Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day [Paperback]

The Moosewood Collective has had big vegetarian cookbook success with other collections. The main aim of this addition to their list is to offer much-needed help to those who need recipes for speedy preparation. Most take less than 30 minutes preparation. Recipes include stir-fries, salads, sandwiches, bean dips, soups, scones, pancakes and desserts. Almost all are vegan, with dairy products offered only as optional extras, though there is a separate section on fish and eggs. Winner of the 1995 James Beard Award for vegetarian cookbooks.

Moosewood, the vegetarian culinary collective ("Eighteen heads are better than one for some tasks") responsible for the restaurant of the same name in Ithaca, N.Y., offers an excellent third title to follow the popular Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant and New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant . This one, unsurprisingly, concentrates on simple, healthful, easily prepared foods, though they are somewhat lighter in emphasis than were suggestions from the past; most dishes can be readied in half an hour or so, and organically grown ingredients are urged. Flavor is emphatically present, and so is an international bent. An Asian frittata, for instance, incorporates vegetables and adds a sauce including soy, rice wine, sesame oil and other Eastern staples, while baked peaches with Marsala is a dessert with an Italian tint. Broiled tofu may lead some diners to gag. However, the majority of the recipes will please non-purists, as well as the hard-core. An especially strong stew chapter offers entries with African, Caribbean, Hungarian, Greek, East Indian, Spanish, Italian and South American origins; chapters on pastas, salads and grains are similarly broad. Each recipe features menu suggestions and information on nutritional components. Author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Moosewood Collective has nineteen members who share responsibilities and participate in the various jobs necessary to run what has grown from a very small natural foods restaurant to a larger and more diversified company. Most members of the Collective have worked together for at least 15 years, and some have worked for the restaurant since it was founded in 1973. The Moosewood Collective is the recipient of three James Beard Awards and numerous nominations. Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health is its twelfth book.

Chapter 1

It Seems Everyone likes soup. At Moosewood Restaurant, each day we serve four or five different soups from an always growing repertoire. We renew the selection constantly because soup is so popular -- some of our customers order soup every day. Whether the soup is an old favorite, newly invented, or wildly exotic, it makes a comforting, nourishing meal. Perhaps more than any other category of foods, soup is a symbol of hearth and home.

Nearly instant convenience soups have been around for a long time now. Your supermarket may have a whole aisle of them. But no commercial canned or freeze-dried soup can compare to the genuine homemade article for taste and nutrition (not to mention economy and originality). Although none of the soups in this chapter can be made in as little time as it takes to open a can, they have much to recommend them.

Green Jade Soup, Red Lentil Soup, and Portuguese White Bean Soup make highly nutritious and appealing meals. With a well-stocked pantry, Noodles with Mirin or Black Bean Soup can be made at a moment's notice. Golden Cheddar Cheese Soup and Tomato Garlic Soup with Tortellini are certain to please children (and their parents). Some of these soups are perfectly suited for a fancy dinner party, we suggest North African Cauliflower Soup, Pumpkin and Porcini Soup, Shrimp Bisque, or Mexican Tomato Lime Soup when company's coming. Some, such as Chilled Moroccan Tomato Soup and Simple Garlic Broth, dock in at only 15 or 20 minutes' preparation time. Not bad for a great pot of soup! Any of the soups here can be the main dish of a meal, and all of them can be made ahead, at your convenience.

Stock is usually our first choice of liquid for a soup, although it's not essential to any recipe. In anticipation of making soup often, you can easily prepare vegetable stock while you perform other kitchen chores (see page 359 for homemade, page 330 for information on packaged bouillon). Vegetable stock freezes well, so it's smart to make double or triple batches.

There are many good ways to thicken a soup. You can use puréed cooked vegetables or beans, bread crumbs, cornmeal, farina, oats, or powdered rice. (Powdered rice is made by finely grinding raw rice kernels in a blender or spice grinder. Use 2 or 3 tablespoons per quart of liquid to thicken a soup.)

Having mastered a few soup recipes, the novice cook can begin to experiment with relative ease -- soup is a forgiving medium. Leftover cooked beans, sauces, grains, sautés, vegetables, and even some salads might be incorporated into a soup. Here's a procedure for making soup out of almost anything. Sauté onions and/or garlic until tender in just enough oil or butter to coat the pan. Add any other vegetables, along with the herbs and spices of your choice. Sauté until tender, then add liquid (water, juice, milk, canned tomatoes, or vegetable stock) and cook until hot. That's it!

Black Bean Soup

10 sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)

1 cup boiling water

1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions

3 garlic doves, minced or pressed

1 jalapeño chile, minced, or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/3 cup water

3 cups undrained canned tomatoes (28-ounce can)

4 cups undrained cooked black beans (two 16-ounce cans)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

additional water or tomato juice

yogurt or sour cream

In a small bowl, cover the sun-dried tomatoes with the boiling water and set aside.

In a soup pot, sauté the onions, garlic, and chile or cayenne in the oil for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Add the cumin, 1/3 cup water, and the juice from the tomatoes. Break up the tomatoes by squeezing them into the soup pot, or chop them coarsely right in the can and add them to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Add the black beans and their liquid, and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Drain and chop the softened sun-dried tomatoes. Add them to the soup and cook for 5 to 10 minutes longer, until the onions are tender. Stir in the cilantro and remove the soup from the heat. Purée half of the soup in a blender or food processor and return it to the pot. If the soup is too thick, add some water or tomato juice. Reheat gently.

Serve each bowl of soup with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream.

PER 8.OZ, SERVING: 204 CALORIES, 10.8G PROTEIN, 4.1G FAT, 33.6G, CARBOHYDRATE, 337 MG SODIUM. 1 MG CHOLESTEROL.

Broccoli Egg-Lemon Soup

2 cups finely chopped onions

3 garlic doves, minced or pressed

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 1/2 cups finely chopped broccoli florets

1 small red bell pepper, diced

1 tablespoon minced fresh dill (1 teaspoon dried)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 cups vegetable stock, or 1 bouillon cube dissolved in 4 cups water

2 large eggs

1/4-1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup cooked orzo or rice

chopped fresh parsley (optional)

In a soup pot, sauté the onions and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the broccoli, bell pepper, dill, salt, and black pepper, and sauté for several minutes, until the broccoli roms bright green. Add 3 cups of the stock and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are tender. Remove the soup from the heat.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and 1/4 cup of the lemon juice. Whisk in the remaining cup of stock, and then add about a cup of the hot soup broth. Gradually pour the egg mixture into the soup pot while stirring the soup. Stir in the orzo or rice. Gently reheat the soup, but don't let it boil or it might curdle. Add more salt and lemon juice to taste.

Broccoli Egg-Lemon Soup can be served immediately, but it tastes even better gently reheated after sitting awhile. Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

PER 8.OZ SERVING: 149 CALORIES, 4.8G PROTEIN, 6G FAT, 20.1G CARBOHYDRATE, 184 MG SODIUM, 53 MG CHOLESTEROL.

Cantonese Fish And Vegetable Soup

5 dried shiitake mushrooms

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

3 garlic doves, minced or pressed

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks

4 cups water

1 1/2 pounds cod fillets, cut into 1-inch chunks

1/4 cup soy sauce

r1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

3 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons cold water

1 red bell pepper, diced

chopped scallions

Place the shiitake mushrooms in a heatproof bowl, cover with the boiling water, and set aside for about 10 minutes.

In a soup pot, sauté the onions, garlic, and ginger in the oil until the onions are translucent. Stir in the carrots. Drain the shiitake, reserving the soaking liquid. Remove and discard the stems, and slice the softened caps. Add the shiitake caps, their soaking liquid, and the 4 cups of water to the pot and cover it. When the broth begins to boil, add the fish and cover the pot again.

In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, sesame oil, and dissolved cornstarch. When the so...