Celery, Quinoa, Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

equipment:

• 1 large soup pot
• 1 immersion blender (you can do it with a regular blender, but its such a pain...)
• 1 pyrex bowl
• 1 microwave
  

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of celery from the CSA (this is about 2/3 the size of the bunch you would get in a store)
• 2 medium onions
• 3-5 cloves of garlic, to taste
  
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa.
  
• 1/3 lb jerusalem artichokes
• vegetable broth (if you dont have, add a dash of cumin and turmeric (translate: about 1/4 to 1/2 a tsp of each per 2 cups of water).
• olive oil for sauteing
• salt and pepper to taste
• thyme (dry is fine)
  
• sage (fresh or well ground. dont use any big dry leaves).
• yogurt or cheese- optional
  

Notes: in short, the recipe uses 1/2 the celery and 1/2 the artichokes you got today. feel free to double.

Instructions:

• place the quinoa in the pyrex bowl with a touch more than 2 cups of water. place a lid or plate on top of the pyrex bowl and microwave it for 20 minutes on high. (NOTE- if the quinoa is not pre-rinsed, you will need to rinse it ahead of time. Other note to self- this is why you should always buy pre-rinsed quinoa. final note- this is a great way to cook quinoa).
  
• wash the jerusalem artichokes well. chop em small.
  
• heat olive oil in the bottom of the pot. add the jerusalem artichokes and start to saute.
  
• chop the onions small and add them to the pot.
• chop the garlic and add it to the pot.
  
• chop the celery. feel free to include the leaves.
  
• when the onions are translucent and the jerusalem artichokes look cooked, add the celery. stir.
• when the celery looks slightly wilted, add the quinoa.
• add the thyme & sage
• add enough vegetable broth so that it covers the mixture by about 2 inches.
  
• let it simmer
• puree with the immersion blender. if you want it thinner, add more broth and let the mixture simmer again.
  
• serve hot or cold. great with a dollop of yogurt on top. or some grated cheese.
  

Celery Basics

Some ideas with what to do with celery:

Raw
plain or with dips such as hummus, tahini, peanut butter, almond butter, labane, are all great.

In Soups
If you plan on keeping it around for a soup stock, you can freeze the stalks and keep it in a well sealed ziplock. This will take away the crunch from the celery, but this wont matter for a soup.

The Leaves
make a great garnish. You can eat them in salad, or mix them into a tabouleh.

Fun Ideas
here is a recipe for a Chinese tofu celery salad from Mark Bitman:
recipe
video

and of course, you can make it into a unique soup with quinoa and jerusalem artichokes!

Hearty Vegetarian Crockpot Stew... Or, What to Do With Languishing Share Leftovers

I came home from five days in California and found myself confronted by chilly, windy weather and two weeks' worth of leftover share vegetables on their way to rotting in my crisper drawer. So I made a hearty vegetarian stew. Take that, turnips.

Note #1: If you've never tried seitan before, you can find it in most organic/hippie food stores. It's only $4 or $5 for an 8 oz package.  It is made of wheat-gluten and is a great meat substitute as it has a hearty taste and texture and tons of protein.

Note #2: You can also add any number of other vegetables, such as greens, squash or tomatoes. This is just what I had on hand.

Ingredients:

 - 1 package chicken-style seitan, shredded

 - 1 onion, diced

 - 3 cloves garlic, minced

 - 6 cups vegetable broth (I used mushroom flavored "better than boullion")

 - 3 potatoes, cubed

 - 1/4 head cabbage, shredded

 - 2 ears corn, diced

 - 3 carrots, sliced

 - 3 turnips, cubed

 -  3 stalks celery, sliced

 - Seasoning: salt, pepper, dried mustard, oregano & paprika, to taste

 - 1/4 cup soy sauce

 - 4 TB cornstarch blended with 4 TB cold water

What You Do:

- Warm olive oil in a pan. Cook seitan for a few minutes until brown.

- Combine all ingredients in a crockpot. Cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. 

 - You can add more cornstarch or flour if you want a thicker stew; just blend it first in a separate container with equal parts cold water before adding to the stew. Also, the stew will get thicker as it cools.

 - Serve with shredded parmesan cheese on top and thick, crusty bread.  Enjoy!

a recipe for this week's veggies

Here is what I plan to do with my CSA lot this week:

1. cook the spaghetti squash
2. saute onions in olive oil
   
3. add in the chopped turnips and the brussel sprouts (removed from the stem & chopped in half)
4. add in the turnip greens & bok choy (see the greens recipe for tips)
5. if you want, add in the celery and/or baby greens (im not the biggest fan of celery in stir fries, though some people love it. the baby greens will wilt down to nothing, so add them in towards the end)
   
6. add some salt and chopped garlic
7. when cooked very very well, serve on top of the squash with a cheese of your choice.