherries, that could make for a great variation.

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Cherry Pecan Muffins

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or white whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup oat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup organic canola oil
3/4 cup nonfat yogurt (not Greek)
1/2 cup skim milk
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
1/2 cup dried cherries

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the oil, yogurt, milk, egg and vanilla. Gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry. Fold in the pecans and cherries.

Spray a muffin pan with cooking oil (I like Spectrum’s organic baking spray with flour). Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full.

Bake for 16-18 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins

I thought the last baked beans I made were really good. But today, my friends, I have a new baked bean love.

I wanted to make something different than regular old beans, so I decided to add pasilla chiles and canned chipotles in adobo sauce. Truth be told, I was a little worried that the result would simply taste like baked chili, but that’s not the case at all. (Whew!) While there’s a definite chile undercurrent, these are still very much baked beans, with the sweetness of molasses and the tang of vinegar and mustard.

One thing that made these so special was the variety of beans I used. Goat’s Eye Beans (available from Rancho Gordo) are round and meaty with a nice smooth texture. The “pot liquor” from cooking them was dark and aromatic, and added a serious depth of flavor to the baked beans. Having said that, I’m sure they would still be delicious made with a more traditional bean.

If you’ve never made baked beans from scratch, you’ve really got to do it. They’re about a thousand times better than anything from a can. Need more reasons to eat them? They’re economical. They’re easy to make. And of course, they’re nutritious. While they do have some added sugar, baked beans make for a hearty, healthful meal, full of fiber and high in folate and iron.

My chile-baked beans would be perfect with some cornbread and sauteed greens. This weekend I served them with healthy burgers, corn and salad, and my guests couldn’t stop raving about them. Five of us nearly finished off the whole batch!

And speaking of beans, be sure to enter the My Legume Love Affair recipe event I’m hosting this month.

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Chile-Baked Beans

1 pound dried Goat’s Eye beans (or substitute another bean such as Great Northern, Jacob’s Cattle, Yellow Indian Woman or Yellow Eye)
2 small dried pasilla chiles (or substitute ancho chiles)
2 tablespoons olive or organic canola oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, finely chopped
4 to 6 fresh ripe plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped – about 1 cup (or substitute 1 cup canned tomatoes, well chopped)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup molasses
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 shakes Tabasco sauce
½ teaspoon salt, more to taste

Soak the beans overnight, or use the quick soak method (bring the beans to a boil in a pot of water, boil 2 minutes, cover and remove from heat for 1 hour. Drain.)

Place the soaked beans in a large saucepan and cover with water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until nearly tender, about 30 minutes to 1 hour or more depending on your beans. Drain the beans, reserving the cooking water.

Sear the dried chiles in a hot dry pan (not nonstick) for about 30 seconds on each side, pressing down with a spatula. Stem the chiles and remove the seeds. Place in a bowl, cover with boiling water and let sit for 20 minutes. Drain, reserving 3 tablespoons of the soaking liquid. Puree the chiles and the soaking liquid in a food processor.

In a large bowl, combine the oil, onions, garlic, chipotles, tomatoes, mustard, brown sugar, molasses, vinegar, Tabasco, pureed chiles and salt.

Place the cooked beans in an ovenproof pot. Gently mix in the mixture from the bowl. Add enough bean cooking liquid to cover well (I used 1½ cups.)

Cover and bake at 300 degrees for 3 1/2 hours, checking occasionally to make sure the beans aren’t getting too dried out – add more bean cooking liquid or hot water if they are.

Taste and add additional salt if you feel it’s needed, and bake uncovered for an additional 30 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature. (Note that the beans will thicken significantly as they cool, so if they are too dry, add more liquid and reheat.)

Serves 8

It’s been a few years since I’ve eaten tomato soup, but looking at my giant pile of tomatoes from the garden this morning, I could think of nothing else.

To deepen the flavor of this soup, I roasted the tomatoes, along with shallots and garlic. Some fresh herbs provided the perfect accent. I used a mixture of plum and regular heirlooms – plus a few yellow Sungold cherry tomatoes, all from my garden. Just be sure you don’t make this with regular old supermarket tomatoes – the key here is to use the most perfectly fresh and ripe specimens you can get your hands on.

Every time I took a slurp of this soup, I couldn’t help myself from exclaiming, “Oh my God, this is sooooo good.”  I think my husband got tired of hearing that over and over!

Best of all, it freezes very well – so I plan to make a big vat this weekend and freeze small portions. I can only imagine how amazing it will be to taste summertime in the dark days of winter. Hey, this could be the cure for seasonal affective disorder.

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Roasted Fresh Tomato Soup

4-5 pounds fresh ripe tomatoes, sliced in half (I like mixing plum and regular ones)
5 cloves garlic, peeled
3 large shallots, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 large handful fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon agave nectar

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss the tomatoes, garlic and shallots with the olive oil. Place on a baking sheet, with the tomatoes cut side up. Bake for 45 minutes.

Transfer the tomatoes, garlic and shallots (along with any accumulated juices) to a large saucepan. Add the remaining ingredients.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Puree in a blender or using an immersion blender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4

 

The news about Jennifer Perillo’s husband’s death hit me pretty hard – especially because he died of a sudden heart attack. I don’t know Jennie except through her beautiful blog, In Jennie’s Kitchen. But as my friend Andrew points out, that doesn’t really matter. She’s still important to me, because the food blogger community is a family all its own. I’ve learned in recent days just how tight knit and caring that family is, as support has poured in for Jennie from all corners of the food blogosphere.

As if losing her husband weren’t horrible enough, Jennie is also struggling financially. Her health insurance runs out at the end of the year, and she’s left on her own to deal with health care, a mortgage and the cost of raising two young daughters. That’s where food bloggers come in. The organization Bloggers Without Borders has started a remarkable campaign to raise money to help Jennie out.

To do my part, I’m auctioning off an Apple-Raspberry pie (or just plain apple, if you prefer). If you live in NYC or in the Hudson Valley, I will deliver this pie to your doorstep. And of course, it will be made with my famous heart-healthy crust.

Bidding starts at $25. To place a bid, just leave it in your comment below. I will contact the winning bidder and you’ll make the payment through Bloggers Without Borders. I’ll accept bids through Monday at midnight. My pie is worth it, so bid generously

If you want to tweet the word about my auction, be sure to use the hashtag #afundforjennie. Thanks so much.

OK, first things first. What’s freekeh, you ask? Well, it’s an ancient form of wheat that’s harvested very young, resulting in superior nutritional content. The whole grain form of freekeh is chewy like barley, while the cracked grain variety is more like bulgur. But freekeh has a slightly smoky flavor all its own.

Freekeh is all the rage among chefs right now, but it’s been popular in the Middle East for centuries. While freekeh is known for being native to Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Egypt, most of the freekeh available in the U.S. right now is manufactured by an Australian company (go figure). If you want to dig a little deeper on freekeh, check out my new article on One Green Planet – it includes another good salad recipe.

Meanwhile I give you this freekeh salad with lots of my favorite things: cucumbers, mint, toasted pistachios, raisins and pomegranate molasses. I topped it off with some fat-free feta cheese. I think most fat-free cheeses stink (and not in the good stinky cheese way), but fat-free feta is actually quite good on salads. To make the salad vegan, just leave the cheese off (obviously!).

Freekeh Salad with Cucumber, Pistachios and Mint

3 cups cooked freekeh, whole or cracked grain (cooled after cooking)
1 cup diced cucumber
1/2 cup pistachios, toasted
1/4 cup sultana or golden raisins
2-3 scallions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (if you don’t have it, make your own)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup fat-free or reduced fat feta cheese (optional; omit for vegan version))

Toss the freekeh with the cucumbers, pistachios, raisins, scallions and mint.

In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, salt and pepper. Mix gently with the freekeh. Top with feta cheese, if desired.

Keeps for several days, but warm leftovers up to room temperature.

Serves 6