le sauce

soup, accessorized

Above: Herb Soup with Eggplant Bacon

This time last year, Toronto (and most of the east coast) was cold and covered in a fairly fresh blanet of snow. Last week, it was summertime hot--26C degrees and sunny--which was only about 10 degrees hotter than the average for the past few weeks. It's cooler this week but still mild.

This time last year, I wanted soup for dinner.

This week, I still do.

Because while I want an ice cream cone around noon on the hotter days this month, the nights are still chilly and I'm reminded on more humid mornings that the April showers will be coming. There are grey, damp days ahead and I welcome them. I do love that we (usually) have four seasons, not for the least reason of which is the the food that comes with each season. I'll look forward to peas and strawberries in a few months, but for now, I'm looking forward to more cozy dinners that are just a little lighter than I'd make them in November...

...and that means soup.

Above: Tteokguk, Seared Onigiri in Green Tea Broth, Green soup with asparagus, potato hash, seed crackers.

Soup is not difficult and it's only as boring as you make it. Really, whatever you're craving, it can be made into soup--even a creamy piece of cheese or potatoes or radishes! I don't have a recipe on this site yet (note to self) but you can even make a pretty boozy soup, if you're so inclined. And I don't have to tell you that soup is as good hot as it is cold and pretty much everywhere in between.

But just as you would never forget to put your favourite toppings on your sandwich or pizza, don't forget to accessorize your soup. As you can see, I have a few ideas about how to do that (click on the photo captions for the recipes) and any one of these garnishes can be mixed, matched and tweaked to your tastes--plus you probably have a million more ideas which you should share with me, please. Let your soup simmer, prep your toppings and open a creamy white wine before you sip your way through a super-light but totally satifying dinner.

Below: Roasted Onion and Fennel Soup with Pistou, French Onion and Porcini Soup,Soup and Rice.

 

perfect for tonight: steamed tofu with a tart tamari dressing

This recipe is something I made up in the dead of winter but now I crave it on even milder nights--any damp, cool one will do. It's comforting but not complacent--while the tofu is soothing, the dressing is bold (doesn't it look bold?)

It's perfect for when you've been beaten up by the weather on your way home, because the whole thing is done even faster than the hot bowl of rice that might accompany it is cooked. Perfect for tonight, which here on the east coast is going to be a cool one. Or even for cold mornings, like this one. Lunch? Sure! You get the idea.

perfect for tonight: onions

Three weekend-worthy dishes that will remind you that nothing compares to slow-cooked onions.

roasted onion and fennel soup with pistou

 

onions, roasted in their skins, with tarragon dressing

 

french onion soup with porcinis

perfect for tonight: sweet and sticky, 5-spice broccoli

I had a desperate craving for this sweet,

    sticky,

            dark sauce over fresh white rice last week.

If that appeals to you too, grab some broccoli and your under-used 5-spice powder and make this tonight.

perfect for tonight: braised leeks au gratin

These are still, officially, the lazy days of summer and sometimes eating one simple vegetable for dinner is all I want to do. I don't need courses or components. Just something like these braised leeks and a fistful of bread for the sauce. And wine. I'm never too lazy to open wine.

perfect for tonight: chard and feta flatbread with paprika oil

It's that time of year where I could eat a market bag full of vegetables at every meal. Everything tastes so damn good that it's almost an indulgence to eat barely sauteed early summer greens and not much else. Over the weekend we grilled a basket of young asparagus (probably the last of the season) and ate them with our fingers when they weren't tearing off pieces of bread and soft cheese. I realized that's one of our go-to dinner ideas in the summer, and that's why this is perfect for dinner tonight: chard and feta flatbread with paprika oil.

Sauteed chard is done in minutes--I like to put a minced shallot and finely chopped chard stalks into the oil first and when they're almost done, I added the chard leaves, torn, for a final minute. The only seasoning you really need is salt and pepper but paprika oil makes things special. I posted the recipe for it last year, and it's a favourite of mine. I don't used smoked paprika (thought you could), I use a regular hot one. The oil can be whipped up while the stalks cook. Pile the cooked chard onto soft flatbread or pitas, sprinkle some salty feta over top and drizzle the whole thing, generously, with the paprika oil. And repeat, throughout the summer.

perfect for tonight: asparagus, many ways, while you can

It's around this time of year that I get super-excited about ramps, green garlic, fiddleheads--things that you can get during only the shortest window of spring in Toronto. I don't usually jump and down for asparagus. Sure, it's freshest right now too but it's sort of always around and though I do like it, asparagus was never my favourite. Until this spring. Seasoned with nothing more than salt, pepper and oil, I'm reminded that nothing compares to them when they're slightly charred outside with some crunch left just at the centre. Suddenly, I'm passing over curled fiddleheads for these straight, firm stalks, throwing them onto and under as hot a heat as I can summon, oven, grill or pan. 

Actually, it might have been the asparagus mimosa that I made a few weeks ago that kindled this flame. And I did appreciate their flavour and beauty in this very green soup I made a couple of years ago. I can highly recommend any of these methods to you as you snatch up the last local bundles over the next few weeks. I plan on grabbing a few more myself, and not just to eat them with my fingers, french fry-style right off the barbecue. I found this interesting recipe for asparagus all decked out with in-your-face flavour. And served with deep fried lemon slices? I can't think of a better way to round out a plate of asparagus cooked in chili paste and jalapenos.

And then there are the laziest ways ever to enjoy asparagus, especially on the unusually hot June nights that are coming and going this year: raw. Shaved or sliced thin, you can dress them the same way you would any salad. So while I'm feeling the pressure to peel my asparagus stalks in a way I never I have before (anyone else? practically faux-pas not to now, I'm sensing), they are still so damn easy to clean, and in that respect they beat their muddy-rooted or furled competition hands down. In case we're keeping score. 

perfect for tonight: braised endive

One of the quickest paths to an indulgent dinner, when you're staring at little more than one vegetable in your fridge, is to think: braise. Fennel, endive, leeks and other firm vegetables that caramelize nicely are among my favourites to braise, but squash, brussel sprouts, broccoli, portabellos--there's no reason you can't braise any of these. Less watery vegetables work best because you want them to spend a little time in the pan browning, before you add liquid to finish cooking them and that goes for any liquid they might release as well.

It's quite simple: add some fat to a hot pan (a combo of butter and olive oil works well), add your vegetables without overcrowding and without stirring or turning too soon, to create as much browning and caramelization as possible on every surface. Season with salt, pepper and any herbs you'd like while you wait. Then add wine, broth or even water to stop the browning and let the vegetables cook without burning. You can cover and let the liquid do it's job and reduce on the stovetop. Or for larger portions, you can transfer the vegetables to a baking dish and finish cooking them in a preheated oven. Finish them with a fancy cheese, if you'd like, maybe even some breadcrumbs too and put them back into the oven to gratinée them. Or do what I did last week (pictured above), eat them plain, hot out of the pan with just a piece of crusty bread to dip into that delicious braising liquid and call it dinner.

perfect for tonight: mushroom bolognese

I just realized that I feel the same way at this time of year, every year.

I get a little nostalgic for winter even though it's not actually spring yet. Don't get me wrong, I love that it's sunny and breezy out today, and that I'm wearing sneakers instead of heavy boots. But I do like the coziness of early nightfall and especially warming, hearty food. I was just thinking that I want to squeeze in as many "winter" meals as possible before I move on to fresh peas and berries, and decided to make my mushroom bolognese this weekend. Then I saw that I originally posted this recipe almost exactly a year ago and I wrote a similar ode to winter then too! 

This is the perfect recipe for nights that are still chilly.  And it was the winning recipe in CHOW's Best Vegetarian Recipe contest too! A good one to get in before the sun is still shining at dinner time.

perfect for tonight: brussel sprout linguine

A few years ago, I didn't think I'd be voluntarily making a meal out of brussel sprouts. Now I know that a little bit of oil and a little bit of heat brings out their nuttiness, some sesame oil plays nicely off that, some time in the oven or a long while in a skillet can make them crispy and brown. If you slice the base off, take the time to slice them in half lengthwise and shred them or better yet, peel the layers off and sautée them and some shallots or leeks in browned butter, mix them with some pasta and dried red chilies, you have a dinner that's perfect for tonight.