On our last week of the CSA pickup, we cringed when we saw the vegetables: more squash... more and more squash. We had to brainstorm what we haven't made yet with that dreaded, yet delicious, vegetable, and so we succumbed to soup, served with stuffed mushrooms and a side of kale and garlic.Slowly but surely, I've come to realize how genuinely easy it is to make soup (with a proper blender, of course). The formula is simple: sautee onion, add 1 lb of diced vegetables and garlic, add 4 cups stock, and simmer for as long as you can wait. This has worked with various vegetables we've tried - carrots, potatoes, broccoli, squash, and probably works with many others.

Easy Butternut Squash Soup (vegan)

1/2 onion, diced
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb butternut squash, diced into small cubes
4 cups of vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

Sautee onion until fairly translucent, about 5 minutes, over medium heat. Toss in squash and garlic, some salt and pepper, and stir occasionally for 2 minutes. Pour in vegetable stock and cover. Once the soup has come to a boil, lower the fire and simmer for about 45 minutes, until the squash easily slips off a fork. Blend the soup using either an immersion blender or the dreadful regular blender technique (in batches, covering the top with a towel), cover and let simmer for at least another 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.


Garlic and Kale

1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch kale, chopped and the thick part of stems removed
salt and pepper to taste

I think this is one of the healthier ways to cook kale - it was still bright green when the process was finished, meaning it was able to retain many of its nutrients. There have been many times when I've tried to just sautee kale, and it's come out brown and overcooked.

Back to the recipe... Steam kale for about 5 or so minutes - you want it to taste cooked but still have a crunch. Meanwhile, begin sauteeing garlic in about 1/2 a TBSP of olive oil, more if it's a non-non-stick pan like ours. Toss in the steamed kale and sautee for only a few minutes until the kale has slightly wilted, but again, has still maintained its bright color. Season with sat and pepper to taste.

And then our mouths burned...

Yeah, it's not the most appetizing picture... but we never claimed to be great photographers. Nor do we have good lighting in our kitchen. But tonight's dinner was delicious, until all of our tastebuds were burned off. We got about a pound of tomatillos from our CSA on Monday, and neither Greg nor I have ever worked with them before. So we decided to use them in the simplest way that we know - salsa.

HOT Tomatillo Salsa (vegan)

When we say hot, we mean it. Even Greg, the king of spicy food, agreed with me on this one. Turns out jalapenos are spicier than we thought.

1 lb tomatillos, taken out of their husks and rinsed
1/2 - 3/4 of an onion, sliced
2 jalapenos, seeded and sliced
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup cilantro
1 or 2 tsp of canola oil
salt to taste

Turn on your broiler. Slice the tomatillos into halves and lay face down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Add onto the sheet the garlic cloves, onion, and jalapenos. If you are slightly obsessive compulsive, your baking sheet will look something like this:

Put in the broiler for 4 minutes, so that veggies are browned but not burnt. Let cool, and put all ingredients into a food processor. We love you, Cuisinart.

Dinner was a burrito stuffed with spicy refried beans, lettuce, tomato, a tiny bit of smoked gouda cheese (we craved calcium), topped with our smokin' hot salsa. We ate it with some braised kale, which didn't come out all that great, but at least we got a good amount of vitamin A, C and apparently K for the day!