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Want to try my latest vegan stew? The recipe's at our book blog: www.onebravethingaday.com. It's like I'm a guest blogger for myself, sometimes.

Edamame wasabi rice stew

This was today's lunch (yesterday's dinner). Seattle spring has been quite drizzly and chilly so far. I was a homebody hard at work on our book yesterday, so I made this hearty soup with a zing out of ingredients I already had in the house. It felt a little like stone soup, but tasted great.

4 cloves of garlic

and half a red onion, diced fine

got sauteed in a splash of sesame oil to start this one off.

Then I added thin slices of 4 crimini mushrooms, halved.

I added 4 cups of water,

a dried morel mushroom I found kicking around in my pantry (chopped up into little pieces).

Once that came to a boil, I added all the leftover

white and brown rice we had from takeout (about one cup) and kept boiling for about 5 minutes. I turned down to low heat.

Then I added

the soy sauce from two little packets

that came with our takeout the other night, plus a dash more salt.

Tossed in approximately

15 snow peas

sliced so they looked almost like green onion rounds if you squint.

To finish it up, after the rice was all soft and the broth looked thick and milky, I turned off the heat and added

1 tsp of wasabi powder and

1 cup of frozen edamame (not the in-the-pod kind!!).

Stirred it around, let those edamame cook.

Before I ladled into out, I put a few pieces of dried nori (the kind I bought euphemistcally calls itself "sea vegetable"-- which I guess seaweed is, but...) in the bottom of each bowl.

We had it with a spinach salad and from-the-freezer vegetarian gyoza for a big, satisfying dinner.

Moroccan lentil stew (aka yuppie hobo stew)

Moroccan lentil stew for St. Patrick's Day sounds very wrong, but it actually goes well with Guinness...

Moroccan lentil stew (aka yuppie hobo stew)

a splash of olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 small potatoes, chopped

2 carrots, cut in rounds

about 5 cups of water

1 can of crushed fire-roasted tomatoes

one cup of crimson lentils

cumin (about four hearty shakes)

cinnamon (one little shake)

ground cloves (a teensy shake)

salt

pepper

one dried bay leaf

Sautee the onion and garlic over low heat. Then add the the potatoes, carrots, and water. Bring to a boil. Add tomatoes and simmer for at least 20 minutes over low heat. Then add the lentils and spices. Let simmer for as long as you want-- the longer you simmer, the heartier your stew.

This recipe was inspired by a customer who came in looking for simple recipes. He said, "I want a cookbook that tells me how to make a goulash. Or a hobo stew. That's all I want." I couldn't find that on my shelves, but I did write out this recipe but simpler for him to try at home--using plain canned tomatoes, no cinnamon, not even any cumin, just salt and pepper, and chopped celery at the water stage to add some flavor. (I had to explain what lentils were. I showed him a photo online and explained that they're small and flat, "about the size of my little pinkie nail." Mr. Hobo Stew thought this was one of the funniest things he'd heard all day.)

So here is my yuppie hobo stew! I don't really know what a hobo stew is, but I figure it has to be cheap and simple, it has to stick to the ribs, it is cooked all in one pot, and it must be easy to eat even without teeth, since hobos don't get to brush, floss, or see the dentist regularly.

Slainte!

Kale soup

Here's a warming recipe to get you through to spring...

garlic (5 cloves, chopped)

onions (1, chopped)

mushrooms (I used about 8 crimini, chopped)

carrot (I used a half, cut into a rounds)

black-eyed peas (I soaked a 1/3 cup overnight)

kale (1 bunch, pulled into leeetle pieces)

peas (about 1/3 cup frozen)

2 small red potatoes, chopped into hunks

fennel seed (1/4 tsp)

6 cloves

3 bay leaves

water

salt & pepper

The key to this soup was the long simmer. I sauteed the garlic, onions, and mushrooms. Then I added the soaked black-eyed peas and enough water to cover them by about two inches. Then I simmered for about 2 hours. I added the kale, carrot, potato, fennel seed, cloves, bay leaves, and salt, then simmered for another hour. I added the peas and the pepper during the last half hour.

Jordy said this soup reminded him of one he had in the South of France called "boiled water." I was trying to do a vegan version of the Portuguese chorizo and kale soup they served at a diner in Rhode Island, but I guess that was a stretch.

This was a great recipe for replenishing after a stomach bug. It goes very well with Saltines.

Turmeric ginger carrot and garbanzo soup

Inspired by Liz of DishingWell's recent shout out to turmeric and its healthful properties, I served a tasty bright orange soup tonight. (A jolt of color that was very welcome after a very rainy day.)

Turmeric Ginger Carrot and Garbanzo Soup

1/2 onion, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped

small hunk of ginger root, peeled and cut in slivers

1 package of peeled baby carrots

water (about 4 cups)

turmeric (about 1 tsp?)

cumin (about the same)

ground cardamom (about 1/4 tsp)

a handful of frozen peas

salt

pepper

I sauteed the onions, garlic, and shallots in a pan with a touch of canola oil.

Then I added the rest of the ingredients (except the peas, salt, pepper) and simmered it up for a while. ("A while" translates to an hour plus-- I kind of lost track of time, but it was the time it took to read about 1/3 of the upcoming teen novel The Implosion of Aggie Winchester by Laura Zielin-- a fun goth girl/bass master prom romp.)

I added some salt and pepper. I checked to make sure all the sweet potato and carrots were smooshy. Then I used my wonder immersion blender-- but left a few hunks in the now brilliant orange bisque-like soup.

Then I added a handful of frozen peas because I wanted the color contrast of the bright green against the intense orange.

I served it with mini-ciabatta rolls stuffed with spinach leaves (tucked in while the rolls were still hot, so it wilted nicely) and slices of avocado with just a hint of salt.

(To be honest, I also gave us each a little serving of Jordy's leftover Mexican Mac & Cheese from dinner at the 5 Spot's vegetarian Wednesday last night, too. But if you were being all vegan-strict, you wouldn't have that in the house anyway, right?)

Dueling soups

The other night, I had a transitional season cooking moment. I had a full box from our farmers with loads of summer squash, a bouquet of oregano, the biggest, ripest tomato of the season, and more onions than I have seen in our house in a long time. I also had some portobello mushrooms I picked up on sale and some lentils I'd been hungry for. What to do? Dueling soups.

The summer soup started with a sautee of onions, then summer squash and tomato. I added water, oregano, a few kidney beans, and some balsamic vinegar. If I had a lemon, I think I'd add a splash of lemon juice next time for a more Mediterranean taste.

The fall soup started with a sautee of onions, too, but instead of diced, I cut them in long slivers. (I was going for a French onion soup feel.) Next I added big hunks of portobello. After those looked cooked, I added water, a splash of red wine, oregano, a few bay leaves, a few cloves, and lentils. I let it simmer a long time, so it got stew-like.

The night I made them, we had the fall soup accompanied by a carmelized onion flatbread pizza from our neighbor Eat Local. Very good. Then the next night, we had the summer soup served with Greek roast potatoes (garlic, olive oil, oregano, garbanzos) and pita. Also very good. Win, win.