amy chaplin

celebrating the art of eating well

Winter weekend lunch

POSTED ON February 16, 2010

weekend lunch

We had friends over for lunch last weekend, and I wanted to serve them something tasty, simple and comforting. I made this easy white bean vegetable soup, some roasted rosemary potato wedges, radicchio and endive salad tossed with balsamic dressing and served it all with warm crusty bread with some local cloth bound cheddar. Lunch was followed by a blood orange fennel salad with black olives, the combination had been making my mouth water ever since I saw this salad on rachel eats a few weeks ago. Other than buy the salad ingredients, all I did to prepare for the meal was soak some beans the night before and it came together in an easy, lazy-weekend-morning kind of way.

It went something like this: while waiting for the kettle to boil I put the beans on to cook with lots of herbs, then made a pot of tea. Next I cut the potatoes into wedges and filled a large pot with water, put the potatoes in the pot with a pinch of salt.  I then poured the tea and savored the first cup as I waited for the potatoes to boil.

Once they were folk tender, I drained and then tossed them with extra virgin olive oil, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper. I let them roast until crisp and deep golden, this took about 40 minutes at 375 degrees. The rest of lunch is below.

 

white bean soup

blood orange fennel salad

blood oranges

gorgeous oranges

more!

As the sun sank, we lit candles and indulged in these rich chocolate tartlets that I made for my monthly column in Poetry of Food. You can find the recipe here.

dark chocolate tartlets

gifts

White bean soup

This soup is a great base to many different bean/herb combinations. It’s creamy and soothing and just what you need to warm up on these snowy winter nights or days. Umeboshi vinegar is a delicious salty and tangy seasoning; it gives bean dishes a lift, the perfect finishing touch.

2 cups cannellini or navy beans, soaked overnight
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh sage
4 bay leaves
2 inch piece kombu

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 large cloves garlic, minced
sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs, like rosemary, thyme and oregano
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1/2 a medium butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 cup diced green cabbage
black pepper
umeboshi vinegar
few leaves kale, cut in thin ribbons or spinach leaves

Drain and rinse beans then place in a pressure cooker or large pot. Wrap and tie herbs in a piece of cheese cloth or put herbs in a re-usable cloth sashay (these are very handy). Cover beans with 2 inches of filtered water, add the herbs, bay leaves and kombu and bring to a boil. If you are using a pressure cooker, cover and bring to high pressure, lower heat and cook for 40 minutes. Otherwise cover pot, lower heat and simmer until beans are soft and creamy. You may need to add more water to the beans if it evaporates.

Heat olive oil in another medium to large pot over medium-high heat, add onions and saute until translucent. Stir in garlic and a large pinch of sea salt, cook for another couple of minutes. Add the herbs, celery, carrots, squash and cabbage, continue cooking for 5 minutes allowing vegetables to begin to soften. Pour in 1 1/2 cups filtered water and bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer until vegetables are cooked.
Remove lid from the beans and discard herbs, bay leaves and kombu. Pour beans and the cooking liquid into the pot with vegetables. Allow to cook for another 10 minutes or up to 1/2 an hour if you have the time, the beans should create a nice creamy base as they cook. Season with salt, pepper and a dash of umeboshi vinegar. When ready to serve stir in kale or spinach leaves and cook for 2 minutes.

Serves 6 to 8.

Blood orange fennel salad (adapted from rachel eats)

A perfect salad to brighten up a wintery day, the juicy blood oranges are like eating sunshine.

4 blood oranges
1 navel orange
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 small fennel bulb, trimmed, reserving fronds
handful black olives
extra virgin olive oil
coarse sea salt, like Maldon

Cut the skin off the oranges, slice horizontally and arrange on a platter. Scatter red onion over the oranges. Remove core from the fennel bulb, thinly slice and layer over red onion. Distribute olives and reserved fennel fronds over salad, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

Serves 4.


POSTED IN Soup




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12 Comments:

  • rachel says:

    hello Amy
    It is so nice to be part of this post.
    What a lovely lunch, I like the sound of the soup
    and your fennel and orange salad looks beautiful (I like the photos of orange on the white plate)
    Off to read about chocolate tarts.
    Rach

    • Amy Chaplin says:

      Hi Rachel,
      Thanks for visiting and being a source of inspiration!
      Always look forward to seeing what you find in those dream-like Italian markets.

      Amy.

  • Extremely impressive, in much more than a lazy-weekend-morning kind of way. That salad is way too gorgeous for its own good.

    I have most of the goods on hand to try your soup. I’m excited to see beans, butternut squash, and cabbage mingling in the same pot — a combination I wouldn’t have thought of, but must try.

  • Amy says:

    Wow Amy this is the most delicious post yet! hey I made your tangy Slaw the other night and it was amazing, Bonnie had brought me some Macadamia Butter a while back so I used that, so both sisters helped out! Hope you are well and that I’ll see you soon when Bonnie is back, Amy.

  • bill says:

    Hi Amy
    This looks as mouthwatering and colourful as usual.
    Will send Bonnie home next week with some of our tomato chutney

  • Amy Chaplin says:

    We’re eagerly awaiting the chutney!

  • J&B (Katy) says:

    i love this blog. thank you for all of this beauty!

  • Natali Gill says:

    I am officially giving this the most beautiful blog award. Now to stop commenting and start cooking!

  • Natali Gill says:

    I just wanted to let you know that I made this beautiful soup for the first course of my husband’s dinner party. It reminds me of a soup my uncle makes that I always request when we are in Winnipeg visiting him. Schobelzup (it’s German – not sure how to spell it…) Thanks for the recipe and also for the introduction to Umeboshi vinegar. I have tried an Umeboshi plum, but never the vinegar and I LOVE it!

  • Cindi says:

    Could you possibly re-post the recipe for the Chocolate Tartlets? The link no longer works and they look AMAZING!!

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