Let the brunch odyssey begin!

Last weekend I finally got around to picking up a copy of Isa Chandra Moskowitz's latest offering to the cookbook world, Vegan Brunch. As is the case with her previous works, it did not disappoint. I think I'm going to have a lot more fancy breakfasts in my future. The cooking kicked off with this lovely scrambled tempeh:


The tempeh is sauteed with a few vegetables and a nice big dose of kale. I love tempeh, but somehow I don't seem to eat it that often. My primary protein source most days is just straight beans, and then if I start getting into soy products tofu is kind of my default. I suppose it's that it's more widely available (not that tempeh is all that hard to find--I got this stuff at Trader Joe's). So I was pretty excited to have an excuse to work more tempeh into my repertoire, in the interests of culinary variety.


This dish pretty much typifies why I like Moskowitz's cookbooks so much. They're just full of good food that is fun to make and eat. My experience with vegan cookbooks is that they often fall into two categories: way too simple and repetitive (twenty recipes for lentil loaf!), or incredibly complex recipes that require days of advance planning, special trips to ten different grocery stores, and then five or six hours of preparation to top it all off (vegan haute cuisine). These recipes strike a nice balance in between--the food is fresh and different, but the ingredient lists tend to be fairly straightforward and the preparation is not rocket science either. If you don't have a Moskowitz book on your cooking shelf, you should!

Recipe: Black bean soup with kale and tomatoes

Although it is technically the peak of summer here, we've been getting a lot of cool, cloudy weather, courtesy of the local marine layer. Which means that fall foods like hot soup are totally appropriate for the menu rotation, especially paired with a simple salad and some delicious cornbread like the stuff featured yesterday:


Black bean soup is one of my favorites, but I find it can be kind of heavy if it's just beans. This version mixes things up by adding in tomatoes and kale. It's delicious, filling, and with the fiber, iron, calcium, and protein, also made of nutritional win.

Black bean soup with kale and tomatoes


Ingredients
5 cups cooked black beans
28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15oz can vegetable broth OR 1 carrot and 1 stick of celery, diced, plus a pinch each of oregano and thyme
3-5 c. water (depending on whether or not you are using stock)
1 bunch kale (approx. 1/2 lb), finely chopped
1 medium onion, diced
4-5 cloves crushed garlic (you can dial down the garlic if you like, I tend to load it onto everything)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (adjust as desired depending on your heat preference)
salt and pepper to taste.

1. Assemble all your prepared ingredients:


2. In a large saucepan or soup pot on medium heat, heat the olive oil. When a piece of garlic dropped in sizzles, you're good to go.

3. Add the garlic to the oil and saute for 1 minute. Add the onions and continue to saute, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes. If you are not using stock, add the diced carrot and celery. Continue to saute until onions are nicely softened up and slightly clear (not carmelizing, although some carmelization will not ruin things, so don't sweat it too much). Add the cumin and coriander.

4. Add kale into the mix and cover pot for 1 minute, kale should be lightly steamed. Remove lid and stir for a few more minutes, until kale is fairly wilted.

5. Add cayenne, vegetable stock (if using, alternatively add 2 c. additional water), tomatoes, 2 c. water, and black beans. Stir together and cover pot. Bring mixture to a boil, then turn heat down and leave soup to simmer for 30 minutes. Check occasionally and add additional water if needed. Salt and pepper to taste. I find it's best to go light on the salt and pepper in the soup pot and then let people go with their own preference after it's been served into bowls. Which leads nicely to step 6....

6. Turn off burner and ladle soup into bowls. Serve with salad and cornbread.

If you don't have cornbread handy, a few tortilla chips crumbled on top are also a nice touch. Or just skip the refined carbs completely if you must, the soup will be delicious on its own.