Vegetable Soup

Mennonite cooking, which shares many similarities with traditional German cooking, has a reputation for being delicious and, well, extremely rich, at least for those of us who don't burn off tons of fat and calories working hard on the farm from dawn till dusk. There are cheesy, creamy entrees, a constant wealth of fresh bread and butter, molasses cookies and brown sugar sandwiches, cold and delicious full-fat milk, puddings and pies, and sticky buns with rich homemade jams. Personally though, my favorite part of Mennonite food is the abundance of simply cooked fresh vegetables straight from the garden. The epitome of this is my grandfather's vegetable soup. 

This is a great soup to make if anyone at home is sick since it's so soothing and has a very mellow taste, but is absolutely delicious enough to prepare anytime. I made this once in the ashram, and felt a bit shy about serving something so simple and plain as the main part of the meal, and I was completely taken aback by the response. People were crazy with praises, told me they were on their 2nd or 3rd bowl, and everyone wanted to know what was so special about the taste. As you'll see from the ingredients, I had nothing to respond! There is no secret ingredient. The secret, rather, is in the flavour combination of these particular four vegetables (the only other veggie my grandmother, mother or I have added with success has been green cabbage), and the specific timing and order in which you add them...

4 C vegetable broth

1/4 dried lima beans*

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

pinch of celery salt

3/4 C chopped celery

3/4 C chopped carrots

3/4 C chopped turnip

3/4 C chopped potato

Soak lima beans overnight (or bring them to a boil, remove from heat and let sit, covered, for an hour). Drain beans and add to vegetable broth. Add salt, pepper, and celery salt. Simmer, covered, for 45 mins. Add celery and simmer for 5 mins. Then add carrots and simmer for 5 mins. Then add turnip and simmer for 10 mins. Finally, add potatoes and simmer for another 10 mins. Keep covered during cooking.

Serve with toast or biscuits. Serves 2 - 3. 

* I've used lima beans in this recipe, but kidney beans, navy beans and pinto beans, or a mix of a couple of them, are great. Cooking times for different beans can be found here. If you are using canned beans, rinse well. 1/4 C dried beans = about 3/4 C cooked beans.

We like our guys tough.

And vegetarian.

The Great Granola Secret

Well, I've had little to add in the past 2 weeks since my diet is almost comically restricted these days. One tiny little liver infection and I can't eat dairy, most fats, excess protein, or sugar, everything is to be homemade from scratch and organic, plus there's a candida diet to follow that involves no fruit or natural sugars, bread, wheat, white rice etc.  Now, personally I love the challenge and have been eating wonderful things, and tons of amazing vegetables, but such natural, simple things that there's hardly anything to report. (Well, actually, I think I've perfected my cheela recipe, but have yet to write down the quantities for you.) Anyway, I thought that while I eat my steamed greens and buckwheat, I'd take the opportunity to share some of my family's best loved classics.

My mom's granola is well known among my friends -- so much so that in university (when it would arrive by post as the main staple of all care packages) I'd have to hide at least part of it, or roommates and friends would finish it off in a day. I've also never been able eat store bought granola as it's just, well, not very good in comparison. I believe the key to granola is simplicity. And maple syrup.

Some notes on the ingredients: This recipe has been adapted by mom to my taste, ie. there is extra maple syrup in it. The 3/4 C of maple syrup can be cut back to 1/2 C and it will still be delicious. Concerning substitution, there isn't really any healthy substitute for the maple syrup in this recipe. And for the best granola use the best quality syrup (we are a little spoiled in this regard, coming from Old Order Mennonite country). Please do not bake with honey! (And for day to day use please do buy unpasteurized honey.) Overheating honey makes an otherwise wonderful thing into a substance that your body will treat like a toxin. Eeps! 

As for the mixed whole grains, we buy them pre-mixed in the bulk section of our local natural food store. Any mix of rolled and flaked grains will do (ie. they should look like oatmeal). If you don't have access to a variety of these grains, you can settle for whole rolled oats.

5-6 C mixed whole grains (oats, spelt, kamut, barley, rice, etc)

1 C coconut (dried, grated, unsweetened)

1 C sunflower seeds

1 C nuts (whichever... almonds, cashews, brazil nuts are great)

1/2 C sesame seeds

mix these guys together in one or two large baking pans (preferably one with edges for less mess and easy stirring) and add

1/2 C oil

3/4 C maple syrup

that have already been mixed together well. Stir. Bake at 350 for 30 mins, stirring every 7-10 minutes. Let it cool before storing in an airtight container.

Keep in the fridge. (Or in freezer. It freezes well and thaws quickly). Serve with milk or yogurt and drizzle with honey and/or top with fruit.

Sweet and Sour Soup

There's nothing quite like a hot bowl of sweet and sour soup - it's one of those dishes that seem to enliven taste buds I forgot I had. Craving such an experience this morning I whipped up what soon proved to be a perfect bowl of soup. 

This recipe is packed with protein and nutrients. The tofu and the seaweed provide lots of easily absorbable, complete proteins - one bowl will give you about 1/3 the daily recommended intake. Nori is also the most nutritious of all the seaweeds, and is packed with vitamins and minerals (more so than the same amount of any vegetable!), especially A, B, C, calcium, and precious trace minerals. Cabbage is also a nutritional powerhouse, with tons of great stuff including massive amounts of vit. K and C and a fair amount of those elusive omega 3 fatty acids. 

2 C vegetable broth or water

1t tamari 

2 slices ginger (about half a centimetre wide)

1/4 C Japanese rice

1/2 C shredded cabbage (red or green)

1/2 C cubed medium tofu (silken tofu would also be great in this soup)

1 sheet nori, cut into strips (use scissors, and make the strips about 1 by 4 centimetres)

1/4 t cayenne pepper

1 t corn starch mixed with 1T water

2 T maple syrup

1 T rice vinegar

juice from 1/4 of a lemon 

garnish: seaweed and sesame seeds

I keep a tin of vegetable bouillon powder around for times like these, and added 2t of it to the water to make an instant broth. If you don't have any, and are in too much of a rush to make a broth from scratch, water will work fine. Put the broth on high heat, and add above ingredients down to and including the cayenne. Bring the soup to a boil, then turn it down to low heat and let it simmer. Cover, and stir from time to time for 15 mins. 

At this point add a touch more water if it looks more like vegetables than soup, but if it was covered during cooking this shouldn't be necessary. Add the cornstarch/water mixture and allow it to simmer for 3-4 more mins while stirring. 

Take it off the heat and add the remaining ingredients. If you've used red cabbage the soup will be a beautiful deep purple; with green cabbage it will be a nice light brown. Remove ginger pieces and garnish with seaweed and sesame seeds.

Makes 2 bowls of soup, which I thought would be a meal for one, but I was amazed to discover how filling it is - one bowl and I was stuffed!

   

The Beginning

Welcome!  Well I have to admit that even in the midst of our blog crazy generation I thought I'd be the last person on earth to host one. But, last year I was supposed to create a little booklet with an introduction to vegetarianism, nutrition info, and simple, fantastic recipes, and I got as far as about a 2 dozen little notes strewn among other papers, and in purses and pockets. And then the other day I realized, it's time to jump in. A blog is always finished and ready for others, yet never complete. It's so easily accessible, and so much more interactive. So, here we are, in the beginning...

Cinnamon and Nutmeg is meant for everyone, but especially dedicated to my dear Art of Living friends and family, and especially to all those people who are on their first Part 1 or YES!+ course, have enthusiastically embraced a 6-day (or lifetime!) food challenge, and are looking for a helping hand.