Spring Minestrone Soup

 

Funny, I started this blog to promote my jewelry but I feel that I need to include my other love… food. Spring in Hanoi, Vietnam has been moderate (mid 80’s) so far except for one really hot week (high 90’s)  in which I thought I would have to stop cooking for the season because I couldn’t stand to add any additional heat indoors. Anyway, today was nice, slightly overcast so I thought this would be the perfect time to try out a new recipe. 

Artichokes may be my favorite food which is what originally drew me to this “Spring Minestrone Soup” recipe in the first place…imagine my surprise when I got home from shopping for veggies only to realize I was out of artichoke hearts! No worries…I substituted mixed mushrooms (white button & baby portabella) for the artichokes. My original thought was to add yellow squash & zucchini but after I prepped all the veggies I could see this was going to be a very hearty soup so I ( with some difficulty) controlled myself and pretty much stuck to the original recipe below. See notes after the recipe for my other substitutions & additions. My tummy is full and I have a huge smile on my face, I would definitely make this again next time with the artichokes in addition to my mushrooms just to see if I was missing anything with my substitution…Enjoy!

Spring Minestrone Soup Recipe

from La Tartine Gourmande

• Prep time: 20 minutes (give or take)

• Cook time: 40 minutes

You can either make fresh pesto for this recipe, or you can just buy some high-quality pesto in the market.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 6 green onions
• 2 green garlic stalks, or 2 large garlic cloves
• 1 pound baby potatoes, or Yukon gold potatoes cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 1 quart vegetable or chicken stock
• Salt
• 1/2 pound artichoke hearts (fresh or frozen), chopped roughly
• 1 15-ounce can of chickpeas
• 1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
• 1/2 pound asparagus, cut into 1/2-inch chunks (peel and slice slightly thinner if you use the fat stocks)
• 2 cups greens (dandelion, chard, spinach, kale, arugula, etc.), sliced into thin ribbons
• Up to 1/4 cup pesto
• Grated parmesan or pecorino cheese for garnish
• Finely chopped fresh herbs, finely chopped (see my additions note at the bottom)

Method

1 Chop the green onions and green garlic and separate the white and light green parts from the green tops. If you are using regular garlic cloves, put them with the white parts of the green onions. Slice the potatoes, mushrooms if you follow my lead and artichoke hearts into chunks you would want to eat with a spoon.

2 In a large pot set over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil for 1 minute. Add the white parts of the green onions as well as the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the (mushrooms), potatoes, stir to combine and cook 1 minute.

3 Add the diced tomatoes with their liquid and the quart of vegetable or chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, add salt to taste, then cover and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

4 Add the artichoke hearts and cook another 5 minutes, then add the chickpeas and asparagus and cook another 5 minutes. Remove the cover from the soup and add the green peas. Cook 2 minutes. Add the greens and the green parts from the green onions and green garlic & herbs (save some herbs for garnish) if using. Stir well to combine and cook 1 minute.

5 Turn off the heat and stir in the pesto. I added more of my homemade chicken stock at this point to “soup” it back up again as it was acting more like a stew.

Serve topped with finely sliced/grated cheese and fresh chopped herbs .

Yield: Serves 4-6. (Very hearty 6 main course serving, in my opinion)

Substitutions:

• 1 1/2 heaping cups Mixed Mushrooms (white & portabella) sliced and cut into spoon size bits vs. artichoke hearts
• My  2 cups of greens:
• Unknown Vietnamese greens (looks like cross between baby spinach and lettuce but who knows)
• Leek greens that would not fit in refrigerator veggie drawer

Additional Herbs:

• 1/2 bunch fresh Italian parsley finely chopped
• 1 bunch fresh thyme finely chopped
• Assorted Fresh Bun Cha Herbs finely chopped (left over from my salad basket at lunch assorted Vietnamese mint)

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Glass Noodle Salad w/ Chicken

This my first successful attempt at an Asian inspired meal since moving to Vietnam last September. It is mid May now and thankfully today was not as hot as it has been (mid to high 90’s already) so “no cook” meals have a definite appeal at the moment. I have adapted this recipe from Anne Taylor Pittman, Cooking Light, August 2010 to fit my needs and seasonal local ingredients available. See my notes on Additions and Substitutions at the end of the page, along with the definition for Sambal which I had to look it up and then still couldn’t find in the closest grocery store…my homemade version worked just fine! The original recipe (pictured below) yields 4 servings; mine however as you can see above is probably 6 main dish servings.  I do tend to live in the moment when I cook. It is easy for me to  get slightly carried away adding fresh veggies plus I threw in about 4 handfuls of noodles until it felt right. Dinner was super yummy and we have left overs for tomorrow…yea!

Ingredients:

• 1 (3.75-ounce) package uncooked bean threads (cellophane noodles)

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste) or chile paste with garlic

Salad:

• 2 cups shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
• 1/2 cup matchstick-cut or grated carrot
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper strips
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced shallots
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 cup chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

Preparation

• 1. Place noodles in a large bowl. Cover with very hot tap water, and let stand 10-15 minutes.
• 2. While noodles soak, combine vinegar and next 4 ingredients (through sambal), stirring until sugar dissolves. Combine chicken and next 5 ingredients (through mint), tossing well.
• 3. Drain and rinse noodles with cold water; drain well, squeezing to remove excess water. Snip noodles several times with kitchen shears. Combine noodles and chicken mixture, tossing well to combine. Drizzle noodle mixture with vinegar mixture; toss well to coat. Top with peanuts.

Additions:

• Sliced Shitake/Baby Portabella Mushroom
• 1 halved and sliced peeled cucumber 
• Blanched fresh baby peas
• 1/2 each julienned Yellow & Green Pepper
• I added more fresh cilantro & mint
• I made another batch of the dressing and added 4 T olive oil to serve on the side
• Serve on side: Sliced Fresh Chili, Lime slices, Homemade Sambal

Substitutions:

• Leek & Grn onion vs. shallots
• Marinated Chicken breast cooked on stove top, since I cannot find rotisserie chicken locally. My marinade was threw together spur of the moment using similar ingredients to the dressing.
• My own version of sambal: 3 small fresh chili, 3 cloves garlic, 3 shallots, 1/2 tsp chili sauce (Vietnamese), lime zest, 1T lime juice/pulp, 2 tsp. peanuts blend in food processer. Add 1 tsp. fresh cilantro & mint if on hand.

Sambal ulek (oelek)

Chili (bright red, thin and sharp tasting). Some types of this variant call for the addition of salt or lime into the red mixture. Oelek is a Dutch spelling which in modern Indonesian spelling has become simply ulek; both have the same pronunciation. Ulek is Indonesian special stoneware derived from common village basalt stone kitchenware still ubiquitous in kitchens, particularly in Java. The Ulukan is a pestle shaped like a hybrid of a dinner and soup-plate with an old, cured bamboo root mortar (ulek-ulek) employed in an ulek manner: a crushing and twisting motion (like using a screwdriver) for crushing lime leaves, chilies, peppers, shallots, peanuts, and other kinds of ingredients.

These stats apply to the original version only:
• Calories: 346 Fat: 11.7g
• Saturated fat: 2g
• Monounsaturated fat: 5.4g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 3.5g
• Protein: 27.1g
• Carbohydrate: 34.1g
• Fiber: 2.4g
• Cholesterol: 60mg
• Iron: 2.1mg
• Sodium: 589mg
• Calcium: 44mg