Friday, April 27, 2012

Caramelized Onion and Garlic Soup with Miso and Kale


This soup takes awhile to cook because the onions caramelize slowly in the oven, but it doesn't require too much hands-on labor.

The Ingredients:
3 large yellow onions, halved lengthwise then thinly sliced (6-7 cups)
3 heads garlic, peeled and sliced (about 1 cup)
3 T olive oil
1 t salt
1 t sugar
1/2 cup hot water 
1/4 c miso
2 t cornstarch
3 loosely-packed cups sliced kale
3 c water
2 c low-sodium vegetable broth
1/2 c white wine

1 T nutritional yeast
1/8 t cayenne
a pinch black pepper

The Process:
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with a dutch oven or heavy, lidded casserole dish in the oven.
  2. When oven is hot, toss together onions, garlic, oil, sugar, and salt in the pre-heated dutch oven. Cover and bake for 2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes and adding a splash of water if the onions start to stick to the pan.
  3. When the 2 hours are up, whisk miso and cornstarch with 1/2 cup hot water until dissolved.
  4. Stir miso mixture and all remaining ingredients into the caramelized onion/garlic mixture. Cover, return to the oven, and bake 30-40 minutes.
  5. Serve hot with a side of crusty bread.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Spicy Black Pepper Veggies


This black pepper sauce has a serious kick, so it's best served with plenty of rice to mellow out the flavor.

The Ingredients:
8 cups chopped vegetables (I used mushrooms and broccoli)

Sauce:
4 T roughly-chopped ginger
12 cloves garlic
1/2 stalk celery
2 T fermented black beans
2 T vegan oyster sauce
1 T sambal oelek (or other spicy chili paste)
2 t roughly-ground black pepper
2 T margarine
2 t cornstarch
1/4 c hot water
1 t soy sauce or liquid aminos
2/3 c low-sodium vegetable broth

The Process:
  1. To make sauce, combine ginger, garlic, celery, black beans, oyster sauce, sambal oelek, and black pepper in a food processor and process until a course paste forms.
  2. Heat margarine in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add ginger mixture and cook, stirring, about 7 minutes.
  3. In a small bowl, stir cornstarch into hot water.
  4. Add soy sauce, broth, and cornstarch to ginger mixture and continue to cook about 5 minutes over medium-low heat.  Set aside.
  5. Steam or stir-fry the vegetables, then toss with sauce and serve over rice or noodles.