Incredible Hulk Super Soup!

Tonight for dinner we had Super Soup! I had half a bunch of kale in the fridge that had partially been used for Raw Kale Salad last week and the rest needed to be used up, but wasn't crisp enough for another raw dish. Plus, I wanted Clara to get some kale. She did eat a couple pieces of the raw stuff when combined with dried cranberries on a fork, but didn't exactly scarf it down. This afternoon was rainy so it was a perfect evening for some yummy soup.

I combined a recipe for Potato Kale Soup from my newest cookbook, Simply in Season (thanks K&J!), with a recipe for Creamy Kale Soup that I found through Google. Like my mom, I rarely measure accurately when cooking - "I just" (as she says) throw things together. Here's a rough approximation of what I "threw" in the kitchen this evening:

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium red potatoes, chopped small
Green lentils (maybe 1/3 c or so?)
Quinoa (maybe 1/4 c? remember to rinse well first!)
1 chicken boullion cube

1/2 bunch kale, chopped and stems removed

Water
Milk
Tahini (about 2 T)
Parmesan

I sauteed the onion and garlic in a little oil, then added the potatoes, lentils and quinoa, stirred them around a bit to toast, poured in enough water to just cover, added the boullion and left that pot to simmer. Meanwhile, I chopped the kale and steamed it in a separate pot (a tip from SIS - their recipe said if you cook the kale and potatoes together, the kale flavor will be too strong). Once everything was fairly soft I added the kale to the potato mixture and then pureed the soup in my blender in two batches. (A tip from a demo I saw this weekend - when blending hot soup, crack open the small plastic cap on your blender or else you will have an explosion!) I added some extra water to the first batch and some milk to the second batch to make them smooth enough to puree.

Once it was all blended I heated it briefly in the pot and added some tahini, a little salt, garlic powder and freshly grated parmesan. We ate it topped with a little more parmesan and fresh bread. Delicious and so good for you with the kale, quinoa and lentils! Luke dubbed it, "The Incredible Hulk Super Soup" due to its brilliant green color. If I had looked back at the Creamy Kale Soupe recipe I would have added a dash of curry powder for a little kick, but we liked it the way it was and Clara gobbled it up. She's really into dipping right now and this was great for dipping fresh bread. Mmmm...

Grammie's Applesauce Cake

In our family, if a recipe is preceded by "Grammie's," you know it's going to be good! My grandmothers are both wonderful cooks who love to feed their families delicious food. So yesterday, when my aunt said, "Grammie has a recipe for applesauce cake that I LOVE!" and "I could eat a whole one of these BY MYSELF!" I knew it had to be good. I was looking for a recipe to use up a bunch of applesauce that had been opened for awhile, and this turned out to be just the thing. It truly was scrumptious and lived up to all the expectations I have of any recipe that comes from Grammie.

Applesauce Cake

2 cups flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 1/2 cups raisins
1/2 cup oil 

Mix all ingredients and place in a greased and floured angel food cake pan. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

I was out of raisins, so I chopped up an apple and used that instead. I was also almost out of sugar (yes, it's time for a grocery run) so I used brown sugar instead of white and only 1/2 cup. Although Grammie said she usually uses sweetened applesauce and I might want to increase the sugar, my cake was plenty sweet for our tastes with the reduced sugar and unsweetened applesauce.

The cocoa powder was unexpected, but it really adds a depth of flavor to the cake that is special. It doesn't taste chocolatey, but deeper, richer, more layered or nuanced. Something like that anyway.

I also used half white whole wheat flour and half all purpose. My aunt says she has baked this in a 9x13 pan, but if you have one, I recommend the angel food pan. There's just something fun and special about a cake that looks like a huge, scrumptious doughnut. :) It filled the whole house with an absolutely tantalizing aroma while it was baking, and we've already eaten half of it! But with only 1/2 cup each of sugar and oil, I don't feel too bad about that at all!

 

Sorry I don't have a better picture of it. We were so excited to dig in after dinner and then I had to get Clara in bed right after. Speaking of Clara, she loved it! I don't give her many sweets, but this was a healthy, naturally sweet treat that I felt great about feeding her, and she felt great about eating! Win-win all around.