November Comfort Food

I have two recipes to share today: a soup and a saute. Both are indicative of my feelings for this time of the year: not terribly cold, not warm. It's the time of year for comfort food that's not too heavy but still warms the soul. A general note about both recipes: I used cast iron pots and pans, so "medium" heat here is the highest I can use for these pots.

Tuesday Miso

This miso soup is part of a series of variations on miso soup that I am working on. Tuesday's soup is light and vegetarian. It's great as an appetizer but still has enough going for it to stand on its own. South River Miso Company is a miso I discovered at Whole Foods. I especially like the Sweet Brown Rice Miso for it's lighter flavor. Though it's lighter than typical miso it's still complex and gives this soup a bit of a different taste than a typical or traditional miso. 


1 small red onion, sliced thin
2 pulverized garlic cloves, skin discarded
1/4 cup diced green pepper
1/4 cup sliced carrots
1/4 cup kale, frozen and thawed
4 cups water
1/2 cup tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 tbl South River Sweet Brown Rice Miso
Braggs Amino Seasoning

Saute onion, garlic, pepper and carrots in a small dutch oven on medium heat until onion is translucent. Add kale and water and bring to a boil. Cook 5-8 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Add tofu and miso. Turn off heat. Add Bragg's to taste, stir to fully incorporate miso and serve.

Lamb Saute

I found a rare find at the grocery store today: ground lamb! I grabbed some before thinking what I would use it for. I thought a nice saute would be wonderful for dinner, so here's the result. NB: Tonight I realized that I bought olives with the pits in them and was too lazy to take the pits out, but I note in the recipe that this should be done.  


1/2 pound ground lamb
1 small onion, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
1/4 cup carrots, sliced
1/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 6oz can chickpeas, drained
Handful of olives, pitted and sliced, plus a little of the liquid
Salt and pepper
Ground Fennel
Paprika
Dried Basil

Season lamb and saute in skillet on medium heat until brown and crumbly. Remove from skillet and set aside. Reduce heat to  medium-low (3). Saute onion, celery, and carrots 8 minutes. Add peas and cook 1 minute. Add chickpeas and olives, season and continue cooking 5 minutes. Add lamb and the liquid from the olives and cook an additional 5 minutes on low heat (2). You may serve this over couscous but it's optional.