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Lemon Spinach Soup

December 4, 2015 / Jenny / 12 Comments

In the midst of the wonderful excesses of holiday eating, it feels good to take a break and make a soup made with pure, cleansing ingredients like lemon and spinach. This soup is simple, yet the flavor combination of lemon and spinach is glorious. And we all need the infusion of vitamins and iron that spinach gives, especially at this time of year.

I had some lemons left over from making my daughter’s lemon birthday cake (with lemon frosting!), and was looking for a way to use them. Because I have been craving something deep green and full of nutrients, I came across this delicious recipe for lemon spinach soup, adapted from the charming cookbook “Hollyhocks & Radishes” by Bonnie Stewart Mickelson. The broth in this soup is so good, I could sip it all by itself! The addition of the spinach, carrots, and celery make it even better, and the lemon is just lovely.

Lemons are one of my favorite things to cook and bake with in the colder months, because they are so cheerful and invigorating at a time when we are a little short on sunshine. (I would have done a post with the recipe for my daughter’s lemon cake with lemon frosting, but as I was in the midst of preparing for her birthday party, I was too distracted to take any photos. Maybe I’ll have to make it again!)

Anyway, soup is so good for the soul. It is warming and soothing, infusing the body with physical and spiritual sustenance. Making soup is very relaxing for me, because I love the way each new ingredient changes the mixture, and it is peaceful to have it simmering on the stove as I work. This is such a busy time of year, and it is important to take some time to do something healing and relaxing, so you can calm yourself and not end up driving everyone around you crazy (not that I would know anything about that! :)). I absolutely love holiday baking, and there will be some more of that to come on this blog, but sometimes I crave a good, nutrient-rich meal that offers comfort and a boost of energy.

If you are looking for a refreshing, invigorating way to help balance the excesses of the holidays, I highly recommend this soup. And I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I am joining Angie at Fiesta Friday this week, co-hosted by Johanne @ French Gardener Dishes and Liz @ Spades, Spatulas & Spoons. It has been awhile since I have had a chance to look at what my fellow bloggers have been up to, so I look forward to catching up!

Lemon Spinach Soup

Servings: 8
Time: approximately 20 minutes
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Ingredients:

8 cups of chicken broth
3 small carrots (or 2 medium-sized), peeled and thinly sliced
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
3/4 to 1 pound of fresh spinach
3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot, bring 7 of the 8 cups of chicken broth to a boil. Add the carrots and celery, and simmer for about 3-5 minutes, or until just tender. While the vegetables are simmering, wash the spinach and tear it into bite-sized pieces. Add the spinach to the soup and simmer gently until just-tender, about 3-5 minutes, trying not to over-cook it.

While the spinach is simmering, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour with a whisk and cook for one minute. Whisk in the reserved cup of chicken broth, and stir until smooth. Add this to the soup pot when the spinach is ready, and simmer, stirring as the liquid thickens.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks and lemon juice together. Stir the mixture into the soup pot until well combined.

Heat the soup to the point of almost boiling, then turn it off. (Don’t boil it, or it will curdle). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Cranberry Almond Bars

November 20, 2015 / Jenny / 15 Comments

Bright, tart cranberries are simmered with maple syrup and honey, then given some extra zing with a splash of lime juice. The result is a thick, intensely flavorful filling that jazzes up a base of ground oats, almonds, and whole wheat flour. These cranberry almond bars are delicious and nutritious, and they are perfect for breakfast, dessert, a snack, or a treat to pack in the kids’ lunchboxes.

I must admit that until recently, I have kind of under-appreciated cranberries. But it is cranberry season, and it seems cranberries are everywhere! I have made these almond bars in the past, and used strawberry jam for the filling (also very good), basing the recipe on one I found in the September 2015 issue of Real Simple magazine. However, now that it is November, I wanted to make these bars with something seasonal, so pumpkin and cranberries came to mind. I’m still working on the pumpkin angle–I haven’t hit upon the right proportion of ingredients yet–but the cranberry filling? Amazing! It is so good, that I am thinking of tripling the recipe and using it as cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving dinner.

I now fully appreciate the powerful flavor of cranberries, not to mention their gorgeous, ruby-red color and their health benefits (vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients). For me, sweetening the berries with things like maple syrup and honey, rather than sugar, makes the filling even more appealing. Talk about rich, flavorful, and natural! The filling recipe below is one I put together from researching different recipes for cranberry sauce. Lots of the recipes called for orange juice or orange zest, but I added a splash of lime to mine, because that’s what I had on hand, and it works great. The filling thickens as it simmers, and thickens even more as it cools. The base and the topping of these bars is nutritious, with ground almonds, oats, and whole wheat flour making up most of it, providing lots of protein, iron, and fiber. All in all, these bars have it all: great taste, great texture, and lots of health benefits.

With Thanksgiving, my husband’s birthday, and my daughter’s birthday approaching, all within the same week, things are ramping up into high gear around here. I have so many things on my mind, it feels like the thoughts are swirling around like the leaves that blow all over our yard. And these thoughts are trivial compared to what has been going on in the larger world lately. So what do we do with the scattering thoughts and the chaos? We gather. We feel for those who are affected by violence around the world, and we gather around a table and give thanks for what we have. We scatter, and then we gather.

My family went to a special park this past weekend, and I took some pictures of moments I wanted to hold onto. The beautiful river, the clear water carrying leaves downstream, and the old roots of a tree near the riverbank. The water moves, and the roots anchor. We scatter, and then we gather, and often food is in the center of the gathering, connecting us. If you are gathering for Thanksgiving this upcoming week, Happy Thanksgiving in advance! And have a wonderful weekend too. I look forward to the weekly blog gathering of inspirational bloggers at Angie’s Fiesta Friday co-hosted this week by Loretta @ Safari of the Mind and Petra @ Food Eat Love.

Cranberry Almond Bars

Servings: 12 bars
Time: about 25 minutes for preparation, about 40 minutes for baking
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Ingredients:

For the filling:

1 cup of cranberries (frozen or refrigerated is ok. If frozen, run cold water over them first)
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1/4 cup of honey
1 lime

For the base and topping:

1 cup of old fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup of whole wheat flour
1 cup of raw almonds
8 tablespoons (1 stick) of unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into pieces
1/3 cup of packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
3/4 teaspoon of salt

Directions:

For the filling:

Measure the cranberries, maple syrup, and honey into a small saucepan. Bring just to a boil, and stir until the cranberries pop. Then turn the heat down to medium-low to low, and gently simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce begins to thicken. Allow the sauce to cool, and as it cools, it will thicken more. Add a splash of lime juice, to your taste.

For the base and topping:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line an 8 inch square baking dish with 2 crisscrossed pieces of parchment paper, leaving an overhang of paper on all sides, and pressing the paper down inside the dish.

In a blender or food processor, pulse or puree the oats, flour, and almonds until finely ground. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add the butter, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a fork or pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs and everything is combined. Reserve 1/2 cup of the crumble mixture (for the topping). Press the remaining crumble mixture into the baking pan, using a straight-sided glass or measuring cup to pack it down evenly.

Spread the cranberry filling over the bottom crust, distributing it evenly. Scatter the reserved 1/2 cup of crumble mixture evenly over the top. Bake until golden brown and set in the middle, 35 to 45 minutes.

Let it cool completely. Then, holding the overhanging parchment paper, transfer it to a cutting board and cut with a sharp knife into 12 bars. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Gingerbread

November 12, 2015 / Jenny / 16 Comments

Ginger, molasses, cinnamon, and cloves give this bread a deep, rich, classic gingerbread flavor. The addition of whirred oats to the flour increases the nutritional benefits, as well as making each slice hearty and substantial. Serve it with your favorite hot drink, and possibly some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream , and it is the perfect snack or dessert. (It works for breakfast too!)

Below, I am sharing another recipe based on one I found in Susan Wittig Albert’s fascinating book, “China Bayles’ Book of Days: 365 Celebrations of the Mystery, Myth, and Magic of Herbs from the World of Pecan Springs.” The recipe is for a form of traditional Scottish oatmeal gingerbread. I substitute blackstrap molasses for the treacle and bake it in a standard-sized loaf pan instead of a 7-inch square baking pan, but other than that, I stick pretty close to the recipe in the book. And my gingerbread has come out delicious every time. I love the fact that this gingerbread tastes sweet and full of richly spiced flavor, yet has good nutrition in it too. The molasses and oats contribute all kinds of good things, including iron, magnesium, manganese, not to mention fiber and protein from the oats. When I cut a slice of this bread, it is dense and substantial. I feel like I am doing something good for both my taste buds and my body. And my soul too, because gingerbread is a delicious solution (however temporary) to a soul’s longing for comfort. The smell of gingerbread baking is the iconic cozy smell, and it brings back all kinds of memories for me, of wandering through my mother’s kitchen after spending time outside in the cold.

This is the perfect time of year to make gingerbread. (Actually, any time between now and spring is a good time.) When the wind is gusting right through our coats and the leaves are swirling around, we need something warm and comforting. As I am writing this post, the wind is blowing so hard that it is rattling the windows and making the house creak. We lose electricity quite frequently out here where I live, among so many trees, so I am hoping to get this post done before we lose power. And hopefully, we won’t lose power. All this dramatic weather is enough to make one feel kind of moody, wistful, nostalgic, and excited, all at the same time. It’s a good time to indulge in the more complicated aspects of our personalities. Maybe that’s why the multi-layered spicy taste of the gingerbread is so appealing.

There is something cleansing about going out in the crazy, windy weather, especially if there is something warm waiting on the other side of the door. This quote by L.M. Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables series (one of my favorite sets of books when I was a girl), says it perfectly: “It was November–the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines. Anne roamed through the pineland alleys in the park and, as she said, let that great sweeping wind blow the fogs out of her soul.”

I hope you all have a great weekend, and that the wind blows the fogs out of your souls as well. And that you have a hot drink and a warm piece of gingerbread waiting when you come in! This recipe will be shared at Angie’s festive Fiesta Friday, co-hosted this week by Judi@Cooking With Aunt Juju and Stef@The Kiwi Fruit.

Oatmeal Gingerbread

Servings: 8-12 pieces
Time: about 20 minutes for preparation and about 45 minutes for baking
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Ingredients:

1/2 cup of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
2 tablespoons of molasses (I prefer blackstrap molasses)
1 and 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 cup of whirred oats (make this by whirring 1/2 cup of uncooked, old fashioned rolled oats in your blender)
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon of powdered ginger
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
3 tablespoons of milk
1 large egg, beaten

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a standard-sized loaf pan with butter. (You can also use a 7 inch square baking pan). In a medium saucepan, heat the butter, granulated sugar, and molasses over medium to low heat until the butter is just melted. Stir to combine.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. Add the whirred oats, brown sugar, and spices. Stir to combine. Add the melted butter mixture and the milk, then stir in the beaten egg. Stir until all combined. Pour into the greased pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then cool completely on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if desired. Enjoy!