After a very looong lapse, Recession Cooking is back! And with the goal of regular postings, I've got three lined up so far this week. True to "recession" form, the ones I've picked out are fairly simple to make, include healthy ingredients, and can involve leftovers. (I don't care what economists say, the Great Recession isn't over in my book until I have a full-time, permanent job.) And despite the lovely photo, today's post is not about tomatoes. These were the first of the season that I roasted, and I couldn't help it. But never fear, tomatoes will be featured soon!
So, first up, we have one of my favorites, Crema de Espinaca, or Cream of Spinach Soup. I learned how to make this in 2007, when I was visiting my husband's family in Ecuador. One of the many wonderful things about Ecuadorean culture is the food, and more specifically, lunch. The afternoon meal--el almuerzo--is the big meal of the day, and frequently begins with a soup course. And fortunately for me, many of these soups are vegetarian. (Although I found out during a 2008 trip that most of these soups are made with Maggi, a chicken bouillon.)
Aside from the bouillon issue, another great thing about the soup course is all of the toppings that go with it. Popcorn, avocados, chulpi--like homemade CornNuts--and cheese, or queso fresco. I wouldn't necessarily recommend adding all of these things to all soups--but for espinaca, I like popcorn, cheese and a couple thin slices of avocados. When we make it here, we use fried, cubed potatoes and a bit of parmesan. You can also use croutons, in a pinch. (Chulpi photo from Ibarra.gov.ec, the official site for a city in the province north of the Capitol, Quito)
The most recession-friendly thing about Crema de Espinaca is that you can use less-than-fresh spinach. Now, I do not mean, as I have mentioned before, that I encourage using ingredients that are rotten or moldy. (Gross!) However, when spinach is too wilty to use for a fresh spinach salad, but before it turns into green slime, it's good for cooked spinach dishes like this one.
And if the thought of cooked spinach makes your stomach turn, I promise this soup is not like that. (if it does, that is a sign the spinach is bad, or a sign you used canned or frozen spinach, which I would NEVER recommend.)
I too, remember my mom trying to get me to eat cooked spinach as a kid, and those are not fond memories. I think the trick is to just sauté it a little, with onions and garlic, then add the broth at med-low heat. Spinach will keep it's rich flavor if you don't cook the hell out of it. In fact, the only time this recipe wasn't delicious, was when I did not use enough spinach. Don't worry, it's a superfood! Popeye would be proud.
I prefer buying spinach in bulk (always cheaper) and always choose organic. A great book my aunt got me, the Organic Cook's Bible, notes that large amounts of pesticides, fungicides and chemical fertilizers are used in production of conventional spinach. The Environmental Working Group notes that spinach is on the "Dirty Dozen" list, or the top 12 conventional crops that absorb and retain the most pesticides. Still not convinced? Read this 2006 article if you have kids.
Alas! I just realized I don't have Rosa's recipe! A long-time family friend, she has a handful of specialties that we request when visiting my husband's family. My requests are her soups. So this isn't her complete recipe, but the ingredient list based on the last time I made this.
Ingredients:
Fresh spinach (in bulk: about a pound or more; prepackaged: one of these 11 oz containers.)
1/4-1/2 c. diced onions (about a handful or two; can be yellow, red or white.)
Garlic, minced, to taste
2 - 2 1/2 c. vegetable broth (I used a refrigerated mushroom-based bouillon, adding 2 c. water)
Half pint of whipping cream or 1 - 1 1/2 c. milk
Black pepper
Olive oil
To minimize the number of dishes, you can cook the spinach in the same saucepan that you will use to make the soup. Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan, on medium heat. Saute onions for a couple minutes, until translucent. Then add the rinsed and drained spinach, a couple cups (or large handfuls) at a time, stirring somewhat frequently. Once the first batch is wilted, and two more handfuls and repeat until all spinach is shrunk and wilty in the pan.
Now add the minced garlic and sautee for a few more minutes. Pour in the broth, or reconstitute the bouillon with hot water from the kettle. The goal here is to mix all the ingredients thoroughly and get everything to the same temperature before you puree it. But don't turn the heat up.
Ideally, you would cool the soup entirely before putting it in a blender (ESPECIALLY if your blender has a plastic pitcher, instead of a glass one. Hot liquids can make plastic leach chemicals into your food). If you don't have time to let the mixture cool (I know, you're hungry!), just exercise extreme caution when pouring and pureeing hot liquids.
The time before last, I put on the lid and hit "Puree," only to have the top fly off, spraying hot spinach liquid all over me and the kitchen. Soup belongs in your belly, not in your eyes and on your counters. Hold the lid with your other hand, and work up to "puree," staring with a few pulses and working your way up to higher speeds. If necessary, open the lid to let off steam.
After completely pureeing, return to the saucepan on medium heat. Last time, I tried the soup at this point, and it was surprisingly delicious. I didn't intend to make a vegan version, but I suppose you could with more spinach and more broth. (I had the thought because my sister, a strength coach at Florida State University, is trying a 30-day vegan challenge in April). Where were we? Oh right, milk fat.
Add the milk, half and half or cream, and stir on medium to low heat. If it starts to simmer, turn the heat down. It's very easy to scald the milk, and that's no good. Taste a bit...I was again pleasantly surprised last time when it tasted great, and I hadn't added any salt! The flavor comes from the spinach--it was great!
Now, unless you want a more elaborate topping (below), you can serve with croutons and bit of parmesan.
Topping:
Popcorn: this is super easy to make "from scratch" on the stove and doesn't have all the weird chemicals like the packaged microwave stuff, and it's super cheap! Just heat a couple tablespoons of oil (olive, canola) in a saucepan with lid, add 1/4 c. of corn kernels (a dash of salt is optional), put the lid on and stay close! It just takes a couple minutes to pop, and you should be gently shaking the pan (with one hand on the lid), and make sure to remove once the popping stops, to prevent burning.
Fried, Diced Potatoes: simply peel two large potatoes (or 5 or 6 small yukon or red potatoes), and cut into 1 cm. cubes. Fry in hot canola oil until golden brown; drain on paper towels, and add a quick shake of salt.
This quantity should make enough for at least three servings. We each ate a bowl as a main course for dinner and had some leftover. Smaller servings would yield about 4 or 5 bowls. This is a real treat, refrigerates well and makes a great starter for lunch tomorrow.
Enjoy!
