My First Food Musings

First of all: check me out! Blogging twice in one week! My wonderful husband took my children to school for me this morning, so I am taking the time to write a little food entry (as promised) about something kind of sublime I made for dinner last night: roasted vegetable noodle soup. Let's start with me stating a little known fact about myself. I generally do not like vegetable soups for one reason: celery. Love the flavor it imparts, but hate hate HATE the texture. I hate seeing chunks of it floating in soups, stews, what have you and I certainly hate the misfortune of having a piece end up on my spoon or, God forbid, in my mouth accidentally. I don't gag on many things any more (yes, Mom, I know that surprises you, considering that I was the child that spent many an hour picking onions out of every dish you ever made), but celery remains my food nemesis. I should also note that I can tolerate raw celery and often enjoy it with a variety of dips, but even then, my preference is for other, less offensive crudite.

Back to the soup. I made a roasted vegetable noodle soup using fresh organic vegetables that I received from my local CSA (or as my children like to refer to the man himself, "Farmer Tim"), among other components. I actually got my children involved (which, for anyone that knows me, was a big step since I am so OCD about my cooking) and had them peel orange-yellow carrots and a couple of creamy, lemon yellow parnips (they could have been rutabegas, but I am not sure). They stripped the leaves off the stems of deep blue green kale and dark and waxy collard greens. They watched me chop the root vegetables, including those they had peeled, as well as some radishes, extra baby carrots and yes, celery. We tossed all of the vegetables together with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread them on a baking sheet to roast in the oven. Of course, they were pretty impressed with themselves and their cooking abilities before running off to play with their toys.

Oh, the aromas that came from all of those vegetables roasting! I would not normally roast that combination, but what with some leftover celery and the odd grab bag from the CSA, it is what I had. (Thanks to Savuer's latest issue for giving me the idea to roast the radishes. Good gracious, those are AMAZING! Tender and sweet with the barest of peppery bites.) While the vegetables were in the oven, I chopped and sauteed a few baby leeks and green onions, again from the CSA, then added some canned, diced, no salt tomatoes. I pulled the roasted vegetables from the oven just as the edges began to caramelize and chopped most of them (especially the celery which got an extra fine mince) further once they cooled enough to handle. I added them to the leek-tomato mixture, poured in a quart of low sodium chicken broth and sprinkled it with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. After stripping some fresh thyme from my own herb garden into the pot, the soup was ready to simmer for a bit. At this point, it smelled sweet and savory, with just a hint of the spicy herbaceousness of the thyme that floated on the top of the liquid. After a bit, I added the chopped greens, a can of drained garbanzo beans and some rotini pasta. Fifteen minutes later, we had an amazing soup on the table for dinner!

The soup was a bounty of incredible flavors with enough textural differences to make it really interesting. The roasted vegetables were savory and sweet, whose vastly different flavors had melded and mellowed during their cooking time in the oven. They were amazingly tender, still retaining their structure in the bowl, but literally dissolving in the mouth. The beans were creamy and slightly nutty with a lightly chewy texture which stood out due to their late addition to the pot. The greens, once so deeply colored, took on a olive tone, but were tender and richly flavored by the soup itself. The pasta cooked beautifully in the soup as well and, with its own al dente texture, provided another level of textural contrast, especially with the twists and turns which acted as yet another vehicle for flavor. The tomatoes at the base of the soup, combined with the chicken stock, gave the overall dish depth while adding an acidic component that offset the other, more richly flavored vegetables. Truly, this dish was a feast for all the senses - beautiful and delicious, with an amazing mouthfeel.

Please don't think that I am only lauding my cooking abilities. I did actually find a recipe that gave me the idea for the soup and, like every good cook says, I started with wonderfully fresh ingredients. I also had a couple of really cute little helpers who so enjoy cooking with me for any meal. I did not actually expect those same little helpers to eat the meal that they helped to prepare, so I was stunned when they both ate every bite. It wasn't even dessert night at our house, so bribes to finish dinner were not offered, but my children actually ate with only the barest amount of cajoling. Ultimately, those vegetables were delectable, each and every one of them. Including the celery. Which I ate. It was minced and it was surrounded by much more appealing vegetables, but it was there because, despite my attempts to disguise it, I saw it. And, like I said: I ate it. And loved it.