Building a meal

When Alex and I pulled up to our house on Sunday in the spring-like warmth, our four-foot "car"t packed high with boxes of groceries lovingly hauled from the Coop, I considered the process that goes into constructing a meal. For me, it starts with a spot of inspiration--a movie set in France featuring irresistible cheeses, snowfall at dusk, the cover of a food magazine, a crisp bunch of fresh asparagus at the store--and the first dish follows.

Usually, I have a theme in mind, which could obviously center around a regional cuisine, but which often take its cues from a particular vegetable or spice that I'm craving, and develops from there.

Last night, for example, I wanted something soothing and loaded with veggies, and I had been browsing through this month's Gourmet magazine (courtesy of the Brooklyn Public Library), which featured simple takes on flavorful soups. While at the Coop, I loaded up on hearty ingredients-- dragon kale, sweet potatoes, Yukon golds, organic carrots, fresh cilantro--so that when I got home, I'd have lots of options.

As I rooted through our newly stocked fridge, I grasped a bunch of the lush, almost waxy kale, and decided to build from there. A quick search in the index of two fail-safe cookbooks, Moosewood and Crescent Dragonwagon's vegetarian bible, revealed a yummy Italian soup with polenta, beans, and lemon juice and a saute of mixed greens. Option 1 sounded just right.

To begin construction, I usually pull all my ingredients, do a quick check through the recipe for how each should be prepped, and go about chopping, mincing, dicing, and blanching each part in its own container, so that I can easily add each ingredient to the pot in turn. Of course, I can't seem to stick to any recipe religiously, so I ended up substituting French green lentils for cannelini beans (and cooked them with kombu to help with digestion), and then decided that the pasta e fagioli soup on the next page sounded REALLY good. Enter carrots, celery, onions, diced tomatoes, and a whole lot of spices.

What started out as a simple kale soup turned into a "mother's medley" stone soup amalgamation. With the list of veggies running close to ten, and the lentils and polenta adding a satisfying depth, I ended up way over my head with a huge pot of very hearty vegetable Italian-y soupy mush that stood alone as a meal. I threw some grated parmesan on top, popped a bottle of Chardonnay from the Finger Lakes, and plopped on the couch for a cozy evening watching a childhood favorite, Willow. A couple slices of parmesan later, my bowl was empty and the soup beckoned again, in all its muddled glory.

While my soup was not a meticulous study in recipe-following or creation, it was a creative endeavor undertaken with love for each ingredient and a general sense of where I was going.

But I'm curious if I'm alone here. How do you build your recipes and what inspires you?


Vegetable stone soup
For the lentils:
1 cup dried lentils
3-4 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 stick dried kombu seaweed
pinch of salt

Throw it all in a pot, cover, bring to a boil, then simmer 40 mins until almost tender and water is absorbed. Set aside for later addition to the soup.

For the soup:
2 Tbsp EVOO
2 carrots, sliced in half moons
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch kale, rinsed and chopped to 1/2" strips
14 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
Cooked lentils
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
5-6 cups water or broth, to taste
1/2 cup ground polenta, mixed with 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice and 1/2 c. cold water

Substitute any greens for the kale, any beans for the lentils, any grains for the polenta (like pasta), and you have a new version on this medley.

1. Saute EVOO through onion, 5 mins.
2. Add garlic through basil, saute 5 mins until kale is wilted.
3. Add water and tomato paste, stirring well. Return to a simmer
4. Slowly add polenta, mixing gently to prevent lumps.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add hot pepper flakes if it needs a punch.
6. Serve hot with freshly grated parmesan, or over a bowl of pasta. Buon appetito!