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Gypsy Soup

Salty feta crumbles. Soft curls of Parmesan.

Barely wilted lacinato kale, forest green.

Tender chickpeas with rough cut veggies and just enough liquid to eat from a bowl.

Gypsy soup, a delightful vegetable soup that you can mix and match with whatever orange and green vegetables you desire. Will last you for daysss. Yay to getting those veggies into the diet.

My trick to a great soup is to finish with a tiny drizzle of balsamic. I add the vinegar, then top with tons of cheese, and I’m good to go.

Gypsy soup

Adapted from the Yellow House; originally from Mollie Katzen’s The New Moosewood Cookbook

Serves 8-10; you can cut the recipe in half if you think this will be too much, but I appreciate a batch of soup that will last me a while. You can also freeze the soup, just see below in the directions…

Ingredients

4 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 medium yellow onions, chopped coarsely

6 stalks celery, chopped

8 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed, diced

1 large sweet potato (or winter squash), peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces

2 large carrots, sliced into thin coins or roughly chopped

2 small zucchini, chopped

28 ounces crushed tomatoes

2 cans chickpeas (the original recipe uses about 3 cans)

5 cups liquid (I used 4 cups water + 1 cup veg. broth)

3 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons turmeric

4 teaspoons mild paprika

1 bay leaf

Dash of cayenne

1 pound greens (I used a mixture of kale and mustard greens), trimmed and, if large, cut into 2-inch-wide pieces

Parmesan or Asiago cheese + crumbled feta, for topping (or any other yummy salty cheese)

Balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

Directions

In your biggest pot, heat the olive oil. Saute the onions, garlic, celery, and jalapeno until aromatic and beginning to soften, about 5-7 minutes. Add the sweet potato and carrots and continue to saute, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes or so. Add the zucchini, tomatoes, chickpeas, broth/water, salt, turmeric, paprika, bay leaf, and cayenne. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce to a rapid simmer, stirring occasionally until sweet potato and carrots are tender. Stir in the greens, allowing to wilt before removing the soup from the heat.

Serve with a good dusting of cheese and a small drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

To freeze the soup, allow to cool completely. Ladle into gallon-size freezer bags. Seal, smoothing out any air pockets, and lay flat in the freezer to store.

Tags: chickpeas, dinner, lunch, soup, vegetarian

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Categories beans, cheese, dinner, lunch, savory, soup, vegetable

Cheeseboard Pizza

5 Mar

Oh Cheeseboard Pizza how I miss you. That thin and perfectly toasted dough, those gorgeous browned cheesy bits, fresh corn, lime, chile, and a garlic olive oil drizzle. Just $2.50 for the most perfect slice of pizza. And they give you a little sample sliver, too.

Sure, living in New York, I see pizza joints all over town. But none have wooed me like Berkeley’s Cheeseboard. Open 5 days a week (closed Sun/Mon) and cooperatively run and owned, this place is a win. Did I mention the live music?!

I’m kind of in love with the Cheeseboard Collective shop next door, too. The ginger cookies, any variety of the cheesy breads, and those corn cherry scones just kill me! And the cheeses, oh the cheeses. They will let you sample cheese on cheese on cheese until you find your perfect match.

I have many memories at Cheeseboard Pizza, sitting on the median lawn in the middle of the street (technically it is illegal to sit on the median, but everyone does it), soaking up the sun and enjoying a slice or two. There is usually a long line, but it moves very fast and offers some great people-watching. The pizzas are always vegetarian and the menu changes daily (check the website for the week’s pizza listing).