Posts Tagged ‘leeks’
Bulgur-Quinoa with Sauteed Leeks, Apples and Kraut
Kitchen scraps transformed into a memorable lunch.
Happily, I was hungry today when I landed on The Sausageterian blog, maintained by fellow FOODday contributor Sara Bir. An intriguing string of ingredients in her “Bulgur with Cabbage, Onions, Feta and Walnuts” inspired my own lunchtime concoction. I sauteed a spring green leek with a pat of butter, melted, and then added the remnants of my home-fermented pink (resulting from a blend of red and green cabbage) sauerkraut to the pan. Then I chopped up my last long-forgotten, almost dried apple texture, freckled Goldenrush (my last one!) and added it to the pan. Meanwhile, I poured boiling water over the 1/2 cup of bulgur I had to use up and simmered a cup of quinoa on the stove. When the veggies had sauteed about 10 minutes, I added them to the cooked grains. I served it with some crumbled ricotta salata and a drizzle of a fig-infused balsamic glaze from some fancy foods store. And dotted it with some diced green garlic on top. What a tangy, satisfying dish that will still be difficult to recreate. Dan thought for sure it had pork in it. That’s probably just because we associate sauerkraut and apples with bacon, as I’ve braised them together before. The chicken broth I simmered the quinoa in was the only meat product involved. Now a little browned lamb or pork sausage could be crumbled into this mix. That’s something I bet The Sausageterian would approve of.
And the Winner Is…(Not) Potato Leek Soup
I meant to post that I entered my first cooking contest last week, sponsored by the local Ten Rivers food security group. Using as many local ingredients as possible was key. Some gorgeous green local leeks seduced me into making Potato Leek Chickpea soup, but unfortunately four out of the 16 entries were variations on potato leek soup (one included smoked salmon, unique). I also used the dried chickpeas harvested from a nearby grass seed farm. But it wasn’t an original recipe (I adapted it from the Naked Chef Jamie Oliver, see below). I’m especially excited to try this vegetarian borscht recipe that won first place, made by my friend Anna Cates, from my Acro-Yoga class. Borscht or some other beet soup might be in the cards tomorrow night. Or a hearty chili.
Jamie Oliver’s Potato-Leek-Chickpea Soup
12 oz. chickpeas (I used canned or soak dry ones)
• 1 medium potato peeled
• 5 medium leeks
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 1 tbs. butter
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cups chicken stock
• Parmesan Cheese for garnish
Directions:
1. Cooks the peas and potatoes covered with water until tender (if you used canned, cook the potatoes first until more soft then add chick peas.)
2. Remove outer skin of leeks, slice length-ways, wash carefully, slice finely.
3. Warm a thick-bottomed pan, add oil and butter, then leeks and garlic. Cook until tender and sweet. Add 2 of the 3 cups of stock to the sautéed leeks. Simmer 15 mins.
4. Puree half or all the soup. You can also just leave it chunky. Add the remaining 1 cup of stock.
5. Enjoy!
BaltimOregon to Maine 