Quick and Easy Italian Wedding Soup

 This was quick and easy- if you have time to make the stock and meatballs from scratch go for it I made this on the fly. If you have some left over pasta, warm it up and add it before serving so it doesn't get mushy.

1 32 oz carton chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine (optional- if you omit the wine substitute more broth)
1 large bunch kale chopped
2 carrots peeled and diced
1/2 onion peeled and diced
2 ribs celery diced
1 clove garlic minced
1 TBS balsamic vinegar
Olive Oil
1 bay leaf
For the meatballs I used frozen turkey meatballs but you can use any kind you want. Thaw them according to the package.

In a TBS or so of olive oil, saute the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic until the onion is soft. Add broth, wine, balsamic, and bay leaf and simmer until the carrots are soft. Add the meatballs and kale. When the meatballs are warm through and the kale wilted you can add pre-cooked pasta. Serve with a salad and crusty bread. I grate fresh parm into it at the table. Serves 4

Sweet Potato Angel Hair with Lentil Ragout and Kale Oil

 For the “pasta”: I used a spiral cutter on a sweet potato. If you have one (and I highly recommend it), one sweet potato makes two servings. My sweet potato was raw- the hot sauce cooked it to al dente. You could use zucchini (raw or blanched) and make it into linguini with a vegetable peeler, or use rounds of baked eggplant, shirataki noodles would be great, or regular pasta.

Lentil Ragout

For two servings rinse ½ cup of lentils and check for pebbles. Add to a sauce pan with ½ cup red wine, ½ cup stock. Vegetable stock, chicken, or if you really want to make it meaty- beef broth. Keep extra stock or broth handy because the wine will cook off quickly. Add a bay leaf, a whole clove of garlic, 1 tbs tomato paste,  a sprig of rosemary. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until the lentils are done to your taste adding broth as needed. Remove bay leaf, garlic, and rosemary. Add one can of chopped tomatoes in juice, salt and lots of cracked black pepper. I added some roasted garlic for depth. Use an immersion blender to puree or a blender (with extreme caution). You decide what texture you want. Pour over your pasta. If you are using raw “pasta” toss it with the lentils to cook. Garnish with kale oil.

Kale oil

In a blender combine two big handfuls of kale and some sprigs of whatever herbs you have on hand. I used basil and parsley but if you don’t have any herbs on hand the kale is great by itself.  Add a clove of garlic, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, and a pinch of salt and start low adding olive oil until it’s mixed then puree the heck out of it, adding oil until it has a nice liquid consistency. Adjust seasoning to taste. It’s like a pesto oil made with kale.

Sweet Potato Soup with Crispy Kale

 Makes 2 Servings

1 large sweet potato

2 links of Andouille cut into small dice (or chorizo, or any smoked sausage)

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock (+ extra to thin soup if necessary)

1 medium shallot or ½ small onion or 1 clove garlic

Salt, red pepper flake, tabasco sauce

1 sprig fresh thyme (optional)

3 Tbs olive oil

1 head of kale

Goat cheese (or queso blanco)

Preheat oven to 275

Peel and cube sweet potato. The smaller the cubes the faster they cook.

Mince shallot (or substitute).In a medium sauce pan, sauté in 1 TBS olive oil for a minute, add cubed potato. Sauté for a few minutes until you can smell the sweet potato then add stock- about half an inch over the top of the potatoes- about three cups. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover. Cook until the sweet potato is just tender. When the potato is tender enough to puree, (it won’t taste cooked at this point but that’s ok) puree with an immersion blender or in a regular blender (with caution- it’s hot!). Return to pan and add the sausage, a dash of tabasco (or more) and thyme sprig. Worcestershire sauce is nice too. Cover and simmer on low. You could add some chipotle or cayenne or whatever floats your boat. If it’s too thick you can thin it with stock. Too thin- remove the cover for the last 10 minutes.

Wash and dry kale, remove stems and cut into 1” pieces. Toss in 2 TBS olive oil, sprinkle with salt, spread onto sheet pan and bake at 275 for 10 minutes while soup simmers. Turn kale over and bake for another 10 minutes.

When the kale is done, season soup with salt to taste, remove thyme sprig from soup and ladle into bowls. Top with cheese of choice (Greek yogurt or sour cream works great too) and crispy kale. Serve remaining crispy kale on the side. (Because you can never ever get enough crispy kale and the garnish on the soup will wilt.)

Vegan Pho with Sweet Potato "Meatballs"

1 grocery store package of shitake mushrooms, stems reserved and caps sliced

1 medium yellow onion, halved

1 2-inch piece of ginger, washed but unpeeled, cut in half lengthwise

3 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch segments

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon salt, or more to taste

1 tablespoon sugar, or more to taste

4 whole star anise

4 whole cloves

1 pound dried rice noodles (1/16-1/8-inch wide; sometimes labeled “banh pho” or “pad thai noodles”)

1 tablespoon neutral oil (canola, vegetable, grapeseed)

Garnish

3 scallions, cut into thin rings

1/2 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped

5 sprigs basil

1 pound bean sprouts

2 jalapeño chiles, sliced into thin rings (or any other chile you want)

1 lime, cut into 6 wedges

Hoisin Sauce

Sriracha Chili Sauce

"Meatballs"
1 Sweet potato
melon-baller
1 inch ginger peeled and grated
2 TBS soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste

Toast star anise in a small non-stick frying pan, remove from pan and reserve. While pan is still on the heat, place the two halves of the onion, cut side down onto the pan. You want a dry heat for this. Char the cut side of the onion. It sounds weird but it really makes the flavor.
Remove the stems from the mushroom caps. I use a stock bag made from cheesecloth- if you don't have one you can put the ingredients in the pot and strain them out later. For the stock you will use the charred onion, mushroom stems, carrot, ginger, cloves, soy sauce, sugar, and salt. Put these ingredients in a stock bag or loose in saucepan or stock pot and cover with 6 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil the reduce heat and simmer for two hours. 

Meatballs
Peel sweet potato and scoop balls with melon baller. If you don't have a melon baller you can cube the potato and have square "meatballs." Prick with a fork and marinate for one hour with the remaining ingredients. Bake at 350F until cooked through, about half an hour. 

When broth is done, remove stock bag or strain out the solids, Slice the mushroom caps and add to broth, simmer gently until they are soft but still chewy (about 5 minutes). Add "meatballs" to broth. Season with salt if necessary. 
Prepare noodles according to package and divide into bowls. Pour broth over noodles and garnish with sweet potato and desired toppings.