The Lindsey Series Part 2

Pasta. Filling, comforting, versatile pasta.

After the miso soup there was still a little spinach left. I had been eating so much soups and light foods lately that I was in the mood for something hardy. Something comforting. Something to fill me up and satisfy me. Pasta. So after a not-so-brief internal (and external) debate I decided on something creamy with almost a toasty taste to it. This is how I got there...

Melt equal parts butter and flour in a large sauce pan. Whisk occasionally to brown evenly and keep from burning. The darker brown this flour mixture, called "roux", gets, the more toasty flavor will occur. I was going for a caramel color. At that point I quickly whisked in about 1/3 cup of whole milk, and about 1.25 cups of dark veggie stock. I may add more or less of the stock depending on the thickness of the sauce. Ultimately you want to the sauce to be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon without running. I added a little fresh ground pepper at this point and just let it come to a simmer, stirring every once in a while.
While all that was going on I had boiled some water, salted it, and dropped my pasta in. Once it was cooked just through I strained it and threw it back in it's pot. I took the last of the spinach, ran a knife through it and toss it in the pot with the pasta, put the lid on and let it sit for about 3-5 minutes.
Once the spinach is wilted I dumped it all in the sauce, tosses it around, and threw some grated pram on top.
Just for a little extra fresh flavor I added a little cut basil.

It was everything I hoped it would be.
I was completely satisfied...if only I could have stayed home in my nice warm nest instead of having to work.

The Lindsey Series

My oldest (in years of friendship) friend, Lindsey came over yesterday for a how-have-you-been chat.  Lindsey joined a CSA this year and since she's going to be in NYC for the week she brought over some of her early season greens for me.
As she was leaving she casually said, "let me know what you do with those greens."
This morning when I woke up and started making my breakfast (yes, breakfast) of miso soup I reached for some of the spinach she brought over. That got me thinking, somehow I should record what I make with her greens so when she returns I can show her my results.
Her Bag of Greens contained 3 leafy wonders; spinach, red leaf lettuce, and a large bok choy.  So it looks like this series will be at least 3 parts.

Back to the miso soup.

Miso is a paste made of fermented soybeans.  Sometimes it is fermented along with other grains such as rice or barley.  It ranges in color and intensity.  The darker the color the stronger the flavors.  I usually get mine at Whole Foods where I've only seen a couple varieties, namely Yellow and White.  Out of these I prefer the yellow since the flavors are a little stronger, but because I had my lovely fiance pick it up last time we went to the store I am now using white.
I'll use miso base as a starter for any kind of soup, usually whatever is in my fridge goes into it.  So this morning when I started my soup I grabbed a piece of scallion, a small chunk of zucchini, some tofu and, of course, a couple leaves of Lindsey's spinach.
To finish the soup you'll need some hot water (I use a tea kettle), the miso, and I like to add some rice wine vinegar and some tamari.
Miso shouldn't really come to a boil or it will loose a lot of it's flavor so i dissolve a large tablespoon in a little bit of the hot water, then add all my veggies, top it off with some more hot water and splash in the vinegar and tamari to taste.

That's really all there is to it.  You'll have a super fast, delicious AND nutritious meal or snack in minutes. Wait, did I say nutritious? Yes! Miso is a great source of manganese and zinc, packed with fiber, and has up to 2 grams of protein per tablespoon.

Enjoy!