"cooked with her and did a little dance" -Greg Brown

Some fabulous treats from your chefs Natalie and Brian! Yesterday I made a soup that is the soup of endless possibilities, in other words I call it....

..... Oh... There Are So Many Veggies In The Fridge Soup

For this soup you will need a variety of vegetables, whatever you may have on hand that is needing to be used up. I'll give you a rough list of what I used in our delicious soup!

1 large leek

2 purple potatoes

1 yam

1 large beet

1/2 red onion

3 broccoli stalks, peeled

2 carrots

2 small parsnips

4 leaves of collard greens

(All above veggies should be chopped)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tbs minced fresh ginger

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground yellow mustard

2 tsp granulated kelp

2 Tbs dried nettles

Basically from here you can just throw it all in a pot, fill with water till almost covering all the vegetables. Personally I sauteed the garlic, onion, and ginger first, then added the rest of the vegetables, continued sauteeing for 5 or so minutes and then covered with water. I added the seasonings about half way through the cooking. I probably let it simmer for 20 minutes, then blended the entire soup in a blender, returned to the pot and let simmer for 5-10 more minutes. It was fantastic and rich with vitamins and minerals.

Serve with the bread of your choice!! Yeah

And tonight I found that the abundance of green beans in the fridge and that acorn squash were pleading to be consumed. I found a recipe for Asian green beans that sounded good, but since I lacked most of the ingriedients I went ahead and made it up, it turned out rather well.

Here goes

Why Is There Soy In Everything Green Beans

3 Tbs toasted sesame oil

2 tsp wild onions (ramps) minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 and 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 Tbs ume plum vinegar

2 tsp maple syrup

4 c. Aprox. trimmed green beans

1 large carrot, diagonally sliced

1/2 c. toasted cashews

Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the ramps, garlic and cayenne pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes, add the ginger, maple syrup, and the vinegar, turn off the heat. While the garlic concoction is starting to heat, put the beans and carrots in a steamer. Steam till al dente. Remove from steamer and place in a bowl. Pour the garlic concoction over the beans and carrots, mix, and top with toasted cashews.

It turned out very nice and we ate it with steamed acorn squash, and red and white quinoa. Nutritious and delicious!!

On to desert.....

Brian made some vegan, gluten free, soy free, donuts. Oh me oh my!

He used the plain chebe bread mix, which is basically tapioca flour and tapioca starch, he followed their basic recipe adding agave nectar and his trade secret that I am currently giving away (with his permission of course)... nutmeg!

Fried those puppies up in a little palm oil, I like it! Keep on cooking friends! Keep those kitchens happy!