Acquacotta :: Tuscan Vegetable Soup

A friend made this for us over the weekend and I can't get it out of my head! So good. (And so much that is found in our CSA box!)

Epicurious | March 2001
by Faith Heller Willinger
Yield: Makes 2 servings

1 large red onion or 1 leek, roughly chopped
1 1/2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 pound Swiss chard, cleaned and torn in half, or 1/2 oz. porcini mushrooms, soaked and drained
Half of a peperoncino or any hot red pepper, fresh or dried
1/2 cup tomato pulp (seeded, juiced, and chopped if fresh or drained and diced if canned)
3 cups simmering water
sea salt
2 eggs (preferably organic)
2 slices rustic, country-style bread, lightly toasted
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Tuscan pecorino cheese

Place the toasted bread in two soup bowls.
Place the onion and celery in a 3-quart, heavy-bottomed, nonreactive pot. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and stir to coat. Cook over a medium-low heat, or until the onion is translucent but not brown. Add Swiss chard (or porcinis, if using) and stir briefly to wilt. Add hot pepper, tomatoes, and simmering water. Season lightly with salt and cook over a low heat (barely a simmer) for 20 minutes, until vegetables are very soft.
As vegetables are cooking, bring about an inch of water and a half teaspoon of salt to a boil in a deep skillet. At the end of the vegetables' cooking time, turn the skillet heat down to a gentle simmer. Add the parsley to the soup.
Break the eggs into a small bowl, one at a time, and slide them into the simmering water. Cook for about 3 minutes, until the whites are set, but the yellow is still runny. When done, use a large slotted spoon to place one egg on each toast slice in bowls. Ladle broth and vegetables over each egg and top with a generous sprinkling of the cheese.

Warm Chickpea Salad with Arugula

for lunch today...



from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

(20 minutes with precooked beans)

3 T olive oil
1 T minced peeled fresh ginger
1 T minced garlic
1/2 t cumin seeds
alt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 c cooked (or drained canned) chickpeas
1 T rice wine vinegar
1 t honey
4 c arugula leaves
1 leek - chopped (substituted for red onion)
4 hard-cooked eggs - quartered (optional)

Saute ginger, garlic and cumin in olive oil stirring constantly - about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper then add chickpeas. Stir until hot and coated in the oil and seasonings - about 3 minutes more. Remove from heat and with a fork, stir in the vinegar, honey and 1 T water. Mash a few chickpeas as you stir to add texture to the dressing. Put the arugula and leek in a large bowl and toss with the warm chickpea dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve immediately, with egg if you like.

I {heart} Mark Bittman

Another hit. (From How to Cook Everything.)

I have the app - and use it frequently in my meal planning.

Braised Chard with Olive Oil and Rice

1 lb chard
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 small carrots*, roughly chopped
salt and pepper
1/4 cup white rice
juice of 1/2 lemon

Cut stems out of the chard leave and then cut leaves into wide ribbons and slice stems. Keep separate.

Put all but a tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over med heat. When hot add chard stems and carrots, along with sprinkling of salt and pepper, and cook until tender.

Add the chard leaves, some salt and pepper, the rice and 1 1/2 cups water. Cover, adjust the heat so the mixture simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, of until the water is absorbed; should be moist but not soupy. Just before serving (hot, room temperature, or cold) drizzle with remaining olive oil and the lemon juice.

*I used 3 carrots - since I have an abundance of them :) and also added two leeks to the mix